There has been several interesting discussions in the “blogoshpere” lately surrounding negative behavior and actions of book bloggers. The posts started with Presenting Lenore’s “Bloggers Behaving Badly” then it was followed by Persnickety Snark's “Blogger Conflicts.”
And honestly as horrendous as the topics in those posts are, it is nothing compared what has happened recently. It’s one thing to commit an act because you are unaware that it’s wrong. It’s a whole other issue, when you know something is wrong and you do it anyway.
If I could give a new blogger one piece of advice, it would be: Find Your Voice.
It doesn’t matter if your reviews aren’t the most articulate or the best written. That’s something that can happen later, something that you will acquire with practice and determination. But find your voice and make your blog your own.
Which brings me to the topic of this post.
Plagiarism.
Plagiarism is wrong. No matter how you look at it.
There is no excuse... “I didn’t know.... I didn’t mean to... I did it subconsciously.” No, you didn’t. You did know and you did mean to.
Plagiarism isn’t just copying and pasting word for word and passing it off as your own. It can be taking someones work and changing around the sentence structure, getting out your thesaurus and changing a few words here and there... basically taking the central idea tweaking it and passing it off as your own work.
It’s especially frustrating for this to happen in the blogging community. Why would you plagiarize a review? What is the point? Isn’t the whole idea of a blog to share YOUR views on a book. How could you take someone else's review and pass it off as your own? Where is your integrity? You don’t have any. You’ve cheated yourself, your fellow bloggers, your readers, the author who wrote the book, and the publicist that sent it to you.
I have no respect for someone that does this.
My reviews may not be the greatest. I know that on the blogger hierarchy my reviews are somewhere near the bottom. (Which is probably why, as far as I know, no one had plagiarized my reviews.) But at least I can say in all truthfulness that they are my own thoughts and ideas.
I was outraged to find out earlier this week that the same blogger not only plagiarized the reviews of one blogger but three! And possibly more! I can’t express how hard it is for me not to call this person out and let them be reprimanded for their actions.
The three bloggers that were violated are some of the most talented, respectful and intelligent women. Adele, Steph & Tirzah write some of the most wonderfully expressive reviews. I am envious at their abilities. And furthermore, I am devastated that this issue was unnecessarily inflicted upon them.
The bottom line is, plagiarism is wrong. There’s no excuse for it.
This community is one of the things I love the most about blogging. But in the recent weeks I’m almost embarrassed to be a part of it. I hate feeling that way.
Before you decide to take the “easy” way out and use another persons work as your own. Think about the person you are really hurting.... yourself.
Read more posts about Plagerism:
Adele of Persnikty Snark
Tirzah of The Compulsive Reader
Steph of Steph Su Reads
Lenore of Presenting Lenore
Liz of My Favourite Books
Showing newest posts with label blog advice. Show older posts
Showing newest posts with label blog advice. Show older posts
The Real Deal on Cover Images
Monday, April 12, 2010
Last week I wrote a post featuring every book bloggers favorite thing, book covers. If you missed the post, I’ll briefly sum it up for you. I threw a question out into the blogosphere: “When can we post a book cover?” Ultimately I was hoping to find the answers to the following questions: Do we have to wait until to author reveals it on their website or blog, do we have to wait until we see it on online book seller, can we get images from a online publisher catalog?
There were a lot of interesting comments, but the main consensus was apparent. None of us had a clue. We all had our assumptions and had been acting on those, without knowing if we were in the wrong.
I thought it might be a good idea to know exactly what the correct course of action was, so I went straight to the source. The publishers.
I contacted multiple popular imprints among Young Adult literature. I appreciate those of you that took the time to reply to my email. Thank you! (You know who you are.)
The general opinion from all of the publishers that replied to my email was:
It wasn’t surprising to find out that they want us (bloggers) to post about their covers. However, there were some issues mentioned.
The main concern from all of the publishers was that the correct cover is being used. That being said, there are times when the cover in the publishing catalog isn’t the final image. It’s probably a good idea to do some searching on online retailers, author websites, etc. before simply using the cover in the catalog. It was also expressed that some sort of information about the book should be presented with the cover, if it’s available.
The majority of the publishers also mentioned that if they are furnishing a copy for you to review, they are more than happy to provide a high-res cover image (nothing is worse than a fuzzy cover!) and any other assets you might want; book trailer, browse inside, author photo, countdown widget, etc.
So what did we learn...
Do
Don’t
Thanks again to everyone who provided me with information for this post!
There were a lot of interesting comments, but the main consensus was apparent. None of us had a clue. We all had our assumptions and had been acting on those, without knowing if we were in the wrong.
I thought it might be a good idea to know exactly what the correct course of action was, so I went straight to the source. The publishers.
I contacted multiple popular imprints among Young Adult literature. I appreciate those of you that took the time to reply to my email. Thank you! (You know who you are.)
The general opinion from all of the publishers that replied to my email was:
The more visible their covers are, the better.
The main concern from all of the publishers was that the correct cover is being used. That being said, there are times when the cover in the publishing catalog isn’t the final image. It’s probably a good idea to do some searching on online retailers, author websites, etc. before simply using the cover in the catalog. It was also expressed that some sort of information about the book should be presented with the cover, if it’s available.
The majority of the publishers also mentioned that if they are furnishing a copy for you to review, they are more than happy to provide a high-res cover image (nothing is worse than a fuzzy cover!) and any other assets you might want; book trailer, browse inside, author photo, countdown widget, etc.
So what did we learn...
Do
- feel free to take a cover image out of a catalog, but do the research to make sure it’s the correct cover
- post information about the book along with the image
- feel free to email a publicity contact for cover images and other goodies
Don’t
- take images in the catalog at face-value, do the research
- post blurry images, email your publicity contact, or even check out the publishers website, sometimes they have high-res images available for download
Thanks again to everyone who provided me with information for this post!
Dear Story Siren (7)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Dear Story Siren,
When you write in to request a book is it okay to write about mulitple books or should you do seperate e-mails for each book?
Anon
Dear Anon,
A great resource for this question would be "Advance Reader Copies: What You Need to Know"
This question is answered in there, but yes it is okay to write about multiple books. I think it is preferred that way actually.
Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
I've gotten some books for review before but I've never contacted an author or publisher myself, I've just let them contact me. But I was curious about what you should mention when contacting a publisher about reviewing books for them, I read your post about ARC's and blog stats were mentioned but which stats are the ones that matter and should be mentioned in the email to publishers?
Anon
Dear Anon,
I think the stats that should be mentioned are your visitor stats. It's beneficial to the publishers to know the outreach of your blog. The one that has the most stout is the unique visitor stat. This counts how many people actually visit your blog, not how many times your blog is viewed, since the same person can view it multiple times a day. If you have a blogspot blog, you have access to Google Analytics, I suggest using it!
Story Siren
Dear Story Siren (6)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
(Author Interview Edition II)
When you do interviews do you do them via the phone or email them questions? Is there anything you would advise not asking about?
Anon
Dear Anon,
I usually email questions. It's not as "personal" that way, you can't feed off of the questions and ask ones that might correspond well, but I think it's easier for authors to have the questions and answer them at their leisure. I could be wrong though....
I would advise not asking anything too personal. I think common courtesy would come into play.
Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
When you have to do an interview with an author, where does the information for your questions come from? Do you mostly like to choose from the books context, the author's background or more random living experiences?
-CR
You Get Sent Proposals to Review Books?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
As with most of my discussion posts, todays topic is brought to you by my muse, Twitter.
I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week that I received an interesting book proposal or book pitch. And this was met with some surprise, not the part about the "interesting" pitch, but that I receive requests for reviews at all.
Actually most of the books I review at The Story Siren are the result of a book pitch. Basically that means that the author/publisher/publicists/third party publicity/etc. contact me about a novel that they would like to offer for review.
I’d say the majority of the pitches I receive are from third party publicity companies. Which is an absolute 360 from when I started blogging. (That could be a whole post in it's own!)
However, a good number of the pitches I receive are from publicists that I've built a professional relationship with. They know the type of books I like and are sure to highlight books that might not be on my radar but that I may enjoy. Other times I'll have an author that may be familiar with my blog, or an author that knows I am familiar with their novel and they'll contact me for review. These are greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, not all pitches are made equal.
There has been some discussion on this topic before. You can read a post that Lenore of Presenting Lenore did.
I'm going to briefly highlight some points in her post and then address some additional issues.
A Good Pitch:
I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week that I received an interesting book proposal or book pitch. And this was met with some surprise, not the part about the "interesting" pitch, but that I receive requests for reviews at all.
Actually most of the books I review at The Story Siren are the result of a book pitch. Basically that means that the author/publisher/publicists/third party publicity/etc. contact me about a novel that they would like to offer for review.
I’d say the majority of the pitches I receive are from third party publicity companies. Which is an absolute 360 from when I started blogging. (That could be a whole post in it's own!)
However, a good number of the pitches I receive are from publicists that I've built a professional relationship with. They know the type of books I like and are sure to highlight books that might not be on my radar but that I may enjoy. Other times I'll have an author that may be familiar with my blog, or an author that knows I am familiar with their novel and they'll contact me for review. These are greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, not all pitches are made equal.
There has been some discussion on this topic before. You can read a post that Lenore of Presenting Lenore did.
I'm going to briefly highlight some points in her post and then address some additional issues.
A Good Pitch:
- Addresses the receiver by name.
- Shows that the sender knows something about the blog.
- Isn't a copy and pasted email.
- Doesn't bog the reader down with information. (Is this a review request or an advertisement campaign?)
- Doesn't ignore the reviewers policies, such as no e-books, no self published books. (Often a waste of time for the sender and receiver.)
- At least includes the title(s) of the novel(s). (A summary of the books or an author website are good too, but not always needed.)
Bottom line.... a good pitch can be the determining factor of whether a book will be accepted for review or not.
As a blogger, I couldn't agree more with the points that Lenore makes. A formal pitch doesn't do much for me. I like something a little more personal, as most book bloggers do.
On the reviewers/book bloggers side of a book pitch:
- How do you decline a request nicely?
