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.

Victoria is a terrifically chatty tweeter and a delight to know.  She’s a raving Potterhead too, so that makes her extremely cool in my book!  She only stared blogging very recently but reads like lightning and is currently averaging something like a book a minute (not even joking) in a variety of genres (ok, possibly I’m exaggerating).  This is what she had to say in response to my questions about blogging and reviewing:

Hello, my name is Victoria Stone, I’m 26, married and have two children. My biggest passion in life other than my family is reading and baking 🙂
I am fairly new to blogging (started on May 1st 2013) and have found a real passion for it. I will read anything, I think everything deserves a go. Have found some real gems by breaking away from what I would normally read, crime/horror.

Name your top 5 peeves from author review requests

Being new to blogging I haven’t had many review requests from authors, but the ones I have received I haven’t really been to unhappy with. As any requests they have I’ve just been too ecstatic that I have even been asked to review their book.

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 like to give anything a go. I used to instantly dismiss books if it was something I had no interest in or wasn’t “real” to life, for example Harry Potter, I refused for years because magic wasn’t real and childish. After giving in I fell completely and utterly in love with the whole story, so now I at least try anything. If I really don’t get on with something because it isn’t really “my thing” I like to think I would still give a good review. I would try to give positive feedback for the people that do enjoy the things I personally don’t, whilst still being honest that it didn’t suit my tastes.

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 never really read self-published work until Christmas (when I got my kindle) and even now that’s very limited, as I really do love to hold a real book, (I don’t get on with my kindle).
But after reading some recent self-published books I can honestly say I have fallen in love with the world my kindle has opened up! I have found some fantastic stories that I think are just as good if not better than some traditionally published books. I think it is all down to personal opinion really. I would happily accept book reviews for either, even more so since discovering some very good books.

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

Being a very new blog, I’m not posting everyday, especially juggling my two young babies. They take priority over everything else. But as soon as I finish a book I will review it while it is fresh in my head. I also get sent or find pictures about books that I like to share on there too, just for fun 🙂
I’m hoping to get a review up everyday or other day in the future though as I can get through a book rather quickly.

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

I set up a twitter account in February and met other bloggers through it. After spending a lot of my time tweeting about books and recommending books I enjoyed, someone noticed just how fast I was reading. They then suggested I start a blog. I didn’t take it too seriously at first thinking only my husband would read it out of duty. Then someone else mentioned it so I looked into it and decided on a whim to give it a try. And the reason I still do it is because I absolutely love it, I love it when someone tells me they ordered a book through a review I did. It makes me proud and very excited that I’ve found something that I truly love doing.

Follow Victoria on Twitter or check out her beautiful, shiny website.

For regular visitors to the blog, this fella needs no introduction!  I first met Jack on Twitter at the end of 2012 and was immediately intrigued by a YA book he was writing.  Tethers has since been released to rave reviews and I’ve personally read it twice.  I’m very tempted to launch a one woman crusade to campaign for compulsory copies in schools!  So, this is what Jack had to say when I asked him about his book reviewing habits:

I’ve always loved reading, and one thing that every bookish-type knows all too well is that, once you’ve read an amazing book, you want to shout its name from the rooftops and force everyone you know to delve into its pages.

Of course, cornering colleagues, friends, loved ones or vague acquaintances, and then ranting loudly about how their lives are hollow and meaningless until they have read a particular book is not always the best way to go about things. Nope, I’ve found that out the hard way; for some strange reason my eighty-year-old gran just doesn’t want to read about teenagers pumping led in hoards of shambling zombies, even when I tell her that the book is, at its core, a complex study of dystopian humanity – weirdo.

But, thankfully, there is another way. Writing a review of a book you’ve enjoyed is a great way to channel your enthusiasm for a worthy novel without risking either the sack, restraining orders, or being disinherited. Writing a review is so often a process of love. You want to do the book you’ve read justice, and so you try and produce a piece of writing which is as fluent and as reflective as possible. And then through promotion on social media and other means, interested readers can find the review themselves without you risking a butt-kicking.

As an author myself, I remember I initially approached judging other people’s books with generous helpings of both apprehension and unease. So far, I’ve only written one book (and I’ll be the first to admit that it probably won’t ever become a best-selling classic), who am I to tell other writers whether their stuff is any good or not? Well the answer is that I probably have both no right and every right, but more importantly, it doesn’t matter. Writing reviews is about sharing the books you love, and inspiring other people to take a chance on something. On top of that we authors need reviews; we need book reviewers to spread the word about our books, and to help us reach an audience. It’s a kind of symbiotic relationship that seems to be becoming more and more important.

