Save the Novel

A small, stubborn promise

No used
books
from living
authors.

Buying secondhand from a writer who is still writing doesn't pay them; buying new — from an indie bookstore when you can — does. The pledge is between you and your bookshelf.

The pledge, in full

I will not buy used books from authors who are still alive and still writing.

When I want a living author's work, I will buy it new — from an indie bookstore when I can, from anywhere when I cannot — so that the people writing now are paid for the work they are doing now.

Used books from authors no longer with us remain a gift. The pledge is for the living.

Click and a small confirmation appears on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere. No counter, no leaderboard, no backend. The pledge is yours to keep.

Letters from the road

One more thing

If a particular book once reordered how you read, we want to hear about it. We’re publishing reader stories now — a slow shelf, no padding, no fakes. Submissions are open.

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