I sort of answered this in a "Dear Story Siren" post I did recently, but I'm going to go ahead and address this again here. I always thank the person. Because number one, the email took that person's time to compose (most of the time..). You don't have to give a reason that you are declining the request, but if you have one, why not be honest. Usually my reasons have to do with just not being interested, to having a substantial review pile already. Be sure to keep the "line open" perhaps this person may be representing a title in the future that you might be interested in, let them know that. A simple, "please feel free to contact me in the future with any other titles you might wish to discuss." You don't have to use that word for word.... but you get the gist. (really don't use that word for word.)
- Should you reply to every request?
This is something you need to decide for yourself. No one can answer this for you. Do I reply to every request, no I don't. Like Lenore mentions in her post, if the sender doesn't take the time to find my name, and know that it's not Story Siren, they don't receive a reply. If the sender takes the time to send me a personalized pitch, I'll take my time to send them a reply, even if it is to decline. At the same time, some of those don't even get a reply. Honestly it just depends.
- I accepted now what?
If you accept make sure you keep within the set specifications of the pitch. Sometimes a review by date is discussed, if this happens it is your responsibility to have the review posted by the date promised.
ON THE FLIP-SIDE
What if it's the reviewer sending a pitch... or in this case we'll call is a request.
A Good Request:
- Doesn't ask for everything. Try to limit your requests to "new/upcoming" releases. (Requesting backlisted titles, can come across as being greedy and slightly clueless. Although if a backlisted title is coming out "new" in paperback, exceptions can be made.)
- Realizes that authors DO NOT have a stack of advance readers copies at their disposal. You're better off asking the publisher. (You can read (almost) everything you need to know about arcs at this post: Advance Readers Copies: What You Need to Know.)
On another note:
- Don't post list after list of books you are getting for review and then don't post any reviews! This goes for In My Mailbox too. It just makes you look bad and and it looks like you are just in it for free books (this type of behavior doesn't go unnoticed.).... unless of course you list books you buy, get from the library, win from a contest, etc and clearly state that!
Bloggers love it when:
- Authors link reviews on their websites! (or if they'd rather do it privately, send a "thank you" email)
- Authors comment on our blogs!
Bloggers don't love it when:
- When authors argue with our opinions or berate us in our comments section.
Yeah... so I think that's it. I wanted to touch a little bit on both ends of the spectrum. Address the issue and get it out there. Done.
This post IS NOT meant to discourage anyone from contacting me for a review. (Most of the time I view a pitch as a compliment.... as a privilege!) I'm hoping is has the opposite effect..... I'm hoping that this might open the lines of communication. There are so many times, I feel like half the people are on one page, and the other half are on another, and if we could just discuss it we might end up helping each other.
I'd love to hear your opinion, this is a discussion post. Perhaps you feel differently, have something you want to add. Please feel free. bloggers... authors...
Dear Story Siren (4)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Dear Story Siren,
I'm being swallowed by my TBR pile! How do you maintain your reading schedule while getting so many new ones every day in the mail?
What do you do when you start getting tons of ARC's? I had one month recently where I got 56. I asked for none of them. I dont like to not review them but there is no possible way to review all of them by the publication date and now I am further behind with the ones I get each month. Help!
-A
Dear Anon & A
I'm going to answer the two questions from above since they are very similar.
You do the best you can.
I know for me there is no possible way I can read every single book I receive for review. And the sooner that you accept that, the sooner you will start sleeping at night. My TBR pile used to keep me up at night, no kidding.
Read what you can. I do not guarantee a review will be posted. I try to mention every book I receive for review on the site, although it may not be in the form of a review. I get books in the mail, that I don't even know are coming. Sometimes I review them, sometimes I don't.
I hardly request advance readers copies anymore. Are there arcs that I want.... hell yes, I could make a list for you right now..... but I just can't justify asking for review copies, when my review pile contains so many great titles already. I hate to admit that, I hate that I feel that way, there are so many books that I would love to review, but I just can't get myself to ask regularly. Even though... believe me, I really want to! (but i want to review the books i have even more)
What a reading schedule?! I try to have books read and reviewed so that I can post during their release months. It doesn't always happen that way, but more often than not. How bad is it that a just read and wrote a review for a novel that I received last april..... not that, that is something normal for me, because it's not. But hey... it happens. Find a flexible schedule that works for you!
You are not a book reading machine. Don't try to be, you will burn yourself out.
You are not alone,
Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
I was wondering, do you review every book you receive for review? If not, what do you do with the books you decide to not review?
-Me
Dear Me,
No, I do not.
It just depends. I donate a lot of books to my library. Sometimes I give away the books in a contest. The blogosphere is usually bringing my attention to great causes/charities that are in need of books, a lot of them get donated that way. Sometimes I keep them, hoping to read them someday.
Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
I have recently received an ARC of a new book by a very popular YA author. It is my first ARC I have ever been sent and feel that I should show appreciation of that with my review. But I don't want to give it 5 stars just because I am thankful that I got it sent to me early, I also don't to give it a bad review if I don't like it and not get offers to review ARCs anymore. I should point out that I haven't read it yet, but will soon.
Thanks,
A~
Dear A,
This is a little tricky.
I always find the best way is to be honest. Don't sell yourself short and say that you enjoyed something when you didn't. You'll flush your credibility down the toilet before you even get started.
If you don't end up enjoying the book, it is possibly to write a tasteful negative review. You don't have to be mean or sarcastic. Don't make it a personal attack on the author. Simply state the reasons why you didn't enjoy the novel. Hopefully you will be respected for sharing a truthful opinion. Another thing I always try to do when I read a book I didn't really enjoy is find at least one thing that I did like.
Keepin' it real,
Story Siren
I took your advice from tips to bloggers and asked for ARCs. I have started getting them from some companies and now am wondering about the etiquette for holding giveaways for said ARCs. What do you know about this?
Jana
janasbooklist.blogspot.com
Dear Jana,
It's always best to ask the publisher that sent you the arc if they would mind if you held a contest. In my experience most do not mind, but if you are wondering, it may be better to ask.
I know most people don't even ask, it's something I'm sure a lot of people overlook and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's good that you have considered it.
Good Luck,
Story Siren
How do you respond when you decline book review requests?
Dear Anon,
I've been doing this a lot lately. I'm becoming more selective about the books I accept because... well you can read more about that above in the questions regarding tbr piles!
But usually a simple explanation of the truth is a great way to go.
I start off by thanking the person that sent the request, because they used their valuable time and effort to send this to me, it's the least I can do. I nicely decline the request, usually following with the explanation that I'm being more selective about the titles I am accepting at this time, but perhaps they should contact me in the future concerning other titles.
Something along those lines. I always try to reply to a request even if it is to decline, but I don't every time. I should work on that.
Story Siren
When should a review be posted on your blog when it's an arc?
Dear Anon,
In my experience most of the readers of my blogs are actual readers themselves, and not necessarily book sellers or librarians... although I do have some librarians. But since most of my viewers are readers themselves it's better to post the review as close to the review date as possible, or when the book is available, that way if the person likes what they see, they will be able to find it next time they hit up the bookstore or head to the library. I usually forget about titles I hear about months before they come out by the time they hit the shelves.
There is a great post about when to post reviews on Reviewer X
If you have a question.... blog related, personal, book related... submit it below to be featured on a future post of "Dear Story Siren"
Dear Story Siren (3)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Approximately how many hours a week do you spend on your blog?
Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict
http://web.me.com/quirion
Dear Jennifer,
Can I say.... too much! I at least spend a few hours everyday on my blog, and a lot more on the weekends. That doesn't include the hours I spend on the internet, that I shouldn't! If I had to give a number, I'd say at least 16 hours a week.
The Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
When is your birthday? I feel like I need to be prepared for that special date! :)
-MC
Dear MC,
My birthday is April 17.
-Story Siren
Dear Story Siren,
I was wondering how you made the navigation bar up above (It says home, about, etc.) with its cute buttons! :)
- Anonymous
Anonymous,
A site designer actually designed my layout for me. So I'm not exactly sure.
However, if you have a blogspot blog, you now have the option to make "pages" and there is an option for a navigation bar! It's easy to do! All you have to do is go to your posting tab and then look for "Edit Pages" it will walk you through the process.
Also very good resource you can use to make your own horizontal navigation bar is tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com. Then have a step-by-step tutorial for horizontal navigation bars.
If you have a question.... blog related, personal, book related... submit it below to be featured on a future post of "Dear Story Siren"
Dear Story Siren (2)
Friday, February 5, 2010
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
If you have a question.... blog related, personal, book related... submit it below to be featured on a future post of "Dear Story Siren"
Dear Story Siren
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I was wondering if you have any advice about contacting authors for guest blogs or interviews. Contact directly or go through a publisher? Is there any place that lists author email addresses? Any advice on how to approach them other than the standard, be professional? I am hoping to incorporate more author interaction on my blog in 2010 and I'm not quite sure how to take that first step.
-J
Dear J,
Most of the authors I've contact have been very happy to provide an interview. The only time I have even went through a publisher to get an interview, is if they had contacted me first. It's almost impossible to know what publicist to contact to get the author that you want, but some do have it listed on their author websites. However, I find that it's the easiest to contact the author directly. Usually you can find a way to contact the author via their website, such as a contact form or an email address. Just know that authors usually have a full inbox, but I'm sure they will contact you as soon as possible.
As far as how to approach an author, it's always safe to go the professional route, I find it easier to be more personable with authors, but I suggest using the approach you are most comfortable with.
Good luck!
-SS
If you have a question.... blog related, personal related, book related... submit it below to be featured on a future post of "Dear Story Siren"
Advance Readers Copies: What you need to know
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A hot topic around the YA book blogosphere... or really any book blogosphere is Advance Readers Copies. Or as you may or may not know them: ARC. ARCs are bound uncorrected proofs of a book, that usually circulates before the books release, early buzz if you will. You don't have them, you want them. You have too many of them, the guilt keeps you up night..... Or something like that.
