Money changes everything or does it?
It can be said that blogs are the new black. Of course the same thing could also be said about the internet in general and we have been around a touch long to still be new. All readers might not be here but the ones calling the net home can be said to be among the brave, the proud and the loud. So catch our attention and you might catch yourself a few more sells.
JR Ward has often said she credits ‘word of mouth’ for her success with the Brotherhood series. Love it or hate it, there are few that can say they haven’t heard of it. I happen to love the ‘net and have been around in one place or another for a while and when I found reader blogs… I found a new home.
I loved them. And there were no where near as many reader blogs when I started to do the hop. And most of the websites had come and gone or recreated themselves. All About Romance self awarded title of:
…the number one site on the Web for those who read and love romance novels.
Seemed to be true, at least to my newbieself. And loved it, still do… you will find some of the most interesting stuff in their archives. Reader blogs were not as big then. We had Maili, Wendy and Rosario blogging about romance, reviews and their views. (there were more I am missing) I joined the fray around March 2005. Around the same time The Smart Bitches burst on the scene as did many a reader, many encouraged by THE maili. Hey even Mrs G got in on the action and her site was all about her.
It was no longer about money talking, no longer just hearing what publishers wanted us to know, no long about which authors could afford ad’s. But what we, the reader, liked and wanted. It was when we wanted it. Readers now had a very vocal voice beyond message boards ran by moderators.
And I would say in the past year many, people have stood up and listened. Many an author can be found on reader blogs such as Dear Author, Bam’s It’s Not Chick Porn, Smart Bitches and even here. The authors started to blog, followed by the publishers and now…
Well now… I am not sure what we have. Just about every review ‘site’ now has a blog to go with it. And regardless of traffic numbers, of the sites or blogs, they seem to be selling ads in both places. Does the money the authors offer up for ads affect the reviews or the ‘news’? It seems odd to me that sites that rate so lower in traffic according to their public trackers (if they make them public), alexa and technorati rankings are charging authors for ads, when the highest traffic sites are reader blogs such as Dear Author and Smart Bitches.
Although Smart Bitches are now charging for ads as well but I think it is more geared toward covering the cost of the site, bandwidth and contest prizes than it is quitting their job and living off the work of their volunteers. Candy? Sarah? Correct me if I am wrong.
Odder still are the two new cats on the scene. Well one isn’t really new new… Michelle Buonfiglio who recently blogged on RtB about her ‘job’ and the woes of having too many ARCs and not enough time recently moved her site. I had assumed (you know what they say about assuming) she was now working for herself since she is no longer with Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc (who is now using Blog Burst).
But she talked about her site vs her blog and how she had ‘the same viewership’ on her new site as she did her old one. So who is paying her now? Publishers? Authors? Some one else shelling out coin but wanting no connection? I of course asked but the answer was silence.
Then we have Romancenovel.tv. When I first heard about this I thought wow, cool. Then I thought what the hell, who has that kind of coin to back something that involved. It is pretty much a mix of Message Boards (in the vein of AAR and RT’s boards) and reader blogs but with no readers.
There is a feed from Squawk Radio, Word Wenches, two movie producers that are the idea guys behind the site and a new blog by an author Eileen Buckholtz (who that?).
And no clue from who is backing this. I know some people ::coughkarencough:: don’t care about the money. But to me, once money enters into play, it is hard (not impossible) to view it as honest opinion. Although the thing that makes me wonder more is no one puts up cash without getting something from it. So where are the banners? Where are the imprint links and such.
If it is authors or publishers footing the bill then isn’t it dishonest to not say that up front? But the that really smells is Jane posted the question yesterday, on the site. And now the post is deleted.
Soooo if there isn’t something to hide, why not just answer the question? Or maybe it doesn’t matter because they aren’t giving out reviews. We know up from Michelle only does the positive. And romancenovel.tv is only taking the guest author day idea from blogs and really is that any different than seeing CP partners or long time friends doing guest days on other group author blogs?
