My Vloggy Friday Review is actually going to be a Saturday Vloggy Review this week. (Oh, how I hate the lack of symmetry and rhythm in my schedule! Is...my OCD showing? Let me just tuck that back in). Salman Rushdie is the culprit. I have accomplished nada in the reading department aside from The Enchantress of Florence this week (and a little YA fiction). It has been an academic exercise, foh sho. I have had to pause and look up historical references, Hindi words, and--well, okay--and English words to the tune of three or four times per page. You: Get out! Me: No, I mean it. Still, the book is spicy and mystical and I hope I can get my thoughts out in an organized way whilst in front of the IQ-lowering camera.
Reading Rushdie (chronic-Booker-winning-fool that he is) has got me musing about blog tours. I've spent the past nine years gestating, nursing, potty-training, and homeschooling. I missed out on a significant number of Booker winners, Pulitzer winners, deliciously cheesy chick lit (I heart cheese...), and everything in-between during the past decade, and I'd like to catch up. Essentially, people could totally stop writing books for the rest of my life and I'd still never read everything I want to read. While I love writers and want to support new and mid-list novelists, I don't necessarily want to spend my reading time building their PR campaigns. I like free books and I like getting hits on my blogs. However, I would rather use this blog to foster organic conversations about books we all love (like a real, 'live book group, if you will) than read a bunch of ARCs, unless I am already a rabid fan of the author (I love you unconditionally, Maeve Binchy. This does not, I repeat not, apply to you. Please send me your rough drafts. I'll say nothing but good things about them, I swear). I'd rather someone else read the ARCs, tell me which ones are fab, and then I'll buy or borrow a copy. And if I love it, I'll blog my little heart out about it.
My question for you is this: Do you participate in blog tours? Why or why not? How do blog tours benefit bloggers in ways I haven't considered?
16 comments:
I am a member of Kate and Casey's Other Shelf Tours, but I'm very selective in which tour I sign up for. Like you, I have a lot of books to read that aren't brand new (1700+ fiction in my home library), but they have been on my wishlist for a long time. Also, similar to you, I have those certains authors that I would read the phone book if they wrote it...LOL!
I participate in the Classic Circuits Tours which bring attention to books considered to be classic reading.
Also the Spotlight Series whose aim is to highlight small publishers, their authors and books.
And The International Book Tours which is mainly YA fiction.
For none of these tours do I receive ARC's ......free books don't seem to make their way down to this part of the world. I simply enjoy particiapting.
I had to pause and look up words while reading this post! At least I now know what a blog tours is and ARC stands for! Lord help me if I ever decide to try Rushdie!!
I have yet to participate in blog tours and likely won't in the near future, as (from what I can tell) it involves shipping books, and since I am based in Canada, I can't afford to ship books. I love me some ARCs though, the more the better! The new book smell is better than a bouquet of roses, and the sight of a full bookcase is akin to a beautiful sunset. Half of my book blog surfing involves figuring out where their ARCs came from, and repeating the process myself, which, btw is paying off in dividends!
I feel guilty copping this position, because if I ever wrote a book, I'd be begging people to participate in a blog tour. I *do* really like writers and want to show tangible support, but there's only so much time, and I want to read what I want to read.
I do participate in blog tours. I think it is a great way to help promote great books, authors, and network with others for your own blog.
Isn't that what book blogging is all about?
depends on the book and the tour-- sometimes if I can read an ARC or find a new book , then I will do it..it depnds on my reading schedule with my books.
I haven't done a blog tour yet, but have a few coming up. My only issue with them is that, sometimes they lack originality. I can't blame the authors for failing to come up with something new to say for every post, but after a while, it does grate on me.
I am getting to the point where I am going to have to start turning things down though. The only thing I do anymore is sleep and read. This is the first time that I have been able to catch up with my RSS reading in days!
I have an award for you. Please stop by and pick it up!
http://drbillsbookbazaar.blogspot.com/2010/03/award-received-and-passed-on.html
Dr. Bill ;-)
I'm not even sure what a blog tour is. For that matter, I don't know the difference between a blog roll, and the list of blogs that are being followed. I don't get a lot of this bloggy thing... :( I DO have an award for you though!
Hi = I don't have a book blog but I read them on the Internet! (Because my TBR list is only about 50 miles long and I always need more recommendations to add to it ;>). I too don't know all the vocabulary in your post, but I loved your comment that if nobody ever wrote another book you still would never finish reading all you want to read. So true for me as well.
I agree with you in that if I just read what I owned right now I'd be good for at least a couple of years and I don't actively ask for ARCs but if someone asks me to read a book and it looks like something I am interested in then sure ok. But blog tours, so far when I've read them I've been bored by them so I'm not too interested. I'm glad to see I am not alone!
I do tours - but I have become more and more selective as time goes on. There are several groups I will no longer work with because they structure the post so much I feel they have taken away all my creative energy (such as they tell me what I need to post about the book, about the author, the links, the pictures, and the complete tour participants). Uhhhhh.... no thank you.
I need full reign of how I blog and do my reviews....
On the flip of that, there are wonderful companies that have books they offer that I am excited to read and they ask nothing of me but a review on a certain day or in a certain time frame.
By the way - love the VLOg!
This is off-topic - Just wanted to thank you again for hosting the Library Challenge. I've posted my challenge update on my nonbook blog and linked to yours. (I don't think its gonnna' make much difference to the number of visitors on your blog -- LOL -- mine is just a little bitty blog.) But just wanted to thank you again for the Challenge; I'm loving it.
Hey Rachel! I have an award for you here: http://thelostentwife.net/2010/03/22/an-award/
I have followed blog tours if I like the author or if the book sounds interesting. Winning books is nice, but it sounds like we all have too many to read as it is. I know I'll have to live a lot longer than possible to make it through my TBR mountain and wish list. And of course those keep growing daily. I am trying to do reviews on the books I've won, but am having a hard time finding time to do it.
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