On my blog, the posts that receive the most views are memes, where I share the books I have enjoyed or hope to enjoy in the future. These are also the posts where readers get to know a little more about me and what I do when I am not reading. These are the posts with the most comments, that lead to discussion and book recommendations and a little help on deciding which books to move up the TBR. I have found the majority of the blogs that I follow through memes, from looking at the blogs in the link-ups and I am sure that a majority of my followers found my blog that way too.
Reviews are my least read posts and definitely my least commented on, they are also the kind of posts that I am least likely to visit when scrolling through my bloglovin feed. Of course, I do read reviews but only when it's of a book I am wanting to read anyway or one I have recently read and I want to see others opinions on it. I don't read reviews of books I have never heard of, or ones I simply have no interest in. Basically, reviews do not always lead me to buying books. The only time that a review will lead me to buy a book, is when, as I said, I am already wanting to read it, then a review can sway me to either definitely buy it or to just get it from the library.
Do I think reviews are a waste of time? Not at all, there are many people who love to read reviews and use them to find new books. I have been to a few blogs where reviews get plenty of comments, creating discussion. I love writing reviews, the reason I started my blog in the first place was to review books. I don't write as many reviews as I like but I am working on it. My main problem is that if I don't write the review soon after reading the book, I forget details of the book, sometimes even characters names and all I remember is that I really liked it. So I am trying to get into the habit of taking notes as I read and starting the review within a few days of finishing the book. Hopefully it won't be too long before I will have a blog with as many reviews as other types of post.
Some publishers approval preferences want your blog to not only have plenty of followers but plenty of reviews and discussion posts too. Bascially they don't all like blogs with lots of memes, which I get but what they don't get is that these posts are just as capable of recommending and spreading the word of their books as reviews are. A person with a little blog can talk about this great book they just read in their weekly-wrap up, one of their readers then checks out the book and talks about it on their blog and one or more of their readers go and check out the book and talk about it on their blog and so on and so forth.
So, what has all this drivel been leading to? Just that it would be nice if publishers would give more small blogs approval for their books because they can spread the word almost as well as big blogs with lots of followers and reviews. Of course I could be ...
What do you guys think?
YOU ARE NOT WRONG. I totally agree with everything.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that reviews get the less comments, unless it's of an extremely popular book (which is what I've seen from my experience). Most comments from lesser known books are kind of like "ooo this looks good", or "not the type for me" or "hmm I might try it" so it doesn't really bring up discussion. I'm not sure what exactly publishers look into when approving titles, but I have to say memes ARE USEFUL. Some blog readers will scroll through the rest of your blog, or get titles from memes, like you said. Publishers definitely shouldn't discredit that (I hope they don't).
I've gotten a couple of titles (good and bad) from publishers on Edelweiss and Netgalley, but haven't gotten anything from the big ones, like Random House and Penguin (did get one from Harlequin though). I also wonder if it also depends on whether you actually provide feedback reviews or not. And I hope it has nothing to do with how much you liked previous review books. Because that would be bad. I would never be approved for anything again haha.
Phew! I am glad I am not the only person who thinks this.
DeleteIf it wasn't for memes my blog wouldn't be where it is now, infact I would probably already given up on blogging altogether. Like I said, memes are how I find new blogs and how others find mine, so yes, they are useful.
I have also been approved ARCs from smaller publishers too, and I know that if I write reviews for them and those that I have downloaded from the Read Now/Download lists on Netgalley and Edelweiss, then the day when I get approved from bigger publishers will come.
Hopefully they don't care if you give a book a less than positive review, they have to know that not everyone is going to love the book. So, you should be alright :-)
I've noticed the same trends. When I publish reviews (which I sweat over and spend time on) there might be only a few comments. But lists and memes generate discussion. ARCs are a mixed blessing, too, because I usually feel obligated to read and review ARCS that I have requested. That sometimes takes the spontaneity out of reading. Still, getting an ARC of a very sought-after book is pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteIt can be a little disheartening can't it, you put all that effort into a review and you are lucky to get one comment, but you take 5-10 minutes to put together a meme post and you get 20+ comments. Of course, I do appreciate each and every comment I get, no matter on what post,
DeleteI am hoping that once I start getting approved for more and more ARCs, I will show some self-control and not request every book that looks even just a little bit interesting. Because, yeah, I don't want to take the spontaneity out of reading.