Dear Story Siren (2)

Dear Story Siren,

I am a spanish girl, reader and blogger and I would like to contact american authors and publisher in order to review their books. I know a lot of people get to have their ARC or books signed about their favourite writers… but I’m still a little bit inexperienced in that kind of contact.

Could you give me any advice?

Thanx

L.


Dear L,

I get this question a lot from international bloggers. Honestly I have absolutely no experience or knowledge of how this works as I live in the US. As far as I’m aware US publishers do not usually send books overseas, but I could be wrong.

As far as contacting authors, I don’t think they would object to you contacting them, but they may not be able to send you a book either.

If you are looking to get more US titles, a great place to go online, is The Book Depository. They have numerous titles and free worldwide shipping to most countries. Another international blogger mentioned BookSneeze as a place to get advance readers copies, but again, I am not familiar with this program, so I can’t say much about it. Lenore of Presenting Lenore also recently started the International Blogger Mentor Program, which you might want to check out as well.

If there are any international bloggers that have better insight into this question, please feel free to answer!

Sorry I can’t be of more help!

The Story Siren


Dear Story Siren,

There’s this book that I’m absolutely dying to read and I’ve been thinking about contacting the author (or the publishing house) for a copy of the book. But I also want to interview the author… and I feel like asking the author for an ARC and an interview would be too much. Am I right in thinking this? And what should I do?

-S.


Dear S.

This is a tricky question. And your answer will vary depending on who you ask. Personally, I’m not a fan of emailing for books, but I do it. Because sometimes there are books that I am “absolutely dying” to read too!

At the same time there are other people don’t bat an eyelash! I don’t think you’re asking for too much, but you should be comfortable with what you are doing.

Honestly…what’s the worst that could happen?…. they could say no. Why not go for it?

For interviews, I usually contact the author directly. And I have been told “no” before! But it’s always worth a try.

Good Luck!

The Story Siren


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23 comments to Dear Story Siren (2)

  • Elle

    I can't thank you enough for the links you provided for international bloggers! I never knew these existed! I'm off to check these out now.

  • Elle

    I can't thank you enough for the links you provided for international bloggers! I never knew these existed! I'm off to check these out now.

  • Cindy

    Great answer.

    I've also been wondering, do books come out internationally later than the US or about the same time? does anyone know?

    I've been thinking about sending some of my arc tours over internationally when they are finished here (some are really short or done by release date). Wondering if international comes out later or the same time?

  • Cindy

    Great answer.

    I've also been wondering, do books come out internationally later than the US or about the same time? does anyone know?

    I've been thinking about sending some of my arc tours over internationally when they are finished here (some are really short or done by release date). Wondering if international comes out later or the same time?

  • austenfan

    Thanks for the help Kristi! I'm an international blogger too so I'm curious about these things. :)

  • austenfan

    Thanks for the help Kristi! I'm an international blogger too so I'm curious about these things. :)

  • Rebecca

    Hi Cindy,
    I'm an international blogger and when it comes to book releases it depends on the book and whether international rights are sold for the book I think. And the bookstores and libraries. Some libraries order books from overseas.
    Some books come out around the world at the same time whereas others are released at different times.
    I think it also depends on where the author is from.
    Hope this helps!

  • Rebecca

    Hi Cindy,
    I'm an international blogger and when it comes to book releases it depends on the book and whether international rights are sold for the book I think. And the bookstores and libraries. Some libraries order books from overseas.
    Some books come out around the world at the same time whereas others are released at different times.
    I think it also depends on where the author is from.
    Hope this helps!

  • Lenore

    Unfortunately, most US publishers are unable to send abroad due to rights issues.

    Most authors have limited copies of their book to distrubute for publicity purposes and sending abroad costs a lot of money.

    I hope my International Book Blogger Mentor Program can be of some help. I already have a few volunteer authors and bloggers to help me, so that's encouraging!

  • Lenore

    Unfortunately, most US publishers are unable to send abroad due to rights issues.

    Most authors have limited copies of their book to distrubute for publicity purposes and sending abroad costs a lot of money.

    I hope my International Book Blogger Mentor Program can be of some help. I already have a few volunteer authors and bloggers to help me, so that's encouraging!

