When I get a review request I usually just ignore it, or like Broken Matt Hardy I delete, delete, delete.
Some of you I know do the same and some will think that it’s rude and they will reply to each and every request from any author. That’s all good, it’s your own choice, neither is right or wrong. Though I will say that when I started blogging I’d reply to every email and request but when I closed my blog to review requests and yet still continued to receive them I decided to stop replying. After annoying request 2,878,856 (an exaggeration but you get my drift) that ignores that you are closed somewhere along the way you just lose the will to reply, so I don’t.
Now, some authors might genuinely not see that you are closed, it happens but nah, some see it and just choose to ignore it as they think bloggers are a free publicity service for them and should bend over backwards to accommodate them and their book.
My own review policy has a graphic, it’s a black rectangle with red writing that says ‘closed to review requests‘. It’s below this paragraph and I’m sure you can all see it?! Please tell me you can and that it does say ‘closed to review requests‘ and that I’m not going crazy or at least crazier!😂
My point is, I have a graphic that makes it easy to see I’m not accepting review requests so whereas some bloggers might just mention it within their policy and it could be unseen. My graphic is pretty damn clear and so, when I do get a request it’s obvious to me that they saw the graphic and what it says and just decided to ignore it! They must think I am a slave to do their bidding and that the sole purpose of my blog is free publicity for them! It’s not!
Sadly, there seems to be a growing number of authors who pull you up and accuse you of discriminating against them for being Indie. Likewise, there are those who have started pulling bloggers up on genre discrimination just because we don’t read certain genres! I know!😠
The thing is, there are loads of bloggers out there who are open to review requests and would love to read the books offered, all it takes is a little more effort on the part of the author to find them and not alienate those who are closed by contacting them. If you want to promote your book, review requests to bloggers who are open and content requests to bloggers who are closed, simples.
OK, onto Authorgate. As I mentioned I ignore review requests and I ignored this one for a few days. Then, I saw that the author appeared on a blog that I follow with content! Yes, content! I, a blogger who is closed to requests got a review request but another blogger (who I admittedly don’t know if they are open or closed) had content.
Uncool. Of course, the blogger might have suggested content in place of a review but that’s not my job when you choose to ignore I’m closed as you should be offering me content and not a request in the first place, can you dig it sucka!
Anyhow, I thought that the book sounded pretty cool and I decided that I’d reply to the author’s review request and offer them content. You can see my reply to their initial request and their response below.
I don’t think that I wrote anything wrong?!
Well, I got a reply saying that they’d do a guest post and that I could use the same book excerpt as the other blogger. THE SAME DAMN EXCERPT! Uncool! People don’t reuse content, we want fresh and new content for our blogs. OK, if the excerpt had been used on a blog 6 months ago then sure, OK, it was a long time ago but to offer and expect me to post the exact same excerpt as another blogger a week later, oh hell no!
So, that annoyed me no end! I was fuming about being offered the same content and some people agreed with me that it was wrong. I don’t need the justification but it was nice to know that people had the same opinion as me.
I replied to the author as you will see below and I decided to pull them up on asking a blogger who is closed to review requests for a review. I only did this due to being annoyed over being offered sloppy seconds. If the author had offered me a different excerpt then it would have been all good, all good! Alas, it wasn’t and along with pulling them up on the request I also pulled them up on offering the same content to various bloggers.
See, I didn’t swear, I was polite, well, at least for me.😂 Yeah, I could have been less terse and worded my reply better but it is what it is and no, I didn’t reply to that email, there was no point.
I think unfortunately, some people just spit their dummy (pacifier for you Americans) out and act like babies.
Now folks, the answer to the author’s question of ‘who the hell do you think you are‘ is quite simple really and I’ll lay it out real easy for y’all, it’s a secret though so please don’t tell….
……I’m Batman!