It is sort of a let down though because I find myself seeing it as nothing more than Writerspace. But really I should know better, because nothing is ever new on the internet is it?
So does it matter to you? Do you view reader blogs differently than author blogs in terms of rec’s and reviews? Do you check out new to you authors who are ‘guesting’ on your favorite author’s blogs or do you assume a ‘connection’ other than just a great book? Is that fair? And once money enters the picture does that change the way you see a site? Or do you just cool, nifty toyes?
LOL am I the only person who thinks about these things? Come on you call tell me if I am just a nut.
I don’t understand why they deleted my comment. Is that an egregious violation of internet etiquette?
Frankly, after the first blush of the interviews wore off, I thought the same thing that you did. There had to be major coinage involved but I thought it would be funded like other tv shows and such with ads where we would know that those would be ads. But now the site is nothing more than another publisher funded endeavor to feature authors and only the big names at that.
Okay, the Writerspace reference lost me. Are you saying you think it’s nothing more than a site like that hosting author sites and services, one of which is the TV thing? It would make sense, I suppose. I’ve seen several of those pop up recently and at times they’ve been rather hard to recognize from reader oriented sites.
Make no mistake, they aren’t always reader oriented, however.
Sybil – I laughed myself sick reading the comments to the JR Ward review on Dionne’s site. I’ve never seen such amusing use of the word “fucktard” in my life. WAY funny.
WRT your thoughts on blogs – author vs. reader – to be honest, I put more importance to the average reader’s thoughts than an author. I go to the author blogs to get an idea of what they’re writing, where they’ll be speaking, and the like. I go to the reader blogs to get reco’s on books.
I have found authors’ tastes to be a bit esoteric (that’s “out there/specialized” for you fucktards 🙂 ). Their recommendations aren’t normally something I want to read. Give me another single mom, working for “Da Man” and I’ll get some good reco’s. (colloquialism intended 😉 )
Hmmm that is true bev, writerspace is sort of a fee based hosting thing right? So I guess it is a lil different.
But still I would say neither are reader oriented or even for the reader as much as to sell something to the reader. Does that make sense?
I could just be annoyed at comment deleting thing.
I’ve never thought about money and ads before. I would like to think that when an author receives a good review it’s because their book is worthy of it. That post is really something to think about
I think about these things…not long or alot, but I think about them. Since so many author comments on books and reviews happen to coincide with a fellow author from the same publishing house, I rarely give too much credence to an author review. There are some exceptions, but they are few and far between.
When a new author pops up I rely on people I know whose opinions and taste to be similar to mine. Reader blogs have been invaluable to me in this regard. I still like to pick up a book, touch it, feel it, scan the pages, etc. before buying, but have purchased books just on a particular reader’s rec too. Huh, I guess this would explain my towering TBR.
I rarely read author blogs anymore, and the ones I do read don’t feature reviews. Writers can’t be as honest about a book as they would like to be, they’re too scared of pissing off fellow authors.
I recall the mini flame war that was caused when Paperback Reader started reviewing books, lots of knotted knickers that’s for sure.
I don’t care about the money thing. I trust most readers that I link to to tell me the truth regardless of whether they’ve got ads on their site up or not.
As for Romance Novel TV, still dig it, regardless of who’s footing the bill.
Ayup, we started running ads so’s we could cover bandwidth, hosting and prize money. Not to say that we don’t have something left over at the end of the year for fun stuff, but it’s definitely not enough to make a living.
Ads do have the potential to create conflict of interest, but frankly, for me, my biggest concern is reviewing books fairly by people I have met in real life, like Lilith Saintcrow or Meljean Brook.
I don’t read author blogs…not usually. I prefer the reader blogs because they’re a lot more honest and they give me what I want to hear: the cold hard truth about books I may or may not want to read. If I were to find out that an author is sponsoring a book site, I’d be wary of any positive reviews the blog would post on that particular author. I can understand why they would want to keep that a secret. I doubt many people would NOT find that a bit fishy!
If i was going to do something for money, it wouldn’t be blogging or writing. I’d be a dentist or a nurse like my mother wanted.
