Day Five of Armchair BEA. The couch dweller's answer to participating in world domination.
The host blog features a post on the future of blogging (it's like blogging now, but in the future! And in space!)
Book Blogging: 101
I'd love to hear from those of you who receive ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) or who work with NetGalley to review books that aren't out in the market yet.
- How did you get involved in book blogging?
- How do you handle a book that you don't care for -- do you post a negative review, or do you stick with only featuring books you've enjoyed?
- Any advice for those who wish to become a book blogger?
Posts
If I don't finish a book, I don't usually write anything, unless I feel it's important to let people know why I didn't finish it. If I don't like a book, I review it. Explaining why I didn't like it, as objectively asossible.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Annette, if I don't finish it I will likely not review it. If it's a book I've obligated myself to for a tour or such, then I will finish it and provide an honest review. I'll talk about what did and did not work for me. I'll also make suggestions as to who I think it would be a better fit for.
ReplyDeleteI started blogging a few months ago because I was reading too much without putting any thought into what I was reading. I've read and written about quite a few bad books, and I try to be honest without being mean or judgmental. If a book contains a lot of grammar errors or odd homonym switch-ups, bad pacing, poor character development, etc., I say so. What's funny, though, is that I often get just as much enjoyment out of reading those not-so-good books as I do the truly excellent ones, and I almost always end up finishing them, just to see how they turn out. I wouldn't tell anyone flat-out not to read a particular book unless that book was really and truly awful and without any redeeming quality whatsoever. But I hope that I never find myself reading a book that bad!
ReplyDeleteI used to read just about anything too, but now I'm more focused in what I read, and more apt to put down a book if it's not working for me. I never write reviews that slam a book, but like you ladies, I try for honesty and suggest who might like the book (what it may compare to).
ReplyDeleteWhen I read reviews on Goodreads or amazon, I read a mix of 5 star and lower starred reviews. I want to see what people say on both spectrums.
thanks for sharing!
I got into book blogging as a way to keep track of what I was reading and remember the books I read. Then I just got hooked on the community and wanted to make my blog more than that.
ReplyDeleteIf I don’t like a book, I still review it, but I try to do so in a professional and constructive manner. I say why I didn’t like it and try not to insult the book, the author, or the writing. And I try to make sure to say that just because I didn’t like it, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad book, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I also ask readers to clue me in if I’m missing something that hindered my enjoyment of the book.
Advice for aspiring book bloggers is to just get started and then go from there. If you wait forever and try to research and plan, then you’ll never get anything done. Just start experimenting and don’t be afraid to try new things. One thing I read earlier was that you should write some posts in advance so you have content when you first start out. I think that’s great advice!
When it comes to review copies I review pretty much everything that I receive. Occasionally I will skip reviewing a book or two from the library that I have read, just because I don't have time and the review copies take precedence.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started blogging this was more of an issue, because I received a few self-published books from authors and they were almost all horrid. In most cases I emailed the author and let them know ahead of time that my review was going to be very negative (politely of course) and left the decision about posting it in their hands. Almost all of them opted to not have me post a review. Since then I have not only stopped accepting self-pubs, I no longer accept any books for review directly from authors.
Every once in a while I will publish a post about a book that I didn't finish, usually because I had such a strong reaction to it and in that reaction was something I just had to share (like my review of Religion for Atheists: http://athomewithbooks.net/2012/03/religion-for-atheists-dnf/). With that book I thought, how could I not share how strange it was?
I don't know if this helps or not but since I started out on only books I bought, I have very few negative reviews (why buy a book you won't like). When I did write a review that was a 3 or less (yes, authors and publishers think anything less than a 4 is a bad review, go figure) I would always say something good about the book.
ReplyDeleteI learned a ton about writing negative reviews when I attended the Book Blogger & Publisher's Online Conference (BBPOC) last March. There was a whole session on negative reviews. The conference is pricey ($40) but even without getting the free books (which, this year, we haven't gotten yet b/c there's been problems), I think it was still worth it.