In case you missed last weeks YA Connection, I posted a link to a very informative post by debut author Alexandra Bracken (Brightly Woven) if you haven't checked it out, you should. Here is the link (Dearest Book Bloggers). It's a very informative post whether you are a new blogger or not. I also want to mention a post that author Saundra Mitchell (Shadowed Summer) did about ARCs, (How Did You Get All Those Books- The Author Side.)
I'll occasionally receive emails in the inbox from new bloggers, asking for help, asking for advice, which if you've contacted me and I finally got back to you... (sorry I know I am insanely slow about that... I promise I will work on that) anyway, if you've contacted me, you know that I'm all about giving out advice, trying to spread my knowledge, if you will. If it's any good, I really don't know.
One of the most frequent emails that I'll get is asking about advance readers copies... asking what they are, and how the emailer can get them too. Let me first start out by saying, that when I respond to these emails my first suggestion is to never starting a book blog solely to get arcs or 'free' books. I know people do it, but coming from a (semi) experienced blogger, believe me, it is not worth it! But honestly I wasn't one hundred percent sure what to tell these emailers. So I decided that maybe I should find out.
I wanted to be informative and reliable when I responded to emails like this, I decided to do some research on the situation. I emailed some publishing houses and some authors. A few of them were kind enough to get back with me and this is what they had to say. I have chosen a few of the answers to quote that I found to be very informative. Overall, they all had similar answers across the board.
I asked the publishing houses three questions:
Here's what they had to say:
How do you feel about bloggers asking for advance readers copies?
Most of them don't mind getting emails requesting copies. However, they wanted the emails to be short & sweet and professional. They don't need to know your life story. Be sure to include your mailing address. And also realize that they have a very busy job! They may not get back to you in a timely manner don't send them ten emails to see what's taking them so long.
But don't just take my word for it, here's what they had to say:
"I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I love book review blogs. I think they reach the average reader in a way that the New York Times simply does not. But, in my experience, there’s an element of professionalism lacking in much of the book blogging community. It’s easy to tell when a blog has been started because the blogger wants free books, not because they want to talk about books in any real way. When I get an email from someone who’s been blogging for two months and asks for an ARC for every single book in our catalog, that’s a red flag for me. Bloggers are not entitled to ARCs simply because their blog exists—they need to provide a service that makes sending those ARCs worth it, in the form of (and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot, but I’m going to say it again) thoughtful, well-written reviews. And, yes, we appreciate when bloggers post our extra content, like trailers and videos and widgets and so forth—we create much of that content for bloggers, so it makes us feel like that work is worth it.
I don’t mind people asking for advanced reader copies, but I will say a couple of things:
"I don’t mind receiving emails asking for review copies, but they must be succinct. A request email should always contain the mailing address and information about the blog (like the stats I’ll mention below). A couple tips: keep it brief, and always be professional. I receive a lot of emails with TMI – anything from how a particular book relates to their past relationships to serious issues like life-threatening illness. I love it when reviewers are friendly, but there’s a line between that and sharing impertinent personal information.
Please understand that publicists work on a ton of titles, so they can’t always get back to you in a timely manner. It’s acceptable to follow up after a few weeks, but saying “I know you’re busy” while sending 10 emails is still stressful! And please don’t argue when I ask for stats or tell you that review copies aren’t available. Unfortunately these are just realities of the job!"
Do blog stats matter to you?
In word word: YES!
"Blog stats do matter in the sense that publicity (online and print) is about reaching as many people as possible. But, actually, what matters MORE to me is the way I feel about that blog and the blogger who runs it. If a blogger is a consummate professional and really tries hard to shine a light on our smaller titles, is always letting me know about reviews and writes great ones that are of value to the community, I’ll probably send them whatever they ask for. It’s about trust and assurance that company assets are being invested wisely. If I trust a blogger, I’ll always try to accommodate them."
"Blog stats are very important to us, specifically number of monthly unique visitors. Information about other sites where your posts have been picked up is also good. Stats like amount of Blogger followers or RSS downloads aren’t very helpful, since they don’t track all visitors. Since review copies are so limited – finished and ARCs -- these are the benchmarks we have to use when deciding to send to a blogger (for the record, we look at this the same way as magazine or newspaper circulation). Unfortunately, no matter how favorable or honest a review is, or how beautifully a blog is designed, or how often it’s updated, we really have to rely on the numbers."
"Stats are something that we look at, but they’re not the only thing by any means. For every request I get I check out the blog and if it’s well-written, regularly updated and, most importantly, the blogger is obviously someone who loves reading and is passionate about books then the stats are much less of a factor. I also always look as which other bloggers are following the blogger and if it’s people I know and trust then that helps me too!"
What is the average cost to produce an ARC?
Surprisingly enough, ARCs cost a lot more to make than the finished copy of a book. Which honestly was something that I wasn't even aware of.
"It depends on the ARC (for instance, fancy things like foiling or embossing or glossy covers tend to add cost), but from $16-20 is a pretty normal range. The average BOOK costs a fraction of that to print, because the print run for an ARC is a couple thousand, if that—the print run for a regular book is much higher, and, in some cases, MUCH MUCH higher."
In addition to the questions I asked they also included other interesting information that I think is beneficial to know as well:
"Because of the economy, many publishers (including us) are cutting down on the amount of ARCs/galleys AND finished books that are sent out to media (Surprisingly, galleys actually cost more than finished books). Usually we send about 20-30 ARCs to reviewers, while we’re able to send many more finished books. Galleys are mostly created for long-lead magazines, which are actually printing their content three months in advance of publication. There are a handful of websites/blogs, radio shows, and newspapers that also need and receive galleys, but the vast majority of blogs must wait to receive finished books (a couple weeks before the pub date)."
"Outside of your questions, I would say that if someone “just started a review blog”, they should NOT be asking for ARCs. If they prove themselves to be good reviewers (meaning they post consistent, well-written, thoughtful reviews, negative or positive), a publicist or online marketing person will probably contact them eventually, most likely asking them if they would be interested in reviewing a book that is small for the house, that isn’t getting a whole lot of marketing or publicity thrust behind it. IF they MUST contact a publicist/online marketing person, here are some things new bloggers should not do:
But what about the other end of the spectrum... Authors.
I also emailed a few author to see what they had to say on the matter.
I asked them:
How do you feel about bloggers asking you for ARCs?
Most of the times authors are flattered when they are asked. Unfortunately, they don't usually have arcs, which will be discussed in more detail in question three. But most of the time they are happy to forward your request onto their publicist.
Here's what some authors had to say:
"I love it when bloggers show interest in my upcoming releases, and feelbad that its impossible to have enough ARCs to fulfill all the requests. I admit that I do become frustrated when people ask for "review copies" of a book that's been out for several years, but I think sometimes newer bloggers don't understand exactly how the system works. But hey, it never hurts to ask. Just please don't get angry when we have to say no."
"I get a lot of this, and while I don't mind the question, I feel bad about the answer I usually have to give. I don't get enough ARCs to send out to reviewers, because there are just too many reviewers out there."
"I feel honored to be asked IF the blogger is a serious reviewer who is fair and thoughtful in their reviews."
"Well, now my advanced review copies go exclusively out from my publishers, except for the contest copies I receive, so it sort of irks me that they went to the trouble to find my e-mail address and e-mail me when right on my website it says: "If you'd like to be considered as a potential review venue, please send your requests along with your physical mailing address, your blog visit statistics, and a little bit about the popularity of your blog to (an email address would be here... but i'm keeping things anon here.) It's not hard to find this bit of info -- it's right in the FAQ -- but I feel like a lot of bloggers just make a beeline straight for my email without even taking in any of the info on the page. It makes me feel sad and underloved and like they should give me roses and have some foreplay before they ask me for an ARC.
Most bloggers do go through my publishers now, much to my relief, because it was incredibly time consuming to go through the requests, and the ones that don't . . . it makes me wonder if they're a newbie, a jerkface, or merely a non-careful reader, in which case, how in depth will their review be?"
Do blog stats matter to you?
Yes they do, but so do a ton of other things!
"Absolutely. What is the point of having a glowing review on someone's LiveJournal that gets ten hits a week? ARCs are expensive and limited, and you're basically gambling $7-15 on every ARC you send out, hoping you'll get a review. So yes, stats matter.
But basically, when I was sending them out myself, I wanted decent traffic. And that means 100 followers for a blogger blog or at least 100 unique hits a day (not repeat hits or internal ones). It's also nice to see an active commenting community on the blog -- I don't care what the stats are, again, if they have fifteen unique comments on a post, I'm going to send them one, because they have commenters who are likely active on other blogs as well, and that's worth more than 100 silent readers."
"What matters more to me is a solid history of book reviews on the blog."
"While I don't send ARCs to reviewers, I do sometimes send some of my personal copies (author copies) of the final product to reviewers, and yes, blog stats matter. Those copies are sent out in hopes that the resulting reviews will catch the attention of some readers who have never heard of me or my books, and the bigger the reviewer's readership, the greater the change that will happen."
"They don’t really; what matters is the fair and thoughtful review part. But I think they do matter to the publishing houses."
"Blog stats (as in visitor numbers) matter a lot less to me than content, quality, and appropriateness of the target. I'm more likely to send an ARC to a blog that writes quality reviews, a blog that writes a lot of reviews (as opposed to taking books but never reviewing them), a blog that tends to review books in my specific genre (i.e., don't send your fluffy chick lit novel to the blog that likes things dark and serious), or a blog whose reviews I agree with and respect. I always want the blogs I read and follow to review my books, because obviously, I care about their opinion. If a blog has liked my books in the past, I think they are a good target for future releases. If a blog has disliked my books in the past, even if they are well-traveled and write quality reviews, I'm less likely to send future books to them. They probably wouldn't read the book (hereby wasting one of my few ARCs) or like it if they did. I definitely keep a list of the bloggers who have reviewed my book for future inclusion of ARCs, and I hope even if I don't have enough ARCs to send them all, that I can do something else to let them get a sneak peek of my book."
How many advance reader copies do you usually receive?
The unanimous answer for this one, is not many. Something to remember when you email an author.
"...author themselves usually has very, very few, and asking them for an ARC is a far more dicey proposition than asking the publisher."
"With one exception, I've never gotten more than five, and I only got one of my latest release."