Nah, I’m a lowly book blogger who merely pulled up a mighty and benevolent author on asking for reviews when it clearly states that I’m closed to requests and I also pulled them up on offering me second-hand content, which I think is fair, I’m sorry, I don’t want second-hand content on my blog, uncool and I believe my blog deserves better! I wouldn’t use second-hand toilet paper so why would I want a second-hand excerpt?!
So, who I am is also this, I’m someone who stood up for themselves and called an author out and their response quite frankly tells you all you need to know about them! It’s OK for them to ignore that a blogger is closed to requests and it’s OK for them to offer second-hand content but it’s not OK for them to be pulled up on it.
I’m a decent blogger with decent stats. I might think my reviews and my blog suck but I’m allowed to, I lack confidence and if I’m only worthy of sloppy seconds then maybe I need to reconsider this whole blogging malarkey!
Yeah, finally, I’m a book blogger, I’m Drew, I’m a cunt, I have a bad attitude and I say it how it is, I’m a nobody but I have a voice which makes me a somebody!
Perhaps the question though isn’t ‘who the hell am I‘ but ‘who the hell are you‘ and I’ll tell you, you are an author who thinks that they are better than bloggers and I’ll also offer you this pearl of wisdom, you can’t treat us like shit! What gives you the right to pull me up on what I wrote when you ignored that I was closed to requests, how do you justify that?!?! Hhhhmmm, while I am firmly against bloggers charging for reviews (you all know my opinion on that) if you are that desperate for a review for your book then perhaps you should call on one of those book hookers and knock them up! 🙂
Oh and FYI to the author on their ‘good luck working with other writers‘. After what they wrote previously I doubt that they meant it sincerely but if they did then, thank you, I appreciate it, truly I do, your sentiments mean the world to me!
If however, they weren’t being sincere then you know what, fffffuuuuuccccckkkkk yyyyyoooouuuuu! And, I will have good luck working with other authors, because I know that I am a decent blogger to work with and that EVERY author I’ve worked with so far will agree with me on that score!!!👌
Do I regret pulling the author up, no, not a chance. If pushed I’d even say I regret not being foul-mouthed and sarcastic (like normal) but I kept it professional and tried to offer a modicum of decency in my reply.
Will my blog die because some no-name author now isn’t going to appear on it, maybe, maybe not? Who knows! The universe works in mysterious ways! Who cares! Who gives a fuck! Ranting is cathartic but seriously, I could give a rats ass and you know what, some people just need to be told the truth!
I told the author the truth, it is annoying when you are closed to requests and yet continue to get them and it is also wrong to offer reused content to blogs! Have I fallen that low that I need content that has been on another bloggers blog already?!?! Really! Who wants the same content as others and a book excerpt too! I’m pretty sure that the book has more than one possible excerpt in it! If not it makes you question if the book is even any good if the author can only find one decent excerpt out the entire fucking book!
If any authors are reading this who do continually ignore when it states that blogs and bloggers are closed to review requests then could you please answer me this, why do you do it?!? What right do you have?!? You do realise that there are reasons why we are closed and irrelevant of what those reasons are, they should be and need to be respected by you.
Whatever the reason we are closed to requests, respect it, we don’t need to explain why or justify ourselves to you. But think on this, some bloggers suffer with illnesses, perhaps, just perhaps they are closed to requests due to that illness and them being unwell. Well then, answer me this Holmes, how can you justify asking a blogger for a review then?! You are putting your book above the bloggers health! I mean, seriously, ‘who the hell do you think you are‘. Oh look, I used the sentence from the author who I had an issue with ‘who the hell do you think you are‘ when someone annoys me and I can’t pull out the ‘you’ve offended me bullshit’ I now have a new phrase ‘who the hell do you think you are‘ brilliant!😂
Arsehole authors! You do realise that there is no legal requirement for a book blogger to have you on their blog?! There’s no rules, laws or regulations that state we have to help indie authors out! There’s plenty of blogs out there that never have indie authors on them and those blogs do just fine. Those of us that do help you out (as let’s be honest, that’s what it is, we are helping you out. It’s very doubtful that a guest post, excerpt or interview from you is going to propel our blog to superstardom and mega stats, our notifications won’t explode or page views skyrocket due to you. Now, GRRM, JK Rowling or Stephen King, sure, if we get them on our blog it’ll be hello awesome stats. You, unfortunately, not). Yet you ignore that we are closed to requests, you pull us up on not wanting to read your book, I mean, c’mon, if it’s not a genre we read then why would we even want to read it?! And I’ve even seen cases of authors badmouthing the reviews on blogs. Not that the review for their own book was negative, oh no, just that the blogger’s reviews don’t meet the author’s exceedingly high standards of how a review should be written!😠 Can you see the hypocrisy people?!?!? It’s OK for certain authors to say what they want but if a blogger stands there ground then it’s wrong!
