NextRead Rotating Header Image

Question: ARCs and Books Received. Do you want to know?

Jan 17th, 2010
by gav.

I am, I’ll admit, a very lucky boy. I’ve worked hard as I can to share my love of books for last few years and have got to know a whole range of publishers, marketing people, editors, and writers. And because of that I get sent a lot of books. More books that I’ll be able to read and stay sane.

I occasionally post pics of new arrivals to Twitter though this week I made a bit more of a conscious effort and tweeted pics of four books, a couple less than has been received.

I am conscious of book burnout. I don’t want to feel like I’m causing your eyes to glaze over mentioning too many books, which is what I tend to feel when I’ve read my fourth post listing all the new arrivals someone has had, be that Proofs, ARCs or bought books.

So my question is would you like us, me included, to hold off mentioning new arrivals until we have something more substantial to say? Or is a post listing them enough as long as we bloggers have other posts that single out books and have more substance to them?


Posted in: question.

←
→
  • nextread
    Thanks everyone.

    I think Paul put the right ideas in my head. I'm not going to list every single book I get but I think I will start giving an idea of new arrivals into the TBR and what books I'm juggling with.

    Partly to cause jealousy ;) But mostly to try and live up to the name of the blog and to track what I'm reading next and what choices I have and how I decide.
  • Interesting question. I never post when I've received books. The first time you'll see a book on my site is when I review it. I know that I used to get jealous when I saw bloggers receiving loads of books each week, so don't like to upset my readers - especially when the book hasn't been released yet.
  • paul magrs
    I like seeing the list and the pictures of what you've g ot on the reading pile. At home i'm constantly reshuffling my reading pile and looking forward to what's next - and i'm fascinated by how other people organise their reading. I think of these posts about mailbags and shopping trips as trailers for reviews to come.
  • murf61
    Reading what books you have been sent pre-release is a good way for me to find out about new books. Like other commenters here, if the cover/blurb grabs my interest I add the book to my amazon wishlist and wait for the reviews to come out before deciding whether to buy or not. However, it does make me very, very jealous! LOL
  • As you already know I list the books I receive for review (and one's I buy) each week. I love seeing books that others have received/bought as, like Liz, I can add more books to my every growing wishlist. To be honest this is one of the main ways I find new books, other than trawling through Amazon (which I do on a regular basis). I also don't mind if it's just the cover with a link to amazon or a post with all the blurb for each book, I think both work well for what I need and that's find MORE BOOKS! ;)
  • Liz
    I love seeing books of what people receive - I can tick them off in my head as "also received or desperately want that too and am prepared to bribe/murder/death/kill for them" or merely add them to my Amazon wishlist. :-)
  • Long lists of book cover photos can make for a dull blog post, unless of course there's a book by an author I particularly like. Since you're not going to read each and every one, I suppose merely showing a (linked?) picture of the cover is a way to say thanks for the free book.
  • nextread
    Yeah maybe - it does take a while to make up a post. But so far it doesn't seem like they are the most engaging way of introducing new books/authors.
  • shaunduke
    I don't have a problem with them, so long as the rest of the content is relevant. I don't really read your posts about books you've received. I use them the same way I do bookstores. I look at the covers and see if I am interested in knowing more. If not, I move on. So, when you get right down to it, you're actually doing a service by making sure all those books are known.
  • nextread
    You kinda hit the nail on the head ' I look at the covers and see if I am interested in knowing more. If not, I move on.' Those posts take ages to do gathering blurbs and images. I use them the same way so I don't blame you. I'm trying to conserve/shift energy and considering what I put time into.

    Oh definitely it's making people aware they are out there. Just wondering if there is a better way of hooking interest.
  • stefanfergus
    As a fellow book-enthusiast, it's interesting for me to see what you get (even if it does make me immensely jealous whenever you mention anything new you received from Gollancz...). I tend not to mention what I receive on my site because I prefer to have something to go with it (though, for some books, any excuse to show cover artwork is great).

    I think the only times I would consider posting about what I've just received is when it's something particularly interesting or highly-anticipated; something I'm probably not going to read because of time, but still want to give it a mention; or if the ARC/promo is unusual (such as Sam Fisher's new E-Force novel, which came in a rather swanky shiny tin).
  • nextread
    Shiny tins are very cool!

    I'm very lucky re: Gollancz took me 3 years ;)

    Yeah showing them off for cover art is a very good excuse. I'm going to have to post pics of new Dan Rhodes, Little Hands Clapping. It's creeky and cool at the same time.

    I think I'm looking to give meaning to my posts. Even if it is just to say this is very very pretty.
blog comments powered by Disqus