"Even before they come, I know I owe five or ten to my agent to send out to the foreign rights people, or I've been given the responsibility to distribute ARCs to authors we're going to ask for blurbs, or etc. I do know that with every single one of my books, I've distributed all but one ARC that I kept for myself."
"I was lucky and got 20. I know authors who have received only one copy."
So there it is. This isn't just a post for new bloggers this is just for reviewers in general. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, so don't take this as a personal attack. I learned so much myself, asking these questions, and hopefully you have too.
Also.. forgot to mention this, but THANK YOU to the authors and pubs that got back to me, you know who you are!
In case you missed last weeks YA Connection, I posted a link to a very informative post by debut author Alexandra Bracken (Brightly Woven) if you haven't checked it out, you should. Here is the link (Dearest Book Bloggers). It's a very informative post whether you are a new blogger or not. I also want to mention a post that author Saundra Mitchell (Shadowed Summer) did about ARCs, (How Did You Get All Those Books- The Author Side.)
I'll occasionally receive emails in the inbox from new bloggers, asking for help, asking for advice, which if you've contacted me and I finally got back to you... (sorry I know I am insanely slow about that... I promise I will work on that) anyway, if you've contacted me, you know that I'm all about giving out advice, trying to spread my knowledge, if you will. If it's any good, I really don't know.
One of the most frequent emails that I'll get is asking about advance readers copies... asking what they are, and how the emailer can get them too. Let me first start out by saying, that when I respond to these emails my first suggestion is to never starting a book blog solely to get arcs or 'free' books. I know people do it, but coming from a (semi) experienced blogger, believe me, it is not worth it! But honestly I wasn't one hundred percent sure what to tell these emailers. So I decided that maybe I should find out.
I wanted to be informative and reliable when I responded to emails like this, I decided to do some research on the situation. I emailed some publishing houses and some authors. A few of them were kind enough to get back with me and this is what they had to say. I have chosen a few of the answers to quote that I found to be very informative. Overall, they all had similar answers across the board.
I asked the publishing houses three questions:
- How do you feel about bloggers asking for advance readers copies (ARCs)?
- Do blog stats matter to you?
- What is the average cost to produce an advance reader copy (ARC)?
Here's what they had to say:
How do you feel about bloggers asking for advance readers copies?
Most of them don't mind getting emails requesting copies. However, they wanted the emails to be short & sweet and professional. They don't need to know your life story. Be sure to include your mailing address. And also realize that they have a very busy job! They may not get back to you in a timely manner don't send them ten emails to see what's taking them so long.
But don't just take my word for it, here's what they had to say:
"I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I love book review blogs. I think they reach the average reader in a way that the New York Times simply does not. But, in my experience, there’s an element of professionalism lacking in much of the book blogging community. It’s easy to tell when a blog has been started because the blogger wants free books, not because they want to talk about books in any real way. When I get an email from someone who’s been blogging for two months and asks for an ARC for every single book in our catalog, that’s a red flag for me. Bloggers are not entitled to ARCs simply because their blog exists—they need to provide a service that makes sending those ARCs worth it, in the form of (and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot, but I’m going to say it again) thoughtful, well-written reviews. And, yes, we appreciate when bloggers post our extra content, like trailers and videos and widgets and so forth—we create much of that content for bloggers, so it makes us feel like that work is worth it.
I don’t mind people asking for advanced reader copies, but I will say a couple of things:
- First, ask for small books as well as big ones—or mostly/only small ones when you’re just starting out.
- DON’T treat your publishing contact like Amazon—just because you ask for a book doesn’t mean it can or will be sent, and furthermore they might not have the time to tell you whether or not you’ll be receiving it. People in publishing are very overworked, it’s important to be gracious and kind to them—and, frankly, that’s the only way you’ll be able to get anything you ask for, because I do not send books to bloggers who harass me. I get some very tetchy, rude emails from people who are angry that the books they requested haven’t arrived, and I stop communicating with those people. It’s not worth it for me to mail books to people who think that my only job is to cater to their whims.
- If someone at the publishing company says “no” to you, DON’T go around asking other people at the house. It will get back to them that you were doing that—publishing houses might seem big, but they’re tiny. If they think someone else might be able to help you, they will direct you to that person or ask them internally.
- Be professional! I can’t say this enough. If you wouldn’t write something in a work email, don’t write it to a publishing contact. Unless you are actually friends with that person, don’t overshare personal information. It’s unnecessary and makes things uncomfortable. Just be nice and clear and say thank you.
- Think about what you are offering to the publisher in exchange for the ARC, and provide that thing. We don’t expect every single book we send out to be reviewed, but if we find that a blogger who asks for a dozen ARCs at a time but never reviews any of them, we will probably stop sending.
- Alert your contact when you’ve posted a review or are giving away a copy of a book from their house. It’s very helpful, and we appreciate it.
- Don’t clog up our inboxes with too many emails—they get lost that way. If you have multiple things to say, one email will suffice."
"I don’t mind receiving emails asking for review copies, but they must be succinct. A request email should always contain the mailing address and information about the blog (like the stats I’ll mention below). A couple tips: keep it brief, and always be professional. I receive a lot of emails with TMI – anything from how a particular book relates to their past relationships to serious issues like life-threatening illness. I love it when reviewers are friendly, but there’s a line between that and sharing impertinent personal information.
Please understand that publicists work on a ton of titles, so they can’t always get back to you in a timely manner. It’s acceptable to follow up after a few weeks, but saying “I know you’re busy” while sending 10 emails is still stressful! And please don’t argue when I ask for stats or tell you that review copies aren’t available. Unfortunately these are just realities of the job!"
Do blog stats matter to you?
In word word: YES!
"Blog stats do matter in the sense that publicity (online and print) is about reaching as many people as possible. But, actually, what matters MORE to me is the way I feel about that blog and the blogger who runs it. If a blogger is a consummate professional and really tries hard to shine a light on our smaller titles, is always letting me know about reviews and writes great ones that are of value to the community, I’ll probably send them whatever they ask for. It’s about trust and assurance that company assets are being invested wisely. If I trust a blogger, I’ll always try to accommodate them."
"Blog stats are very important to us, specifically number of monthly unique visitors. Information about other sites where your posts have been picked up is also good. Stats like amount of Blogger followers or RSS downloads aren’t very helpful, since they don’t track all visitors. Since review copies are so limited – finished and ARCs -- these are the benchmarks we have to use when deciding to send to a blogger (for the record, we look at this the same way as magazine or newspaper circulation). Unfortunately, no matter how favorable or honest a review is, or how beautifully a blog is designed, or how often it’s updated, we really have to rely on the numbers."
"Stats are something that we look at, but they’re not the only thing by any means. For every request I get I check out the blog and if it’s well-written, regularly updated and, most importantly, the blogger is obviously someone who loves reading and is passionate about books then the stats are much less of a factor. I also always look as which other bloggers are following the blogger and if it’s people I know and trust then that helps me too!"
What is the average cost to produce an ARC?
Surprisingly enough, ARCs cost a lot more to make than the finished copy of a book. Which honestly was something that I wasn't even aware of.
"It depends on the ARC (for instance, fancy things like foiling or embossing or glossy covers tend to add cost), but from $16-20 is a pretty normal range. The average BOOK costs a fraction of that to print, because the print run for an ARC is a couple thousand, if that—the print run for a regular book is much higher, and, in some cases, MUCH MUCH higher."
In addition to the questions I asked they also included other interesting information that I think is beneficial to know as well:
"Because of the economy, many publishers (including us) are cutting down on the amount of ARCs/galleys AND finished books that are sent out to media (Surprisingly, galleys actually cost more than finished books). Usually we send about 20-30 ARCs to reviewers, while we’re able to send many more finished books. Galleys are mostly created for long-lead magazines, which are actually printing their content three months in advance of publication. There are a handful of websites/blogs, radio shows, and newspapers that also need and receive galleys, but the vast majority of blogs must wait to receive finished books (a couple weeks before the pub date)."
"Outside of your questions, I would say that if someone “just started a review blog”, they should NOT be asking for ARCs. If they prove themselves to be good reviewers (meaning they post consistent, well-written, thoughtful reviews, negative or positive), a publicist or online marketing person will probably contact them eventually, most likely asking them if they would be interested in reviewing a book that is small for the house, that isn’t getting a whole lot of marketing or publicity thrust behind it. IF they MUST contact a publicist/online marketing person, here are some things new bloggers should not do:
- Send the same email multiple times (often we get emails that are obviously form emails with just the name of the book and the author name changed—sending one email with a list is preferable)
- Send an email that is formatted weirdly, with insane fonts and colors—it’s just unprofessional
- Send an email that tells their life story—just a brief introduction, the link to the blog, a sentence about how long they’ve been blogging, and what book(s) they are requesting is sufficient
- Send an email without a mailing address! If I get an email from a new blogger requesting a book that doesn’t have a mailing address, I usually ignore it, not because I’m being rude, but because I am very busy and don’t have time to reply asking for a mailing address. The easier you can make it for someone at a house to send you a book, the more likely you are to receive it
- Send an email requesting every single big title for the house in question. We get a limited number of ARCs per title—for some we get 50, for some we get 250, for some we get 15, and it totally depends and is not always based on how important/not important the book is for the house—and if we don’t get very many, we will probably send to the biggest blogs with the highest traffic or people we know and like. But, if a blogger asks for a title we don’t get a lot of requests for, I will send it almost 100% of the time. If you are a blogger who’s only been doing it for a few months, you’re unlikely to get an ARC for a lead title, but asking for an ARC of something that probably won’t get a lot of attention is a sure fire way to ingratiate yourself to us. Now, post a thoughtful, well-written review of that book, send us the link, and you’re well on your way to being a trusted blogger who we’ll send bigger books to."
But what about the other end of the spectrum... Authors.
I also emailed a few author to see what they had to say on the matter.
I asked them:
- How do you feel about bloggers asking you for advance readers copies?
- Do blog stats matter to you?
- How many advance readers copies do you usually receive?
How do you feel about bloggers asking you for ARCs?