We help you out, when you appear on our blogs you help us out too. It’s a mutually beneficial opportunity. You get some small promotion and so does our blog. But please realise, we are under NO obligation to have you on our blogs. We don’t even need a review policy or contact page for you to contact us!
Side-note: In the interest of fairness, if any authors read this and take offence then that’s fine. It’s your choice just like it’s my choice and my right to express my freedom of speech. I understand that as authors you have to show solidarity with each other and that’s all good, I genuinely respect that. However, I’m not an author, I’m a book blogger and as such, I show solidarity and stand-up for my fellow book bloggers.
The moral of the story folks, most authors are fantastic but some, and it’s only a minority but some think that bloggers are a service to be used and abused. Don’t let author’s walk over you and your blog they need to realise that there is a real person behind the blog and they need to respect us.
Authors, don’t be an arsehole be an ‘AA‘ an awesome author! 🙂
To all the great authors out there who are fantastic to work with, you rock! To all the book bloggers out there who give up their free time to do this, you rock! We are all awesome!
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I’m very happy to say that all authors I have dealt with so far have been no hassle.
I have even had to turn requests away and still no trouble. Guess I am just lucky so far.
Ps,
I do word my emails way friendluer than you 😉 might have something to do with it 😛
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I blatantly meant friendlier. Curse my lack of auto correct.
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I wasn’t that unfriendly though! Terse, yeah, but also truthful and offering content that has already been on another bloggers blog just isn’t on which is what annoyed me the most.
As I said in the post, most authors are fantastic, there’s bound to be a few that aren’t though, it’s just life.
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To be fair, your blog clearly states it’s closed for requests. So you had every right to be terse as the authors sending you stuff blatantly disregard your request page.
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And, that is something that they do to lots of other bloggers too. It’s just life, not every author can be decent just like not every blogger (book hookers) can be either.
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Very true. I’d say a good 20 romance authors ignored my no romance statement …
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I know it may be obvious to us as book bloggers and should be obvious to authors really but maybe some think closed to review requests means closed to anything. They don’t realise you’d be happy to host other content. Not making excuses for the author trying to palm you off with second-hand content or responding rudely but just a thought. Because I don’t get as many review requests as you obviously do, I do try to respond to each one, even if I’m turning them down.
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You have a point but my review policy also clearly states that I’d be happy to host authors for content, I made sure to include that in it. I’m not sure about other blogs and bloggers though. But the author could then offer a review or content in their initial email if they are unsure what ‘closed to requests’ means to cover all bases. Though, they just ignore it anyway.😂
I’m really not having a go at all authors in the post, most I’ve worked with have been fantastic but sadly there are some out there who aren’t.
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I didn’t realise you’d already included that – see, I didn’t bother to check either! I think you’re right – there are just some obnoxious people out there, in all walks of life, but thankfully vastly outnumbered by the nice ones.
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I tried to include everything that I could just to make it clear and so it contains all the relevant information, both, to make it easier for the authors and so I knew I’d put all the info on there. But yeah, I agree, thankfully obnoxious people are far outnumbered by decent ones.
