“The death of the American book review, the stake driven through its heart during these past three decades, is one of the great underreported stories of our time.” – Dwight Garner, “Just Let Me Live,” from a review of The Very Heart of It by Thomas Mallon, Sunday New York Times Book Review, July 6, 2025.
Here’s the first paragraph of a message sent to the Associated Press’s book reviewers a few days ago:
“Dear AP book reviewers,
I am writing to share that the AP is ending its weekly book reviews, beginning Sept. 1. This was a difficult decision but one made after a thorough review of AP’s story offerings and what is being most read on our website and mobile apps as well as what customers are using. Unfortunately, the audience for book reviews is relatively low and we can no longer sustain the time it takes to plan, coordinate, write and edit reviews.”
No one reads book reviews?? Or, to quote the above paragraph, “the audience for book reviews is relatively low”—in comparison with which audience? Or audiences?
This message does not include any substantial data to back it up. A “thorough review” should show statistics like website visitor engagement, how many views a piece of content receives, and how long users stay on a piece of content. The people who’ve been writing book reviews for the AP deserve at least that.
And what about the idea of supporting a literary form that might have a small, but passionate audience (such as poetry)? An organization like the AP helps drive culture forward, but without book reviews, it’s a poorer offering. I was saddened when American Poets, the journal of the Academy of American Poets, ended the “Books Noted” section, which contained micro-reviews of recently published poetry books, in 2021. I did not renew my subscription in 2022.
The letter goes on to thank someone named Mark, no last name, “who has edited the reviews and incorporated best practices for trying to get reviews to appear in search results and get as many readers as possible.” So I guess we can blame this poor guy for not getting more readers for those reviews you worked so hard on.
As a book reviewer myself, I can attest to how many hours go into writing reviews. First, you have to choose the book, or agree to a book an editor chooses for you. Then you must read it, of course, many times, taking notes, noting themes, and looking for those juicy bits you can share with readers. This is all before the actual writing of the review, which can take anywhere from hours to days. Then, like all writing, it needs some time in the drawer before you pull it out and edit it, re-read it again and again, edit again, and finally send it off. If you did a good job, you won’t have too many corrections from your editor.
And for all of this work, you get paid—a little. Freelance book reviewers don’t make a lot of money. It’s a labor of (mostly) love.
The letter from the AP ends with this platitude: “Thank you again for your diligence and work on reviews. I wish you all the best.” Bye bye, book reviewers! Don’t let the door hit you in the rear on your way out.
It’s a sad day for book reviewers, book authors, and readers.
You can read the whole letter here.
Wow!