blogging - Indie Book Promo

Book Blogger Friday with Kelly from The Bookscape Report

Posted on December 14, 2012 Written by Indiebookpromo 12 Comments

Indie Book Promo is happy to welcome Kelly from The Bookscape Report to the blog! She is participating in our Book Blogger Friday event. Like on other Fridays, the point of introducing Kelly to you all, it to help you find book bloggers who you can chat about books with. This is not an invitation to flood Kelly with review requests!

So, welcome to Book Blogger Friday and go make some bloggy friends!

IBP – Introduce yourself and your blog.

Kelly – I’m an assistant librarian and an MLIS student. I’m also a writer and am hoping to finish revising my novel within the next six months. Aside from reading, writing, and blogging, I love photography, basketball, gymnastics, tennis, soccer, music, crafting and cupcakes. My blog focuses on young adult literature, but I do post reviews for adult fiction and non-fiction every so often.

IBP – Do you see yourself as a voracious reader?

Kelly – Absolutely. I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a kid. It’s rare to find me without a book. I’ve been known to hide out during family get togethers so I can read, and 99 percent of the time, I stay up much later than I should because I’m reading.

IBP – How long have you been blogging?

Kelly – Roughly since 2010. I had a blog prior to 2010, but didn’t do much with it, and I’ve been blogging under The Bookscape Report since late 2010.

IBP – What made you decide to start book blogging?

Kelly – I really wanted to connect with other readers who love YA literature as much as I do. Out of everyone I know who reads, most of them don’t read much, if any, YA literature. Now, it’s a bonus, since blogging and keeping up with other book blogs helps me in my job.

IBP – What genre(s) does your blog focus on?

Kelly – My intent is to focus on pretty much any genre, as long as it’s YA. I prefer contemporary fiction over anything else, but I’m not picky. I’ll review any genre.

IBP – Has your reading tastes changed since you started your blog?

Kelly – Yes, definitely. I read much more paranormal and sci-fi/fantasy than I used to, though I still prefer low-fantasy to high-fantasy.

IBP – Do you post reviews on your blog?

Kelly – Yes–my blog focuses primarily on reviews. I post the same reviews on other sites, such as Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon when authors request it.

IBP – How many review requests do you get each month on average?

Kelly – It varies. I would say on average, maybe 5, but sometimes it’s more, and sometimes it’s less. I also receive books from two publishing companies usually a couple of times a month, since I’m on their reviewer lists.

IBP – Do you have a Review Policy or something similar?

Kelly – I do. I’ve found it necessary to have one, especially as I get more and more review requests. You can find my review policy here: http://thebookscapereport.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html. It includes the types of materials I will review (young adult, genres, self-published, formats, etc.), as well as where I post reviews, what I include in my reviews, and other general guidelines

IBP - Do you review Indie or Small Pub books?

Kelly – Yes. For a while, I contemplated not accepting self-published titles, but I found that despite my review policy stating I would not accept them for review, I was accepting them, anyway. In addition, one trend that I and other people in the library world have noticed is that self-published books are, in a way, becoming “the next big thing.” There are many self-published authors who are so successful, and I’m finding that it is too difficult to not accept self-published authors for review because self-publishing is becoming more and more acceptable, and more and more successful.

IBP - Do you host guest posts or interviews?

Kelly – Yes! I love hosting guest posts and interviews. I do ask authors to allow me to read their book(s) before I send them interview questions, though.

IBP - What information do you require when an author approaches you?

Kelly – Per my review policy, the information I require is: title of the book the author would like me to review, the name of the author (this is so important! I’ve received many review requests where the author’s name is not included!), the book’s release date, and whether or not the book is part of a series, and if it is, which number in the series it is. Other information I like to see in review requests: address me by name! I tend to disregard generic review requests that are sent to multiple bloggers. Also, showing me that you’ve spent some time looking at my blog goes a long way. I recently had an author send me a review request, and he congratulated me on having some of my poetry and photography published. While I will accept review requests that don’t mention that type of thing, I’m definitely more likely to accept a request when the author shows me that he/she has done more than just gotten my email address and sent me a review request. I’ve received a lot of review requests that aren’t for young adult titles, which I also disregard, since it shows that the author isn’t aware of what my blog focuses on.

It also helps for authors to include a blurb for the book they want me to review, but I don’t require it.

IBP - How can we stalk you?

