Terry is an author I’ve got to know recently on Twitter.  She currently has five contemporary novels on Amazon.  I asked her what her thoughts were on approaching bloggers from an author’s point of view, and this is what she had to say:

Most importantly, look at the submisson guidelines.  It’s classic advice, and has been said over and over again, but bloggers say that it’s still not always followed.  If they say no novellas, don’t ask them to read your novella.  If they say no erotica, don’t send them erotica – etc!

This might seem obvious, but some newly published writers might not know about it – I didn’t!  Make sure you download the mobi copy from your Amazon account page – you go into ‘Bookshelf’ and ‘reports’ and download the review copy – this is what you send to reviewers.

I’ve been reviewed on quite a few book blogs; sometimes they’ve just read and reviewed one of my books without me asking, which is always a lovely surprise.  Many of these I will ask to review subsequent works, but I always have my eye out for new reviewers.  There are new book blogs springing up every day.  What I do is this – every time a book blogger follows me on Twitter, I have a quick look to see if they review my sort of books, and if they do I tweet or DM them to say thanks for following, and say that if they’d like to review one of mine to let me know and I’ll send them a review copy.  I then put the link to my Amazon page so they can have a look at my books.  Quite often they’ll come back to me and say, yes, I’d like to review The Other Side, or whatever.  Then we swap emails and I send it!  If I come across a blog that looks good but does not review my genre, I keep it in mind to refer to other people.

Book reviewers are doing a marvellous thing for you by reading and reviewing your book on their blog.  They usually put the review on Amazon and Goodreads, too – they’re worth their weight in gold!  So remember that it’s not only about your book, it’s about their blog, too, which they want to become widely read.  Follow their blog, go to their Twitter page and RT their other reviews, maybe tweet about their blog, like they’ve tweeted about your book.  If a book comes out by a friend of yours that you think would be good for their site, you can refer that friend to them.

As far as approaching them in the first place goes, I would say that it’s pretty much common sense…..  I’ve usually chatted to mine on Twitter a bit anyway, so it’s more informal, but some have forms to fill in – again, give them exactly what they ask for.  If they only ask for a 20 word synopsis of the book, don’t send a 200 word paragraph.  Some of them give an email address – I’d say make it friendly but not too casual ( I mean no lols, perish the thought!!!), ask what their waiting list is like, tell them what genre the book is and how long it is, and provide the Amazon link.  Keep it short and to the point, with no superfluous information, as they probably have lots to wade through.  If they state on the blog that their review will not necessarily be a positive one, and you can’t take anything less than positive comments, ask if they will let you know if they don’t like it.  Finally, don’t hassle them – if they don’t reply, take it as read that they don’t want to review your book.  It won’t be anything personal, they’re probably just snowed under!

Terry Tyler lives in the north east of England with her husband, and has five novels on Amazon – she writes contemporary fiction about many very current issues, such as internet dating, the people one meets on social networking sites, addiction, infidelity, family breakdown, the quest for celebrity – and even a spot on The Jeremy Kyle show!  Her sixth novel should be out around September.  Terry also has a blog, on which she writes about a variety of subjects, from The Truth About Getting Old, to Why All Writers Need A Proofreader, to a nostalgic look at the comics and magazines of the 1970s – all comments welcome! Check out Terry’s website or her Amazon author page.

I’m not even going to go into where I first met the lovely Faye, but it has something to do with little birds and social networking.  She blogs about a wide variety of books on her very pretty blog (which happens to coordinate with the Not of Our Sky cover beautifully!).  This is what she had to say in response to the questions I posed about blogging etiquette:

Name your top 5 peeves from author review requests

All the authors that have approached me have all been kind and relaxed about the process. Although nearly all the publishers I have dealt with are awesome there have been some negative sides:

• Not so subtly trying to enforce a time limit for reviews after they have sent a book – I have other books to read too!
• Trying to force a book on you that you have already politely declined
• Bothering you about a review and then not responding to you after you tweet/email them said review

Can’t think of any more… sorry!

The same genre can encompass many different types of story – for example, fantasy ranges from Terry Pratchett to Twilight and everything in between. How hard is it to remain objective in your review if a feature of a book doesn’t float your boat? Say you get a fantasy about unicorns and unicorns are just not your bag, how does that influence your opinion?  

I find it really hard to blatantly criticise someone’s hard work so I try and find out about the book before I read it. As with every book there are good points and bad points so in case of books that don’t amaze me I try and focus on the points I liked best.

What are your feelings on the growing army of indie authors? How does the quality of their work hold up against traditionally published? Do you accept reviews from both and what would it take to change your mind on your current policy?

I think indie authors are brave. As an aspiring author myself, I think that if you have a story in you to tell, then you are entitled to put it out into the world, whether through traditional publishers or otherwise. I think traditionally published books can sometimes be more polished than some indie work I have seen but in terms of great stories; I think many indie authors can definitely hold their own against more mainstream competition; it’s just a case of publicity. So far I have done a few indie reviews and if an indie book appeals to me, I will continue to do them in the future.

Describe your reviewing schedule. How many hours do you put in a week/ day? How does this impact on other aspects of your life?

Once I’ve read a book I write up the review in a notebook, ready for editing and typing up, usually in the evenings. Reading is a huge part of my life anyway and I fit writing in between work shifts and having a social life. Some weeks I read more than others, so I can save some reviews for the weeks that I haven’t had time, but I always aim for at least two posts a week. My social life and my blogging life are miles apart so I always make separate time for both.

What started you book blogging? What makes you continue to do it?

I toyed with the idea of a blog for ages and couldn’t decide what to write about. I thought it would give me a chance to practice my writing and that it would be a good addition to my CV. I decided on books because books and reading are hugely important to me and I wanted to write about what genuinely interested me. Since I started Bookshelf Butterfly I’ve come across some wonderful, like-minded people and I get to have great bookish conversations. It is really satisfying to be thanked by an author for taking the time to read their work, or getting positive feedback from a reader who has discovered a book because of what you have written. I hope to add more features, meet more people and keep discovering more amazing stories that I might never have been able to if I hadn’t started blogging.

You can follow Bookshelf Butterfly and keep up with the latest review posts on Twitter or Facebook or go directly to her lovely site.