Ep 421 - Avocados are Romantasy: How to Avoid Bad Book Marketing

Summary

Reading Glasses: Episode 421 - Avocados are Romantasy: How to Avoid Bad Book Marketing

Release Date: July 24, 2025

In Episode 421 of Reading Glasses, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara delve into the frustrating world of book marketing missteps, particularly focusing on the mislabeling of genres like "cozy fantasy" and "romantasy." Alongside this central discussion, they engage with listener feedback, address a book tech dilemma, and fulfill a recommendation request centered on empowering motherly adventures.

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode kicks off with Bria Grant and Mallory O’Meara sharing their current reads, setting the stage for the episode's theme.

• Bria's Pick: Murder on Sex Island by Joe Firestone—a humorous mystery novel featuring a divorce social worker turned P.I., navigating the challenges of a reality show setting.

  Bria Grant ([02:22]): "But it really is a mystery novel treated quite seriously... it's laugh out loud funny."

• Mallory's Choice: Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before by Kristen Arnett—a literary exploration of a professional clown's life in Florida, blending humor with introspective themes.

  Mallory O’Meara ([04:16]): "It's very introspective, but also very funny. It's great."

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2. Listener Feedback: Enhancing Your Reading Life

Mallory and Bria take time to acknowledge listener contributions, highlighting useful tools and heartfelt messages.

• Library Thing App:

  Mallory O’Meara ([04:55]): "Library Thing allows you to make a digital catalog of your home book collection... it pulls information from Amazon so you can easily and quickly see information about the book in the app."

• Appreciative Messages:

  <blockquote> <p>*Hannah ([05:55]):* "Your show has made me a happier reader, a better library patron, and somewhat sane human in these shitty times."</p> </blockquote>

• Sharon's Recommendation:

  Mallory O’Meara ([08:35]): "I highly recommend it for anyone struggling with this concept or even for those who haven't considered it before."

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3. The Crux: Problems with Book Marketing

The heart of the episode addresses the frustrations surrounding inaccurate book marketing, particularly the misuse of genre labels that mislead readers.

• Listener Julia's Concern:

  Julia points out the misclassification of "cozy fantasy" and "romantasy," where books labeled as such often contain unexpected violence or dark undertones, diverging from the traditional cozy genre.

  Mallory O’Meara ([13:09]): "This week we're talking about book marketing. Has it become unreliable? How can you find books if you don't trust the marketing around them?"

• Misuse of "Cozy" and "Romantasy":

  Both hosts express frustration over the overuse and dilution of genres. "Cozy" is traditionally associated with mild mysteries or romantic narratives without graphic content, yet modern marketing often slants this term towards any low-stakes fantasy with personal drama.

  Bria Grant ([13:40]): "Cozy location does not equal cozy. Fantasy murders can happen in coffee shops all the time and in books. They do happen in books all the time."

  Mallory O’Meara ([14:17]): "Publishers have muddled the word cozy with low stakes... it's not the same thing."

• Impact on Authors and Readers:

  The hosts discuss how this trend not only confuses readers but also puts authors in a bind, forcing them to align with marketing categories that may not accurately represent their work.

  Mallory O’Meara ([16:02]): "It's frustrating for readers, it's annoying for authors."

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4. Navigating the Marketing Maze: Tips and Solutions

To combat misleading marketing, Mallory and Bria offer practical advice for discerning readers.

• Read Detailed Reviews:

  Encouraging listeners to delve beyond blurbs and publisher descriptions to gain a true understanding of a book's content.

  Bria Grant ([18:03]): "You have to read the reviews. And not just what is on the back. Not just...the blurbs may be helpful, but you need to find out what that book is about."

• Utilize User Tags on Platforms:

  Leveraging community-driven tags on platforms like StoryGraph and Goodreads to get a clearer picture of a book’s themes and content.

  Mallory O’Meara ([20:57]): "Check the tags. Oh, like what people are tagging it as on StoryGraph and Goodreads."

• Consult Genre-Savvy Friends:

  Recommending seeking opinions from friends who are well-versed in specific genres to better assess a book's fit.

  Bria Grant ([21:43]): "Ask your pals if they love cozy, if they love romantasy, and say, hey, is this a good romantasy book?"

• Research Before Visiting Bookstores:

  Advising listeners to familiarize themselves with desired genres through curated lists from reputable sources like Book Riot to navigate bookstores more effectively.

  Mallory O’Meara ([22:17]): "Come to a bookstore with stuff you already know is cozy. That is tried and true."

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5. Book Tech Feature: Creative Book Sharing

Listener Sophie presents a book tech challenge focused on personalizing the experience of lending books to friends by leaving personalized messages or signatures.

• Sophie's Dilemma:

  Sophie loves lending books but struggles with how to encourage friends to leave meaningful notes without it being too restrictive.

  Sophie ([28:33]): "I want more personalization than just writing your name. My other thought is simply asking people to write a message somewhere inside the book that can be as short or long as they want."

• Hosts' Creative Solutions:

  • Custom Checkout Cards: Suggesting attaching personalized checkout cards inside the book for friends to sign and leave messages.

    Bria Grant ([30:07]): "You could just do a lint two on the front and, and then like the date of the person and their name."

  • Recommendation Bookmarks: Utilizing pre-designed bookmarks that include sections for ratings, favorite quotes, and personal messages.

    Mallory O’Meara ([30:49]): "There's so many places that sell...bookmarks... they have a form that's like title of the book, star rating, favorite quotes, slots."

  • Shelf Talkers: Implementing external notes or recommendations attached to the book's spine to guide future borrowers.

