ARC, DNF, Backlist, Canon. Do these terms sound Greek to you?
I was a part of Book Twitter long before I began book blogging in 2019. I was aware of terms such as TBR and DNF but some did confuse me. All thanks to the ladies at Book Dragons India with Nandini at the helm, I was quickly brought up to speed with the terminology.
Paying it forward, today I share some bookish terms every book lover must know. If you are a new book reviewer overwhelmed with the jargon or a seasoned one looking to brush up on your vocabulary, I am sure these terms will help you enhance your book blogging.
ARC / eARC
Advanced Review Copy. An unfinished copy of the book that helps both create a buzz before its release and to gain feedback before the finalized copies are published. Blog tours include ARCs sent to reviewers. The digital versions of ARCs are eARCs.
Backlist
A list of older books available from the publisher. It may also refer to books by an author published prior to the new release. There is no set time frame but the books can be six months to a year old or more.
Book Tour / Blog Tour
A promotional tour conducted by the publisher, book marketer, or author to promote an upcoming or newly released book. The blog tour is a virtual book tour along the same lines where book reviewers are invited to read and promote the book on their blog, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok. Similar to the book tour, it can include a meet and greet, interviews, spotlights, and giveaways.
Book Haul
A book haul is a book post featuring recently purchased books. It generally refers to a large number of books, at least five or more.
Unhaul
Unhaul is an activity or a book post featuring books that the reader wants to sell or give away. An excellent way to share the love of books and also make way for more.
Buddy Read
A buddy read is when two or more readers decide to read the book at the same time and discuss it along the way. Consider it a smaller and more intimate version of a book club.
Canon
The original source, canon is a term used to signify the original works of a writer who created the characters over those works using the same characters and settings. True to its name, it is the yardstick. It can also refer to works representing a particular period. Pride and Prejudice is the most canonical Jane Austen novel.
CAWPILE
Characters, Atmosphere/Setting, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic/Relationships, Enjoyment. Created by the Booktuber Book Roast, the in-depth reviewing system is popular with both new and seasoned book reviewers.
DNF
Did not finish. It can be used as a noun, adjective, or verb. Simply put, you DNF a book you don’t wish to read anymore.
Mood Reader
A reader who picks books based on the current mood and is not limited to the TBR pile. I am an out-and-out mood reader and have at least 2-3 ongoing reads.
OwnVoices
An author from a marginalized group writing about their own community or experiences in comparison to an outsider. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is one of the most popular ownvoices books. Ownvoices can also refer to a reviewer. Most book promotions prefer ownvoices reviewers who can relate better to the narrative and also provide feedback.
POC
Person of color or People of color. It includes a person or people who are not Caucasian (or white).
BIPOC
Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Although it is incorrectly used interchangeably with POC, BIPOC primarily emphasizes the historic oppression of black and indigenous people.
POV
Point of view. It is the perspective chosen for the narration by the author. First-person refers to one or more characters and uses the pronoun “I”. Second-person involves the reader and uses the pronoun “you”. Third person is from the outsider’s lens and uses the pronouns “he, she, they”.
Readathon
A reading marathon that focuses on reading within a particular time frame. It is often limited to a day or two and around a particular theme. It can also include activities such as reading sprints, bookish games, and more. #IndianFictionReadathon hosted by @shalzmojo in 2021 was a great way to explore diverse Indian reads that I would not have come across otherwise.
RTC
Review to come. At times, the book blogger may prefer to only rate a book and review it at a later time. For the lack of time or otherwise. RTC is often a placeholder used at Goodreads.
Smut
Graphical description of the sexual act in a book. Not to be confused with erotica, it refers to the explicit content and not the genre. Fifty Shades of Grey is a smutty book whereas The Brown Sisters Series by Talia Hibbert has a lot of smut but also discusses disability, mental illness, and domestic abuse.
Street Team
In simple terms, a street team is a team of reviewers and book lovers who “hit the street” to promote a book or author. Most often volunteers, the street team helps create a buzz around the book from the cover reveal to the release. It also acts as a great sounding board to bounce off ideas for the author’s work in progress.
TBR
To Be Read. A physical or virtual bookshelf comprising books that one wants to read.
Trope
A trope is a tried and tested plot device or theme that is easily recognizable. Much similar to the “masala” in Bollywood movies. A book can have one or more tropes. Enemies to lovers and fake dating are some of the most popular romance tropes.
Wrap-up
Simply put, a reading wrap-up or update is a detailed overview of books read in a month, quarter, or year. It generally includes short reviews and ratings. And can also include upcoming reads.
I hope you are now well-versed with some of the book blogging terms. Stay tuned for the next part in the series where I will be sharing some more, particularly for book reviewers.
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Zariya Healings.
Image credit: Canva
May 25, 2023 @ 9:33 pm
Loved this post, Ritu. I was unaware of some of the above terms. Always good to know stuff centred around books and reading.
