I had a great time at Book Camp this weekend (thanks to Ami Greko and co for hosting/organizing and providing fancy Smart water!) I got to meet Margaret Atwood AND David Gutowski (it was an honor to meet Ms. Atwood, but the online publicist in me geeked out way more at meeting David). See Bethanne Patrick, Ron Hogan, Susan Danzinger. Fun.
My blogging (and publishing) buddy Ann Kingman and I hosted a discussion called “Building Buzz with Blogs” (I was so glad that Erica Barmash of Harper Perennial was there as she’s one of the masters at this. I kept looking at her to confirm what I was saying.) I came away from the discussion with two thoughts…the first of which is, there are so many blogs that have review guidelines which is great, but there isn’t really anywhere that lists what bloggers should do to have a successful relationship with publishers. Here are a few of the things that came up on Saturday:
1. Be clear with the publisher about what you really LIKE, don’t just say “I’ll take them all.” That makes the publisher think you actually don’t want any.
2. Be in touch! If you request a book, send a link when you post your review.
3. Be honest in your review. Most of the publishing people that I know that work with bloggers welcome honesty because it means that when you DO love a book, you mean it. Of course, I understand only posting positive reviews and I try to only send you things you will like (see tip #1 for this to be effective). But honesty is the best policy.
4. Engage in the community. Build your blog. I’m totally willing to work with a “small” or “new” blog…but I want to see that the blog is evolving over the course of when I work with you. I also want to see regular posts.
5. Check in! (This might not be true for all publishers, but it is true with me.) If I say I am going to send you something and then you haven’t received it in 3-4 weeks, it might have gotten lost in the shuffle. A reminder is very helpful.
6. I hear that there is sometimes jealousy about who has what galley. If you really want a galley, ask the person who has it where they got it and ask the publisher for it. Whining gets you nowhere.
7. We DO judge a site by its cover. Make your blog nice. Clean. Neat. Readable. If it crashes my computer every time I click on a link, I’m going to stop clicking on links.
8. Register a domain name. It’s cheap and it makes you look way more professional.
9. My favorite bloggers also send me gossip. I read blogs, but I don’t have time to read everything. Be my ear on the ground and I will love you forever.
My second thought which I didn’t get to address in the discussion relates to contests. My feeling about contests, unless something really cool like a movie (or an imprint launch…) is happening and there is fun schwag to give away, is that they are a pain for everyone. You have to track down addresses. You have to bug me to send the books to them. Inevitably things go awry. And, to be honest, they kind of feel like a cop out. Like you want to cover the book (maybe as a favor?) but you aren’t really invested in reading it. There’s no need to do favors. I think time is precious and as a blogger you only have so many moments in your day. Why waste them on contests when you could be reading or writing or commenting?
I’m open to being dissuaded (or supported) on the topic of contests. I know they drive traffic and follows etc. But at this point, aren’t the same people entering and winning? I know there are a number of bloggers who read this site, would love to hear your thoughts.
Please note that all opinions expressed in this post are mine and not that of my employer.
