Today’s discussion topic comes from Sara, one of my good friends. We have a lot of great discussions on such a wide range of shared interests, and this topic idea kind of organically grew out of a larger discussion that we were having. I’ve spoken about problematic authors a few times, but I wanted to take today’s discussion idea in a different direction and talk about how to avoid financially supporting problematic authors.
We might recognize authors as problematic for a variety of reasons, and we might choose to continue reading these authors for just as many reasons. I know that I personally have a few books that I bought before knowing the problematic nature of the authors/books, but now that I’m aware, there are some steps that I take to ensure that I am not financially supporting the authors.
Since I want this to be a discussion, I’m just going to get this started and share some of the things that I personally do, and then encourage you to discuss how you feel about the topic, and if there are any things that you do.
The first thing that I do when an author is problematic is to pull their books off my shelves. I don’t throw them away or burn them, because I already spent the money and the author has already profited. Instead, I usually resell them or donate them to my library. In addition, I don’t want to platform any of them on my page by highlighting them on my bookshelves. When I make book recommendations, I don’t include any by authors that are problematic.
What are some ways that you avoid financially supporting problematic authors?
Categories: Sunday Bookish Discussion
Leah's Books 
To compliment your action, I look to borrow or buy a second-hand copy of a problematic author.
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Yes! If there’s a problematic author that I do want a book by for some reason, I will buy it second-hand as well, so that I’m not supporting the author directly.
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Generally it takes me an awful lot to consider an author problematic in the first place. If they are authors of Victorian-era or other classic works, I put their views etc in historical context; if they’re a modern author I simply refrain from financially supporting them.
But sometimes, and this is unfortunately becoming more regular, the author is a Twitter-warrior bigot using their platform for cruel and insidious conspiracy theory ranting, like Xiran Jay Zhao claiming Hamas couldn’t have had colour printed maps of the kibbutz because Gaza was too poor to afford colour printers (???) or JKR doing whatever it is she’s up to these days. In that case, I give the books away and let my closest friends know – not to make them follow suit, but rather just to warn them I don’t hold certain authors in high esteem anymore.
Worst case scenario is changing the Goodreads rating to a 1 😂
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I tend to think along the same lines as you do – when it’s a historical author, I’m willing to assign a bit more leeway due to how much things have changed over the years.
Modern authors are different. When they take off the mask and show hateful or bigoted or prejudiced views, those are the books that get resold and become authors non grata on my shelves and blog and social media, although sometimes I’ll share a post about why they won’t have any book reviews featured.
I try not to base my star ratings on an author’s personal views, no matter how horrible they are, unless they’ve made their way into a book.
Based on your comment, I wonder if Xiran Jay Zhao knows if they’re subscribing to the soft bigotry of low expectations? I’m guessing not …
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