Have you ever been faced with an issue while reading or blogging and thought: I wonder what other bloggers think about this? No matter what genre or audience you blog for, we all face the same problems. Are you a publisher or author wondering what goes on in a blogger's (and by extension a reader's) head?
Blogger confidential is a series of 10 questions asked to 13 bloggers about the nitty gritty details of blogging. Everything from what prompts a blogger to pick up a book, to what happens when a book doesn't live up to its hype. This series was inspired by
Wastepaper Prose's Author Insight series. Learn more about the Blogger Confidential series
on its main page.
As the book blogging community gains momentum, how would you like to see it evolve?
"I would like to see the blogging community become a little more mature. I know a lot of us bloggers are teenagers but that is no reason to act like one. I would like to see a lot of the petty jealousy and nasty comments and hate mail disappear. I know that isn't entirely possible but it is a dream. I would just like to see the blogging community gain the respect it deserves and I think eliminating some of these things would really help with that."
Katie from Katie's Book Blog
"I'd like to see publishers take us more seriously and see how much we have to offer. They're adapting pretty well to the community so far, but I hear it's not all 100% there in some cases. I'd also like to see a decline in people starting blogs for the wrong reasons, i.e. just getting ARCs."
James from Book Chic
"I’d love a greater sense of community. It’ll be a marvelous day when the blogging world reaches an “equalizing” point—where the bloggers who were in it for the wrong reasons will fade away, and those who remain will find their niches. I love inter-blog cooperation, and I think that the blogging community won’t reach its peak until we lessen blogger-envy, take full responsibility for our words, and learn to be happy with what we have. I think we’re WELL on our way to getting there, and I hope it can only get better."
Enna from Squeaky Books
"We would like to see them start pushing more books that deal with real life situations – Cyber bulling, LGBTQ lit, domestic abuse in teen relationships or at home, kids with disabilities and other subjects that are currently a little more taboo. While paranormal and fantasy books make fantastic reads, contemporary books that deal with situations people are facing in their real lives can help open doors and start conversations. So with that, it’d be great to see more conversations happening about real life situations and topics that are currently considered “ taboo” subjects."
Pixie and Stacey from Page Turners Blog
"While this is happening currently, I’d like to see more respect from “professional” reviewers and the publishing industry."
Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves
"I’d just really like to see those “negative nancies” out there disappear into the ether, and have only the genuinely well-intentioned bloggers stick around. I don’t expect this to happen, but a girl can dream, right?
Honestly, I’d just like to see the community mature and grow in professionalism. I realize many blogs are meant to be more personal and not professional – but the ones that do work frequently with authors and publishers should be considered professional sites. I’d just like to see the caliber of professionalism (not just in blog posts, but in online & personal etiquette) increase."
Sara from Novel Novice
"I would love to see more book bloggers making money for all of the work they do to promote an industry that they love. We are all writers as well (writing a blog be it reviews or commentary IS writing), and I think it would be refreshing to be compensated for it so we can put even more time and energy into it without worrying about having another job. I am also excited about book bloggers being taken more seriously (as is the direction things seem to be heading) and less as hobby bloggers. Even those of us who make no or very little money from our blogs rarely feel like it's a hobby -- it's (often) a very big part of our lives and most of us try to be at least somewhat professional about it."
Wallace from Unputdownables
"We really love to talk to other bloggers, so we would really love to see some kind of blogging community events, nationally or locally. In Texas, we have a network of bloggers we have exchanged info with and meet up to chat at author events and conventions. Maybe even some kind of national blogger get-together – like after BEA this year, there was a daylong blogger convention; but with more social events added on.
We’d also love to see a little more respect for some of our blogging buddies – bloggers put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their content (I know we do!) and it would be nice to be recognized for all our efforts, if only in a pat-on-the-back kind of way. Book publishers had blogger events at BEA this year, which was REALLY nice of them, and we’ll pat them on the back for that. *pat-pat*"
Stacy, Shannan, Nancy, and Sarah from Girls in the Stacks
"I guess I would like to see it become a more widely accepted form of book reviewing. This year especially it seems like bloggers have a reputation of the "black sheep." Since were not 'professional' we must not know what the heck we're talking about.
However, the way that we are finding businesses to use, movies to see.... books to read, it's evolving. We're reading more reviews, we're trusting our friends opinions more so than someone we've never met. Social media is helping with that aspect. I think that's only going to continue to change things."
Kristi from The Story Siren
"I think this is a really difficult question. What I can see is that eventually ARC’s will be electronic as opposed to paper copies and to be honest, I’m surprised it isn’t like this already as it would be cheaper for the publisher and give the book a wider audience. As for the book blogging community itself, I honestly don’t know how it will evolve – as I said, I don’t see it like a business and I have no idea how things will change."
Lynsey from Narratively Speaking
"I would like for major companies to recognize the hard work we do on a daily basis for all the authors and publishers alike."
Yara from Once Upon a Twilight
"I’m somewhat new to the book blogging community since I’ve only been blogging for a little over 6 months at this point, so this question has proved to me difficult for me."
Jacinda and Jasmine from The Reading Housewives of Indiana
"I love seeing our book blogging family grow. What I really like about our group is that everyone is welcomed with open arms. Recently, there have been a few other tweens who have started blogs, and that makes me smile! It would be great to see more classroom blogs with reviews by multiple students. I hope that our community will continue to have a positive atmosphere where everyone feels welcome."
Melina from Reading Vacation
Wow - it's pretty interesting to see how many bloggers still feel like there's a lot of animosity between bloggers and/or are just feeling under-appreciated. I wish more bloggers would remember why (I think) we all got into this in the first place. It was for FUN! Right? For the pure and simple pleasure of sharing our love of good books with other voracious readers. That's what keeps me blogging anyway :) I thought Pixie and Stacey's answer was fantastic - I'd love to see more reviews that focus on real-life issues and more diverse characters. Thanks for another interesting edition of Blogger Confidential :)
ReplyDeleteI do agree that as a community that publishers should realize that a lot of hard work goes into our reviews. I do think that they love all the hard work they do . I feel that book blogging community is better than the mommy blogging world LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree the comment about ARCs becoming electronic. I recently received an eGalley from Galley Grab and it was a seamless process.
ReplyDeleteI think blogging, like everything else, will somehow shrink. I read something recently about how easy Twitter is because you blog "4/5 stars for XXXXXX" and that can immediately engage someone as opposed to blogging which takes time for the blogger, and the reader who has to follow links and read a lot of info. Everything is just getting shorter and more digestible in the world, and I'm not 100% sure what that means to blogging but I think we'll have to adapt.
I just started my blog in January and I feel like the proverbial late to the prom or party blogger. :-)
I wish bloggers would get more than just free books. That's a great perk, but sometimes you want some additional compensation for your efforts - it's hard work building a community around a blog!
ReplyDeleteFound you as I was browsing book blogs, will continue to read!