The Quiet Concert: Some Burning Questions Related to Blogging

Jan

2015

Some Burning Questions Related to Blogging

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

Some Burning Questions Related to Blogging

So I have been pondering some questions lately that I would love to hear ya'll's thoughts on....

1. Should I post my reviews to Amazon? Currently, I only post my reviews here, and on Goodreads. I have yet to post them anywhere else, mostly out of laziness. But I enjoy spreading the word on books that I've read and it's really as easy as copy and paste so I thought I should make an effort to branch out to Amazon. But I feel like I have picked up on some dissent over the blogosphere. Like they reject a lot of reviews even if they are fair? I didn't pay much attention to it so that is kind of why I am bringing it up now. If you post your reviews to Amazon, what is your experience like with them? Is there any reason I shouldn't post my reviews there?

2. How much of an impact does promoting your posts on Twitter have? I suck at using Twitter - both for promotion and networking. But when I do try to promote our posts - I don't really see THAT much of a difference in blog traffic. Is it just me? Am I doing something wrong? I am starting to feel like I should just focus on tweeting the publisher/author when I have good reviews and focus the rest of my time on connecting with other readers - which I think Twitter IS great for. But what is your experience with it?

3. Is Quoting from ARCs ok? I love including quotes in my reviews when I take the time to do so because I feel like it gives readers a glimpse of what to expect, probably more so than my review does. But every ARC you receive says not to quote it without checking against the finished copy, yet if you post the review before the book is released, that is all but impossible (without retrospectively checking, which is not what I think they mean.) Therefore, I try to avoid quoting from ARCs but I'll admit, I do it every now and again. I've seen plenty others do it and so that eases my conscience, and also, I obviously don't post a quote if there is a typo in it or something. But this behavior might still be frowned upon so I was also wondering what everyone's thoughts were on the subject? And if you are close with pubs, what are their thoughts are on the subject? Maybe they say don't quote it for liability reasons but really they don't care....?

Ok that's all for now :)

Comments (11)

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Mel@thedailyprophecy 86p · 530 weeks ago

I quote from ARC's and I've stated that it's possible that those quotes are different in the finished copy. I don't cross-post with amazon and I don't feel the need to, actually. I think Goodreads is enough for me. I notice a small difference when I tweet about my blog posts, but I think Twitter is still the best for personal interactions :)

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Ashley · 530 weeks ago

I cross post to Amazon. It really helps the authors. In my experience, the only difference between Amazon and Goodreads is that Amazon doesn't allow swear words so you do have to remove those. But as long as you do, your reviews won't get rejected or anything..

Twitter is fantastic for me. That and StumbleUpon are my #1 referrals. You can't just post links on Twitter and have that be it though. Honestly if you do that, no one will want to follow you. People don't like seeing promo posts and nothing else. You have to mostly chat with people, post personal/bookish comments, then do a LITTLE promo. That's how you'll see the best results.

You're usually not allowed to quote from ARCs. All publishers have their own preferences. I did a post about it with a few of them: http://www.nosegraze.com/bbb-question-can-you-quo...
My recent post 24 Things I’ve Learned

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Lucia 94p · 530 weeks ago

When I remember, I always "copy-past" my reviews to Amazon. My reviews have never been denied there but I know many people have problems with their reviews being accepted by Amazon. Truly, beside no swearing rule, I have no idea what actual criteria for reviews on Amazon are.

Twitter does not make THAT much of a difference in blog traffic for me as well. But probably I am doing something wrong. I never truly researched right ways of using Twitter for blogging purposes.

I do quote from ARCs. But I usually state in my review that I received ARC so poeple would know that content I shared is not based on final version. No one from pubs has ever contacted me about it so I think that maybe they do not care that much?
My recent post BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY!

