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Some More Advice for Book Bloggers
If you haven’t already, please check out the first part of this ‘series’ by clicking here. Read it? Good, let’s get started on Part Two of my completely unplanned, irregularly scheduled series.
There’s lots of advice for bloggers out there, but very few of it applies to book bloggers. I know I was learning things on the fly as I started The Mad Reviewer and I want some resources to be available out there so not everyone has to learn while they’re going like I did. Here are some pieces of advice I really could have used:
1. Don’t obsess about free books and ARCs, especially when you’re just starting out.
Although I had no idea it existed until a month ago, there is apparently quite some envy and conflict among the book blogging community when it comes to getting review copies from publishers and ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies). Not because getting free books in exchange for reviews is controversial, but because people get jealous of reviewers who brag about all of the free stuff they get. They make it seem like all of us get sent dozens of books per month from publishers, which most of us don’t.
When you’re just starting out you need to focus on learning the technical aspects of blogging as well as improving your writing and connecting with other bloggers to build up your statistics. There is no reason for you to obsess over free books when you’re already doing all of these things. I mean, truly? Free books are awesome, but they’re not the be all, end all of book blogging. I’ve been around for almost a year and a half and I’ve been sent 3 books by publishers—and one of those was by accident.
Seriously people, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s nice when it happens, but if not it’s not the end of life as you know it and it certainly doesn’t mean you have a bad blog. Continue reading
The Mad Reviewer Challenge Check in
Since it’s Sunday and I’m far too tired/lazy to write a very deep or thoughtful post at the moment, I thought it would be a great time for a challenge check in. If you’re participating in The Mad Reviewer Reading/Reviewing Challenge, how far are you? 25%, 50%, finished? Since it’s almost June, the halfway point, you should probably be around 50%, give or take a few percentage points. Assuming you’re pacing yourself and not procrastinating until you begin a reading frenzy in December. If you’re not participating, there’s still time to join if you want to go for one of the lower levels (click here for more info).
As you guys can see from my progress bar, I’ve read and reviewed 65 books toward my goal of 104 books, making me roughly 63% done. No, I’m not counting the short stories or novellas I’ve reviewed since I know I’ll be reading and reviewing far more than 104 books this year. I can afford to be a little more picky, which is why I’m also keeping track of how many pages I’ll be reading for the challenge. (Thanks to Caleb Flanagan of 20four12 for that idea!)
So how’s the challenge going for you? If you’re not participating, how’s your reading/reviewing in general going this year?
Some Other Great Book Blogs (2)
Yes, for the second Saturday in a row I’m doing one of these. Why? Because I had to stay up very late (or very early in the morning) last night, completely not by choice. It’s a long story, so let’s just get into the article, shall we? Here are some other great book blogs you can read in the meantime, in no particular order:
Yes, they do promotions for authors, but they are clearly marked so and you’re under no obligation to read them. But Mark Lee has an awesome project going on here for indie and self-published authors and everyone will be able to find at least one book they’re interested in on the site. In addition to that, he hosts blog tours for authors and book bloggers can participate in his book club to earn points towards gift cards and other awesome prizes.
Not only is Scott a writer in his own right, but he also does book reviews for other writers. They’re always honest reviews and I’ve really found some gems there on his blog from the indie and self-published crowd. He reads a lot more mystery, crime and action/thriller books than I do, so go on and check his blog out!
Here is yet another person who reads and reviews far more romance than I would care to. Cary is also starting to do Free Book Fridays, in which she highlights some interesting books that you can download for free on Amazon, all with 4+ star ratings there.
Raya reviews not only a bit of YA, but adult fiction and classics as well. She has an overall great site and her reviews are very long and in-depth. Trust me, you’ll know all of her feelings about a book from her reviews! It makes me rather jealous that my feelings about a book can be summed up in (generally) 3-4 paragraphs.
James’ Reading List just happens to be one of the latest incarnations of James’ blog, which in the time I’ve been following him has changed from jameskennedybeijing to jameskennedymonash (his current domain) and now to james’ reading list with the second domain listed here. James reads a wide variety of fiction, mainly a lot of literary fiction and the occasional popular nonfiction book. His archives are huge, so if you’re looking to get lost in cyberspace for a day, this would be the place to add to your reading list!