Hey, Syb, thanks for mentioning me… TWICE IN ONE POST. You must really love the Bham a.k.a The Deemeister.
I have got nuthing but lurve for you bham, I wondered how long it would take for you to notice that… lol.
I do wonder about there being no author points of view, yet.
And karen I still agree it is nifty to a point. I have no respect for deleting posts that are just asking a question. Say it is in the wrong place. Email the person. Do something. Just trying to erase it as if it didn’t happen?
Well that leaves me to assume I can’t post there unless I say something they approve of… nice.
You know, I don’t spend much time thinking about this. Why? Because it’s usually pretty easy to spot the “hype” from the average reader blogger. I just know when someone is trying to sell me something, and I think most people can.
Re: author blogs, I visit some but usually because I think the author has “something to say,” I’m a fan, or I want the scoop on what they’re working on.
Re: reader blogs, love ’em and glad there are more out there now, but with some posting on a very limited basis I wonder how long they’ll 1) be around or 2) if they’ll have any real impact (for lack of a better word).
I keep blogging because I like it and it gives me an outlet, and I make zero money off the deal. I do get the occasional “free book” but those are so few and far between it’s hardly worth mentioning.
gee, i got opinions. ;o)
I visit a few author blogs, if I like that author, either personally, their books, usually both. although I will admit I’ve stopped reading a few authors because they made total asses of themselves on their blog. I couldn’t care less if somebody puts ads up, so long as they aren’t flashing in my face cuz I hate flashing things on my monitor.
If a site is giving special attention to authors that advertise, IE giving glowy reviews instead of honest ones, I can’t really agree wiht the practice. just doesn’t seem fair. I don’t know if that’s the issue or not and honestly, I don’t care.
I pick my bloghopping sprees based on blogs that either amuse me or sites where I can learn something. It’s actually a pretty small list, the ones I visit on a regular basis. It never crossed my mind that some people get paid to blog.
I think part of the reason blogs have gotten so big with authors is that they see a promo op. Plain and simple. Yeah, I initially got into a blog for that with the vamps groups, but they are also fun. I use my personal one for promo, for feedback and for contests. I also use it as a writing exercise. PBW kept saying to get in the habit of writing SOMETHING daily to help discipline yourself to write, which translates to better productivity as far as I’m concerned, so the blogging is also about increasing my productivity.
I do discuss other books, but I don’t really do book reviews. I’m no reviewer. I also don’t want some of the flamage crap that tends to results from honest reviews and since I dont generally care for BS, honest would be the only way I’d go. I do a BOMContest where I pick one book that I’ve read recently to discuss that month and at the end of the month, I give away a prize to those who join in. Is it about promoting my blog? Well, yeah but it’s also about sharing a book that I really enjoyed. I’ve also made it clear that I don’t want flaming happening there because reviews too often lead to flame wars and I don’t want them on my blog.
And sadly, there is the part that Karen mentioned, authors can’t always be as honest as they’d like when it comes to discussing books. I can’t say that I don’t do ‘reviews’ because I’m worried about pissing people off. For the most part, I couldn’t care less if my personal opinion pissed somebody off. It’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it. But too many authors take it way too personal when somebody doesn’t like their book and it can lead to waaaaayyyyy too much trouble for whoever it was that didn’t like it. Even worse if it’s a popular author and some lowly unknown dared to not like it, because then you might have to face the hoardes of rabid fangirls.
As always very true wendy.
Hey your opinions are one of the many reasons why I like you shi!
I agree with Shiloh. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ll generally only mention a book if I really liked it. I don’t need to make enemies from reviews, not when I’ve said so many other things in the past that could coneivably make me enemies. 🙂
I love reader blogs. I just like blogs in general, too.
After reading your post, Sybil, I checked . . . and most of my favorite blogs are by readers. I don’t blog myself; I can just barely handle my messy life, which largely consists of cooking mediocre meals, savaging the odd and unwary dust bunny, finding a little down time, then surfacing long enough to write a readable book. But I really enjoy the reader blogs I visit–some of them have such a great *wild west* kind of appeal. And really, it’s all about what the reader likes and dislikes when it comes to our stories. As a writer, I get that. Big time.