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I’m not a book blogger by any means but I just want to say that “If you don’t have anything nice to say” meme is fantastic. I get told I’m too honest sometimes but seriously what does that even mean? You’re either honest or you’re not. Sugarcoating takes too much work.
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I know! I love that meme and have been waiting for a post to use it in!😂
I don’t know, I believe being too honest means that you put it bluntly to someone about something as opposed to being polite and wording it nicely.😂
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Exactly. Sugarcoating takes too much thought and accomplishes nothing in the long run. At least in my experience.
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Well, I just say it like it is, if people take offence then it’s too bad and it’s there issue not mine. But that’s unfortunately the world we live in, you call someone a c#nt and someone will take offence whereas you politely inform them that there behaviour was abhorrent and unseemly and it’s all good.😂
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Yes. I’m just like you. It’s all good until they do it again anyway and then politeness goes out the window, hahaha.
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Drew, you may remember wrestling’s ‘Godfather’:
“Blogging and Reviewing ain’t easy!”
Bless y’all’s hearts.
~Icky. 🙂
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I loved The Godfather and his ho train!😂 Ah, the good old days!😀
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Drew, bottom line it’s your blog and you’re the gate keeper. It annoys me to no end when an author who wants me to do them a favor, doesn’t bother to read my policy or do the smallest amount of research before contacting me. It’s those ones I delete straight away. As for your experience with that author, you were open to giving up your time and effort, doesn’t mean they’ve “hired” you. Every blogger is different but I think one thing is the same for all of us: Just like a book is an author’s intellectual property to do with what they see fit, so are our blogs!
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That’s very true about a blog! And yeah, bloggers are all different and that’s a good thing.
Yeah, they are definitely the worst, no research, not a genre you read and even the dreaded wrong name! And very true, we are doing them a favour.
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Ah the age old saying: the truth hurts. Judging by their response, they realised that they’d been called out on their shit and didn’t have the intellect or maturity to respond in a way befitting of an adult.
It’s so disrespectful when people deliberately ignore your review policies, be it the fact that you’re closed to reviews or that you don’t read certain genres. As for discriminating against genres…well, do they HONESTLY want someone reviewing their book who dislikes that genre? It’d be like me approaching you with my new romance novel (which I haven’t written, don’t worry) and expecting a gleaming review…you despise romance so why would I want or expect that!? Eugh, people are so stupid.
And they wanted to post the SAME excerpt on your blog? How unoriginal. They could have done another excerpt or perhaps written a post about their genre or anything!
Massive kudos to you for standing your ground. You weren’t rude, you just said it how it is and if they can’t handle the truth then tough titties.
Also, on a side note, can colour blind people read red? Maybe you just have a lot of colour blind authors reading your review policies 😛 Perhaps you should write it in another colour too, just to be on the safe side 😛
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Lol, very true, babies don’t like being called out and then you see who they really are when they have been, an adult or a baby!😂
I offered them a guest post. I didn’t think I was rude over it, it’s what I tell most authors, to have at it. You know from following my blog that I’m happy to post anything and with the stuff I write and language I use I just tell authors to have free reign. It’s also easier, the author asked if I had any ideas but if they didn’t like or want to do the idea I’d suggested for a guest post then they wouldn’t have and that would have made suggesting it pointless.😂 And I don’t know the author! If you read an authors books, follow them on SM, etc then you’d get an idea of things that could be cool for them to write about but a complete stranger, no idea!
It’s a good job that I didn’t point out that lots of authors write guest posts in advance so that they have some spare to send to bloggers to help promote their work as and when required.