Some Other Great Book Blogs
Yesterday was pretty hectic for me and today will be even worse, so instead of you guys flipping through my blog I’d like to recommend some other book blogs you might like. Some of them have different focuses than I do if you’re looking for something other than YA. Here are five book blog recommendations, in no particular order.
You may recognize the link from some of my guest posts and you’d be absolutely correct. Savindi has an amazing book blog of her own and occasionally blogs about her cooking attempts and general life observations. She reviews a lot heavier books than I do, so if you’re looking for something to stimulate your brain I’d recommend looking for books over there.
After a record-breaking month Kelley moved over to her own domain and I just couldn’t let her go so I bookmarked it. Another Novel Read is great if you’re looking for some reviews on mainstream YA right after release because I’m a cheapskate and usually refuse to buy hardcover books unless they’re used.
3. 20four12
Caleb’s been having a couple rough months so he hasn’t been blogging much, but he’s got huge archives where you can find reviews of everything sci-fi or fantasy related. If you love sci-fi 20four12 is a great blog for you because Caleb is into the hard science fiction I avoid (mainly because science never was my strong point).
Thomas is yet another fellow book blogger who reads way more literary fiction and nonfiction in a year than I will in a lifetime. He’s not afraid to tackle both classics and new favourites in the genre, but at the same time he reviews a huge amount of YA. the quiet voice is a great place for those of you who want to read both popular books and some books that are a little less mainstream, especially YA.
If you haven’t already checked it out, you need to read the crazy blog of that crazy author Diantha Jones. Not only is she one of my favourite authors, she writes very amusing book reviews on pretty much anything she wants. If you’re sort of a romantic, DJ’s Book Corner is perfect because Diantha reviews way more romance than I’d care to read in a lifetime.
There are so many great book blogs out there, but unfortunately due to time constraints I can only mention five of them. If you like what you see, please check it out. And if you weren’t mentioned this time, don’t fret: I’ll definitely be doing a post like this in the future.
Happy reading!
Some Advice for Book Bloggers
I’ve only been blogging about books for a year, so that makes me both qualified and unqualified to give advice about it. I figure I’m as qualified as most people out there when it comes to giving advice to random strangers on the internet, but please, take it with a grain of salt. There’s no way I can know your exact personality and set of circumstances, therefore this is more of an article with general guidelines rather than strict book blogging rules.
So why am I even writing this? Well, before I decided I would blog about books I went looking for advice specific to book bloggers. There was a shocking lack of it, especially for a newbie with virtually no knowledge of the industry and community. I don’t wish that feeling of flying by the seat of your pants on anyone, which is why I’ve compiled this article. Here are some bits of ‘wisdom’ I learned the hard way.
1. Be polite and flexible when you work with authors, but know when to put your foot down.
Being a book blogger who accepts indie and self-published submissions, I get to work one-on-one with a lot of authors. This is probably one of the best parts of my ‘job’ (aka volunteer work/hobby). However, there is one particular incident that I’m ashamed of and I want all new book bloggers to avoid.
A couple months into blogging I was sent a book by an author and gave it a not-so-great review initially. About 3/5 stars, if you’re curious. Since I let authors get hold of a copy of my reviews a week in advance of the publication date, this author asked if I could change the wording around a little bit to make it less ‘harsh’. She pressured me because she had spent the money to ship me a print copy of her book all the way up to Canada. I felt guilty about this and changed the wording and the rating so that it was a little less harsh, but never an outright lie.
This was a mistake I’ll always regret.
Honestly, being polite and accommodating is important when working with anyone (especially authors), but you have to know when to put your foot down. You have to set moral and ethical limits for yourself that you will not cross under any circumstances. I crossed that line once and vowed never to do it again; I’ve kept that vow. That is why I am always extremely open in reviews about when an author sends me a book in exchange for an honest review, whether it’s a print or ebook edition. And that is why I am telling all you new (and old) book bloggers out there that you need to stand up for your right to your opinion. It’s okay to give a mediocre, even negative review. What’s not okay is to lie. Don’t learn that the way I did. Continue reading