Most of the times authors are flattered when they are asked. Unfortunately, they don't usually have arcs, which will be discussed in more detail in question three. But most of the time they are happy to forward your request onto their publicist.
Here's what some authors had to say:
"I love it when bloggers show interest in my upcoming releases, and feelbad that its impossible to have enough ARCs to fulfill all the requests. I admit that I do become frustrated when people ask for "review copies" of a book that's been out for several years, but I think sometimes newer bloggers don't understand exactly how the system works. But hey, it never hurts to ask. Just please don't get angry when we have to say no."
"I get a lot of this, and while I don't mind the question, I feel bad about the answer I usually have to give. I don't get enough ARCs to send out to reviewers, because there are just too many reviewers out there."
"I feel honored to be asked IF the blogger is a serious reviewer who is fair and thoughtful in their reviews."
"Well, now my advanced review copies go exclusively out from my publishers, except for the contest copies I receive, so it sort of irks me that they went to the trouble to find my e-mail address and e-mail me when right on my website it says: "If you'd like to be considered as a potential review venue, please send your requests along with your physical mailing address, your blog visit statistics, and a little bit about the popularity of your blog to (an email address would be here... but i'm keeping things anon here.) It's not hard to find this bit of info -- it's right in the FAQ -- but I feel like a lot of bloggers just make a beeline straight for my email without even taking in any of the info on the page. It makes me feel sad and underloved and like they should give me roses and have some foreplay before they ask me for an ARC.
Most bloggers do go through my publishers now, much to my relief, because it was incredibly time consuming to go through the requests, and the ones that don't . . . it makes me wonder if they're a newbie, a jerkface, or merely a non-careful reader, in which case, how in depth will their review be?"
Do blog stats matter to you?
Yes they do, but so do a ton of other things!
"Absolutely. What is the point of having a glowing review on someone's LiveJournal that gets ten hits a week? ARCs are expensive and limited, and you're basically gambling $7-15 on every ARC you send out, hoping you'll get a review. So yes, stats matter.
But basically, when I was sending them out myself, I wanted decent traffic. And that means 100 followers for a blogger blog or at least 100 unique hits a day (not repeat hits or internal ones). It's also nice to see an active commenting community on the blog -- I don't care what the stats are, again, if they have fifteen unique comments on a post, I'm going to send them one, because they have commenters who are likely active on other blogs as well, and that's worth more than 100 silent readers."
"What matters more to me is a solid history of book reviews on the blog."
"While I don't send ARCs to reviewers, I do sometimes send some of my personal copies (author copies) of the final product to reviewers, and yes, blog stats matter. Those copies are sent out in hopes that the resulting reviews will catch the attention of some readers who have never heard of me or my books, and the bigger the reviewer's readership, the greater the change that will happen."
"They don’t really; what matters is the fair and thoughtful review part. But I think they do matter to the publishing houses."
"Blog stats (as in visitor numbers) matter a lot less to me than content, quality, and appropriateness of the target. I'm more likely to send an ARC to a blog that writes quality reviews, a blog that writes a lot of reviews (as opposed to taking books but never reviewing them), a blog that tends to review books in my specific genre (i.e., don't send your fluffy chick lit novel to the blog that likes things dark and serious), or a blog whose reviews I agree with and respect. I always want the blogs I read and follow to review my books, because obviously, I care about their opinion. If a blog has liked my books in the past, I think they are a good target for future releases. If a blog has disliked my books in the past, even if they are well-traveled and write quality reviews, I'm less likely to send future books to them. They probably wouldn't read the book (hereby wasting one of my few ARCs) or like it if they did. I definitely keep a list of the bloggers who have reviewed my book for future inclusion of ARCs, and I hope even if I don't have enough ARCs to send them all, that I can do something else to let them get a sneak peek of my book."
How many advance reader copies do you usually receive?
The unanimous answer for this one, is not many. Something to remember when you email an author.
"...author themselves usually has very, very few, and asking them for an ARC is a far more dicey proposition than asking the publisher."
"With one exception, I've never gotten more than five, and I only got one of my latest release."
"Even before they come, I know I owe five or ten to my agent to send out to the foreign rights people, or I've been given the responsibility to distribute ARCs to authors we're going to ask for blurbs, or etc. I do know that with every single one of my books, I've distributed all but one ARC that I kept for myself."
"I was lucky and got 20. I know authors who have received only one copy."
So there it is. This isn't just a post for new bloggers this is just for reviewers in general. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, so don't take this as a personal attack. I learned so much myself, asking these questions, and hopefully you have too.
Also.. forgot to mention this, but THANK YOU to the authors and pubs that got back to me, you know who you are!
Blogger Pet Peeves
Friday, September 18, 2009
I was in a particularly bad mood a few weeks ago, which honestly doesn't happen all that often. But for whatever reason I woke up that day, mad at the world. And I found myself doing what I do best, when I'm in a bad mood: bitching/complaining/whining!
I was commenting on some blogs that day, and if you know me, that's a huge surprise! I hardly ever comment, even though I really want to do it more! I WILL do it more! I think that's been a goal of mine for a while, but I will succeed! Anyway.... back to the story. Here I was, in this particularly unflattering mood, when I was reminded of my hatred for comment verification.
Thus, I headed over to the wonderful social networking tool, Twitter, and shared my frustrations with my followers. I discovered, that they too, had a profound hatred for comment verification. This ultimately lead to a discussion of blogger pet peeves. Here is what some of the twitter-ites had to say:
- biggest pet peeve-only allowing people to comment who are registered users of certain blogging platform (see a lot on Blogger blogs)
- pet peeve: no original content; just cutting & pasting publicity from publishers/authors
- When the majority of your posts are memes. It's just filler.
- A huge pet peeve of mine is when bloggers only provide a partial feed for their blog. All or nothing, people!
- Pet peeves: music on blogs, crowded templates, TONS of challenge updates
- when the colors of the font are too bright or different sizes it's distracting and the backgrounds should be simple.
- I also think that there should be no more than 7 posts per page if not it takes AGES to load.
- White letters on a black background. Talk about a headache. or yellow, red, bright green on black background! Those HURT! Also auto-play music! GAH!
- Word verification annoys me. It always takes me a couple tries to actually spell them correctly.
- is it wrong of me to be irritated with blog giveaways that give 85 gazillion ways to earn extra entries?
- blogs with HUGE font of really small font.
- anything on your blog that is animated or moves or flashes
- really bad spelling mistakes
- blogs without archives or without contact information
- No access to contact info or form, no navigation, way too many graphics , cluttered sidebars, multi colored text in posts
- People who post all their "awards" on the sidebar!
- autoplay in general. Widgets, music, anything.
- Pet peeve: New Moon widgets that AUTOPLAY. I do not want to hear Bella and Edward talk about their love to each other
- people that give away books signed by the author directly to them. obviously, you either took the time to meet the author, or the author sent you the book. courteous much?
- Another blogger pet peeve: Not linking to a blogger/post when you mention them. Who doesn't love link love?
- glitter graphics
- movie posters
- non-book related widgets, like pets...?
- when people post to apologize for not posting! life happens. no need to explain. don't apologize and tell me you have a review coming, just post the review!
Are you guilty? I AM! Whoops. What are your pet peeves? (And please note, that these are not all my personal feelings! These are a collection of responses that I gathered on Twitter)
Blogger... the nuts and bolts.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
It came to my attention recently at a chat that there are some new bloggers that aren't exactly sure how to use their friendly blogger platform! I found out that a poor book blogger had been uploading her pictures onto photobucket! I was horrified! (okay maybe not really horrified, but this poor thing! I felt bad for her!) There is a much much easier way to go about doing this!
Let's introduce you to your blogger toolbar. This little guy is your friend.
Now there are two different versions of the blogger tool bar. Depending on if you have the Compose tab open or the Edit Html tab. Both toolbars are your friends! The one pictured above has the compose tab open. This will give you the most options.
Let's talk about some of the options. How about turning text into a link. Forget all that html mumbo jumbo for right now. Let's say you want to link something, like... The Story Siren. You'll type your text into your post. Highlight the text that you would like to be a link. Then click on this guy:
Now, once you click on that a window will pop up. It will look something like this.
All you have to do it type in the url where you are wanting to link. Or you can go to the site and copy and paste the link directly. Basically you want something like this:
Then all you have to do is press the ok button! And you'll have your link. Which should look something like this:
Tada! Now wasn't that easy! It took me longer to type this up, then it would have for me to link a text! Let's talk about images now, since that is what started this whole adventure for me. Images are your friend. I love having a visual. If a review doesn't have an image of the book, I probably won't read it. So, on to images. I'm going to assume at this point, that you know how to save images on your computer. It's very simple too, usually it just takes the right click of a mouse. When you want to add an image to your post, you need to look for this guy:
This is the image button. Now when you click on him, it's going to open a new window and give you some options for your image, it looks something like this:
You have several different options in this window. First of all you'll have to choose your image. Head up to the browse button. This is going to open your computer files. I usually save all my images under "my pictures". Once you find the image you want highlight it, which is usually just clicking on it, and press okay. Now choose where you want your image and what size. Then click upload image. Tada. You're done.
"But Kristi! My image is on my post but it's not where I want it!" Not where you want it, you say. Well, that's an easy fix too! You're going to click on the Edit Html tab now! See that weird collection of letters and symbols?
Well that's your image in html... or what I like to think of "in text form." And what do we do, when we want to move text? We copy and paste! You can do the same thing with your image! Copy all that html code and move it where you want your image to be! It's just like magic!
There are other options on your blogger toolbar too! Get to know them, be friends! They will make your blogger experience a whole lot easier! Questions? Hit up the comments!
Stay tuned for some more html tricks and blogging pet peeves next week!
Let's introduce you to your blogger toolbar. This little guy is your friend.
Now there are two different versions of the blogger tool bar. Depending on if you have the Compose tab open or the Edit Html tab. Both toolbars are your friends! The one pictured above has the compose tab open. This will give you the most options.
Let's talk about some of the options. How about turning text into a link. Forget all that html mumbo jumbo for right now. Let's say you want to link something, like... The Story Siren. You'll type your text into your post. Highlight the text that you would like to be a link. Then click on this guy:
Now, once you click on that a window will pop up. It will look something like this.