    Bria Grant ([31:24]): "They could put something on the outside and, like, make people pick up that book. They're like, oh, I want this."

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6. Reader’s Request: Celebrating Moms on Adventures

Paris reaches out with a heartfelt request for book recommendations featuring mothers embarking on adventures, aiming to diversify the typical portrayal of maternal roles in literature.

• Paris's Wishlist:

  Seeking stories about human moms going on adventures, preferring sub-genres like magical realism, climate fiction, and immigrant narratives over anthropomorphic tales.

  Paris ([32:53]): "There are more stories about stressed out moms or silently and bravely persevering moms... but not what I'm here for."

• Recommended Reads:

  • Bria's Suggestion: All Fours by Miranda July—a contemplative narrative about a woman balancing motherhood with personal journeys, though noting it only partially meets the adventure criteria.

    Bria Grant ([34:12]): "She sets out to go on a journey... she ends up living this whole different life for a little while."

  • Mallory's Choice: Adventures of Amina el Sarafi by S.A. Chakraborty—a spirited pirate adventure featuring a retired pirate mother seeking her family's future through daring exploits.

    Mallory O’Meara ([35:01]): "It's about this retired pirate... she's trying to sell... settle into a peaceful mom life... she gets the band back together for one last lucrative adventure."

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7. Final Thoughts and Community Engagement

As the episode wraps up, Mallory and Bria encourage listeners to engage with the community through their Discord server and Facebook group, promote their merchandise, and invite ratings and reviews to support the show’s growth.

Mallory O’Meara ([36:34]): "If you like the show, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. We're already kicking around ideas for it and we're getting close."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Bria Grant ([02:22]): "But it really is a mystery novel treated quite seriously... it's laugh out loud funny."

• Mallory O’Meara ([13:09]): "This week we're talking about book marketing. Has it become unreliable? How can you find books if you don't trust the marketing around them?"

• Mallory O’Meara ([14:17]): "Publishers have muddled the word cozy with low stakes... it's not the same thing."

• Bria Grant ([18:03]): "You have to read the reviews. And not just what is on the back. Not just...the blurbs may be helpful, but you need to find out what that book is about."

• Bria Grant ([21:43]): "Ask your pals if they love cozy, if they love romantasy, and say, hey, is this a good romantasy book?"

• Mallory O’Meara ([35:01]): "It's about this retired pirate... she's trying to sell... settle into a peaceful mom life... she gets the band back together for one last lucrative adventure."

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Conclusion

Episode 421 of Reading Glasses offers a comprehensive exploration of the challenges posed by misleading book marketing, providing listeners with actionable strategies to navigate genre mislabeling. Additionally, the hosts foster community interaction through addressing listener feedback and creative solutions to common book-related dilemmas, all while advocating for more diverse and empowering narratives for mothers in literature.

Transcript

[Alan McLeod]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're listening to Reading Glasses, a show about book culture and literary life designed to help you read better. I'm author and book devourer, Mallory o'. Meara.

[Bria Grant]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, we're talking about problems with book marketing. Y' all been complaining about it, so we're gonna get into it. Plus, we solve a tech issue with letting your friends borrow books and recommend books about moms on adventures.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Moms deserve adventures.

[Bria Grant]

They do.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

I am reading a book that. Do you know who Joe Firestone is?

[Mallory O'Meara]

The actor?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, actor and comedian. She wrote a book. It's a fiction book called Murder on Sex Island.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What?

[Bria Grant]

A Luella Van Horn mystery. It's. I can't call it a spoof because it is really good. It's a really good mystery novel about a divorce social worker who, in her spare time, puts on a blonde wig and fake teeth and pretends to be. Or she doesn't pretend. She is a detective. A P.I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Why does she need the fake teeth?

[Bria Grant]

I don't know.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay.

[Bria Grant]

I guess her regular teeth are not detective worthy. You know, she turns into this, like, blonde bombshell kind of thing, and I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Got to put on my. My sleuth and teeth.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And normally she's like, you know, a mousy woman with cats, lives alone, and she decided at some point, I'm gonna.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Start solving, do I need new teeth?

[Bria Grant]

And then. And she gets recruited to go on this reality show. Someone's killed on this reality show. And she gets recruited to go on a show called Sex Island.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I mean, and she sounds like it could be a real show right now.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, it's very much like Love island, which I've never seen, but that's what I. It's what I assume Love island is. And so she goes and it's. It's laugh out loud funny. The main characters, you know, obviously fish out of water. But also, she's just really. She's very funny. She thinks everything is really, you know, weird. She's just not a person who would be on a show like Sex Island. And they recruit her to solve this mystery, but then they end up putting her on the show.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They were like, look at those teeth. We got to get her.

[Bria Grant]

And then it becomes like, where she's like, yeah. And so, you know, will she be good enough at sex to. To stay on the show? Here's the thing. It's not a sexy book. It is not a smutty book in any way. It is a mystery novel treated quite seriously.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

But it is laugh out loud funny. I am really enjoying it. If you're looking for something light and funny that will make you laugh, this is a great one. What are you reading?

[Mallory O'Meara]

So this week I am reading the new Kristen Arnett, which, you know, I'm a big Kristen Arnett fan. This is her third book. I have her other two. I love them both. This is. Stop me if you've heard this one before, and it's another weird Florida book. You know, I love a weird Florida book. It's about this woman. She's in her late 20s and her life is kind of a mess. She is a clown. Like, literally, that is her profession. She's a professional clown. She. And she's like, very dedicated to the art of clowning. She's like, very obsessed with, like, clown history and like, honing her art and like, she's in the clown community in Florida, but because she's not very famous yet, like, it doesn't support her life. So she has. She has this crappy job at this aquarium store. And she's like, it's. It's very literary. It's like very all about, like, very internal and all about like, her. Her trying to get her life together and examining, like, what it is to make art. And then she crosses paths with this hot older magician and Margo.

