Tagged: book reviews
The Week Ahead (#8)
Last week was pretty review heavy but this week is only going to have 3. Luckily, I’m having the wonderful Louise Turner over for an interview on Monday to keep things interesting.
Monday
- An interview with Louise Turner, author of Fire and Sword.
Tuesday
- A review of Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton. I just couldn’t resist reading another take on Hatshepsut and when I saw Stephanie Thornton was touring with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours I signed up immediately. Ancient Egypt is very, very hard to resist for me.
- Cover Reveal: Black Orchid by Abigail Owen.
Wednesday
- A review of The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael. It was the cover that caught my attention on NetGalley and the blurb seemed full of promise so I figured I had nothing to lose in requesting it. Maybe McMichael would have a new take on vampires.
Thursday
- A review of A Dangerous Madness by Michelle Diener. After seeing that I loved her Susanna Horenbout series so much, Michelle Diener invited me to read her latest book set in England in the 1800s. Technically this is the third book in a series but they’re only a little bit related so you can read the books in any order.
Friday
- Book Blast: Curses & Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter
Saturday
- Discussion: Vampires.
Calling all Authors!
In my first post about my Reading & Reviewing challenge I mentioned that I would be initiating an open call for writers to submit books. Well folks, here it is!
If you’re an author I would like you to provide the gift of 1 free ebook for my reading and reviewing challenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re traditionally published or self-published, a writer who stays in one genre or someone who writes in multiple genres. I want all types of books submitted because the people participating in my reviewing challenge are all unique in their reading tastes.
I know what you’re asking now: what do you stand to gain from providing a free book? There are two main things:
1. Publicity
I will be publicly listing and thanking all of the authors who provide free books for my challenge participants. The Mad Reviewer is not a big blog by any means, but I will promote the heck out of my thank you post. It’s a great chance for exposure because if your book sounds interesting to me, I might just request a copy for myself.
2. Reviews!
Reviews are a huge thing for authors. Although I can’t guarantee that if you submit a book you’ll get a review, you stand a much greater chance of getting a review than if you have a ‘free’ day on Amazon. Why? Because your book will be going into the hands of someone who has already proven they are an avid reviewer. Every single person in my reading challenge has to write a review for the books they’ve read to prove they have read them. Some people aimed for the top level of 104 books read and reviewed, others achieved the 12 books read and reviewed. Either way, your chances of getting a review are much higher because depending on how many submissions I get, the winners of my challenge will be picking the books they would like. If you’re interested in a book to start with, you’re probably going to enjoy it and in turn, review it. It’s a win-win for authors and reviewers.
If you would like to submit a book as a prize, please comment on this post with your name (or pen name), the title of the book you’d like to submit, a blurb and a link to Amazon and/or Goodreads. I’m keeping a spreadsheet of all of the authors who submit their books and I’ll be sending it to the winner and the three runners up. They can choose which books they like and I’ll let you know if your book has been chosen as well as what format the winner would prefer.
Thank you so much and I hope to be in contact soon.
Discussion: Book Review Request Forms
As I cryptically hinted at yesterday I will be changing the way I accept book review requests in the future to avoid such a horrible backlog. How will I do this? Well, instead of leaving authors with no guidelines which they seem to take as an invitation to be lazy, I will make them fill out a form. Yes, some authors will rail against the injustice of it all and how much time it will take, but those are the authors I really wouldn’t want to review anyway. If you can’t follow my rules, I’m not going to read your book. Plain and simple.
So my question for you guys is this: What would the ideal book review request form include? Would you ask authors for things like the genre, book blurb, target age group, etc? Do you think a review request form is the way to go? Or should I be trying something else to avoid my backlog as well as badly behaving authors?
What it’s Like to Write Seven Reviews in One Day
Due to work being busier than ever, my little health problem and family obligations, in July I had been reading a lot and reviewing very, very little. By mid-July I had probably read 20 books and written zero reviews for them. As you guys know, I’m a horrible procrastinator, but every once in a while inspiration strikes like lightning.
All the authors reading this know what I’m talking about: your heart speeds up and you feel the instant need to go on your computer and type like mad to get all of your ideas on paper while you can. You don’t stop for anything: food, drink, bathroom breaks, etc. It’s energizing, but it can leave you drained for days afterward. I know some authors that get completely wiped out after 5000 words in a day (fair enough, really), but what’s it like on the reviewer end? Do reviewers experience similar fatigue after going on a review writing binge? See for yourself! Below is an accurate recreation of my thought process as I wrote seven reviews in one day, my record to date.
Review #1: I am in the zone!
The first review I tackled on that day was a review for a book I absolutely loved. As you guys may or may not know depending on whether you write reviews as well, it’s very easy to gush about a new favourite book than to do a ‘meh’ review. My average review is about 3-4 paragraphs, but this review ended up being 6 paragraphs long after some substantial editing so you guys wouldn’t get sick of my gushing. Writing this review had the effect of truly putting me in the zone, meaning I was all energized for review #2. Continue reading
The Best and Worst of December
Yes, I know it’s only December 31. However I don’t think my stats will change all that much in the next 24 hours. Since it’s December and the holiday season for most people out there, monthly traffic is down from 5, 346 in November to 4, 222 views. According to WordPress’s new unique visitors feature 2, 255 different people have visited this month. So what did all these people view? It may surprise you!
1. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
2. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
Yes, for the first time in two months we actually have a new top 5 post! My Favourite Books of 2012 did surprisingly well, gathering 93 views since December 10. My post The Mad Reviewer Reading Challenge came in a close sixth, however. And now for the worst posts of December:
1. Introducing my New Guest Poster: Caleb Flanagan of 20four12
2. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
3. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
4. Just Thought You’d Like to Know
5. The Three Best Books to Read in the Bathroom
Meh, I’m not really that surprised about the bottom five. I can absolutely understand why #1 was my introduction of Caleb because it’s no longer relevant and wasn’t particularly search engine friendly. The only real surprise is that Seraphina, after all the hype it received, is at the bottom. Perhaps the hype has finally died down. As for the rest, well they’re either old books or awkward non-SEO friendly articles. Oh well.
So that is how my December looked stats-wise. What about yours?