All you have to do it type in the url where you are wanting to link. Or you can go to the site and copy and paste the link directly. Basically you want something like this:
Then all you have to do is press the ok button! And you'll have your link. Which should look something like this:
Tada! Now wasn't that easy! It took me longer to type this up, then it would have for me to link a text! Let's talk about images now, since that is what started this whole adventure for me. Images are your friend. I love having a visual. If a review doesn't have an image of the book, I probably won't read it. So, on to images. I'm going to assume at this point, that you know how to save images on your computer. It's very simple too, usually it just takes the right click of a mouse. When you want to add an image to your post, you need to look for this guy:
This is the image button. Now when you click on him, it's going to open a new window and give you some options for your image, it looks something like this:
You have several different options in this window. First of all you'll have to choose your image. Head up to the browse button. This is going to open your computer files. I usually save all my images under "my pictures". Once you find the image you want highlight it, which is usually just clicking on it, and press okay. Now choose where you want your image and what size. Then click upload image. Tada. You're done.
"But Kristi! My image is on my post but it's not where I want it!" Not where you want it, you say. Well, that's an easy fix too! You're going to click on the Edit Html tab now! See that weird collection of letters and symbols?
Well that's your image in html... or what I like to think of "in text form." And what do we do, when we want to move text? We copy and paste! You can do the same thing with your image! Copy all that html code and move it where you want your image to be! It's just like magic!
There are other options on your blogger toolbar too! Get to know them, be friends! They will make your blogger experience a whole lot easier! Questions? Hit up the comments!
Stay tuned for some more html tricks and blogging pet peeves next week!
Blogging Tips/Advice/Etiquette (and a tiny rant.... sort of)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
I wanted to resurface some blog posts I did previously about blog advice. I've been getting a lot of emails lately asking for advice when starting a blog, which I almost always refer these posts! So I thought I'd do a re-post and re-introduce these to the readers that perhaps didn't read my blog when I posted them the first time around.
Blog Tips (1) first posted on Feb. 17, 2009
This post discusses "getting started"
- where to host your blog
- design
This post discusses the "guts" of a blog
- content
- visitors
- networking
This post discussing the books
- where to get books
- ARC programs (which may need updated?)
- links to other great "blog advice posts"
Of course all these posts are a little dated but most of the content still rings true.
I also have a post that answers some random blogger questions:
- where to get a counter
- making a rating
- handling negative reviews
- Gravitars and Favicons
- blog grades
- meta tags
- anchor texts
- contact forms
- bookmark buttons
Etiquette is something that you can't hear enough about, obviously, from the sudden flux of mean comments and hateful emails that have been blasted around the blogoshpere. Not to mention the inane use of Twitter in these instances. Like the recent episode with Amy from My Friend Amy.
You can read my post: Book Blog Etiquette.
And while we are on the topic of etiquette. Let me just say something. I received a little slack a while back when I posted "the email" in my Dark Side of Blogging Post, saying it was improper, immature and so on and so forth. But here is the situation. "Lena" was not a real person. It/she/he was a cover for someone. Who knows if that person was even a blogger, they could have just been a random person that felt like giving me a piece of their mind that day. Had Lena, been a blogger whose repuation would have possibly been tarnished, I NEVER would have posted the email. I've gotten similiar emails from actual real live breathing bloggers, but would I ever post those? NO, I would not. There is a big difference.
On that note. Bloggers are people, we are human, we are going to make mistakes, we are going to make people mad, people are going to disagree with us. It's perfectly acceptable to send a civilized email to another person when you have a disagreement with them or their actions. You might say "but my blog is my own, I can do whatever..." Yes, that's true. But when you start commenting on other blogs, linking other blogs, interacting with your fellow bloggers you become part of a community. So, your blog is your own, but now you are also representing a group of people. And I think those people have a rights too.
If or when you are contacted. And let me tell you, I've been emailed many times! And it doesn't ever get easier. DO NOT go on Twitter and start bashing that person, and spreading lies about them. It just makes you look bad. If you think it was easy on the person to send that email, you're very wrong. Because yes I've been on the sending end too. It's fine to be mad! Heck, I was mad! But take a step back, assess the situation, email the person back. If they took the time to email you their concerns, they obviously want to resolve the situation. It's like a game of telephone out there in cyberspace. You email someone asking for a blog exchange and the next thing you know, you apparently hate the person.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox know. Can you tell I've had a bad week!
But hopefully this has helped answer some questions. If you'd like a questions answered or a topic discussed, let me know. I'm planning on working on a Blogger Questions post with some updated questions and answers.
Bloggiesta Wrap Up
Sunday, June 21, 2009
What an awesome idea! Kudos to Natasha of Maw Books Blog for putting this all together in such a short time! I didn't get done as much as I would have liked, but I did do a lot of blog improvements! And I actually learned about so many cool things! It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it again.Here's what I actually accomplished:
- wrote review for Blue Moon
- wrote review for Betraying Season
- started five other reviews
- wrote my guest post for Book Chic
- started my guest post for Hope's Bookshelf
- updated my author list
- updated my archives
- wrote and posted an update for the '09 Debut Authors Challenge
- cleaned my Google Reader
- organized Google Reader
- created a gravitar
- added The Story Siren to two blog directories
- added meta tags
- added a bookmark button to posts
- answered some, but not all book related emails
- added new blogs to YABBD, still have a few more to do
- added a contact page
- graded my blog
- added a top commentator widget
- added a comment counter/post counter
Vania of Reverie Book Reviews suggested that I mention some of the cool things I learned about so here goes:
Did you know there are such things as Gravitars and Favicons? Well I didn't. And the mini challenge hosted by Trish of Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? was about favicons and gravitars! Definitely head over to her blog, because if you don't have them, you'll want to get them! I still need to get a favicon, but the hosting site is down for maintenance... poo!
Did you know you can get your blog graded!? Well you can! My first grade was a 98.9 which is not to shabby if I say so myself. Ruth of Bookish Ruth hosted a mini challenge about grading and improving your blog. You should visit Website Grader and grade your own. The grader also gives you pointers on how to improve your blog. I graded my blog again today after I'd done some of there suggestions and now my grade is a 99.3!
Meta Tags. They are your friend. These little guys help your blog show up on search engines! You can use this Meta Tag Builder to make your own. If you use blogger this tutorial helped me a lot! Meta Tags for Blogger at Blogger Tips and Tricks.
Anchor Texts. Did you know there was a right way to do those? I didn't. Do you even know what they are.... I didn't. Well I knew what they were, I just didn't realize they had an official name! Michelle of GalleySmith did a mini challenge about them, you should check that out! I'll be doing them the right way from now on!
You know what's pretty...? A Contact Form. Yes, a Contact Form! And I have my very own! You can see my Contact Form page! Isn't it beautiful!? Thanks to Chris of book-a-rama for that one! If you'd like your own contact form you can visit this site Email Me Form.
Bookmark buttons. These are a great way to increase traffic, because they allow your readers to share information that they like with others. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner! I like this social bookmark at Add This, because it has everything.
There are a few other things I'm sure I'm missing but I think the sun has fried my head today and I'm having a hard time remembering! But hopefully those will help you out! ADIOS!
How do you get all those BOOKS? Part Two
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I’ve decided to do a part two of “How Do You Get All Those Books?” Mostly because I’ve got an insane amount of emails (and I don’t mind them at all!) about getting books and going into more detail with the how’s of it all. .You can check out my first “How do you get all those books?” post, here. And I also posted about getting books for review during my blog tips series, you can see that post, here.
I’m going to start with a little disclaimer almost identical to what I mentioned in the first “HDYGATB?” post: I am very fortunate and extremely lucky that I receive the amount of books that I do. And I know that and truly appreciate it. I didn’t start my blog to receive early copies/ARCs, and I wouldn’t recommend starting your blog for the sole purpose of getting free books. Here’s a comment from an anonymous publicist that I got during my blog tips series:
“As a publicist, I've noticed a marked increase in the number of emails I've been receiving asking for free books to "review on a blog." (I'm wondering if it's due to review bloggers like TSS explaining how she did it.) Often, the so-called reviewer doesn't even include their blog, and, if they do, it's barely active, or consists mainly of posts bragging about all the free books they get. Visitors? Comments? Nope.
If you are starting a blog for the purpose of getting free books -- guys, it shows. Worry less about your header graphics and more about providing lots of great content that will draw visitors into your blog. Look at the story siren: she regularly posts reviews, interviews, contests, round ups, etc., and hers is a popular blog visited by tons of readers! Publicists send promotional materials to "big mouths," not to freeloaders just looking for an excuse to score arcs.”
Book blogging has changed drastically from the time that I first started. I remember when there were just a few of us book bloggers (in my little corner of the world) that focused on YA novels and now there are hundreds! And I think that is awesome, but I’m hoping that the people that are starting them are doing it for the right reasons, sharing their love of reading.
For me getting ARCs for review wasn’t something that happened overnight, but I’ve seen that trend starting to change. It seems like there is a significant amount of “new” bloggers (and by new I mean, those who have been blogging for less than five months) that seem to be getting ARCs without a problem.
Here is a question I’ve been getting a lot lately: What do you say when you ask for a book?
Introducing yourself is always a good thing! I also tell the recipient a little bit about my blog, what it features, how many visitors and so on. I also provide a link to my blog. Mention why the author would want to feature their book on your site, and also include the title of the book in question.
If you didn’t see the author’s side of “HDYGATB” that Saundra Mitchell did, you should check that out.
Question 2: Who do you contact when you want a book? or Can you give me the name of your contact for _______ ?
There are really two ways to go about contacting, either authors and/or publishers. Most of the time authors have emails that you can use to contact them personally. A lot of times if an author is interested in having you review their novel, they will put you in contact with their publicist, and you can go from there.
The majority of the times, authors contact me. Granted if there is a book I’m really interested, I do try to obtain one, but I prefer the author to contact me first, mainly because I’m a very shy person, believe it or not!