[Bria Grant]

Clown and magician romance.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, it's more literary, but it's like. It's this magician's name, Margo the Magnificent. And she's like, she's very famous. She makes money. Like, she's like everything that this character wants to be. And they start up a really sexy, weird affair. And it's. But it really more is about what it is to make art and what it is to be part of our artistic community and what humor is. And like, is her life. I mean, the main character's life is all up. She has a really strange relationship with her mother. And she's just like going through a lot and trying to examine it all through the lens of being a clown. And it's, it's very funny. It's very. I mean, the opening scene is like her banging someone who wants to. Who's like, horny for clowns.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, my God.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is so. It's wild. It is very open door, doors off the hinges, very smutty. But it's also just because it's Kristen Arnett, like, it's very introspective, but also very funny. It's. It's. It's great. So that stop me if you've heard this one before by Kristen Arnett.

[Bria Grant]

And mine is Murder on Sex island by Joe Firestone.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Foreign we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Shoshana wrote in to say hello. Brienne Mallory still loving the podcast. Thanks again for being a bright spot in my week. I'm writing in once again to share an app that I've been using for my home library to make it easier when I'm out at the bookstore browsing for books. The app is called Library Thing and It's free on iOS and Android. We did review this. Yeah, but like a while ago.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, it's been years and years.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think it's been maybe six years since we reviewed this, so time for a little refresher. So Library Thing allows you to make a digital catalog of your home book collection. I found that when I was out at a bookstore and wanted to purchase something that was on my digital tbr, I couldn't remember if I already had a physical copy of the book waiting for me at home. This app allowed me to keep a digital bookshelf on my phone so that I could double check before I bought a book so I didn't accidentally end up with multiple copies. The app allows you to scan the ISBN code to quickly add the book to your catalog and pulls information from Amazon so you can easily and quickly see information about the book in the app. You can also add other media such as DVDs and CDs. There is a community function, but I have not explored it at all.

[Bria Grant]

I should use this for my DVD and Blu Ray collection. It's not mine, but the one that lives at my house.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, we. I mean when we reviewed it, we loved it. We just haven't talked about it in a while. But I know a lot of glassers like it and it is an extremely useful app.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. I wonder if it does records.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh that would be great.

[Bria Grant]

So helpful.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That would be great.

[Bria Grant]

Hannah wrote in and said hi Brian Mallory, thank you for continuing to be a bright spot in my day, particularly on my insanely long commute. Your show has made me a happier reader, a better library patron, and somewhat sane human in these shitty times. They can't thank you enough on said commute. I recently listened to episode 412 and had to pull over to write this email with some potential TBR tips for Erica.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm just imagining a Fast and the Furious situation where where they are Tokyo drifting across five lanes of traffic to be like, I gotta send this email. Erica was the glasser who wanted to have a TBR but didn't want to be told what to do by themselves.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Correct. Okay. Yeah. As I was listening, I came to the very big assumption that Erica may struggle with the tbr because to be read feels like a to do list where reading is a task or a chore. It sounded like Erica really enjoys the act of browsing for books either on Libby or in store. And I have some ideas to keep that browsing mindset. It might be helpful to use the word wish list instead of tbr. A wish list feels less like an obligation and more like a collection of things that might be nice to have. Instead of creating a list, it might help Erica to take pictures of books. Okay. Interesting. I like that. That catch your eye and keep them in a specific folder on her phone. That way she can browse her photos and find something that interests her in the moment without feeling like she's checking a box.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow. You're making your own little bookstore.

[Bria Grant]

I love that idea.

[Adam]

That's really cute.

[Bria Grant]

My partner also has a hard time with listing rules and saving pictures of books has helped him read more without obligation. I hope this helps. That's great. And I like. You know what? I Mine is a wish list, not a tbr because I use the library one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

And it's called the wish list at the library. So that is interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is an important change in the way you think about it.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Things I wish to read as opposed to things I have to read.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

I like that. That is nice. Good adv.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And Sarah wrote in to say hi. Brian Mallory. As a therapist trying to get through 2025, I have to tell you, I don't think I could survive without your podcast. Oh, Sarah, I enjoyed your response to the listener who questioned their possibly spoiled tattoo homage. I absolutely loved your response. A therapist. Two thumbs up. Wow. Look at us go. I thought you might like to know that there's a book that deals with this topic. It's called Monsters A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Debtor. I highly recommend it for anyone struggling with this concept or even for those who haven't considered it before. Lastly, I empathize with those who write in with their book collector guilt. I have made some headway in culling my collection by reminding myself that if simply the act of buying the book brought me joy, then perhaps that was all it was meant to do. And I can pass that book on to someone who may get joy from reading it. I hope you enjoyed the burning of Manderly Candle. That I sent your way. Thanks for all you did. Oh, we really did.

[Bria Grant]

We did. It's in my office still. It's not all the way burnt, but it is. I, I light it. Smells amazing. Yeah, I love it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Fantastic. You want to read Sarah's wheelhouse in bold haunted houses. Sarah Glasser, after my own heart.

[Bria Grant]

Creepy people, strange governesses, true crime mysteries that take place during extreme weather. I think I started this monster book, monstrous book, and I think I. It was at a time where I felt like I couldn't finish it, but maybe I'll go back to it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I've heard it's very, very good.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. All right. I need to, I need to go back to this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com. if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month, you can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes and a couple of quick bookmarks from us. First off, we let you know our book is back in stock.

