This question just arrived in my mail box:
Are you looking for book reviewers?
The answer should surely be yes, shouldn’t it? I’ve got enough books here that I could do with some help. But as nice as the offer is I’m not sure I want to open my blog to others.
Not because it’s mine, though it is, and I’m very proud of it but more because I’m not sure how I’d be able to collaborate and who I’d like to collaborate with on a formal basis.
In some ways book blogs are all niche blogs. On the whole they are individual enterprises. We all in some ways have our own likes, dislikes, biases, features, interest, tastes in books and so on.
And we’re spreading out more and more. Is there a need for more bloggers in more places? Each with our own interconnecting networks or is there need for some coalescence?
If there were less blogs but more content would that be a good thing? Is there a need for bloggers to start working together more and link their blogs in a more obvious way?
Lots of bloggers do this already in some way – we all seem to network and are appearing on each others blogs in various forms but on the whole nothing official or regular.
Anyone have any ideas on if these arrangements could or should be solidified. What kind things you’d to see bloggers doing with each other?
I’m just not sure hence the question.
I'm willing to write reviews for other blogs. But it will cost you. Oh will it cost you…
I feel similarly. My blog is my own and my content is completely up to my discretion. I'm not sure how I would feel about sharing (although I could use the help reading books).
I was thinking about a blogger's union so to speak that would ensure that lots of different books are covered and make for simpler discussions.
Good question! Le me tell you something from my experience. I started as a lurker. Then I switched to write comments. And finally I got request to contribute a blog. Which is just the other way round. I still admire people who manage a blog on their own. For me it would be impossible. I happy to write two posts per week. But I'm glad I got the opportunity to do it. I'm the contributor of Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
In the meantime we are three people: Alec, blog owner and two contributors. Bryce and ediFanoB. I live in Germany and Alec and Bryce live in USA. That means a lot of chat and mails. But we found a way.
I think it makes a big difference whether you ask someone or someone asks you.
And I think its even getting more difficult when you run a blog for a long time.
But as I wrote before, there are people like me who like to blog but don't have the time to maintain an own blog.
I think there is an alternative. You don't need to open your blog. What do you think about guest reviews as a firs step?
Anyway blogger shouldn't work against each other. More blogs doesn't mean more readers. Less blogs with more content? To be honest I gave up to follow blogs with two and more posts per day.
In the end it is your decision which way you wan to go.
My blog isn't about books but the same principles probably apply. I've thought about bringing in others to help: it should increase the weekly post count, add some variety, increase readership, and move the blog from being “one man's opinion” into a more-professional platform. But I've resisted so far. As you say, a blog can be a very personal space and if you have a particular message to get across you don't want it getting diluted. And what if you strongly disagree with a collaborator's post? Instead, what I've been doing is inviting interesting people who don't have their own blog to write a one-off piece for me. I'll suggest something that I see they are passionate about (usually via their twitter feeds) and the response has been pretty good so far. I retain editorial responsibility as I post their piece for them. I introduce the post with some blurb about who they are and what I asked them to write about.
Anyway for book blogs I like the diversity and it's not really a problem that they're all scattered about for me as I subscribe to them all via RSS so they're all in the one place. It might be interesting to see a few joint-reviews i.e. two bloggers review the same book but post it as one review, maybe even in a conversational style? You could collaborate twice on 2 books, one for each blog.
In my opinion: more bloggers is a good thing. Where arts of any kind are concerned, I have never once seen detriment as a result of diversity. This goes double for fantasy books, especially, since so much review is based on opinion and taste (I refer you to the already long-drawn discussion on Paul Hoffman's THE LEFT HAND OF GOD). If we had but only a few end-all opinions on blogs, say, a Blogger of Grit, a Blogger of Politics and a Blogger of Worldbuilding, then someone would invariably be left out (someone desperately yearning for a Blogger of Soft-Core Elf Porn, I don't know).
As it is, I've already viewed the bloggers as largely connected. From what I see, they all keep in contact, they discuss their opinions, they share reviews…rather than a structured hierarchy, it always struck me as more of a Roman Senate: everyone with their own agenda and opinion and prone to passionate outbursts before assassinating Caesar (in this case, that might be Pat's Fantasy Hotlist, I'm not well-connected enough to know).
Solidifying or structuring things is a silly idea, I think. Once rules are introduced, then no one is actually speaking what they think. And if they aren't speaking what they think, what's the point of reading them? Unless there's soft-core elf porn, of course.
I really like that bloggers are a friendly, connected community, but I think it can definitely be a balance thing as Michael suggested. Too many, might be a little much. Is there really a too few as long as it's good content? I don't know, it'd just be hard to remember to check on a blog with very few posts.
And, collaboration takes some work. You have to coordinate everything and if that's not your cup-o-tea, then you can just stick to doing it alone. Lots of times I have a random notion that strikes me and I have to post about it. That's not always possible when you're trying to collaborate, but you can usually work it in fine, just have to keep the communication working. It's definitely a personality thing in the end.
As a side note, lots of times I wonder if bloggers are really just blogging to other bloggers. It's obviously not the case, just seems like it with the comments and discussions that happen.