Check out publisher websites, sometimes you can find contact information there. Lenore of Presenting Lenore even has a link to a Review Copy Helper that you can find on her New Blogger FAQ.
And I have to agree with other bloggers when I suggest you don’t ask other reviewers for their publisher contact information. Because honestly, it’s not our information to give.
Question 3: What other places are there to get ARCs?
I explained that a little bit further in a past post you can find, here. I’ve mentioned early reviewer programs and other bookish sites.
In essence, the reason I get “all those books” is because I take the time to work hard on my blog.
In the fear that I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, this will most likely be my last post discussing the nuts and bolts of getting books. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can leave then in the comments. I’ll add them to the main body of the post and address them accordingly.
Blog Questions Answered
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Find more blog tips:
How Do You Get All Those Books?
Book Blog Etiquette
Getting Started
Content and Visitors
Where to get books for review
I thought I would answer a few questions that were asked during the Blog Tips posts:
Where do you get a counter?
This is a really good question! It seems like book blogs have had this influx of popularity within the last six months, and I’ve noticed that lots of authors and publishers are interested in blog stats. So gathering legitimate stats is becoming an important aspect to your blog.
I have a Site Meter counter, which seems to be pretty accurate most of the time. You have to sign up at the site and then copy and past a code on your blog, it’s pretty easy.
Here are some other links for counters:
Easy Counter
StatCounter
If you have a Blogger account you also have access to some really good site feedback via google!
Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics.
These are two really good resources for gathering stats and info on your blog!
How did you make your star rating?
It's super easy! I just made my stars in paint or a photo editing software and then saved them to my computer. Then I uploaded the image onto a photo server, I use photobucket.
Then once I'm ready to post my rating I just paste the code.
I made an individual image for one star and then another with two stars and so on. But you can also upload the one single image and then repeat the code for as many stars as you want.
I can go into a little more detail if you still need help! And you don't have to use stars either! Find an image that represents and goes well with your blog!
How do you handle negative reviews?
How Do You Get All Those Books?
Book Blog Etiquette
Getting Started
Content and Visitors
Where to get books for review
I thought I would answer a few questions that were asked during the Blog Tips posts:
Where do you get a counter?
This is a really good question! It seems like book blogs have had this influx of popularity within the last six months, and I’ve noticed that lots of authors and publishers are interested in blog stats. So gathering legitimate stats is becoming an important aspect to your blog.
I have a Site Meter counter, which seems to be pretty accurate most of the time. You have to sign up at the site and then copy and past a code on your blog, it’s pretty easy.
Here are some other links for counters:
Easy Counter
StatCounter
If you have a Blogger account you also have access to some really good site feedback via google!
Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics.
These are two really good resources for gathering stats and info on your blog!
How did you make your star rating?
It's super easy! I just made my stars in paint or a photo editing software and then saved them to my computer. Then I uploaded the image onto a photo server, I use photobucket.
Then once I'm ready to post my rating I just paste the code.
I made an individual image for one star and then another with two stars and so on. But you can also upload the one single image and then repeat the code for as many stars as you want.
I can go into a little more detail if you still need help! And you don't have to use stars either! Find an image that represents and goes well with your blog!
How do you handle negative reviews?
Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions and when it comes to books it isn't any different. If you have reasons you don't like a book, be sure to say why. Don't just bash a novel without giving reasons why you didn't particularly like it. Because needless to say, there are some people that might not feel the same way about certain aspects as you, and it's always good to give that insight.
I've only given two "one star" reviews out of all the reviews I've posted, and I think I did a good job of explaining what I didn't' like.
Did you have a lot of visitors when you started?
Um, no! I'm not even really sure how many I had... I didn't get sitemeter until around April and I'd had my blog for six months at that time. I had another less accurate counter, so who knows. If comments count for any, I was lucky to get one! Most of us do start at the bottom of the barrel! And there is only one way to go, if you're on the bottom!
Why do you do your blog?
Because it's FUN! And I love to read, I know that's such an unoriginal answer, but it's true!
If there are any other questions leave them in the comments and I'll try to answer those as well!
Blog Tips (3)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Updated 12/28/09
Please take into consideration that these are only my suggestions. You can agree or disagree with them. I’m not saying you have to follow them, and I’m not saying I’m a blogging expert, but I’ve picked up a few things here and there.
Here's what I've discussed in Blog Tips, so far:
Getting Started.
Content & Visitors
The majority of question emails I receive pertaining to the blog are: "how do you get all those books?" So, lets discuss that.
When I first started my blog, I had no idea there was such a thing as an ARC, I never thought to contact authors, I mean authors are like celebrities, they're too cool for the likes of me! My blog was a way for my to keep track of what I read and what I thought about it.
First and foremost, I utilized my library! You should too! Coming from a small town, it didn't take me long to read just about every YA book that my library offered, so when I exhausted my library I turned to the Internet.
There wasn't any way I could afford my book habit, so buying every book I wanted to read was out of the question. In came BookSwim. BookSwim was great! It feed my book addiction, and it didn't cost me a fortune to get books! BookSwim is like Netflix, but with books. You fill your pool with the books you want, they send them to you, you read them, send them back, they send you new ones, repeat! They have different price ranges for different books-at-a-time.
Contest around the Internet are also another great way to get books and sometimes you can even score an ARC! Lots of blogs have contests. Including author blogs.
If you are interested in getting ARC's there are a few programs that you might want to check out.
Harper Teen: First Look
The new First Look is a lot different! But I think I've finally figured it out! You can sign up via Twitter and Facebook. Both networking sites have Harper Teen pages. Randomly each site gives away ARCs. On Twitter First Look will send out a tweet that might look something like this:
"Ok watchful Tweeple. First 5 to DM me name and address get an ARC of Stargazer, second book in Claudia Gray's vampire Evernight series!"
They do similar announcements on Facebook, so it's more of a right place right time kind of thing. This program is only open to the U.S. but there is a Canadian version, but I'm not sure how that one works.
Simon & Schuster: Pulse It
The Pulse It Board does have an age limit, which I believe is 19. You have to send in a submission form that is signed by your parents. I'm not exactly sure on the logistics, since I was too old to join this one, but the web page is very informative.
This one is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
Random House: Random Buzzers
With Random Buzz you participate in activities like quizzes and polls, to earn points towards books and other fun prizes!
This was actually how I received my first ARC! They have a fabulous forum as well!
Henry Holt: The In Group
The In Group also has an age restriction, this one is open to teens 13-19 years of age. As with Pulse It there is a release form that your parents have to sign. And I'm not sure exactly how they run this program either, as I wasn't able to participates.
This one is open to U.S. residents only.
Young Adult (&Kids) Books Central
This is a great site! You submit 15 reviews and then you qualify to pick a book from the "Prize Bucket!" There is always a huge list of books to choose from, so it's not hard to find one you'll enjoy!
I'm sure there are some other ones too, but these are some of the larger ones that I'm aware of. If anyone knows of any others, please feel free to mention them with a link in the comments.
For you International Bloggers!
I know a lot of the arc type programs are for US bloggers only, but a great thing that international bloggers can do is get a NetGalley account! NetGalley allows you to download a galley or advance readers copy of upcoming novels directly to your computer or e-reader! This is a great way for all bloggers, not just the international ones, to get some great books!
Once I started utilizing my library, bookswim and these programs to get books, I began posting reviews more frequently, and in turn it built up my content Which allowed my site to grow, and attract visitors. And once I was able to build a steady readership, then I started contacting authors. It took me almost six months to get to that point. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it's a lot of hard work. Just ask any book blogger. Everyone's different though, what took me six months might only take you three.
I've gotten some questions in the comments throughout posting this series as well, so far I have:
"Where do you get a counter?"
"How did you make your star rating?"
"How do you handle negative reviews?"
I'm planning on answering these questions in a future post. If you have any questions that haven't been answered please feel free to leave a comment or email me and I'll be sure to address them also.
If you're still on the lookout from some good blog tips you should stop by this post at ProBlogger called: Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers. This is a great post for just blogging in general.
Another great post can be found at Presenting Lenore: New Blogger FAQ. She has some great advice for book blogs! She also has some links to other fabulous posts around the blog for even more blog tips!
And lastly during BBAW. My Friend Amy asked bloggers to share their answers to two questions:
"What is one thing you wish you knew about blogging when you started or what advice would you give a newbie blogger? What is your best blogging tip?"
There are over 40 responses to these questions! I'm sure you'll find some handy tips in there too!
So far we've covered getting started, posting content and attracting visitors. If there is something you'd like me to feature let me know. Or maybe you like me to elaborate a little bit more on something I've posted this time, feel free to make a suggestion!
What do you think? Is there something you agree with, disagree with? Maybe you have your own tips that would pertain to this post?
Please take into consideration that these are only my suggestions. You can agree or disagree with them. I’m not saying you have to follow them, and I’m not saying I’m a blogging expert, but I’ve picked up a few things here and there.
Here's what I've discussed in Blog Tips, so far:
Getting Started.
Content & Visitors
The majority of question emails I receive pertaining to the blog are: "how do you get all those books?" So, lets discuss that.
When I first started my blog, I had no idea there was such a thing as an ARC, I never thought to contact authors, I mean authors are like celebrities, they're too cool for the likes of me! My blog was a way for my to keep track of what I read and what I thought about it.
First and foremost, I utilized my library! You should too! Coming from a small town, it didn't take me long to read just about every YA book that my library offered, so when I exhausted my library I turned to the Internet.
There wasn't any way I could afford my book habit, so buying every book I wanted to read was out of the question. In came BookSwim. BookSwim was great! It feed my book addiction, and it didn't cost me a fortune to get books! BookSwim is like Netflix, but with books. You fill your pool with the books you want, they send them to you, you read them, send them back, they send you new ones, repeat! They have different price ranges for different books-at-a-time.
Contest around the Internet are also another great way to get books and sometimes you can even score an ARC! Lots of blogs have contests. Including author blogs.
If you are interested in getting ARC's there are a few programs that you might want to check out.
