This is a random post, but i've been thinking of doing one for a while, and I thought now would be a good time. :) There's only a few peeves, as overall I LOVE LOVE LOVE the book blogging community.
1. When publishers email me asking to review adult books that are clearly adult books.
I always just sigh when this happens & blacklist the publisher/publicity person - it really means a lot to me when people include a line from or mention my review policy in review requests, although I completely understand being cc'd into an email/sent a form email, as publishers can't individually email every single blogger, but seriously? I would like for them to at least glance at my review policy, where the word not is bolded AND underlined, right before the words review & adult books. Sorry for my rant, I just really find this annoying & slightly disrespectful.
2. When blog tours tell you not to post negative reviews, ever.
Most blog tours are awesome, and say if your review will be under 3 stars, please don't post it for the blog tour, BUT you're free to post it any other time. There's a couple blog tour sites I joined though, and I almost signed up for reviews, but I read the fine print - they said if your review is under 4 stars, please do not post it, EVER. I get this, I do, it's their job to generate good buzz, not bad, it just rubs me the wrong way - I like being free to share my opinion, good or bad.
3. When people rate books without reading them.
This isn't specifically a book blogging pet peeve, as sometimes regular readers do this too, but it really annoys me. A lot of times, i'll see people who have rated a book 1 or 5 stars- but it's marked as a to-read! They talk in their review about how they haven't even read it yet but are sure it will be good/bad? Books i've thought would be good have been horrible before, and vice versa. If I rated every book on how I thought it would be before even cracking the cover, my ratings would be a whole lot different.
4. When publishers don't specify whether it's a print or ecopy.
This is a mini one, but it leads to a bit of awkwardness when i'm not sure whether to send them my email or not, and i've had my fair share of moments where I assume it's one way or the other and am wrong - just include somewhere in the email whether it's print or ecopy!
Do you sympathize with any of these? What are your pet peeves related to reading/book blogging? Leave your thoughts below! :)
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Mar 19, 2013
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This is a really interesting and insightful post. I actually just started a blog, and I could use some advice, if you ever have the time or patience! There is SO MUCH TO LEARN. Again, great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a blogger yet so I haven't had publisher problems (shoot, I wish I DID have publisher problems, that would mean they wanted to contact me at all!) but I totally with you on the rating without reading a book thing. That is SO irritating!!! And I have heard about the blog tour organizers who won't allow ratings under a 3 on a tour and I just don't think that is an honest thing to do...
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