I’ve never really thought of myself as a book blogger, although I do post reviews and book chat. In my mind, this blog sits somewhere between a book blog and a lifestyle blog, not quite fitting in either category.
But recently I’ve been getting a lot more requests to review books and it’s made me realise that I’m perhaps not the best book blogger, for a few reasons…
I don’t use Goodreads
For whatever reason, I’ve never really got to grips with Goodreads. I signed up for an account years ago but never really use it.
With my own book coming out soon, I suppose that’s something that will have to change.
But as most of my reviewing efforts were always focused on my blog and on Amazon, Goodreads just felt like something extra that I didn’t have time for, which probably means I’ve lost all kinds of website traffic through my lack of participation, but hey, you can’t do everything.
So many outstanding books
I’m starting to feel horribly guilty about all the review books I have that remain unread. It isn’t a ridiculous amount, but it’s enough to make my palms sweat.
I don’t accept many books for review now and I always do so with the best of intentions. But time is limited and there’s a window of interest for reading a book: if I miss it, the book only falls down my to-read list.
This year I’m making an effort to limit new books and crack on with the ones I have, but apologies if you’re still waiting for a review from me – I’m trying!
And I won’t lie, I do still read books that have no place in my review line-up – reading time is so limited that I refuse to give up reading purely for pleasure. Writing reviews does remove some of the joy from reading, so I don’t review everything.
Kindle has become my nemesis
Part of the problem with review copies is they generally arrive in the form of an e-book and over the last couple of years I’ve fallen out of love with my Kindle, mostly because of the amount of time I already spend staring at a screen (probably 10-12 hours most days, between work, writing and blogging).
I crave a physical book and it’s much easier to remember to read something when it’s staring at me from the bookshelf in my living room. Books on my Kindle disappear into the depths of my phone and many don’t re-emerge.
Cross-promotion
I’ve been involved in a lot of conversations with other authors recently who are inordinately grateful for bloggers who not only get involved in tours, but also post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Netgalley and other sites.
That’s not something I’ve made a habit of doing.
I don’t like to copy and paste my blog review, and that one is always my main focus. So I try to re-use snippets and write new text for other reviews. I usually manage to post on Amazon, but as I said before, I generally don’t use Goodreads.
And the fact you could actually leave a review on Netgalley passed me by until this year, when I posted my first full review there, instead of simply submitting a link to my blog post.
Community ties
One of the great things about book blogging is the community that exists online. But as in real-life, I’m a wee bit anti-social and struggle to find the energy to spend a lot of time interacting online.
So I tend to review a book, share the post on my social media feeds and move on, with limited efforts to get into a conversation.
There’s are times I’d love to be a bigger part of the community, but it feels inauthentic now my own book is coming out and again, I’m struggling to do it all.
Negative reviews
I’ve always had an unofficial policy of avoiding negative reviews. That doesn’t mean I won’t give criticism, but I don’t believe in being mean. Life is hard enough.
If I haven’t enjoyed a book, I generally won’t write about it, or I’ll give a very cursory description of the story in my monthly reading round-up and leave it at that.
Saying that, I don’t think negative reviews are wrong, it’s down to personal preference. But I always try to operate from a position of kindness, as much as I can.
Now that I’ve made myself sound like a terrible book blogger, does anyone else want to share their confessions so I feel less guilty? Go on!
Isabelle says
I’m similar in regards to the community and conversation. I love reading others people’s blogs but I’m forever forgetting to post comments and share things, which is a shame because I know how important that community is to a thriving blogosphere, so I ought to make the effort to keep it alive!
Isabelle . http://isabellemarieflynn.blogspot.com/
Amy Lord says
True, but it’s easier when it feels natural, rather than forcing a conversation to feel part of the community! I’m just not a natural chatter!