- Harper Teen First Look
- Pulse It
- Random Buzzers
- The In Group
- Young Adult (&Kids) Books Central
Harper Teen: First Look
The new First Look is a lot different! But I think I've finally figured it out! You can sign up via Twitter and Facebook. Both networking sites have Harper Teen pages. Randomly each site gives away ARCs. On Twitter First Look will send out a tweet that might look something like this:
"Ok watchful Tweeple. First 5 to DM me name and address get an ARC of Stargazer, second book in Claudia Gray's vampire Evernight series!"
They do similar announcements on Facebook, so it's more of a right place right time kind of thing. This program is only open to the U.S. but there is a Canadian version, but I'm not sure how that one works.
Simon & Schuster: Pulse It
The Pulse It Board does have an age limit, which I believe is 19. You have to send in a submission form that is signed by your parents. I'm not exactly sure on the logistics, since I was too old to join this one, but the web page is very informative.
This one is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
Random House: Random Buzzers
With Random Buzz you participate in activities like quizzes and polls, to earn points towards books and other fun prizes!
This was actually how I received my first ARC! They have a fabulous forum as well!
Henry Holt: The In Group
The In Group also has an age restriction, this one is open to teens 13-19 years of age. As with Pulse It there is a release form that your parents have to sign. And I'm not sure exactly how they run this program either, as I wasn't able to participates.
This one is open to U.S. residents only.
Young Adult (&Kids) Books Central
This is a great site! You submit 15 reviews and then you qualify to pick a book from the "Prize Bucket!" There is always a huge list of books to choose from, so it's not hard to find one you'll enjoy!
I'm sure there are some other ones too, but these are some of the larger ones that I'm aware of. If anyone knows of any others, please feel free to mention them with a link in the comments.
For you International Bloggers!
I know a lot of the arc type programs are for US bloggers only, but a great thing that international bloggers can do is get a NetGalley account! NetGalley allows you to download a galley or advance readers copy of upcoming novels directly to your computer or e-reader! This is a great way for all bloggers, not just the international ones, to get some great books!
Once I started utilizing my library, bookswim and these programs to get books, I began posting reviews more frequently, and in turn it built up my content Which allowed my site to grow, and attract visitors. And once I was able to build a steady readership, then I started contacting authors. It took me almost six months to get to that point. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it's a lot of hard work. Just ask any book blogger. Everyone's different though, what took me six months might only take you three.
I've gotten some questions in the comments throughout posting this series as well, so far I have:
"Where do you get a counter?"
"How did you make your star rating?"
"How do you handle negative reviews?"
I'm planning on answering these questions in a future post. If you have any questions that haven't been answered please feel free to leave a comment or email me and I'll be sure to address them also.
If you're still on the lookout from some good blog tips you should stop by this post at ProBlogger called: Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers. This is a great post for just blogging in general.
Another great post can be found at Presenting Lenore: New Blogger FAQ. She has some great advice for book blogs! She also has some links to other fabulous posts around the blog for even more blog tips!
And lastly during BBAW. My Friend Amy asked bloggers to share their answers to two questions:
"What is one thing you wish you knew about blogging when you started or what advice would you give a newbie blogger? What is your best blogging tip?"
There are over 40 responses to these questions! I'm sure you'll find some handy tips in there too!
So far we've covered getting started, posting content and attracting visitors. If there is something you'd like me to feature let me know. Or maybe you like me to elaborate a little bit more on something I've posted this time, feel free to make a suggestion!
What do you think? Is there something you agree with, disagree with? Maybe you have your own tips that would pertain to this post?
Blog Tips (2)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Updated 12/26/09
Please take into consideration that these are only my suggestions. You can agree or disagree with them. I’m not saying you have to follow them, and I’m not saying I’m a blogging expert, but I’ve picked up a few things here and there.
Getting Started.
Now that you’ve gotten your page started and the layout tweaked to your preference, it’s time to work on your content. If you are starting a book blog, obviously reviews are going to be a big part of your content.
So, lets address that first. Content.
Figure out how you are going to write your reviews. Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself before you start:
You might find things that work for you further down the line and things that don’t, it’s okay to change your style periodically until you find what fits you. It’s always a good idea to at least mention the title of the novel and the authors name. Since (hypothetically) you’re just starting your blog, and I’m assuming at this point that you’ve started your blog in hopes to one day review ARCs, (although I hope that is not your primary reason) now probably isn't the time to be actively seeking out getting copies. Build up your content, get a few reviews under your belt and go from there.
While book reviews are great, it’s also nice to post other book related content. For instance, you might want to participate in weekly memes around the book blogging community, this will help you network your blog and meet other book bloggers! I actually host a meme called In My Mailbox, basically I share what books I’ve gotten that week in my mailbox, or what books I’ve bought, got at the library or borrowed and then I ask others to share too! And we go around and comment on each others posts. Here are some more memes you might be interested in participating in:
I’m sure there are a lot more, but these are a few I remember off the top of my head. But like I said, a great way to network and meet other bloggers! But don't overload your blog with memes! Maybe you can have some relevant personal posts as well. It’s always nice for your readers to know a little bit about you. Of course, some people feel differently about that, a nice balance is always a good idea. And once you get some content going, maybe you can get an author interview and make up your own feature, have some fun!
So, now you have all this great content, but your still not getting visitors? What’s up with that? Let’s get some visitors! Don’t:
Do's:
Network! Here’s what I did when I started out, because no one knew I existed at one time either! First off I made a MySpace page. This is a great networking tool, because 1.) Lots of authors have MySpace pages. 2.) Lots of readers/book lovers have MySpace pages! I hate MySpace now and I hardly ever use it anymore, but this worked for me. That being said... I would NOT use MySpace as a social networking tool today. One of the biggest referring sites to my blog, is Twitter.
You could also do, Facebook, Twitter and Ning, which are other social networking tools. There is also a huge book community to join!
Visit other Blogs Another suggestion is to visit other book blogs! Leave a comment relative to the post for that day. I almost always check out where my comments come from! Ask to be added to a blog roll! There are tons of ways to get your blog name out there. You can also join the YA Book Blog Directory!
Contests
Contest are always a sure way to get visitors, because everyone likes winning! It should be your last resort, as you really want people coming for your content, but contests can be helpful when done tastefully. However contest can get expensive, postage adds up even if you do send media mail! And of course, you'd need some sort of prize too.
Okay, now you’ve gotten some content and hopefully some pointers on getting some visitors. I still have a couple other tips for upcoming posts. If there is something you'd like me to feature let me know. Or maybe you like me to elaborate a little bit more on something I've posted this time, feel free to make a suggestion!
What do you think? Is there something you agree with, disagree with? Maybe you have your own tips that would pertain to this post?
Please take into consideration that these are only my suggestions. You can agree or disagree with them. I’m not saying you have to follow them, and I’m not saying I’m a blogging expert, but I’ve picked up a few things here and there.
Getting Started.
Now that you’ve gotten your page started and the layout tweaked to your preference, it’s time to work on your content. If you are starting a book blog, obviously reviews are going to be a big part of your content.
So, lets address that first. Content.
Figure out how you are going to write your reviews. Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself before you start:
- Are you going to take a professional approach or more personal?
- Do you want to summarize the plot yourself, or would are you going to use the flap summary?
- What length would you like your reviews to be?
- Are you going to have a rating/grading system?
- What about cover art? Do you want to post that with your review?
- Do you want to include other information about the book besides your actual review, maybe a link of where to purchase or how many pages the novel is?
You might find things that work for you further down the line and things that don’t, it’s okay to change your style periodically until you find what fits you. It’s always a good idea to at least mention the title of the novel and the authors name. Since (hypothetically) you’re just starting your blog, and I’m assuming at this point that you’ve started your blog in hopes to one day review ARCs, (although I hope that is not your primary reason) now probably isn't the time to be actively seeking out getting copies. Build up your content, get a few reviews under your belt and go from there.
While book reviews are great, it’s also nice to post other book related content. For instance, you might want to participate in weekly memes around the book blogging community, this will help you network your blog and meet other book bloggers! I actually host a meme called In My Mailbox, basically I share what books I’ve gotten that week in my mailbox, or what books I’ve bought, got at the library or borrowed and then I ask others to share too! And we go around and comment on each others posts. Here are some more memes you might be interested in participating in: I’m sure there are a lot more, but these are a few I remember off the top of my head. But like I said, a great way to network and meet other bloggers! But don't overload your blog with memes! Maybe you can have some relevant personal posts as well. It’s always nice for your readers to know a little bit about you. Of course, some people feel differently about that, a nice balance is always a good idea. And once you get some content going, maybe you can get an author interview and make up your own feature, have some fun!
So, now you have all this great content, but your still not getting visitors? What’s up with that? Let’s get some visitors! Don’t:
- advertise your blog on other people’s blogs. No one likes SPAM!
- go to a forum and list a "check out my blog" post in every thread. Annoying.
Do's:
Network! Here’s what I did when I started out, because no one knew I existed at one time either! First off I made a MySpace page. This is a great networking tool, because 1.) Lots of authors have MySpace pages. 2.) Lots of readers/book lovers have MySpace pages! I hate MySpace now and I hardly ever use it anymore, but this worked for me. That being said... I would NOT use MySpace as a social networking tool today. One of the biggest referring sites to my blog, is Twitter.
You could also do, Facebook, Twitter and Ning, which are other social networking tools. There is also a huge book community to join!
Visit other Blogs Another suggestion is to visit other book blogs! Leave a comment relative to the post for that day. I almost always check out where my comments come from! Ask to be added to a blog roll! There are tons of ways to get your blog name out there. You can also join the YA Book Blog Directory!
Contests
Contest are always a sure way to get visitors, because everyone likes winning! It should be your last resort, as you really want people coming for your content, but contests can be helpful when done tastefully. However contest can get expensive, postage adds up even if you do send media mail! And of course, you'd need some sort of prize too.
Okay, now you’ve gotten some content and hopefully some pointers on getting some visitors. I still have a couple other tips for upcoming posts. If there is something you'd like me to feature let me know. Or maybe you like me to elaborate a little bit more on something I've posted this time, feel free to make a suggestion!
What do you think? Is there something you agree with, disagree with? Maybe you have your own tips that would pertain to this post?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