[Bria Grant]

Finally, we.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I know it took a really long time. We. The book sold out basically before the book even was released, which was very exciting for us. And it took a really long time to get another print run of it, but we got it. It's back in [e-mail] so if you want to support us improve your reading life. It is. It's a book journal, but it's not dated in any way. So it's not like, you know, you're like, oh, I gotta wait for January to roll back around. You can start this bad boy any day and any month of the year. It's going to improve your reading life. It is a, it's. You can track your reading, but there's also essays and workbook pages designed by Brian I to get the guilt and shame and problems out of your reading life. Or if maybe if you have somebody in your life who you want to get into reading, who's never tracked their reading before, this is the thing to get them. All right? And also, just a reminder, folks, last call for votes on our. Our Glasser Book Club. Right now. I'm not going to tell. I don't want to influence anything.

[Bria Grant]

There's some disagreements happening about it. Right?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we, we have a tie for top two. The top. There's two picks and they're. They are tied. So those, they're the ones that. Well, there's. There's a, there's a top three that is very popular, but the top two are Tied right now. Okay, so email in your votes for what you want to do for a Glasser book club.

[Bria Grant]

And did you not say so people can pick between them?

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, I don't want to influence.

[Bria Grant]

You don't influence it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't want to influence it. So, yeah, email us@reading glassespodcast gmail.com. and before we talk about problems with book marketing, we're going to take a quick break. Right.

[Alan McLeod]

Hey, I'm Alan McLeod, the host of Walking about and I'm here with Adam.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Hello.

[Alan McLeod]

You know, as a member of the month, you're the member of the month. You'll be getting a $25 gift card to the maximum fund store.

[Sophie]

Holy moly.

[Alan McLeod]

Oh, yeah, I can't wait. Thank you so much for supporting this show and the network.

[Sophie]

Happy to do it.

[Alan McLeod]

What made you decide to become a member?

[Sophie]

I just said, you know, these people give me so much entertainment and joy and fun in my life. I gotta, I gotta support them somehow. The outpouring of love and support that these folks, I mean, they made me maximum fun member of the month, for crying out loud. If you want this stuff to keep going, then support it.

[Alan McLeod]

Well, so nice to meet you, Adam.

[Sophie]

Thank you very much everybody. Keep up the good work. I mean it. I'm not just blowing smoke.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Become a Max Fund member [e-mail] join. This week we're talking about book marketing. Has it become unreliable? How can you find books if you don't trust the marketing around them? Is there a secret book genre code? We are getting into it. So today's episode was inspired by Julia who wrote in to say hi brand Mallory. Lately my sister in law and I have been complaining to each other about bad book marketing. We've been trying out cozy fantasy lately to decide if we like the genre. But we keep getting interrupted by books that are labeled as cozy but are not really cozy at all. These books have violence on the page and pretty dark undertones. Sometimes it seems the actual definition publishers are using for cozy fantasy is any fantasy that has personal stakes rather than epic ones. I've seen at least one author express feeling like their book got labeled as cozy inappropriately. It's also not just cozy fantasy. It seems like romantasy as a label is getting thrown around anytime there's a whiff of romance in a fantasy with a female main character. That said, I do recognize that there aren't hard and fast rules for these labels, but it's still a bit jarring to pick up something you think will be cozy and Then encounter on the page violence. Any tips for spotting marketing that may be mismatched with what's actually going on in the book? As authors, have you ever had your books marketed in a way that you didn't agree with? Thank you both for being so awesome. I wish everyone talked about reading the way you do. Your philosophy on reading is generous, kind and open, and it's contagious. Oh, I love that. Thank you. You want to read Julia's Wheelhouse before we get into this question?

[Adam]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

Women centered fantasy. Windswept and stormy seaside romances with characters aged 30 plus, lyrical nature writing, happy marriages, bards as main characters, and women adventurers, especially scientists.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, so before we get into it, is this something you've noticed personally?

[Bria Grant]

Well, a little bit. It's something we've talked about on the. In fact, you had a PSA about it last week.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it's become a thing.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, like that. Cozy location does not equal cozy. Fantasy murders can happen in coffee shops all the time and in books. They do happen in books all the time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, they do. Coffee shops are dangerous places. If you're. If. Especially if you're in a small little town, that coffee shop has a pun in its name.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Be careful.

[Bria Grant]

Be careful. Yes, that's true. Gosh, that's the most dangerous place there is.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it really is.

[Bria Grant]

But you've noticed it quite a bit.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it's something I've been seeing a lot. So, like. And it's. I think it is getting worse. It's really. Any term that gets buzzy is going to get hugely overused. Cozy and romanticy. As Julia pointed out, they're the two buzziest terms right now in the genre world. But this is. This. It's gonna. Whatever is the next buzzy term. It's gonna happen with that. You know, I mentioned on an earlier episode that a lot of publishers have muddled the word cozy with low stakes.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And they're not the same thing. As Julia pointed out, it's very frustrating. Cozy has a very specific, long standing definition in the genre world with either mysteries or romance books. This also happens with comps a lot. I've complained on the show before about this. Like any book that gets massively successful, it's going to be way over comped. Something that drives me bonkers is so many haunted house books get unwarranted Shirley Jackson comparisons. They're like, oh, there's a ghost in there. Gotta be Shirley Jackson. And I'm like, that's not what Haunting of Hill House is. About.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like, so remember when Gone Girl came out and every single thriller was Gone Girl meets whatever.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Girl on the Train.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. It was like woman in the thing. They even made a Netflix spoof about how many.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it was like woman in the. Woman in the noun.