I'm working in just such an arrangement right now with SQT over at Fantasy & Scifi Lovin' Blog. She has numerous folks who review for her, including me. Well, we really don't review for her, since she doesn't send me books anymore, but you get the idea.
I think it's a good idea to have blogs with multiple reviewers. It fulfills the role of the magazine review section, which usually has multiple reviewers. That said, there's nothing wrong with being on your own. Generally speaking when someone reviews books by themselves they aren't just doing books (Larry of OF Blog of the Fallen, for example, doesn't post only reviews, just as you don't).
So, yes, they should be encouraged, but there's nothing wrong with not wanting to do it.
In a past online life, I reviewed collectibles (both in print and online) and I found people had a really distorted view of what it is to be a reviewer. The majority just wanted free stuff, they forgot that if you get sent items you need to review them in a timely manner, which as you get more successful and manufacturers send you more items without you requesting them, turns your house into warehouse.
Then when you moan you're getting swamped, people offer to review something for you. So they take that 18″ Statue of the Morgul Lord, and start to get annoyed when you chase for the review. “I've been busy,” they protest. You chase some more, explaining the need for timely reviews, and they then send you a review which doesn't actually review anything, is half character information from Wikipedia, coupled with a poor description of the box. This is why I ended up doing most of the reviews myself.
There's a skill to reviewing. It's less about trying to be controversial and hating everything, or loving everything to keep the manufacturer / publisher happy, but actually performing something akin to an autopsy and finding what makes the thing tick. It's a learned skill but takes a lot of time and dedication. It can also feel like a bit of a millstone around your neck at times, and I have to say that honestly it's the one part of my former online life that I don't miss.
I can see the dilemma, it's 'your' blog, your own personal space where you write about books and how they have affected you. However, I can see a place for guest reviewers on Next Read, but as an occasional feature rather than a regular thing.
this is definitely something that i have thought about recently, being relatively new to book blogging and trying to find my place in it all. i know there are things like the Book Blogs group on ning, Technorati and goodreads, each with some excellent components, but none of them really seems to bring everything together in a way that produces anything worthwhile for the book blogging community (and their readers).
i don't know if it's true or not, but i get the impression that the only people who really read book blogs, are other book bloggers, and maybe publishers trying to get their books noticed. if there were some collective network that allowed for interconnectivity and appearance, maybe that influence could be expanded to a much broader audience, like casual readers and writers.
before i started blogging, i RARELY read a book blog. i wrote reviews on my personal blog and never expected them to be read, either. when i was curious about a book, i looked it up on amazon, goodreads or paperbackswap and that was it. but, had there been some well organized community of reviews, discussions and such, i might have been much more inclined to run there for everything bookish.
i like the idea of joint reviews that Jer White mentioned, or a collaborative blogging community, but how to coordinate?? it sounds like a specialized facebook type concept for book bloggers, maybe…
I have thought of working together with someone to get more reviews faster. But I like reading the books I read, and have kind of kept my blog for me – for fun and recording and to share my thoughts. I'm just not sure if I would be ready to share with another just yet. I thought of going with someone on a new blog, but there again I don't get through enough books fast enough to keep up with both blogs. So, I am still in the same pacing on my blog. But, I understand your thinking. At least you have others willing to work with you and the opportunity is there if you decide to go with it.
Honestly, one of the fastest ways for me to become disinterested in a blog is for there to be mulitple contibuters. Sure, I'll still glance at it, but it's fairly certain I won't read it in detail. The thing I like most about blogs is the personality/voice of the blogger. It's a soapbox for someone to do with what they will. I love that. When there are multiple voices it confuses the issue and I don't have the time or patience to sort that out.
That's why I don't want other bloggers at my blog, it's why I don't do blog tours, etc. It's almost weekly that I get an email from someone asking me to review for their blog/website – why would I want to do that? I have my own blog, it's fairly successful and I already have limited time to contribute to it. I don't need to spread myself thin to contribute to others. Sure – if it were paying gig I may consider it, but frankly it'd have to pay quite a bit, and I don't have the expertise to demand rates that are all that high (I have a day job that pays me quite well for my lifestyle). And while another blogger helping me out at Neth Space would fill in some the blanks content-wise, it'll only confuse the voice and personality I've developed there – making it far too generic to stand out from the pack.
Sure it can be done well – Robert of FBC showed the template of how to get you're blog popular quickly. He has lots of content, lots of contributers, and does lots of pure promotional stuff for publishers. All that equals traffic. But for me the lack of any consistent personality keeps me from every spending much time there (I may skim the occasional review, but that's it). The best blogs get my interest up and make me want to comment and discuss things. It takes a personality to make that work.
So Gav, I'd recommend that you keep it to yourself if you want to retain any unique feel to your site. But if you just in it for increased stats – more content will likely do that for you.
That's a difficult question. I've written for a site with multiple reviewers and that certainly has an advantage. You are able to create much more meaningful content without too much pressure on the contributors of the site to stick to a schedule. How many people read one book a week or more? How many would be willing to write a review on a weekly schedule? How many solo bloggers are there who can manage upward of fifty reviews a year? And have time left over for whatever else fills bookblogs?