So, whilst I do still feel slightly uncomfortable with reviewing other authors’ books, I’m so glad I do because I absolutely need to talk about great stories – it’s something I’ve been doing all my life. Now, where’s my gran at …

Author of the YA Victorian fantasy, Tethers (http://amzn.to/WRf4vI), Jack Croxall reviews books over at www.jackcroxall.co.uk as well as various other sites. He can also be found on twitter via @JackCroxall.

Guess where I met Liz?  When I first got to know this delightful tweet-addict she read avidly and reviewed pretty much everything she read on Amazon and Goodreads. This is brilliant, but what’s even better is that last month she launched her own book blog, Liz Loves Books.  Liz is incredibly vocal and passionate about the authors she loves and all things literary, so it seemed only natural that I would seek her thoughts on book blogging and reviewing.  Here’s what she had to say:

So I finally got my website up and running. With a lot of blood sweat and tears, I can now finally blog about the books I love, point people towards things I think they will enjoy and generally try and get my love of reading over to the world. With the help of Twitter and Facebook the world really is my oyster.

So how have I been finding it? Well its interesting I have to say. I’ve always had my favourite genres but I have also always been willing to read ANYTHING if someone tells me its GOOD. Now of course, I’m in a position to be able to be the person saying whether its good or not, and perhaps encourage others to try something they may not dip their toes into normally. I’ve seen other bloggers get some crap thrown their way when asked for an honest review and actually GIVING one. I’ve watched some bloggers struggle with whether to give a review or not because they have not liked a book. So its all been a learning curve for me. A HUGE peeve that is in my mind, even before I started down this road proper was those authors who seem to expect you to love their book just because. Its been around a bit – on Facebook and Twitter – really quite nasty comments aimed at a reviewer who has honestly said they think the book is, well, rubbish. Some books ARE rubbish. Some books will be loved my many and hated by a few and vice versa. Readers are funny creatures you know. They love what they love and they get annoyed if a book is badly written or just plain bad…me I’ve been known to send a book sailing out of the window in disgust at the pure drivel inside it. One particularly popular novel ended up soaked and covered in bird droppings in my garden until one of my friends finally disposed of it into the bin. So, its all in the eye of the reader.

My personal opinion. When an author or publicist is looking for a reviewer/blogger to advance read a copy of an upcoming novel they should pick carefully. Most bloggers, including myself, put information on their sites about the books they tend to enjoy. If a blogger says they only really like Crime Fiction what is the POINT of sending them a self help book or a romance novel. But it happens. I’ve had some strange requests and I’ve only just started. Because of the fact that I’ve been watching what happens I have been more prepared to turn people away – so I am ONLY reading the books I’m fairly convinced I will like and be able to give a good review to. Of course there will still be those I receive that DON’T speak to me, but hey, thats life. I’m doing MY best to ensure that everyone is happy with the result, hence why on my website there is so far only one bad review. Some of the books reviewed – The Humans for example by the incredible Matt Haig – are NOT in my immediate comfort zone but they sounded interesting so I read them anyway. But thats me. SOME bloggers really DO only want to read a certain type of novel and most of them say so quite clearly in their reviewing policy. So authors. READ their reviewing policy. And don’t get on your high horse if after a reviewer says they didnt like your book you suddenly feel hard done by. The next reviewer may love it. I may love it – I love lots of things!

So, how many books can I handle? Well I’m a fast reader. Anyone who has already been following me on Twitter and Goodreads prior to my site going live know that I read an awful lot of books in a very short time. Thats just me. So before I started promoting my site I thought long and hard about how many books I would accept, should the requests come, within any given period. I can, when life allows, read a book a day – sometimes more. But if I allow for the fact that I’m also a full time single mother with two little boys, I know that in reality that number is less. So I will only accept 5 requests at a time – because I WANT to read other stuff as well, not just ones that I am doing by request – and I am REALLY on board with the idea that if you are going to accept a reading request you should be able to give it full concentration and do your very best for the author concerned. Because we SHOULD be promoting the great reads. We SHOULD be promoting those authors who have real talent whether they be mainstream or Indie.

I have had a lot of requests, many more than I was actually expecting. And I’ve turned most of them down. So if I have agreed to read your book – be reassured. Its because I WANT to read it. Because I’m reasonably convinced I will like it enough to actually give you a great review and some decent promotion. Whether its in my immediate comfort zone as stated on my site or not. I THINK about it. Because much as it is the responsibility of the author/publicist to try and get the advance copies out to the right people it is JUST AS MUCH my responsibility to only accept what I can handle realistically and what I think I will enjoy.

Happy reading folks!

Follow Liz on Twitter for witty and insightful comments or check out her website for all the latest book reviews. Tomorrow will be the turn of Amy Bookworm to tell us what she loves and hates about book blogging.