Kelly – Blog: http://thebookscapereport.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bookscape-Report/300812713292540
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4693944-kelly
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thebookscaperep

Filed Under: blogging, Book Blogger

Book feature with Rebecca Tsaros Dickson, author of Say My Name

Posted on October 9, 2012 Written by Indiebookpromo 4 Comments

Indie Book Promo is happy to welcome Rebecca Tsaros Dickson to the blog. She is the author of Say My Name, a novella. If this sounds like a book you’re interested in, please use the links at the bottom of the post to pick up a copy or two.

A tale of two lovers in their 40s coming to terms with their true feelings after decades of unrequited passion. Anyone who has ever loved, lost and held out hope in spite of it all will see a piece of themselves in this novella – and it may not be easy to face.

• • •

Out of nowhere, three weeks ago, I picked up the phone to the sound of his soft, dewy inflection drawing out my name. My knees buckled, inflaming the itch at the back of my neck. He didn’t have to identify himself. I knew. This man’s hands encircled my hips like so many chains of love.

Then he cleared his throat and said the thing: “I have AIDS.”

Bio:

Rebecca Tsaros Dickson writes. Because it’s what she knows.

Stints as a reporter for two daily newspapers, which included two Presidential Primary races, taught her the value of a well-chosen word. She left journalism in 2006 to play Momma, but instead found herself filling blank pages (hundreds) while the kids napped.

Her first book was released in November 2010. The collection of short stories, aptly titled “I Could Tell You Stories,” was released with its own playlist and a boatload of art. Her newest release, “Say My Name,” began as an experiment on her blog. A fictional story about high school lovers who reconnect in their 40s, it rides the edge of life’s toughest moments. It aims at teaching us how we interact as people through voyeuristic scenes of love and loss. And it is raw with emotion, a style which began with “I Could Tell You Stories.”

Her new project, temporarily dubbed “Don’t Ruin my Life: Crap my kids say” is in the works. Becky lives with people – and too many dogs – in the middle of nowhere, New Hampshire. For now, it’s where she belongs.

Follow Rebecca on … Facebook • Twitter • Blog

Purchase ‘Say My Name’ here: US Amazon • UK Amazon

Excerpt:

I can say definitively now that what I blamed on neurons and synapses was actually perfection. The stuff I prescribed to nothing more than chemicals was actually a kind of affection I haven’t felt in the decades since. My intellect could not fathom that love was found so easily, so soon. I thought this was a preview of what was to come. That somehow, the real thing would make this look like a schoolgirl crush. Because I was a schoolgirl. A wise man once said, “Just because you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there.”

In my small mind, not only had John left me for the Marines, but he’d come back for one night – long enough to rekindle all my hope – and then disappeared again. I stopped answering his letters. When I graduated from college, I meticulously packed every scrap of my life into a small box truck and drove it into the forests up north, leaving specific instructions for my family that no one should be told where I had gone. It was me and a cat named Cleo, and the mountains I loved so much.

It was also a feigned independence. In reality, I was behaving like a girl who carved the word ‘love’ in her arm with a butter knife – because it’s such a pretty word that causes so much pain.

What I remember most about those early days was the snow. It made my landscape look picture-book solid and comforting, for the first time in a long time. I used to sit on the ground outside the old Victorian I rented and watch the chimneys exhale their smoke into the black-laced trees, a nearly invisible texture. The effect was sedative-like.

My whole life, I’d been in love with fall. The changing colors in the trees, shorter days and crisp nights. I liked to pull up a duvet of fallen leaves, celebrate the harvest and breathe in dandelion seeds. I tried so hard to live before the dormancy of the cold set in.

But that year, I learned about winter. The casting off of what’s no longer needed, outgrown, weakened. Not just a time to hunker indoors and wait for the worst to pass. I learned that the frigid temperatures are solely responsible for our blooms come spring.

I had, inside me, the power to write my own fortune.

Filed Under: Author Promotion, bio/blurb feature, blogging, Book Blogger, Book Promotion, Romance

4 Important Review Tips for Authors by guest Amazon Top Reviewer @TracyRiva via @BadRedheadMedia

Posted on July 23, 2012 Written by Indiebookpromo 4 Comments

4 Important Review Tips for Authors by guest Amazon Top Reviewer Tracy Riva

Indie Book Promo is honored to have Top Reviewer and friend Tracy Riva here today to offer an expert reviewer’s advice to help all authors. Thank you, Tracy, for visiting and sharing your wisdom!