[Bria Grant]

Like girl. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's just how book marketing is. But before we get into it, has this ever happened to us?

[Bria Grant]

I haven't written enough to worry about this, I think.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But does it happen with your movies?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, movie wise, yes. Like, I get lumped into categories that really surprise me. I mean, well, 12 hour shift, technically probably not a horror movie. Technically probably a dark comedy. But people lump it into horror, which I don't mind.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think it's because it's you. So people just. And like there's horror. I mean, I guess it's horror like adjacent for sure.

[Bria Grant]

But there was. The one that really irked me is torn hearts got lumped in with hagsploitation, which is term. Okay. At the time I did not like this term because I just. I don't like the word. I think it's rude. I think it's very rude. But then some people who are big hag exploitation fans like, kind of talk to me about it and they were like, it's just about, you know, when it has a central female character who's older, who is kicking ass or is a bad guy or whatever. But to me, I'm sort of like, I don't know, I don't like the term. Like to me that was. It's a dark thriller. Yeah, that's a thriller. You know, also it's like a one location dark thriller.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

And I don't love the term. And I never. If someone have been like, oh, it's exploitation, I would have been like, no, like, because. Because I think the word hag to me implies us like a certain looking type woman. And I had the most glamorous woman you could ever imagine in my movie. And so I felt like that was just like a weird term for it. So I didn't like that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

And anytime anyone would bring it up, I'd be like, yeah, I don't really see it that way. What about you? Is this happening to you?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah. I mean, as yeah, Julius Julia pointed out, author, we have absolutely no control over how our books are marketed. It's like a. It's a new surprise to me every time I write a book and to see what it's going to be categorized as. Six years later, I'm still really grumpy that Barnes and Noble decided to stick lady from the Black Lagoon in the film book section. It's not in history. It's not in women's history. It's not in biography, which kind of bothers me. The thing is, though, and it's very hard to remember this when you're an author, it does come from a good place. Like bookstores and publishers are trying to sell books. That's the thing. They are trying. They genuinely think that this is the best place to make that book as successful as it can be. They're not trying to trick readers. They're not trying to punish authors. They really think that if they stretch the definition a little and slap the buzziest term on a book, it will help the book find its audience. But it is annoying for readers, it's annoying for authors. And we just don't really. Every once in a while, there was something girly. Drinks got put into some category on Amazon. I don't remember what it was, but I do remember I was like, I gotta push back on this. And I did.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But a lot of authors don't get that luxury. And it's just. It could be frustrating. All right, so for speaking of dealing with it as readers, how do we avoid this? Or is there. Can it be avoided?

[Bria Grant]

Oh, man. I think it's so hard. Especially. Especially with Romantasy right now.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Everything is romantic. Everything's romantic.

[Bria Grant]

Publishers could label avocados romanticity. They'd be like, these are romant fantasy. You should buy them. They'd be like, these. This stapler. It's Romantasy. It's a romantic stapler. Every song. Buy this album. These songs are Romantasy. I think, unfortunately, you have to read the reviews.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yep.

[Bria Grant]

You have to read the reviews. And not just what is on the back. Not just. And not just the blurbs. The blurbs may be helpful, but you need to find out what that book is about.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Blurbs might be going away soon.

[Bria Grant]

Blurbs might be going away soon?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. What are you talking about? Oh, man. We should do an episode on this. But Simon and Schuster, the publisher, announced they were going to stop doing blurbs.

[Bria Grant]

Why?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Side tangent. But maybe readers will find this interesting.

[Bria Grant]

Because this is very interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is a big thing that's happening with authors right now. So blurbs are hard.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They're especially because when you sell a book, something that you are selling to the publisher is not just your book, but it is you as a person and your connection. You are literally required to be like, these are authors that I know. These are connections that I have. This is platforms that I have. And because for a really, like a big part of selling your book was getting blurbs from other authors and a lot of authors have pushed back. That's like the. And I've talked about this on the show before, where the authors who need the blurbs the most are the ones who have the hardest time with it because they're debut authors. They don't know a lot of people. Like, a lot of people go get MFAs and go to go. I was gonna go to author school, go to college to network and meet and like get an author as your teacher so you could maybe have them blurb your book. But for authors like me who did not go to college for writing, it's really hard.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And so a lot of authors have push back and. And then publishers have kind of done some research to be like, are blurbs selling books? Like we've. We've done. We did an episode about this a really long time ago. But I don't. Blurbs don't sell books. To me, it really. A blurb tells me more about what kind of book it is. If I'm like, oh, Helen Oyemi and Kelly Link have both. Both blurbed this. This is probably weird in some way. Oh, Paul Trembley blurbed this. Probably horary. But I don't think it's. I'm not buying a book.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that's interesting because it is sort of a gatekeeping sort of thing where you have to know these people.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I mean, sometimes you don't. I definitely have had blurbs from authors that we've just sent it to them with a hope and a prayer. And they really loved it. Amy Stewart gave me my dream blurb for Girly Drinks. Patton Oswald. Like some people, they don't know you at all. And they're just like, I loved this book. I just randomly picked it up. But it's a kind of a lottery, you know, and it's as an author who gets asked to blurb things all the time, it is a lot of it is. It's a lot of work.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, it's a lot of work.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So Simon and Schuster announced they're not going to do authors, so we're not going to maybe. And I would not be surprised if other publishers follow suit because everyone's trying to figure out how to sell books and it's hard for authors. So we might not even have have blurbs to go off of at some point.

