Tagged: authors
The Ugly Side of Book Blogging: A Particularly Bad Example
What a coincidence it was that today I posted a discussion post about the ugly side of book blogging! You see, today I got a generic email from an author named Robin Wyatt Dunn. As per my usual policy, I sent links to my review policy (where it states that I am closed to reviews) and to “How to Alienate Book Reviewers“, in which I rant eloquently about generic emails.
Now, usually I don’t care how such authors reply to this. Usually they don’t reply at all. However, Robin Wyatt Dunn replied like this:
“Here for my answer to your answer: http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/whats-a-cheap-quick-and-painless-way-to-kill-yourself.189242754/”
Yes, I’ve saved the email from said author for future reference. Screenshots can be provided.
And yes, I was just told by an author to kill myself. Isn’t book blogging just wonderful?
[As a side note to anyone who might think about retaliating: Don’t. The best thing you can do is ignore this type of behaviour and the person behind it. The only reason I’m going public with this is to draw attention to this type of sick, immature behaviour.]
Discussion: The Ugly Side of Book Blogging
A lot of my readers here are book bloggers as well and as we know, book blogging isn’t all roses and sunshine. There are disputes with authors, jealousy within the community, pressure to write good reviews for publishers, etc. But overall, in my personal experience, I’d say that authors are the best and worst part of book blogging.
I have met some absolutely incredible people through my book blog that I never would have otherwise. You guys know who you are. At the same time, I have been subjected to nasty comments, author meltdowns (only in private emails so far) and generic emails by authors who think they’re entitled to a review without remembering basic courtesy. So yes, authors are the reason why I’m doing this and the reason why sometimes I feel like saying “screw it!” and not accepting review requests at all. (It’s very tempting at the moment, believe me.)
My question for my fellow bloggers is this: what’s the worst part of book blogging? What about the best part? Did you ever have an incident so nasty you almost considered giving up book blogging?
How to Write a Review Request
Sometimes I think things are so obvious that I couldn’t possibly need to write a tutorial on them. Review requests seem like basic common sense to me, but judging from the number of requests I’m still getting despite having closed submissions over a month ago shows that some authors have no idea what the heck they’re doing. So in my usual list format I’m going to go through the steps of writing a book review request email that won’t make reviewers want to punch you.
Credit: Eating Y.A. Books
Step #1: READ THE REVIEW POLICY!
Due to the generally family-friendly nature of this blog I am resisting the urge to swear to emphasize my point. Regardless, the first thing you should ever do when visiting a book review blog looking for a blogger to review your book is read their review policy. How do you find a review policy? Well, it’s either under its own tab at the top or side of the web page or is generally under FAQs. If it’s not under any of those, use the search bar. Once you find a reviewer’s policy, ask yourself these questions while reading it:
a) Is this reviewer open to submissions?
b) Is my book in the acceptable genre list?
c) Does my book meet any other requirements?
d) What other information do I need to collect in order to make a request? Continue reading
The Mad Reviewer is Closed to Submissions (Temporarily)
With so many requests coming in as well as my own not-so-great health, I’ve decided to close submissions for reviews from authors until the fall. This will give me more time to focus on my health, but also to catch up on those authors who have been waiting and waiting for months while I’ve only had time to process the numerous review requests I’ve received. If you got your request into me before 8:26am MST I’ll still process it.
There are, however, two exceptions for the closed submission policy:
1. If you’re an author who has a series and I’ve read your first book and liked it, you are free to submit your second book for review. If I like that, then your third book and so on and so on. This is so I don’t forget the characters’ names in a series, let alone half of the plot points before I get to finish it!
2. If you are a publisher contacting me to review an ARC or galley copy as long as it is a print copy I will process your request. This is because I usually have more time to read print copies.
For those of you wondering, I will likely be re-opening for business sometime in the fall.
My Interview with Carla J. Hanna
Carla J. Hanna is the self-published author of Starlet’s Web (and the rest of the Starlet series), a novel about a child actress who wants to get away from the Hollywood lifestyle of booze, drugs and sex. Read on to see our discussion about media messages, Hollywood and the dark side of publishing.
1. I’ve heard some interesting stories about the publishing industry from your comments here on the blog, but what would you say was your worst experience in the industry?
I was wiped out when I first learned that my coming-of-age fiction with romantic and spiritual elements had no commercial chance at being represented by a traditional publisher or widely read if I self-published. Every publishing expert told me that the teen coming-of-age market is too small to be profitable.
“Surely readers aren’t so shallow?” I protested. It wasn’t about what readers choose to read… Continue reading