(ed note: this interview has been reposted from Badredheadmedia.com with permission)

Rachel, I’d like to start off by thanking you for having me today. As you know I run my own website, Tracv Riva Books & Reviews, but I also run my reviews in the Midwest Book Review and I am an Amazon Top Reviewer. Also, as a courtesy to the authors whose books I review, I also place a copy of their review on Goodreads. I also recently spent several months as a judge for the Second Annual Global eBook Awards because of my experience as a reviewer and as an editor. The reviewers who contract under me also place their reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as on my site. I run a very professional organization and we are in demand by authors, publishers and publicists.

How do you tell reader reviews from reviewer reviews on Amazon?

The easiest way to tell a reviewer review is by clicking on the reviewer’s name. This will tell you how many reviews the reviewer has written if it is less than 25 or so you are generally safe in assuming it is a reader review. Also look to see the reviewer’s Amazon standing; if they have Top Reviewer status then they are definitely a reviewer.

The other way to tell is to look at the way the way the reviewer talks about the book. Does he or she use words like storyline and plot development? Does the reviewer speak of character development, round and flat characters, grammatical or spelling errors? These are often points the seasoned reviewer will speak of but the casual reader leaving a review will leave untouched. Also, if it is a “negative” review how is it presented? Does it mention any strong points the book had and then go on to mention the problem(s) the reviewer had with the book. Is the negative review done in a professional manner or is it a scathing review of the book? Most reviewers understand that books are kind of like the author’s baby and no one wants to hear they have an ugly baby, so we try to word our criticism constructively rather than flaming the author or the book.

Are there guidelines reviewers should follow?

The first guideline reviewers should follow, and in fact are required to follow by law, is to report any compensation, including free books, that they receive in return for giving their review. On my website there is a page labeled “Notice” and on that page we state that with a few exceptions where reviewers purchase books for review, books are supplied by the author or publisher in return for an honest review of the book.

On my website we have a policy that if a book is really bad, we contact the author and tell him or her what the problem is and make suggestions on how to fix it. We tell them any review we write on the book will be negative and why, and ask them if they still want us to go ahead and write the review. If they say yes, we write the review, but if they say no, we simply forget about the book. We only do this for books we would give a two-star or less review to. That may sound a bit dishonest, but I have discovered that indie authors in particular travel in packs and when one gets a negative review at least ten other authors jump on board to say they didn’t find the review helpful or write a negative comment about the review, so to preserve my reviewers standing on Amazon I suggest they contact the writer for reviews that would less than three stars. As for myself, the only time I won’t publish a review is if I find myself unable to finish the book for one reason or another. There has been one exception to this rule; I haven’t published a review of a good book by an indie author who got her historical facts wrong because I know that when I publish that criticism the pack of vultures will descend. I actually have the review written, I just haven’t published it yet.

As for other guidelines, I think the most important one is to be honest, which my previous guideline seems to contradict but we are always honest about our opinion of the book and the author knows our position, we just don’t always publish the review. It’s also important to give an approximate timeline for a review and do your best to stick to it. If you do have a delay you should try to let the author know about it, for example I am having unplanned knee surgery sometime next month which will push my review schedule back by a few weeks to as much as a month, depending on how long I am on strong pain medication. I have to inform all the authors in my queue, which stretches to Thanksgiving of the pending delay.

Another guideline I think is important is to stick to genres you really like because if you are reviewing a genre you can’t enjoy then it is going to be really difficult to give an honest review of the material because you won’t be able to truly appreciate it.

Don’t be afraid of saying your schedule is full and do not overcommit yourself – this is something I still struggle with. You will fall behind on your schedule and you will be viewed as unreliable. Try to always contact an author if there is some reason you don’t do a promised review to avoid the same problem. Generally speaking I write all the reviews I promise unless I can’t manage to finish the book.

Why do I think authors are behaving badly?

I’ve actually been extremely lucky in this respect, 90% of the writers I work with have been great, but there is that other 10%. I’ve been told off a couple of times for not wanting to review a book and I was told by one author whose book I wasn’t even able to finish that I had no taste.

I think part of the reason writers behave badly comes back to the idea that their books are their babies, they’ve poured their time, energy and in the case of indie publishers, their hard earned money into their books. They simply don’t want to hear that their work isn’t good or interesting or needs editing.