As to the advertising thing . . . I’m okay with it as an author. As a reader it might give me pause though, and I would watch carefully to see if there was a pattern–meaning whether or not the blog reviews reflected the heart or the wallet.
I’ve almost completely stopped reading author blogs, only checking out my favorites every once in awhile, or if I hear about something new or interesting on one. I’m most interested in reading posts about their WIPs or writing process etc. My first intro to blogs was Squawk Radio, and it’s not a bad blog at all, but I began to get this very “corporate” sense from it. Then I found “Smart Bitches” and other reader blogs from there. As a reader, I am more interested in reader opinions. There is a different sort of conversation that goes on when you’re not worried about offending anybody. I think they’re more fun, and since I’m in this for fun..
I so completely ignore ads, I just tune them out. My bad.
If there’s one thing I learned in the corporate world, money influences everything.
That’s why I don’t really review or even talk about books on my blog (of course I broke down and made 2 exceptions last week). In any profession, you have to consider one’s position in the industry when evaluating what they’re saying about a product. I’m not saying I wouldn’t believe a Microsoft employee raving about a Microsoft product, but her statements might just have a little less credence. Thus, I might rave about a book, but I fully expect people to believe me much less then if Bam raved about it.
Shiloh is totally right in saying that authors can’t always be as a honest as they’d like to be when it comes to books. But that’s the nature of the game. It’s why Miss Snark says she can’t give away books as gifts anymore because people assume 1) she got it for free or 2) she’s some how making money off it.
It does suck because I love books. And I love talking about them. It’s hard sometimes to keep myself from ranting about something truly terrible or raving about something very good. I’ve tried to get around it by talking about books that are not in my genre (i.e. manga or lit fic), but even then, I’m not so sure if I should be, because even then, reader Racy is going to take what author Racy says with a grain of salt.
Publishing is still a business, and the authors who think they can put on and take off their “reader” hats at will, and be accepted as such are deluding themselves.
“I recall the mini flame war that was caused when Paperback Reader started reviewing books, lots of knotted knickers that’s for sure. ”
Karen – We [PBR] still get quite a bit of grumbling and a lot of nasty remarks. Most of it now comes via email. Some of it is downright juvenile. Makes me want to walk up to some of the authors at the RWA Conference and smack them silly.
I go back and forth….
As a reader I expect to be able to say Racy’s book X was great because of A, b and c but D made it not work for me. And I expect you as an author to agree or not agree with the statement but still respect my opinion.
Even if you think I am wrong ;).
As well as I assume you know that my opinion of your book is not a reflection of what I think of ‘YOU’.
And I think you as an author SHOULD be able to do that as well. The whole OMG ::dies:: you have spoken against an author shit smells.
But life isn’t fair is it…
So if you are going to take that all rah rah all the time approach, if you are funded by a publisher or an author (which would make you nothing more than a commerical) or a ‘group of publishers’ ‘group of authors’ (an idea I could work, at least with publishers) I expect to be told the truth.
Maybe not shout it to the heavens but it should be clear to see. And not swept under the rug or deleted when questioned.
LOL and I only use you as an example cuz you were there ;).
I also think that as an author, you should be able to say I like book x. And that be that.
I guess it is like someone said above… you just have to wait and see. If one author or group or blog or site or whatever… is always loving EVERYTHING.
All big names. All books by publisher x. All historicals. All their CP, BFF or RW chapter buds… then… you have to take their view for what it is.
I have quite a few people guest. I don’t love all their books. And even the authors I think are the bee’s knees have books I don’t like… will some of them hate me after a bad review?
Yes. Maybe. Could be. Will I NOT post a review or a thought because I loveses someone, no. And I can only hope that they know it has to do with the book and not them.