Yeah, the SAME content! That annoyed me and caused my response to be how it was. I’d seen the excerpt, thought it’d be a cool book to have on my blog so even though I ignore review requests I decided to give the author a go (which I thought was fair that I pointed that out). To get a reply telling me that I could have the same damn content! Hell no! People don’t do that! 6 months later, sure but a week, just no! And stating that the one excerpt was a good chapter! I mean, does that mean that everything else in the book is crap that there’s only one chapter that’s any good!😁
But yeah, I know I wasn’t rude! Terse but not rude, especially compared to my usual language.😂 If I’d been in a particularly foul mood I should have replied to the author ‘I know who I am, thank you. I’m the guy who pulled you up on ignoring that I’m closed to requests. So, the question is, who the hell are you? What right do you have to ignore that I’m closed to requests?’ but I couldn’t be arsed.😂
Being quite honest, the end of the email says it all ‘good luck working with other writers’ as though I’ll have a problem with it and it’s expected! Sort of proves that some authors just think that bloggers are required to have them on their blog. And, I know that all the authors I’ve worked with will say I’m a decent blogger to work with so yeah, I will have good luck with who I choose to work with!😂
I don’t know about red so you have a point! Though it’s also written either 3 or 4 times in the policy too that I’m closed, so no excuse!😂
Yeah, exactly, why would you want to read a book in a genre that you don’t like or enjoy. Alas, there’s just some weird people out there and some authors who think that they are entitled and that we should read their book regardless of what we enjoy reading!😂
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I think the fact that they wanted to post the same excerpt and then asked you for ideas regarding what they could write about shows a certain degree of laziness. I mean, c’mon, they’re the author, where’s their imagination!? I appreciate that writing a book is difficult, but the work doesn’t stop after writing the final line and I think some authors don’t realise that. We’re more than happy to help promote their stuff, but it’s a partnership that works both ways!
Haha perhaps it was the only good chapter! At least by showcasing a number of different chapters on different blogs, potential readers can blog hop and get a real feel for the book.
That line made me laugh because it’s obvious that they haven’t read your blog AT ALL. You work with so many authors and you never have a problem with them. I think that fact alone proves who the issue lies with 😛
Us bloggers aren’t authors’ bitches at their beck and call. Our blogs are ours – there’s no boss telling us who to host or what to write in a review. WE’RE the bosses and we decide what content we want on our blogs!
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that last paragraph, damn straight and a hell yeah!!! Totally agree! 🙂
I know, I have had lots of authors on my blog, don’t think no name saw that and ALL would say I’m decent to work with but you know what?? If I hadn’t had any authors on my blog then it wouldn’t mean that I’m not decent to work with if that’s what no name thinks, a blogger has no indie authors on their blog then they must be ars#holes, nope as we don’t have to have authors on our blog and lots of blogs choose not to, it’s not a given! 🙂
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I feel this right now because I’d taken a break, and I got some perspective, like this is my blog! If I want to post something, if that’s maybe a post on how’s things with me I will do so, and if I want to show my fellow indie authors some love I will go through my email and personally ensure I work with a writer to the point I feel I’ve given them some fair amount of exposure. Book blogging doesn’t exactly make a living, and putting every post together takes so much time & effort! As well as the social media sharing, it shouldn’t start feeling like a chore, or be to the detriment of our health. I’ve actually never closed my review requests, because I don’t want to miss the gems, but as an author myself I know it’s so frustrating to find nearly every book blogger is closed to requests, especially as I’m a poet, and that’s a small pool of bloggers, but I’ve experienced rude people, and offering excerpts & guest posts that aren’t original doesn’t really endear a person to your books I don’t think. You have to be unique in some way! And you certainly are Drew. Thanks for writing about the less fun aspects of blogging.
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I can definitely understand about it being frustrating for authors when bloggers are closed to requests. But I think if they see a blogger is closed then ask to appear on their blog with content and look for another blogger who’s open to requests for a review.
I just think that some authors think themselves entitled and that bloggers are just a free publicity service to them, helping them out, drafting up posts and then posting and sharing all takes time and quite honestly, sometimes you just don’t want to do it! Though, I feel the same way about blogging too and drafting up my own posts at times!😂 And the same can be said for some bloggers as there’s entitled bloggers around too.