[Bria Grant]

Well, you don't have to read them. My don't Circling back, I think read the. Read reviews, read reviews, go on whatever website you use. StoryGraph, Goodreads, whatever. Because I think there's all. There's things that we talk about all the time that, like, this is actually kind of romantic and. But it's labeled as Romantasy. But it's got space and gadgets and it's like, oh, it's just. That's a. If you go and read what it's about, you're like, no, this is science fiction.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

What's your first bit of advice?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I. I agree. It's never bad to do a little book background check. Something that's also good that I was going to say is check the tags. Oh, like what people? What. Not what the publisher is tagging it as, but what users are tagging it as on storygraph and Goodreads. Because that really helps me. And that's. That's. It's very quick to be like, oh, is this book queer? Is this book cozy? Like, what is it? Those tags will really help. Readers will say loud and clear whether a book is being mismarketed. There's another thing you could check the reviews for is that people will say, hey, this book is being marketed as this. There was some book that I was looking at recently that we got sent that is labeled as cozy. And people in the reviews were like, this is not cozy. It's also. This is especially good if you have content warnings that you're trying to avoid. For example, a cozy book about snakes would not be cozy for me.

[Bria Grant]

Not cozy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Extremely not cozy.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. I would also ask friends who read the genres. Something I've been doing for our other show is asking folks who read more romance than I do, because I just don't. I'm not that familiar with the genre. I'm not. I just haven't read that much romance. And I ask them how spicy it is and they are really helpful. Ask your pals if they love cozy, if they love romantasy, and say, hey, is this a good romantasy book? Do. Have you read this one? Because people who are like, really into one genre, which you can find those people like my friend. Well, we have. We have our smut friend who has read every other.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. Our top secret smut correspondent, Robin.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But my.

[Bria Grant]

Also my friend Brooke reads a ton of romance and so I'm like, have you read this one? I should go, oh, yeah, I read that one. I'll be like, is it on the page? Is it what? You know, like. And they usually remember or they'll be like, oh yeah. And also you'll get a little review, which is great. They'll be like, oh yeah, worth reading or not worth reading or whatever. But they're going to be able to tell you whether or not it actually falls into that category. Because there have been ones where, you know, I'll ask them and they're like, it's not actually really a romance book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's not really an erotic. Well, it's like, remember when you made a fool of death with your beauty came out because it's being. It was maybe marketed as a romance book, but it wasn't a romance. Especially readers are having a hard time with this because some of this stuff, like a romance book has a very specific structure.

[Bria Grant]

Right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That readers are expecting. And when you're marketing something as a romance and it doesn't have that structure, it doesn't have a happily ever after or happily for now, like readers are gonna, are gonna get understandably, very grumpy about it.

[Bria Grant]

Yep, yep, yep. That's so true. What else?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, also, if you are looking for like, you are looking for that specific type of book, you're looking for something cozy. Do your research beforehand and like come to a bookstore with stuff you already know is cozy. That is like tried and true Book riot, for example, they are always doing lists of genres and sub genres, which is really, really great. That way, again, if you're looking for something specific you already know, you won't have to like pick up a book and like do a bunch of Google searching in the bookstore. You will, you will pre. Armed with that knowledge, you won't be at the mercy of the jacket copy. And I do want to say before we end this segment, that's my new book, the Mercy of the jacket Copy. I do want to say, folks, and again, I, it is, this is very annoying and it is. You are very justified at being irritated by it. I get irritated by it. But again, you have to remember that this is publishers trying to sell.

[Bria Grant]

Sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Books. Publishing is a business. They're trying to get you to sell these books. And in their mind. And I've had like, I've been, I've been part of these conversations. I know author, I've talked to authors who are having these conversations with their publicists. A lot of the thinking is that like, well, this thing is close enough to this other thing where if we can get somebody to. They're just trying to get you to pick up that book. Of course. And especially publicists and marketing people and authors are struggling so hard Right now. It is so hard to sell a book.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Authors.

[Bria Grant]

And they know what you're reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

They know what you're. They're like, cozy is what you're. They know what you're reading. They see when you're awake. They know if you've read romantic book Santas.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They know that going viral on Tick Tock sells books, but they don't know how to make a book go viral on Tick Tock. Twitter is completely useless now. Instagram is completely useless. Anytime. If I am posting any, if I post a selfie, thousands of people see it. If I post anything about my book, maybe a couple hundred people will see it.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And that's why authors are always trying to find ways to reword things or, like, put zeros for. For O's so the algorithm doesn't pick it up, but it picks it up anyway. It is so frustrating. I have so many, I have other friends who have had breakdowns over this. It makes authors cry. All of the things that worked just a couple of years ago don't work anymore. We don't know what we're doing. Blurbs are going away. It just feel. It's so frustrating. So, like, don't take out the frustration on the authors. I know, like, Julia has the right idea that, like, this is not author's fault. They're trying so hard to get you to pick up their books.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So until things, I, I, I'm hoping that at some point in the future, it's going to even out a little bit and maybe, like, a new social media app will come out that's good for selling books and it'll help people. But for right now, authors and publishers are scrambling, and so try to just funnel your frustration into some book research, and that's the way to do it. But you, you are, you are not. None of you are losing your minds. This is frustrating and annoying, and it's happening all of the time.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So, yeah, it's. It's rough out there, folks.

[Bria Grant]

It is. It is. You're not imagining it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, so send your thoughts on book marketing to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. before we solve a book tech problem, we're going to take a quick break.

