Bookish Acronyms 101: A Book Community Beginner’s Guide to the Lingo!

Sometimes when I talk on Twitter (or even this blog!) I get questions about the abbreviations I use, so I thought I’d make this list to help newbie bloggers & book community members get acquainted with some of the terminology!

It’d be a total pain typing out the words “Young Adult” every time I write YA, and so I hope this list becomes a resource! If I remember any more acronyms, I’ll make sure to update this list with them.

Also, if you think I’m missing anything let me know! I’d love to add it on so this list is more comprehensive.

I really hope this is helpful, and totally do not hesitate to ask if you’re confused about an acronym’s definition! I’m here to help!

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NOTE: When talking in the book community, sometimes people use intentionally vague abbreviations (i.e. MM could be Marissa Meyer or Maura Milan or Morgan Matson) when talking about things they don’t want getting attention. For these, you’re just gonna have to ask or accept that you don’t know what they’re talking about.

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A

ARC – Advance Reader’s Copy or some variation of this (see also ARE)
ARE – Advance Reader’s Edition (see also ARC) (this is used a lot less frequently)

B

B&N or BN – Barnes and Noble
BAM – Books A Million
BD – Book Depository
BEA – Book Expo America
BFT – Books for Trade (typically a hashtag, but sometimes people want to be a little more discreet if criticizing the tag)
BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, & People of Color (see also POC & WOC)
BST – Buy Sell Trade

C

CP – Critique Partner
CR – Currently Reading
CW – Content Warning (see also TW)

D

DISO – Desperately In Search Of (see also ISO)
DM – Direct Message (see also PM)
DNF – Did Not Finish
DRC – Digital Review Copy (see also eARC)

E

eARC – e-Advance Reader’s Copy (like an eBook) (see also DRC)
EW – Edelweiss (a site one can obtain eARCs from) or Entertainment Weekly (the media outlet)

F

FC – Finished Copy
ff – Follow Friday (often used with a hashtag in front)
FRTC – Full Review to Come (see also RTC)

G

GR – Goodreads

H

HEA – Happily Ever After (commonly used in romance, see also HFN)
HFN – Happily For Now (commonly used in romance, see also HEA)
HC – Hardcover
HP – Harry Potter

I

ICYMI – In Case You Missed It
IG – Instagram
ISO – In Search Of (see also DISO)

J

JKR – J.K. Rowling

M

MC – Main Character
MG – Middle Grade

N

NA – New Adult
NG – Netgalley

O

OV – #OwnVoices

P

PB – Paperback
PM – Personal Message (see also DM)
PO – Post Office
POC – Person of Color (see also WOC & BIPOC)
PR – Public Relations (aka publicity)

R

rr – Reread (often used with a hashtag in front)
RTC – Review to Come (see also FRTC)

S

SJM – Sarah J Maas

T

TBR – To Be Read
TW – Trigger Warning (see also CW)

W

WL – Wishlist (typically in reference to #booksfortrade or #bookishwish)
WOC – Woman of Color (see also POC & BIPOC)
WP – WordPress (may also be used for Wattpad)

Y

YA – Young Adult
YALC – Young Adult Literature Convention (in the UK)
YARC – Year of the Asian Reading Challenge (which I co-host! find out more here!)
YT – YouTube

What acronyms am I missing from this list? I hope this helped!