Book Bloggers and Their Impact
I would like to take a moment to speak about an issue that has been brought to my attention. This is not a post to escalate drama, rather one to invoke discussion.
It has been said recently that bloggers and their reviews do not translate into sales. This then brought up that many felt bloggers should not receive free bookmarks/books/buttons/etc because those directly in charge of purchasing books should receive these things.
I am not a blogger focused on ‘free stuff.’ I’m not so concerned with that portion of the argument (whether or not bloggers should receive free stuff) – I’m more agitated that the entire thought process behind these individuals is that book bloggers do nothing for the industry.
Part of the problem is that yes, there are some bloggers who inflate their follower count and go crazy requesting free stuff – these bloggers make their stash very visible and it’s sometimes difficult to see them applying these materials in the best way that they can. Grouping all bloggers together because of the actions of a few is not appropriate. The same goes for conferences and trade shows where a small handful of bloggers act unprofessionally – it is not okay to assume that every blogger is a bad blogger, just like I don’t think all librarians are mean when I encounter an angry one or that I will hate all books by an author because I didn’t particularly care for one.
It is especially important to consider each blogger individually because of all of these reasons – we are not all created equally. There are book bloggers who expand their reach to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, local bookstores, author signings, schools. There are some who collect ARCs and bookmarks and never distribute or read them. Just like there are extremes in all other hobbies and individuals, there are differences in bloggers, and automatically assuming that a book blog is only read by a few other book bloggers and has no impact is not fair without a total assessment.
What does all of this mean?
If you are someone judging the book blogging community as a whole – please don’t. Please look at how the blogger is connected, their statistics, their commitment to posting. Follow them on Twitter and see how many times they mention buying books or when their friends buy books because of their site or when they attend and support an author signing. Read their comments and see if anyone mentions buying a book because of a review. Basically, give them a chance. You’re not going to love every blogger, but there is no reason to hate them all, either – I can think of several immediately who are very connected to their community, bookstores, authors that have a much larger impact than you may think.
If you are a book blogger – think about what you’re doing. Are you accepting review copies? You then have a commitment to connect to the world at large. Are you requesting bookmarks from authors? You need to be dedicated to deliver this information to individuals who may not read your blog. If you’re just reading library books and books you own, do what you will with your blog – but I FULLY believe that if you are accepting the ‘free stuff’ (as mentioned in the original argument), you are accepting that you will use these things to the best of your ability. If you don’t have the time to do this, then don’t accept it.
Not sure how to spread the word?
-Start a Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr account, connect with authors and readers
-Get a job or volunteer at a bookstore or library. Start to talk about the books you’ve read, perhaps set up a ‘recommended reads’ area and support authors and books.
-Ask a library or bookstore if you can set out some of those bookmarks you have. You don’t need to keep all of them. Send some out when you ship a giveaway. Bring some to a local school.
-Buy books as gifts for friends, teachers, parents!
-Work with a bookstore to get an author there for a signing. Too much? Simply attend an author signing and bring a friend. It shows the bookstore that there is interest in author signings and will help for signings in the future!
-Don’t be afraid to recommend books. See someone browsing the library? Recommend a book or author you’ve recently read and loved. (You can do this at a bookstore too, but you have to be careful because some stores apparently do not allow this.)
There are many other ways to spread the word about books and authors and publishers – if you have any other tips, please leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list above!
I absolutely believe that there are book bloggers who sell books and create buzz. The actions of a few do not represent all, and I feel like those that had this particular conversation should know this. Before you make a blanket statement (about ANYthing, I mean honestly), take the time to consider all of those included in your statement – if it’s not true for all, it’s not okay to say, especially when you’re telling someone their hard work is not appreciated or wanted or useful.
I love book blogging and sharing my reading habits with all of you 
I appreciate when you let me know that you’ve rented or purchased a book because of one of my reviews, and I know that other book bloggers do, too – so if this is ever the case I encourage you to leave a comment to let them know.
Other thoughts:
April (Good Books and Good Wine)
Pam (Bookalicious)
Happy weekend to you
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What a fantastic post! I buy WAY more books since I became a book blogger and started reading blogs regularly. I buy more then I can read and I buy more then I receive for review. When I do get books for review I share them. Same with my friends. One of us gets sn ARC and all three of us read that one. All of us review it. Sometimes it then gies in a giveaway.
I go to every booksigning I possibly can and I blog about it and sometimes do interviews with the authors, etc.
When I get swag I put it in a bag and when I do giveaways I usually throw something from the swag bag in. I also bring my extra to the bookstores and give it to shoppers or stick them in similar books.
I’m also one of those annoying people at the bookstore that’s all willing to help the shopper. At Christmas I helped several elderly shoppers pick out books for their grandkids. I was just a shopper, but I saw they needed help. I also gave them signed bookmarks and my card so the kids now read my blog and get more recommendations.
