I decided to add a new page for my review policy after reading a very informative post from the Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
It explains why it is important for authors and publicists to know exactly which books you are prepared to review for them, your attitude to reviewing books that you don’t like, and where you are willing to post reviews.
You can find my newly added review policy here.
Have you written your review policy recently? How does yours compare with mine?
This week we are building our Weekly Geek community by linking our book reviews to each other. You can find all my reviews on my Book Reviewed tab (top right). I’ve been very bad at doing this in the past, so this is a great opportunity for me to rectify this situation.
If you’ve reviewed any of the same books as me, please leave a link to your review in the comment section for the book.
As part of the Blog Improvement Project I have now signed up to Twitter! I’ve been thinking about joining for a while, but wasn’t sure whether I wanted to or not. My main concern is that I will become addicted to it, and waste lots of time using it. I’m also unsure about how to deal with book related news and more personal updates. For the time being I’m going to stick with it being a twitter account for my book news, as I’m not sure any of my ‘real life’ friends are signed up to twitter anyway!
I joined a few days ago, and think I have grasped the basics, so I’d love to have a few more friends on there. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter then my username is farmlanebooks. Hopefully I’ll add a few Twitter widgets to my sidebar in the next few days.
I look forward to twittering with you soon!
Richard and Judy host a TV programme, here in the UK. Every year they chose a selection of books, and then review them on their show. I have been following their book club for a few years, and have read some great books thanks to them.
This year’s Richard and Judy selection didn’t seem as strong as in previous years. I was disappointed with many of the books; the majority were average, or worse, and contained many flaws. I’m not sure that I will read the entire list in future years, especially as I am unable to watch the TV programme now that it has moved onto a satallite channel.
There were a few great reads though. I was very pleased to discover The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher both were rich, informative reads that I highly recommend.
Have you read this years R&J selection? If so, I’d love to know your opinion. Do you think the standard has dropped this year? Will you be reading the list in future years?
Richard and Judy’s 2009 Book Club Choices
Brutal Art by Jesse Kellerman
Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Bolter by Frances Osborne
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin
December by Elizabeth H Winthrop
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
As part of the Blog Improvement Project I have just signed up to Digg, but after having a browse round the site, and a few other web discussions about it, I’m not really sure there was much point in signing up. It looks as though it is a great site for finding out about current news stories, and maybe a few interesting one-off articles, but I’m not convinced that it is a great way of drawing traffic to your blog.
If you do manage to get an article accepted to Digg (and this sounds like a political minefield!), it sounds as though it may generate short term spikes in visitor numbers, but no long term benefits.
Have you signed up to Digg? Have you managed to successfully submit an article? If so, did it produce any results for you? Unless I hear some amazing anecdotes, I’m not going to attempt any more Digging!
Sandy from You’ve Gotta Read This! honoured me with this amazing award. I’m proud to have made so many great friends here in the blogging world, and count Sandy as one of the most special. Thank you so much Sandy!
