Book Bloggers: Their Time Has Come
Thursday, March 25, 2010 Question of the day: What's your opinion on book review blogs? Do you think people read them? Do you expect that they'll become an influential force in the publishing world? Do you as an author consider them valuable?
My opinion on book blogs is that they are the wave of the future, if not the here and now. To a degree. We all already know that valuable review space in newspapers is being hacked left and right, which plenty of readers are up in arms about. So that stinks. However, given that fewer people are reading newspapers these days and that more people are turning their eyeballs to the internet, I'm, well, not okay with it, but I recognize that there are plenty of other places for your book to get reviewed and mentioned. (Please note: I, too, think that review space getting axed sucks - if only for the symbolism that fewer people are reading - but I also sincerely think that people just don't read papers in the same way that they used to, so it's not the end-all-be-all.)
To that end, book bloggers are filling a valuable and necessary space, and I, personally, have seen direct results from their work. When Time of My Life came out in paperback, my publisher sent me (and the book) on a blog tour, which meant that book blogs either interviewed me or reviewed the book. And the following that some of these bloggers have is substantial. I mean, they really, really contributed (in my opinion, with no hard stats to back this up) to the sales of my book. As we all know, word of mouth is king, and these bloggers really can control to a certain degree the word of mouth and buzz about a book. That's what's so great about online reviews: they're viral. One person blogs about it, and another person comments about it, and then another person takes it from there and chooses to blog about it as well. And that's really where I think book bloggers are critical and wield a lot of power.
Now, that said, like any other aspect of blogging, there are some who are great at it, and some who aren't. Some who have huge followings and some who don't. But as a whole, I really think it's the wave of the future, and wave I very much support.
Anyone else want to share your thoughts on book blogging or give a particularly good blog a name-check below?
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Reader Comments (18)
I love book review blogs, and have a handful of my favorites linked to my blog, including:
White Readers Meet Black Authors
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
And I can't pass up the opportunity for a little shameless self-promotion. ;)
The Book Book
I'm not the originator of this blog, but I was added as a reviewer back in September 2009, and have since reviewed Time of My Life (Allison Winn Scotch... duh!) and The Last Will of Moira Leahy (Therese Walsh), to name just two.
I could not agree with you more - a few years back (when I was working in the music business) we were talking to a very, very large online site (it sells books and other items....can you guess who? ;) about using influencers and on their site to do a series of reviews for us (for up coming albums). We could in no way dictae the review - merely be open to them posting honest reviews of what they thought.
They ran a dedicated program for this and they shared with us statistics which showed that books which had been heavily reviewed on their site saw increases in sales of up to 27% as opposed to books which had not been reviewed by key influencers (this positive uplift carried over to all other types of items they sold as well). They ran this review program with only their most influential reviewers and it was clear they had immense influence.
Keep up the great posts!
I met a group of book bloggers at a BEA event last year and, while I don't always share the same tastes, one of those book bloggers has become a resource for me. http://heylady.net/ I take her word for it when she recommends a book and its pretty much guaranteed that I will like it. I don't know if traditional reviews in the newspaper have that kind of influence. It's not as personal. BTW, that book blogger led me to reading Time of My Life and, consequently, this blog. So...hmmm.... :-)
I'm incredibly grateful to bloggers who spread the word about books at a time when publishing is struggling. I have many favorites and I've met a few book bloggers in person, including Trish of HeyLady (which Melissa mentioned above), as well as Dawn of sheistoofondofbooks, and Amy of MyFriendAmy. I also love the ChickLitisNotDead girls, Liz&Lisa, who always make me laugh! I could go on and on - I read a lot of book blogs and have picked up many books because of their recommendations. Book bloggers also tend to do great giveaways, which is always nice!
Love this post, Allison! Of course, inquiring minds want to know: who are *your* favorite book bloggers? :)
What a nice post! As a book blogger, I thank you!
http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/ is my favorite book blog. I want to be like s.krishna when I grow up.