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cassietheweird 43p · 530 weeks ago

With the twitter thing, I have an automated publicise thingy that wordpress does, and the one that bloglovin does. They normally both post within an hour of the post going live. And then I'll occasionally post the link at a later time during the day, so that the people who weren't online then may be online now.
While it definitely doesn't bring in a gazillion views, I definitely get some people clicking on those links. And the same thing happens with Tumblr, though that's rarer (wordpress automatically posts the post to Tumblr). So, I say if it comes easy to you (like it does for me) then do it, because it definitely doesn't hurt. But if it's a lot of effort for you, then you may be better off trying a different thing.
It depends on the person. I practically live on twitter, so it's no trouble for me.
My recent post A Book Made Me Do It

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Nova @ Out of Time 57p · 530 weeks ago

I try my best to crosspoint. I do it more for the authors because most of them request that I do that [them and the pubs]. As for twitter... I actually don't know. My views are looking pretty solid [not a huge amount, but I'm satisfied] and maybe twitter helps. maybe it doesn't? If you find out the answer to that, I would lvoe to know.

Also, I think the quoting thing is fine, but you have to check the quotes against the final copy. Or at least, that's what the ARCs say. I'm sorry, I'm actually no help because I don't quote from ARCs ever haha
My recent post Book Review: Fairest - Marissa Meyer

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joyousreads 92p · 530 weeks ago

I decided to cross post my reviews on some bookshop websites, but I've been failing so far. Gah. I used to be really active on Twitter, but the love is gone (too many dramarama).
My recent post [487]: Warlord by Lana Grayson

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Nick · 530 weeks ago

I need to start doing the Amazon posting because I know a lot of authors mentioned that they really help sales. As for question 2, I actually notice drastic differences on the days I tweet about my posts and the days I don't. But I also think it's important to be social and speak to people in general!
My recent post Review : When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill

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Kay · 530 weeks ago

1. I post my reviews on Amazon sometimes. I do it for books I really love that I think need more appreciation and usually for the few blog tours I do or self published authors I accept review copies from if I liked their books. I have never had a problem posting there.
2. I try to use Twitter more for everything, I think I am doing an okay job so far this year. I'm not sure I have seen that much more traffic to my blog, but I'm not sure. So really I am not a lot of help on that topic, but I can say that I plan to still use Twitter as much as I can. I have been having more fun with it and I like talking to authors too!
3. I am that little worrier that never quotes from ARCs because of all the warnings and stuff. Although I really don't think it is that big of a deal. lol I agree with you that quotes can really show how you feel about a book and give the reader an idea about how the book really is AND I feel like if you point out that you are quoting from an ARC like a warning that then it should be okay.
My recent post Books I Didn't Blog About: The Pretty Good (YA Edition)

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Pam@YA Escape · 530 weeks ago

I don't post to Amazon, but I feel like I should. Maybe if it's a good review post to Amazon and if it's not just post to Goodreads? I don't know. Someone posted on my blog the other day that Amazon reviews are inflated (even more than Goodreads) and so they don't really post them. But if it helps the author, I think it's a good idea to post to Amazon (easy for me to say when I'm doing it).

I don't use Twitter at all so no help on that one.

And I've wondered the same thing about quoting from ARCs. They specifically say not to, so I haven't. That would be a good question to ask a publisher, though.

Ok, so I just realized that I have not helped you at all. Great questions!
My recent post Stacking the Shelves (80)

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Valerie 116p · 530 weeks ago

I don't post to Amazon either because I'm kind of lazy. Actually, I've tried to make an effort to post reviews on books that aren't well known, so hopefully that's good of me haha.

I still quote ARCS, well, sometimes. I'm not a big quote fan, and sometimes I go through Goodreads to find quotes, so technically they're from the published book (usually when I read ARCs late)

I only have the automated Twitter post thing. From bloglovin. Honestly I don't care about promoting my blog through there because I think twitter is better with personal interactions.
My recent post Stacking the Shelves #20

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Lory @ Emerald City Book Review 16p · 529 weeks ago

I have not actually tried this yet, but I think you could email the quote you want to use to the publicist who sent you the ARC for vetting. If they make this statement, they should ideally do that as part of their job.