[Adam]

Reading Glasses is brought to you in part this week by Green Chef. Something about summer makes you just want to feel your best. So what better time to create healthy meal habits that last? Yeah, Summer. That's the best time. What about a time to get Green Chef the number one meal kit for clean eating? Y' all have heard us Talk about Green Chef. But in case you've been living under a rock, Green Chef makes it easy to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying summer and with their new heat and eat meals. Enjoy a delicious and wholesome meal in just three minutes. Green Chef's recipes feature fresh, organic, seasonal produce and 100 responsibly sourced proteins to help you feel your best. Green Chef makes it easy to find meals that fit your lifestyle. Pick from Mediterranean, gluten free, plant based and protein heavy, even gut and brain health and calorie. Smart choices too. Y' all know we really like Green Chef. I love knowing what I'm gonna make when I come home at the end of the day when I've had a long day someday. Let's, let's be honest. Some days I work at home and I still want to know what I need to make at the end of that long day. And there's all sorts of great ways to make stuff. With Green Chef.

[Bria Grant]

I like to eat a plant based.

[Adam]

Diet and they are plant based friendly, which is nice. It is very nice to have some nice plant based meal that has stuff that like, I wouldn't normally think to put in to a meal, like really good vegetables. Stuff I wouldn't necessarily go and buy at the store.

[Bria Grant]

But they show you, like, oh, here's.

[Adam]

How you make something with like say radishes or something. I am never cooking with radishes, but when they come in my Green Chef box, guess what? I am. So make this summer your healthiest yet with Green chef. Head to greenchef.com 50glasses and use code 50glasses to get 50% off your first month. That's 20% off for two months with free shipping. That's code [e-mail] 50glasses, 50glasses.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Time to look at some book tech. Advances in bookish technology. This week we're solving a book tech problem from Sophie. Sophie writes in to say, hi, Mallory and Bria. The biggest difference between Mallory and me is that it brings me lots of joy to loan the books in my library to my friends. I am not like that.

[Bria Grant]

I like the idea that maybe we see you two next to each other and we're like, wow, that's the same person. It's just do, do do a duplicate of you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Sophie's covered in tattoos and you're like, I don't know who this is, but oh, that person looks like they're really excited to loan out their books. Can't be Mallory. I will say this is so, you know, I Don't loan my books out. And I loan. HWB has a few of my books and I'm like, I think I'm just gonna go get them and bring them back. He hasn't started reading them yet.

[Bria Grant]

Hope he doesn't listen to this show.

[Mallory O'Meara]

He does not, but I've told him this. I was like, you gotta give my. Give me those books back. Yeah, sorry. But Sophie's different for me. Sophie says, I love book sharing because it gives me opportunities to share my favorite books with my favorite people and better understand my friends reading tastes. I recently realized it would be fun to request that everyone who borrows my books leave their mark in some way by signing their name and a message. But so cute.

[Bria Grant]

I love it. It's so cute.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But it is. Sophie and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sophie says, but I can't decide on how to best formalize this process. I had the idea of buying library checkout cards and gluing them on the inside cover, but I want more personalization than just writing your name. My other thought is simply asking people to write a message somewhere inside the book that can be as short or long as they want. But that might be too open ended. I can't think of an in between. As bookish podcasters with a fan base that loves rules, I'm very excited to hear your ideas. You want to read Sophie's Wheelhouse?

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Queer memoir, literary fiction and non fiction, dystopian and speculative fiction, weird short stories, novels written by poets, and exploration of mother slash daughter relationship.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, Bria, what do you think?

[Bria Grant]

First of all, I think it's so cute.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do think this is very cute. It's one of those things where like, sometimes I see like something on the Internet and I'm like, that's so cute. I would never do it. Yeah, but that is very cute.

[Bria Grant]

It's so cute. I had a friend that had a. A library DVDs and I had a little library card for it, which was really nice. Nice. Mallory's a great idea. So I'm gonna build on that after this. But also, if you want to do something easy, you could just write lint too. If someone is thinking about doing this at home and you don't want to go through all this trouble, you could just do lint two on the front and, and then like the date of the person and their name and I think that's really nice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That is cute.

[Bria Grant]

But you have a great idea.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So instead of a library checkout card, what if you glued A checkout card sleeve, like that little checkout card pocket, and you left blank cards or bookmarks inside.

[Bria Grant]

I like it because I think we.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Reviewed this before on the show a while ago, but there's so many places that sell. Review bookmarks. They're like. They're a bookmark size of a bookmark, but it has like a form that's like title of the book, star rating, favorite quotes, slots. You could have your friends fill it out and sign it and stick it back in the sleeve for you or your future friends to read when they open the book. I love this, but you're right. I would never, ever do this. Sounds fun for you, though. Love it. For Sophie.

[Bria Grant]

I and Sophie, just to build on that, you could go full bookstore and you could have. If someone really loved the book, have them do a little, like a suggestion card, like a recommendation card.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like a little shelf talker, but for a book. But for spine talker.

[Bria Grant]

No, no. Like put. Put it on her shelf. So then when someone's looking through her library to borrow something, it's like a full. It's like a bookstore where someone can be like, hey. Or, you know, like, so they can. Yes, they can read what people wrote on the inside, but if someone really liked it, they could put something on the outside and, like, make people pick up a book. They're like, oh, I want this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That would be such a.

[Bria Grant]

Like, yeah. If they're like, oh, severance, this is such a great book. Here's why. And they put a little shelf talker on there.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That is so cute. That would be adorable to have more.

[Bria Grant]

Trouble than you want to do, Sophie, but you are talking.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But it is adorable having a shelf in your house. That's like, from. From all your friends, their favorite books. Again, I would never even my. My own beloved boyfriend, hwb. I'm like, you've had that book for too long.