On the other hand more contributors does take more organisation and it will almost inevitably lead to different opinions on where to take the blog. Quite a serious risk. Neth also has a point when he says that bloggers loose their individual voice in a crowd. With a small number of contributors and a way to easily identify who wrote what I don't consider this to be an insurmountable problem. Or less of a problem then keeping everybody more or less going in the same direction anyway.
You don't have to take into account all that when you run your own blog. Sure, there can be pressure to generate enough content but if you don't feel like reviewing nobody is going to hold you to a schedule. On the other hand, nobody is going to cover for you either. I think I marginally prefer the collective approach. In part because I simply suck at generating content, but also because so few blogs manage to keep a balance between generating their own content and relying on news stories, the latest cover art and giveaways.
Thanks everyone and lots of things to think about.
I must admit to being only human like all (well most) of my fellow bloggers and admit to be being flakey. Like my failure to go back to the topic of Dark Fantasy. But I’m not sure that you can run a blog like magazine with slots to be filled.
There are magazine style websites that do a much better job but probably struggle to pay for themselves. And I’m not sure that paying for content would be a solution to anything. Even having advertising would be interesting who wants to appear on a book blog apart from publishers and some specialist shops?
Adam is right. I’ve done it myself where I haven’t been able to meet a deadline for someone else though I struggled with the material rather than for being disorganised though am often that to.
I don’t know how you hold people accountable if you don’t pay them and even that is often not enough motivation.
Do bloggers talk to other bloggers? It would seem so from the comments but the silent majority don’t engage unless they have something to share.
So we do I guess end up talking to each other and let anyone else read what we get up to. I think that’s more advantageous as it’s more honest. It shows we are motivated by something else than our own egos…
I’m not really interested in flooding the blog with content – though keeping it steady is a batter. If you want a flow of content join Twitter – it’s amazing but given in small chunks so easier to digest.
So yeah, I’m a sole trader and will probably stay that way.
Though I do like the idea of occasional coalescence – like Book City Chick is having an Urban Fantasy Event and Walker of Worlds if having one for SF that is a great excuse to bring in more people and voices to a blog.
Thanks again.
I like it as it is. I have a review team but I am still the dominant presence on it, it's still my baby. I like visiting other blogs, working at being part of a community and I love that everyone does things a little differently.
Interesting discussion, Gav!
When I started “my” site I had the goal of getting as much fantasy reviewed as possible because I wanted it to be a service for readers rather than a personal blog, so I invited others to help. I was very choosy about the people I invited. Now we have a “team” of those original few plus several more who have asked to join, have gone through our application process, and have been voted on by the rest of the team. We produce a lot of reviews, interviews, and information, and we can cover all subgenres of fantasy, because we have the manpower (with different reading preferences) to do that, BUT we don't have one voice. We did bring on a blogger a few months ago (SB Frank), because we recognized the importance of having a voice for the blog portion of the site.
I agree that a “voice” is necessary for a personal blog — people come to hang out with YOU at your blog. We have regular readers who hang out and always comment, but they are probably there more for information rather than to chat. We'd love for them to chat more, but providing information has always been the primary goal.
So, I think it depends on what your goal is. Do you want to be a voice? Or do you want to provide a lot of information? It's a spectrum.
~Kat @ FanLit
That's an important question – and one that I try and balance. I am a personality. I can't help it. I love the people aspect of all this. I do it to engage but it's also part of my own self to collect and gather and to filter information.
I have most of my follower on Twitter because I'm the RT – guy. But that's fast food digestible information. I guess I want the blog to be more substantial and long lasting.
Yes it's here for information I like seeing what everyone else is doing (so I might as well blog about it), I like cover art (so why not share it), I want people to read this book (let's blog about it), look I like these books (other people might to so blog about it). So I do have my own kingdom!
Interesting that you have a 'voice' for the blog. I think that's a great idea to give a personality as well as all that information. I guess a lot of websites who have blogs forget that they have one for engagement as well.
I started MFB on my own…then started getting a lot of books so I dragged Mark into it (sorry babes!). Subsequently I nabbed Tina as she moved to Canada, thinking that she could throw a different slant on things, reviewing other books to what we usually see here in the UK and because she loves romance, she's opted to do loads of them for the blog. Yay!
I'll read most things, Mark does science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction, Tina does romance and kids' books. Just today we've got the lovely Sarah joining us and like me, her taste is eclectic and mad.
MFB started as a genre site but it's expanded rapidly into a monstrous thing of all books welcomed. And I love it. Each of us pursue our true loves and yet we manage to pick up other books that might not be read / reviewed by the majority of reviewers and bloggers. And I like that, cos it adds variety.
Our blogging community is small, but it's growing. Just the other day I checked on kids and ya bloggers here in the UK and boy, where it used to be me, Chicklish and Wondrous Reads, now there's a plethora of good blogs out there written by teens and younger reads for their own age groups. And these are bloody good! I fear for my proofs! But I don't begrudge them. We all have our followers and readers and to be honest, if I manage to get through to say three readers to pick up something new to try, my “job” is done.