Paperback advance reader copies were once sent to critics and booksellers to secure review attention and favorable retail placement. More recently, they have been showing up in the hands of actors and influencers, tucked into designer totes, perched on beach chairs, or featured on Instagram Stories shot in Montauk, resting on linen-covered laps beside sweating glasses of wine. What used to be industry ephemera has become the status galley, a new form of cultural currency.
“I think that the human condition is to show that you have something before someone else, especially if it’s desirable,” says Chris Black, the co-host of the popular podcast How Long Gone. “But I also think, with books, it makes you seemingly smart or at least look smart. And that’s in addition to being ahead of the curve, which I think is always something we’re striving for.”