Book Blogger Confession is a new blog meme hosted by Tiger of All Consuming Books and Karen of For What It’s Worth. The meme will run on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month to discuss some of the frustrations that are unique to book bloggers.
You can read the introductory post here.
Here’s this week’s question:
Review/Guest post requests: Do you have a review request policy? Has it changed over time? How do you handle requests that don’t meet your criteria? In the past, what types of “pitches” have caught your attention? Are there any (non-specific) examples of requests that are off-putting to you as a blogger?
I just recently created a review policy. It has been on my to-do list for a while and during the Bloggiesta a few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and created one. I am hoping that this will help in cutting down on the requests for review of genres I do not read. Right now it lists the genres that I do read as well as those I do not. I do have one change that I want to make it to, and am hoping to get to that soon.
If I get requests that don’t meet my criteria, I try to respond with a “Thanks but no thank you” or now, “As per my review policy, you will see that I do not read…” I’m not sure that everyone reads the review policy but I do state in it that I am not always able to respond to every request but will get back if I am interested.
In the past, I have offered to do book spotlights for those requests that don’t jump at me. I haven’t done it in a while, but it’s pretty easy to do and for me, just requires formatting the information from either the author or the publisher/publicist. It seems to be a win-win and I think I might start doing them again.
I find that it’s not necessarily the pitch that interests me so much as the book itself. If it sounds interesting than I am likely to want to read it. As far as what turns me off – when someone is very pushy. I’ve had a few instances where I’ve received email after email within a matter of days. I also get a little skeptical when I see errors in the pitch – I know I’m not perfect, but if you are going to send out a pitch to potential reviewers, I would think you would want it to be grammatically correct.
What about you? What catches you or turns you off when it comes to review requests?
I'm the same about book pitches–other than a basic introduction, I"m more drawn in by the description of the book itself than by any other details about the author or publisher.
And yes, pushiness can be a real issue. Oy. 🙂
I would never presume to be so pushy…in anything I do. It's just not me and it's a real turn-off.
I don't like it when they send the book already and you don't want to review it. Thats pushy.
I get those every once in a while. If the book appeals to me, I will read it when I feel like it. If it doesn't appeal to me, I don't read it.
I have toa dmit grammatical errors would turn me off a little too. I don't accept books for review, although it's so tempting when I see all the goodies that people get!
I try not to take on too many review books at one time…I have so many of my own books that I am trying to get through. It is tempting though to want every one!
I don't mind a few errors but I've had a few that were just filled with typos and grammatical errors. That does not bode well for your book
I haven't encountered too many pushy authors but that would be an auto decline for me.
If the book is an advanced copy and it's marked uncorrected, than I am ok with the errors. It's the email requests that are filled with errors that bug me.
I should actually put up a formal review policy, but I read almost everything. I usually will head over to a review site (Goodreads, etal.) and take a quick look at the description (if there are typos or bad grammar in the description itself, that's a no). I look at the ratings (but not necessarily the reviews, because I don't want to have them influence my own), and then decide. It also depends on my backlog and if there's a specific time frame.
I rarely look at reviews of a book before reading it, especially review request books. I also like when I am able to schedule the review – or at least have some timeframe for the review to be posted. I sometimes get annoyed when review books just show up – they do not get any preference until I feel like reading them.
This is really interesting. I think my biggest issue is that I take on so many review books (I can't help it, I love the sound of them all!). It bugs me when people seem to completely disregard the policy that I've put up, too. Great post though, Kristin!
Stephanie @ Stepping Out of the Page
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I've only had my review policy for a few weeks, so I don't know if it's being read yet or not. I, too, have found myself taking on too many review books at once – and then I get stressed out with making sure the books are read by a certain date, the review is written and posted…it get's to be a chore and it isn't fun. I want my blogging and my reading to be fun!