May 26, 2023 @ 12:56 pm
I loved the buddy read. I want to do that some day. Let’s see how it goes!
May 27, 2023 @ 12:46 pm
I am glad you brought me up-to-date with the book terms. I am a mood reader too, picking up what I like and I have 4 books lying mid-way! And I really don’t enjoy books with tropes. I enjoy reading for a unique voice, sometimes ownvoice.
May 27, 2023 @ 12:48 pm
OMG..I thought I chanced upon a page by Shashi Tharoor. I must say you have really added so many words to my vocabulary bank. Thank you for this very informative post on bookish terms, I was unaware of.
May 28, 2023 @ 12:49 pm
Thank you for this informative post Ritu… I was familiar with only some… some I hadn’t even heard about😛. Loved reading about all these terms.
May 28, 2023 @ 1:13 pm
Omg!! I was unaware of most of the terms. Thanks for this informative post. Now I can share this knowledge with my friends like a pro. 😄
May 28, 2023 @ 2:18 pm
Now thats some worth it information, something which I was not aware of for most of the terms
May 28, 2023 @ 3:38 pm
Despite being a voracious reader, there were many terms that I wasn’t acquainted with prior to your post. Now I have an interesting compilation to add to my vocabulary bank and to use more in parlance. I recently joined a book club and felt that not everyone got a chance to speak. There were just a handful who wanted to lead the club according to their way. For me, a buddy read works best. It’s informal, perhaps a good discussion around a book with a cup of chai in our hands. 😉
May 28, 2023 @ 5:56 pm
I know quite a few of these words thanks to you but some are new for me. I am interested in seeing what terms are you going to share next.
May 28, 2023 @ 7:21 pm
I LOVE this post, and I love CAWPILE the most!
May 28, 2023 @ 7:48 pm
Glad to read the list of terms which are integral part of the bookish world. CAWPILE is the one indicates my style of reviewing as I love presenting a book in a structured format as it highlights the key segments which a reader to know before picking for a read. There is one term Un Haul which I actually not in favour of untill and unless one donates or gifts to others against no monetory terms. I have witnessed and seen reviewers collecting copies free form review programs and then unhauling it to make some extra perks which hurts me as I find it as a mere insult to the hard work of the author. But donating to library or gifting to people I really appreciate this style of unhauling as that actually show the intention of reader to help spread awareness about the work and book of the author. Thank you so much Ritu for this wonderful list bookish terms.
May 28, 2023 @ 9:14 pm
Thanks for enriching my vocabulary! I knew few of them but learnt a lot! Love these kind of lists that is full of information!
May 28, 2023 @ 10:27 pm
that was super useful bcoz bloggers who do book reviews need them the most. RTC learnt one new term.
May 28, 2023 @ 10:31 pm
Just as the varietyin the books you read, there is so much variety in what you write. And it is such a delight to read. Keep writing, keep inspiring.
May 28, 2023 @ 11:26 pm
Wow Ritu, you taught me some new terms today and that too after I’ve been reading for so long! Cawpile sounds interesting and the best approach for review. I’m definitely a mood reader and often on a Readathon without participating in one bcoz of my obsessive way of reading.
May 29, 2023 @ 5:43 am
OMG! What a shocker! Here I am thinking I’m a book nerd when most of these words are foreign to me🤪 Knowing these terms though is great to know. I felt like an old lady learning gen-z’s terminology and acronyms for memes/ texting.
May 29, 2023 @ 11:00 am
This is like a ready reckoner for any book lover, I wasn’t myself aware of so many terms in this post. Thanks for sharing.
May 29, 2023 @ 11:00 am
Ah, I miss bookstagram. I learned all these terms only through it 🙂 I used to love readathons, buddy reads, showing off my book hauls, and even my TBRs. I really should get back to it soon. However, I confess, I didn’t know of CAWPILE and Canon! 🙂
May 29, 2023 @ 5:46 pm
I’m a book blogger from last 3 years so I’m familiar with all these term except for Canon and Cawpile. Thanks for introducing them to me through your post.
May 29, 2023 @ 6:03 pm
Great idea to collate this as it will be useful to ppl who are new to the online blogging or reading world. Infact some even I didn’t know….
May 30, 2023 @ 8:45 pm
As always a fabulous and well-researched post. Some terms I was aware of, but your posts enlightened me with so many new terms. I might confess though, the term CANON; I still didn’t quite get it. will research it a bit more.
June 2, 2023 @ 11:57 pm
Amazing post Ritu. You have penned down really nice words here. I was unaware of many words and good to know about these here from you. Thank you for this Informative post
August 11, 2023 @ 3:09 pm
Happy to see that I knew most of them and I’m glad I learnt about the few I didn’t know (like CAWPILE!)