I don’t request books for review often. Maybe three times a year. Most all are offered me for review. I love to share the books I get with everyone. I KNOW that me being a book blogger has sold books. My mom is even addicted to several series because of me and her purchases alone have brought in probably hundreds of
dollars. Some bloggers behavior may not be right, but it definitely does not reflect everyone!
Thanks for the great post!
Oh, and I typed this on my phone and now it won’t let me see the top of my comment so I can’t correct my errors. Hopefully there aren’t too many!
Twitter: katiesbookblog
I completely agree with you. I think all bloggers get some free stuff but that doesn’t mean that we have stopped buying books. Personally, I buy a ton of books, not just for me but as gifts. I also recommend books to friends and people who are looking at books in stores that I have read and actually know about. I love sharing my books with friends and readers of my blog. I think it’s horrible that the whole community is being judged on a few people but there isn’t a whole lot that can be done about it. I think we all just have to do our part. =]
This is terrible! I had no idea that some people thought that.
I personally have bought several books solely based on a bloggers review, a few of them yours! LOL
I only receive a couple books a month (I have received a few bookmarks but have not asked for them) and I have had several people tell me they were going to go buy the book after my review. I think book blogging is a great way to spread the word. I can’t even count the number of books I would have never known about if it weren’t for bloggers.
Also, just something I do – When I give a book an unfortunate poor review I do always say that they should judge for themselves, that others have liked the book, and that it may have been “just me” and it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I always feel bad giving a book a bad review but sometimes I just don’t like the book.
Twitter: ilikethesebooks
Great post! I was also pretty annoyed by this conversation. If you look at the bloggers who do not take advantage of “free stuff” (they can accept it, just not abuse it), you will see that bloggers do A LOT for the industry. I can say from experience that I have specifically gone out and bought a book because I liked someone’s review on their blog (I can only hope the same has happened from my reviews). Bloggers start hype as well as draw light onto lesser known and indie titles. They also spread some of the media that has been created for a certain event/title. I have to say that if there weren’t book bloggers, I probably wouldn’t see the media that the book industry has created (book trailers, countdowns, etc.) because no one would be spreading it around.
I think that person made that comment only looking at the few bad bloggers in a huge blogosphere. This was a biased, shallow interpretation of the book blogger world and it got me (as well as a few others;) very angry.
Britta
Enjoyed the post. I am new at blogging and am currently blogging about books I’ve purchased. I hope to someday work with authors and distributors. I appreciate your candidness on some of the practices out there. The bloggers I currently follow have done tons to introduce me to new books that I might not have known about. Thanks for trying to keep the bar raised.
What a great conversation starter! Last week I bought a book that was recommended by a book blogger, and I’ve purchased many more in the past. If a blogger that I respect highly recommends a book, chances are that it will go on my wishlist.
I agree that it’s not a good business practice to accept review copies and then not review them, but I believe that the bloggers who do that are the exception, not the norm. I’ll keep on blogging about books whether I’m getting them for free or buying them. And I’ll keep on recommending them too! (I’ve actually done that at the library a couple of times!).
I would like to go on the record and say that I never get swag. I got a pair of curse worker gloves at ALA and they is mine! Mine! I digress. Any ARCs I get go out to another blogger, or a bookseller. I read them or if I see that I am not going to get to it in time I send it on. I don’t keep anything to myself or keep a hoard of books floating around in my house. I didn’t know ARCs existed when I started blogging. The thought that went through my head when I started my blog was “Not enough people have read Inkheart. This must be changed.”
I have like 15 followers, so I do the blog mainly for myself, but yeah I’ve seen blogs that get WAY to many free stuff and to silly review that don’t even give me an impression of the book. Some authors even post on their websites not to bother them about free stuff JUST becauuse the sender has a blog and wants free stuff
I stopped accepting books for review last October. I blog to promote reading, not necessarily book sales. I am just as happy to help someone find a copy at their local library.
Excellent discussion! I know that thanks to book bloggers, I’ve been introduced to so many great authors that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. I’ve bought books based solely on blogger reviews, so to say that bloggers don’t help sell books is ridiculous. While there are bad apples in every bunch, the majority of bloggers I’ve come across are passionate readers who want to share their love of books.
Thanks for the comment, Alexia
I’m really glad you mentioned that you buy books based on blogger recommendations – it makes bloggers feel good! 
Thank you for that very candid post. My book isn’t in your genre, but if it were, you are definitely someone I would want to review it.
I was approached by a book blogger who has started a “service” to provide PR, guaranteeing at least 10 bloggers will host a book for a month. At $300 a month, that’s not something I could consider, and I had to wonder about how ethical book reviews for pay, basically, is. I would prefer to get an honest, bad review, than ever wonder if a good review was because I had hired a PR service.