I also think that while it isn’t a review, if a blogger has an author on their blog for content then that should be good enough as it’s still helping get an author some small promotion and there’s plenty of bloggers out there who have nothing to do with indie authors at all.
Rude people?! I’m rude!😂 But yeah, unfortunately there’s rude people in all aspects of life, authors, bloggers, normal humans, you find rude people everywhere.
Thanks! I’m definitely unique, I just think (which is a phrase I’m using a lot in this comment, blame it on its Friday night and I’ve had a bad week.😂) that bloggers should stand up for themselves and lots won’t and don’t. I don’t mean just with authors either but over other aspects of blogging too. At the end of the day a bloggers blog is their own little slice of the Internet and due to that they should be able to post what they want. After all, the world isn’t going to end if a book blogger posts a non bookish post!😂 There’s definitely a fair few less fun and darker aspects of blogging. Sadly, lots of bloggers make out that everything and everyone is awesome and it’s all rainbows and sunlight when it’s not.
I know you’re an indie author and that I have a tendency to be harsh in my wording in posts, I lack eloquence and like my popular culture references and sarcasm too much to be eloquent.😂 But, I wasn’t having a go at all indie authors in the post, so I hope it didn’t come across that way as most I’ve worked with have been great, I was just ranting and I like to rant.😂
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I’m just shakin’ my head. Good for you for standing up for yourself. It needs to be done, that response from the author is just so rude. I don’t understand why people feel the need to expect things, uh just makes me mad.
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I always stand up for myself, especially with blogging. I fully understand why some people don’t and just let things go, they want an easy life, they don’t want the hassle but me, nah, I like to rant.😂
And the author was rude, I was surprisingly polite for me and their response, nah, I needed to vent over that! Now, if Stephen King told me ‘who the hell are you’ then sure but some no name, nope especially not when they’d ignored the review request and then offered the same content, no way, people don’t do that and bloggers don’t want it. The truth hurt for the author and I got a good rant, it’s all good.😂
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I’m the complete opposite, I just can’t deal with the drama of things; that doesn’t mean that I don’t stand up for myself, I just pick & choose my battles. I’ve learned that about you, you definitely like to rant, but that’s not a bad thing- we have a whole TV show here dedicated to ranting called the Rick Mercer Report 😛
I understand where you’re coming from because like what was that response? Clearly that person was hurt that you rejected their first request, and when you said no a second time, they just lost it. What a baby. 😂
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I think with me, you follow my blog, you’ve seen some of the stuff I write and if anyone takes offence to it then, fine, it’s their choice but I’d like it to be something that is offensive as opposed to something that just offends someone so that they can play the sympathy card. That author took offence to nothing, I wasn’t rude, impolite, anything, only truthful and their response annoyed me as it implied that I was in the wrong for pulling them up, nah, I just told how it was and they could have replied like an adult and it’d all have been sorted. Alas, they wrote what they did and I was the adult, I didn’t reply. I ranted instead!😂 Though, I didn’t name the author, their book, their genre, the blogger, the day of the excerpt or anything incriminating, just a rant to make me feel better.
Oh, I didn’t mean that you or people don’t stand up for themselves and I totally understand about just not wanting to deal with the drama, sorry if what I wrote implied that, that wasn’t my intention.
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Oh, no I totally understand you and where you’re coming from. It goes to show that people are so easily offended these days and quite simply it’s annoying. Like really, you said no to this author and they lost their shit, really; plus it was stuff people have already seen, it’s not like you were the first person they approached. Boo to stupid society!
And oh geez, no worries I wasn’t offended! 🙂
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Some author asked if I would review their book over Twitter after claiming to have seen my blog. On my homepage, it clearly states that I’m not accepting review requests, after the Twitter incident I even put it in my Twitter bio that I’m not accepting reviews. It’s annoying when people don’t bother to read things.
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Eurgh, that annoys the hell out of me on Twitter, damn authors sending requests or even just links to their book with ‘check it out’ or ‘I think you’ll like’ no, just no.