[Bria Grant]

Give it back.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Give it back. I love this, though. So if you have ideas for Sophie or if ideas for book tech you want us to test out or a book tech problem you want us to solve, send it to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. now let's answer a recommendation request from one of our listeners. Paris writes in to say, dear Brian Mallory, thank you for your wonderful podcast. I have recommendation request for a wheelhouse item that I've been trying to figure out for a while now. It seems to me that a lot of stories have the trope of dads needing to strike out on an adventure to help their families, but not a lot of moms get to go on adventures. There are more stories about stressed out moms or silently and bravely persevering moms, which is fine, but not what I'm here for. Strangely, the best examples I can think of for the story I'm looking for are anthropomorphic animals.

[Bria Grant]

Amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Maybe because about 50 of the books I read are allowed to my children. Can you help me with examples of human moms going on adventures? If it helps. My other wheelhouse items include books with lots of walking or running, I. E. Woman on a Journey on Foot, Magical Realism, cli Fi, and Immigrant stories. Bria, what do you think Paris should read?

[Bria Grant]

By the way, this is so up. It's up that there are more books like this. You're right. Searched for this and thought about it for a really long time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I did feel bad when I took my recommendation request because I was like, oh, this is what Bria would have recommended.

[Bria Grant]

You have a really good one, though. That's an excellent, excellent recommendation fulfillment. And, you know, here's why. Okay. Patriarchy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Patriarchy starts again.

[Bria Grant]

Patriarchy. Because here. Okay, listen.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's because of the idea of a woman leaving her home.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. With children. They're like, you're a bad mom. Then it's like, you got it. Oh, he needs a little go on adventure. And I brought this up to a few people because I was thinking about this a lot, and everyone was like, oh, right. There's not a lot of. It is about stressed out moms who stay at home who are, you know, up in the middle of the night with their kids or, you know, doing dishes. And then the men are like, he just went on a. He went to the forest for like three weeks and found himself or something. We just don't have that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No mom's moms. You deserve an adventure.

[Bria Grant]

You deserve an adventure. I found a couple, but most of them, they. None of them really fit your wheelhouse, by the way. But the one I'm gonna recommend, which I think you'll like, is only a half journey, but it's All Fours by Miranda July.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Because she does. She sets out to go on a journey. She has a child at home, and she's like, she's just gonna drive to New York, but she doesn't make it very far. And then she ends up camping out. Not camp, not literally, but she ends up staying at this hotel not that far from where she's from. And, like, kind of starts living this whole different life for a little while. You know, it's a. It's a Very contemplative book. It's a very stressful book at times. She is on an emotional journey, and she does physically go from one place to another place. But I do think it fulfills, like, the mom going on some sort of journey. It's just kind of only a half journey. But the whole thing is she's gonna make the journey, but she doesn't ever quite.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I make it. I think it still counts.

[Bria Grant]

What about you?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, well, as long as Paris is good with sailing instead of walking. The adventures of Amina El Sarafi works for this.

[Bria Grant]

There's a lot of. There's a lot of walking in this, too.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, there's walking, there's going to various, like, spots, you know, once she gets off the boat.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, yeah. But she's. It's not a journey on foot. No feet are involved, which is a sentence I don't like. But there's. It's mostly sailing anyway. So it's about this retired pirate and a lot of things I don't. It's not mentioned a lot when people talk about this book. That's the thing. It's like, you know, this book is a fun pirate adventure, but it's, you know, about this. This woman, she's a retired pirate. She's trying to sell. Settle into that, like, peaceful mom life. But part of the reason why she's. She. It's like she's this retired pirate, and she gets the band back together for one last lucrative adventure, but she wants to do this adventure to get money for her family. That. And, like, I feel like that's not in the copy a lot. It's not something that's talked about a lot. You know, she wants to do it because it will secure her family's future if she can do this. This last adventure. Although it becomes very quickly clear that this is going to be a much more dangerous mission than she originally intended. It's definitely an adventure book, which I guess you can figure out from the title. But I think. I think this fits. But, yeah, please, let's put the call out for more mom adventure books that.

[Bria Grant]

Are not animals going on adventures.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes, please.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Moms can adventure, too.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Moms can adventure, too. And honestly, moms should adventure.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I think moms are great, but who's gonna watch the kids? And it's like the dad. The dad or. You don't ask that question when the other. When this is happening. The opposite.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Exactly. And think about it. Mom's on an adventure. You're gonna have snacks, Max.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're going to be organized. You're going to have sunscreen.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're not going to be, you're not going to be suffering.

[Bria Grant]

That's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, so I'm recommending the Adventures of Amina el Sarafi by S.A. chakraborty.

[Bria Grant]

And I am recommending All Fours by Miranda July.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So if you want us to answer your recommendation request under reading glasses podcast gmail.com as always want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember folks, it's July, it's hot. You need a tank top. You need a shirt that you can cut into a crop top shop. Go to our Board March store. There's so much fun stuff. There's totes, there's shirts, there's stickers. I just got complimented the other day on my, my other car as a TBR list. Nice car magnet. And I was like, that's my own merch. Which is, was a little embarrassing. But I, I do love, I do love that sticker and it's on our Void March store. There's a link in the show notes. Check it out. And if you like the show folks, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. Remember, we're going to do something exciting when we hit 2000 reviews on Apple Podcasts. We're already kicking around ideas for it and we're getting close. So if you use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, open up that mobile app, give us a review. We would love it. It really warms our hearts but also it does help the show. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading. Maximum Fun. A worker owned network of artist owned shows supported directly by you.