  • IanIan

    Thanks so much for the advices <3 I'm not from the U.S either, and the Book Depository doesn't even ship to where I live :( And I've only started blogging very lately. But I really hope someday, I'll be able to interview authors of the books I love :D <3

  • IanIan

    Thanks so much for the advices <3 I'm not from the U.S either, and the Book Depository doesn't even ship to where I live :( And I've only started blogging very lately. But I really hope someday, I'll be able to interview authors of the books I love :D <3

  • L. Diane Wolfe

    The Spanish girl could always ask to review an eBook…

    And as an author, I'm thrilled when someone contacts me for an interview! Don't be afraid to ask, S.

  • L. Diane Wolfe

    The Spanish girl could always ask to review an eBook…

    And as an author, I'm thrilled when someone contacts me for an interview! Don't be afraid to ask, S.

  • Cassie

    As Lenore said, a lot of the problem with sending ARCs overseas has to do with international rights. My publisher here in the US isn't going to want to send ARCs of my books to bloggers in Spain, because they don't publish me in Spain and derive no benefit from book sales there. The people to contact if you were (for example) a Spanish blogger would be my Spanish publisher, but they obviously aren't going to want to provide the books in English as they don't own English publishing rights. You see the conundrum. If you are a Spanish blogger who wants to review books published in English, you're mostly going to have to end up providing them for yourself.

    The person who asked if books comes out internationally later than in the US (assuming the author's primary publisher is in the US): it depends. Different publishers in different territories buy book rights at different times, and they can't obviously put a book out before they buy the rights to it. Plus, there is the time translation takes. In some situations, as in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, you have teams of foreign translators working around the clock to provide a translation that will allow the book to be published roughly at the same time in, say, Germany as in the US. But most books don't get that treatment.

    — Cassandra Clare

  • Cassie

    As Lenore said, a lot of the problem with sending ARCs overseas has to do with international rights. My publisher here in the US isn't going to want to send ARCs of my books to bloggers in Spain, because they don't publish me in Spain and derive no benefit from book sales there. The people to contact if you were (for example) a Spanish blogger would be my Spanish publisher, but they obviously aren't going to want to provide the books in English as they don't own English publishing rights. You see the conundrum. If you are a Spanish blogger who wants to review books published in English, you're mostly going to have to end up providing them for yourself.

    The person who asked if books comes out internationally later than in the US (assuming the author's primary publisher is in the US): it depends. Different publishers in different territories buy book rights at different times, and they can't obviously put a book out before they buy the rights to it. Plus, there is the time translation takes. In some situations, as in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, you have teams of foreign translators working around the clock to provide a translation that will allow the book to be published roughly at the same time in, say, Germany as in the US. But most books don't get that treatment.

    — Cassandra Clare

  • ~Mary

    I've come into a bit of trouble with this living in Scotland, but I have found many UK publishers willing to help out. Most US publishers have UK Houses or affiliates. Always ready to get books out there!

    If you have any US friends/family you can always give them that US address and then have family send the books to you. That's what I do. They collect them until there is a box full and mail them on over.

  • ~Mary

    I've come into a bit of trouble with this living in Scotland, but I have found many UK publishers willing to help out. Most US publishers have UK Houses or affiliates. Always ready to get books out there!

    If you have any US friends/family you can always give them that US address and then have family send the books to you. That's what I do. They collect them until there is a box full and mail them on over.

  • Ladybug

    Great column, Kristi!

    I cannot quite understand why they claim that they don't earn anything by sending books overseas, at least not when the readers are international book bloggers. Many international book bloggers order the majority of their books from Amazon or The Book Depository. When we blog about books in English I'm pretty sure it will contribute to more copies sold of that particular book :)

  • Ladybug

    Great column, Kristi!

    I cannot quite understand why they claim that they don't earn anything by sending books overseas, at least not when the readers are international book bloggers. Many international book bloggers order the majority of their books from Amazon or The Book Depository. When we blog about books in English I'm pretty sure it will contribute to more copies sold of that particular book :)

  • Akshay Bakshi

    Thanks for the great advice Kristi!

    As a recently started out book blogger, I am looking for all possible help and advice from seasoned bloggers. Sadly, I live in India and outside of the US the book blogger scene isn't all that hot and happening.

    Subscribed to your blog and looking forward to more excellent articles :)

    Keep Reading
    Akshay

  • Akshay Bakshi

    Thanks for the great advice Kristi!

    As a recently started out book blogger, I am looking for all possible help and advice from seasoned bloggers. Sadly, I live in India and outside of the US the book blogger scene isn't all that hot and happening.

    Subscribed to your blog and looking forward to more excellent articles :)

    Keep Reading
    Akshay

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