Another reason writers behave badly is a sense of entitlement. They don’t seem to realize most reviewers are volunteers and use what free time we have reading and then reviewing their books. Most of us are overwhelmed with review requests, we have our favorite authors we want to review for, our personal to-be-read piles, and lives and families we often neglect in order to read and review books. While we appreciate the author donating his or her book in order for us to review it, the value of the book, be it ninety-nine cents or twenty-five dollars, doesn’t buy a good review – it simply provides us the means to give an honest review. If your storyline is great, but your characters are flat or stereotypical, we’re going to tell you that. If your storyline meanders, we’re going tell you that too, and a reviewer telling you that is a sign of respect for you as an author. We respect you enough to be honest with you and we believe you are mature enough to handle the truth.

If you don’t like what we say it doesn’t mean you get to badmouth us, either where your review is posted or on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. It is a sign of immaturity. We are only offering our educated opinion of your work. Other people may love or hate it, everyone has different opinions and writers need to respect that.

I mean, how many books have you bought thinking they sounded terrific and then either never finished them or wished you hadn’t bought them? The same thing happens with reviewers and books, and writers need to be aware of this.

Even big name writers get some bad reviews of their work. It isn’t something most of them take personally. They don’t get their friends to gang up and go online to refute the review. They simply take it in stride and move on. It is part of the business of writing and writers need to realize that just because their friends all love their book, it doesn’t mean everyone else will. Writing is a business and just as you wouldn’t criticize a co-worker who gave constructive criticism of a report you had written, even when you disagree with them, neither should you criticize a reviewer. It looks unprofessional. I think that writers need to learn some professional etiquette.

What tips do I have to help writers connect to reviewers?

That is actually a tough question. I find most of my business comes by word-of-mouth, so my first suggestion is to ask around and see whom your friends are using for reviews. Join Goodreads and look for reviewers on the different groups that are within the site. Do an online query for book reviewers. Check for reviewers on The Indie View. Ask writers groups about who reviews in the area. And never be afraid to tell a reviewer “so-and-so sent me” because if we have had a good experience with that particular writer and his or her work then it gives you a leg up over the query from a writer who we know absolutely nothing about. Look at the list of Top Reviewers at Amazon and query them as to whether or not they would be willing to review your book. Most importantly don’t give up, it may take some time but given some effort on your part you really can find quality reviewers to examine your work.

Thanks Tracy for your comprehensive answers to questions authors often ask!

Follow @TracyRiva on Twitter!

Tracy and I welcome your comments and experiences below.

Tracy can be found:

Blog * Twitter

Filed Under: blogging, Book Blogger

Guest Post with Laura Howard – 3 Tips For Keeping Eyes on Your Blog

Posted on June 28, 2012 Written by Indiebookpromo 20 Comments

Indie Book Promo would like to welcome Laura Howard to the blog! She’s here to share a guest post about blogging! I hope you enjoy the tips that she’s here to share with us!

3 Tips For Keeping Eyes on Your Blog

Does the number of visitors on your blog reflect how many people are actually reading your blog?

Consider the amount of content presented to us via sources such as Twitter or Facebook- never mind the countless blogs in every available topic.

The internet is super-saturated with information!

The trick is to keep readers interested in what you have to say. I have a few simple tips that will help you avoid being just another click-thru.

Keep in mind that, just like any writing, you must hook your reader FAST! Creating a catchy title will ensure that your visitors stay beyond a few seconds skimming the first line.

Keep it simple. Long run-on sentences are so last decade! We are all too busy to read long, drawn-out posts. Get to the point, and your readers will be sure to stick around.

Keep it about them. Show your readers that you have the answer to their biggest question or problem, and you will keep them on board. Everybody is looking for a way to do things faster, better and cheaper, can you give them that ?

This might not seem like new info, but I’ve been to so many blogs that after scanning the headline, and even if it’s interesting, if I see that it’s more than say, five paragraphs full of long sentences, I am out of there probably never to return.

Have some other ideas for keeping readers on your site? I’d love to hear them, because the more blog readers we have, the more people learning about our books!

~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m a stay home mom who loves all things creative. I am working on a novel based on Irish mythology, set in the modern day.

I blog about writing and marketing as a way to learn about topics that fascinate me. I’ve recently started doing video interviews with self-published authors which have been a blast!

Laura Conant Howard, Mother

My Blog * Tweet Me! * Like Me!