My faves? :) Camille, that's like asking a mom to choose her favorite child!
I will say that I'm a fan of all the ones mentioned here: they all do really great work with a lot of energy and kindness and thoughtfulness. If you haven't checked them out, do so!
I am an avid reader, and I read lots of book blogs, so if there are others out there like me, I definitely think they make a difference. Just like with reviews on Amazon, I take book bloggers' reviews with a grain of salt. But I do find, once I know the kind of books a particular blogger is drawn to, I can count on that person for some great recommendations of what to read next. I particularly love Booking Mama, Jenn's Bookshelves, S. Krishna's Books, and for YA, The Compulsive Reader.
I think book blogs are great places to find out about books, old and new. When I find a blogger with similar tastes in books, it's like being in a bookstore with my own personal shopper! I'm always finding out about new books to add to my ever-growing TBR pile.
I've also very much enjoyed working with book bloggers who review our books (Annick Press) and participate in blog tours for our authors. I keep a list of book blogs here: http://delicious.com/AnnickPress/bookblog but I know there are many more I'm still missing!
Allison - I was one of the bloggers who participated in the blog tour for Time of My Life. I have been blogging about books for over three years and have to say that I get all my book recommendations exclusively from book bloggers. They are a great influence on what I decide to read next!!
India is yet to see authoritative book bloggers, except for the very few that exist. Elsewhere I've enjoyed reading many a book review on book blogs, more so since they're not restricted by space constraints as newspapers might be.
I would imagine a convincing book blogger would bring in their personality to bear in the reviews.
Alternately I feel that bloggers in other genres, like travel, design, personal etc. might actually be as influential if not more than book bloggers with their occasional book reviews on their blogs. One reason could be that they could bring the context of their blogs as in the interests they pursue and around which their following is centered, to bear on book reviews. Here the actual personna of the blogger will come into play in choosing the book to read and review, and connect with followers with similar likes.
Thank you for a great post!! I love blogging and I've found the book blogging community to be such an important resource that I turn to daily for book reviews! My TBR pile as grown astronomically since I started blogging, but I wouldn't change it for anything!! Thanks for acknowledging us!
Thanks for a great post. I've been around the book blogging world for awhile now and have seen the tremendous growth in this area. I agree, book blogs are a new wave of book reviewing. I know that they are my primary source for reviews...it is like sitting down with friends talking about a book and there are many whose opinions I trust explicitly.
http://www.caribousmom.com
As a new book blogger, I have just become aware of the amazing blogs out there!!! I can't stop following them!!!
Prior to really becoming a fervent blog follower I used the New York Times and other book related sites to stay aware of books and authors that were important to me. I have to say that book bloggers are amazing and seem to stay current in their knowledge of books and following one leads to following another and it just continues on in this manner. I love reading what a good blogger has to say in her review. Most of the reviews are concise and informative. They are invaluable to me. Plus it is so much fun to talk to people about books you love and read their comments and responses. Book blogging is an extremely important way to get your book talked about.
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Hi,
I'm a fellow writer and I love "Ask Allison", so I left you a blog award on my blog, Becks and the City:
http://becks-carrie.blogspot.com/
Hope you can stop by and check it out! : )
One of the reasons that the book sections of newspapers are shrinking is because in today's social networking world people are more interested in a dialogue than a one-sided summary or narrative about a particular book. They want a more visceral, personal reaction with questions and an open forum for responses. People want to know how a particular book will impact their life, what questions it will pose and how others are reacting to it. I think book bloggers become, essentially, an extension of your "friends" and you want to know what they are reading, which authors are on their radar and what they like and dislike. Ultimately we all make our own decisions, but online blogs and book-related websites provide readers with an instant outlet to express their opinions and reactions to books that strike a chord.
:) Jocelyn Kelley
Hi Allison,
I really do think that blogs are the newpapers of the future. We are moving into a paperless world, and online is where everyone is. The potential to sway public opinion on blogs is incredible.
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