Tagged: book bloggers
Discussion: Reading Slumps
Sometimes I get in a kind of mood where I don’t want to do any kind of reading. I’ll waste hours on the computer, binge watch Game of Thrones, do 2000 piece puzzles, anything just to keep from reading. Usually these moods come about after reading a particularly bad or difficult book, the kind that makes you feel like reading is work rather than pleasure. As a book blogger who generally writes 4 reviews per week this can present a problem.
When I’m in a reading slump I either do one of two things: wait for it to pass on its own or try to motivate myself by reading a book from my TBR pile that could be really good. Both of these strategies generally work for me but there have been times when they haven’t.
Have you guys ever had reading slumps? If so, what did you do to get out of the slump? And if you’re a book blogger, how do reading slumps affect your blogging?
Discussion: ARCs
For those of you who aren’t hip to the book community lingo, ARC stands for advanced reading copy. Basically, before books are published authors send out a certain number of copies to reviewers to generate hype for when the actual release date is. Bloggers seem to love them, publishers like giving them out to a certain extent and most self-published authors are eager to send them. But not everyone seems to like them.
From a blogger’s perspective I do like ARCs. It’s nice to get physical copies in the mail because, hey, free books. It’s also nice to get ebook ARCs from my favourite self-published authors because it’s very hard to wait until the actual release date for a book you’re excited for. Some bloggers say they feel pressure to get and review ARCs but personally I’ve never really felt that pressure. Maybe I just have too much of a “I don’t care what most people think” attitude.
What I want to know now is: If you’re an author, would you say there are substantial benefits to sending out ARCs to bloggers? What are some of the benefits? As a book blogger, do you feel pressure to seek out and review ARCs? Do you like the idea of ARCs in general?
Discussion: Being Open About Blogging Statistics
As you guys have obviously realized, I’m very open about my blogging statistics. I’ve been doing my monthly “The Best and Worst of…” series since September 2012, about 9 months after I first started blogging. I don’t think statistics are something to brag about or be embarrassed about. They simply are. Why I publicize them is mostly because I like to analyze them and hear other people’s thoughts and commentary on said analysis. It’s nice to share ideas about why some posts are more popular than others or why my views spike/drop in a particular month.
Another reason is because when I started blogging I was looking into what book blogging statistics typically looked like and came up with zero information. I want to help new bloggers have some more realistic expectations about how many hits they’re going to get in the beginning as well as how their monthly stats aren’t going to grow at a consistent rate.
With that said, not every blogger is as open about their statistics. Some are even more open about their statistics and go so far as to do fancy pie charts and graphs about their traffic. It all seems to come down to the individual, which makes sense. Some people like me are a little bit more focused on their stats than others. At the same time, there are people who don’t care about their stats at all. Neither approach is better than the other; they’re simply different.
What I want to know now is: Are you, as a blogger, open about your stats? Why or why not? Do you enjoy it when bloggers share their stats or do you think it’s more of a bragging thing? And, do you think bloggers in general should be more open about their stats?
Some Thoughts About Book Blogging & Statistics
I’ve had my own book blog for over two years and it’s actually taken me this long to come to the following conclusions:
1. Followers are way more important than daily views (generally).
On a more emotional level, it’s nice to know that currently more than 750 people enjoyed my blog enough to hit that follow button. But what I’ve found in my two years of blogging is that followers really are more important than daily views. Your average person stumbling across a blog isn’t going to leave a comment, but a follower might. Followers are the more engaged, active members of your blogging community and for me that’s why they’re more important than the number of daily hits I get.
Aside from that on a purely marketing standpoint, blog tour companies, authors and publishers seem to be far more concerned about follower statistics than daily hits. When signing up for blog tour companies I’ve only been asked once about daily hits (and I’ve signed up for 6 companies). And publishers/authors are generally not all that concerned about daily hits as long as you have a decent number of followers. I may only average 200 hits per day, but because of my 752 followers I get approved for a lot more review requests than I would if I had only 100 followers and 300+ hits per day.
2. Book reviews suck statistics-wise.
I’ve written nearly 500 book reviews but those are not what bring people to my blog. No, it’s my rants and articles that bring that most traffic. With season 4 of Game of Thrones coming up on April 6 my traffic has experienced an enormous spike because I’m suddenly getting nearly one hundred hits per day on my rant Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal. They’re not from people getting mad at the author for the initial ignorant article. They’re from people searching things like ‘map of westeros’ and ‘game of thrones women’. It’s sad to say, but for book bloggers, book reviews are not going to get you very far stats-wise.
3. Blog tours rarely boost traffic.
I haven’t actually taken place in many blog tours yet but I can say that the ones I have taken part in have done absolutely nothing to enhance my traffic. They’re a great promotional tool for authors to get their work out there and noticed in the blogosphere but for us bloggers they don’t really do much. Sure, the host-only giveaways are sometimes a great incentive as well as the fact that you’re getting more free books to read, but if you’re only in it to increase your stats you’d be better off writing a book review.
That’s not to say that blog tours don’t benefit bloggers as well. They’re good at helping you find awesome new authors. Thanks to blog tours I have some new favourite books in Andromeda’s Fall by Abigail Owen and The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose. So if you’re not a big statistics fanatic, blog tours can be very beneficial by bringing books you otherwise never would have heard of to your attention.
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If I had to give any advice from this article I’d say to my fellow book bloggers: don’t worry too much about statistics. Sure, keep an eye on them if you want to be approved for those popular ARCs, but don’t let them run your life. The internet is a fickle place and although one week you may have a huge increase in traffic the next week you’ll have a 50% decrease in traffic. Worry more about building your community and getting some dedicated followers and you’ll do just fine.
The 2014 Mad Reviewer Reading Challenge Has Begun!
(The draw for the 2013 prizes will be held on January 4 so if you’ve finished the 2013 challenge please let me know.)
Yes folks, The Mad Reviewer Reading & Reviewing Challenge has begun for 2014! All your reviews from now until December 31 count toward your goal. If you need a reminder of the rules click here. Just remember that if you signed up but didn’t provide a link in either your profile or your comment you aren’t officially signed up. Please contact me with a link as soon as possible!
And if you haven’t signed up for the challenge but would like to please read the rules in the link above and comment on either that post or this one! You can join anytime in 2014 and can count any reviews you’ve already done for the year toward your goal.
Below are some of the awesome book bloggers that have decided to join the challenge this year. Anyone who is a returning participant is indicated with (R) beside their name.