I adore shi. But she knows some of her books haven’t worked for me. I adore JR Ward and she knows some of the things in her books annoy me. I am one of Sylvia Day’s, Sasha White and Beth Williamson’s biggest cheerleaders and they all know some of their stuff hasn’t worked for me.
I don’t think a one of them has taken it badly.
In fact the only two emails I have EVER gotten saying le gasp how could you say such at thing, I am hurt, you are mean or whatever… were from two reviewers. Two people who have the balls to say authors need to suck it up and take it – expect to be treated differently.
So there is your funny for the day… Who knows. Maybe I choose the authors I adore well *g*. Or maybe it just hasn’t happened yet. Or they haven’t said anything to ME.
Either way… I guess it is sticky and there are no answers.
I know what you mean, Sybil. A book review is only one opinion shaped by that particular person’s experience. But alot of people don’t take it that way, which is why I don’t do them on my blog. If I write reviews like I want to, I’d probably alienate alot of people in the industry and my career as an author would suffer. Perhaps no overtly, but in little ways, like people taking their time to answer important emails, “forgetting” to inform me of things, all the little tiny things that can make working much more difficult.
Little things add up. So rather then not be honest, I try not to write them.
“I also think that as an author, you should be able to say I like book x. And that be that.”
Theoretically that’s true. But realistically it’s never going to be like that. Just like a Honda engineer, who no matter how much she loves the Prius, can never say so out loud. She may not get fired, but she may be the only one not get a raise the next quarter. It’s just the way it is, and it’s not just relegated to publishing but happens in all professions.
I agree racy. If only the world were perfect *g*.
Readers blogs are like a fresh breeze in Romancelandia, aren’t they? They have certainly opened up new ways of talking about romance, have coined new words (mantitties!! *g*), and have generally stirred up the romance world. And they provide entertainment: if I’m feeling down, I only have to go to Bam’s blog and read some cover snark to chortle like a madwoman. In addition, for somebody who’s studied folklore and is interested in how people tick, it’s wildly fascinating to see one of those (in)famous flamewars sweep across blogs and message boards. 🙂
Author blogs carter different needs than reader blogs: of course, they’re a promo tool – you want to draw people back to your site, to your blog; and authors are achieving this to a greater or lesser extent. But since blogs are promo tools and are part of an author’s public presence, there are naturally certain areas you wouldn’t want to blog about because you don’t want to alienate readers. Or step on other authors’ toes. Which explains the overwhelming presence of mostly positive reviews on author blogs: because, let’s face it, a lot of people tend to take negative reviews badly. (One of my friends who’s a former reviewer, told me that some authors actually stopped speaking to her after they’ve got less than glowing reviews.) See dead horse that got beaten so badly in the past few months.
One of the consequences of this all is that reviewers (and I’m including bloggers here) now feel it’s necessary to state the obvious, namely to point out to authors they can’t promise a good review. It’s sad, isn’t it, that it has become necessary to do this.
Karen – We [PBR] still get quite a bit of grumbling and a lot of nasty remarks. Most of it now comes via email. Some of it is downright juvenile.
Now that is just plain ridiculous and irritates the hell out of me because it reflects back on all authors and I worry that people are going to assume all of us are divas.
I guess it is like someone said above… you just have to wait and see. If one author or group or blog or site or whatever… is always loving EVERYTHING.
I don’t love everything I’ve ever read. I’ve mentioned books before that I started and an easy way to tell if I don’t like it is if I never mention it again. Not ALWAYS the case, but if I really really love a book, I will mention it. Books I didn’t care for I don’t mention just because it’s more professional to handle it that way, for an author, IMO.
well… hell. two of the things weren’t supposed to be italics.
I was quoting these lines…
“Karen – We [PBR] still get quite a bit of grumbling and a lot of nasty remarks. Most of it now comes via email. Some of it is downright juvenile. ”
&
“I guess it is like someone said above… you just have to wait and see. If one author or group or blog or site or whatever… is always loving EVERYTHING. “
test
how odd the italics seem to be set for this post…
hmmm… jaaaaaannneeeeeeeee fix it 🙁
please and thank you