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I’ve had that happen too.
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Okay first off I’m super glad that I’m not the only one to ignore requests. Tbh I have a lot on my plate a lot of the time and can’t do the actual things I want/need to, so authors ignoring my “not accepting requests” on my website statement aren’t top priority for me. I do try to reply, but I ignore most of them (still feel a little guilty about it though 😉 )
I do think your sign is very clear lol 😉 Admittedly, mine’s just in regular text, but it’s still there darn it!! (and tbh I cba to go to more effort- see above where I mentioned how little time I have 😉 )
Also, to be honest, I personally get even more frustrated when people say “oh no worries wanna do a different kind of post for me” if I do reply to them- cos I feel like anyone looking at my blog can see this is not something I do. But I digress- wow this author really did have cheek offering you the same content and you seemed really polite and not like you were “putting him in his place” at all. Anyway love this rant!!! I can really relate to it!!
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No, your not the only one who ignores requests, I’m not either, lots of people do and I bet even more do it than who admit to it as they just don’t want to appear rude. But my reasoning is, the author is rude by ignoring you’re closed to requests so it’s OK to be rude and ignore them. Squewed logic, I know but I’m sticking with it.😂
Thank you! I was polite, especially for me! Terse, yeah but I was only being truthful to them, alas, some people can’t handle the truth!😂
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Ah that’s good to know. No one really talks about it much so I never know what the proper etiquette is (although ignoring probably isn’t it 😉 ) hehehehe yep that’s my logic too 😂
You’re welcome! Yes too true 😂
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Ha, yeah, that’s true but then again the proper etiquette for an author should be to respect a blogger who is closed to review requests. So……😂😂😂
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hehehe yes that’s my thinking!! 😂😂😂
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Boy.. You sure run into some of the most interesting people out here in the blogging world hahah I too ignore most requests that go through bookidote’s main email, and politely answer back those who personally contact me through Goodreads. I just don’t have enough time to add them to my list and expand what is already a lot on my plate! This sure was a fascinating story though. Would be nice if author’s did consider having ORIGINAL content for each blogger that actually want to help them out. Thanks for sharing, sir.
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It should be original content for each blog though! And for book excerpts, there has to be more than one possible excerpt from an entire book that they could use! I mean, if there’s only one excerpt that’s any good then what does that say about the rest of the book!😂😂😂
Author was just a jerk. I tried to be polite (at least for me) and they responded like that, the truth hurt.😂
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I know this was not the main point of your post at all…but there are seriously authors aggrieved about “genre discrimination” when bloggers don’t read/review certain genres??? Really, the last thing you want is for a blogger who doesn’t like, say, mysteries in the first place to review your mystery because you are unlikely to get a high rating from them. There’s also little point in promoting a mystery on a blog that generally features stuff like sci fi and fantasy and where very few of the followers will care about a review of a mystery book. How odd!
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On a more related note, I am also closed to requests and tend to ignore them when they come in my email, but I am *somewhat* open to featuring other content like author guest posts. My issue here is that, well, if you want to guest post on my blog, I think it makes sense for you to pitch to me what you want to guest post about. I find it’s not uncommon for people to go, “Can I guest post? What do you want me to write about?” Uh…something you are an expert on and are passionate about? You’d know more about what topics those are than I do!
I guess, in other words, I’d prefer if people guest posted because they have something they actually want to say or share with readers. Don’t determine that you want to guest post just because it sounds like a good marketing idea and then expect me to do the work of coming up with an intriguing topic. In this situation, the author has the investment in coming up with a good topic, showcasing their writing, building their brand, etc. Honestly, though I do like to support authors, I have no investment in that, and I don’t really care if you guest post on my blog or not. I have plenty of original content to post on my own, and don’t “need” authors to provide this for me. I think this is one of those cases where authors and bloggers can accidentally get into conflict because the author thinks they’re doing me a favor by providing the post and “giving me content for my blog,” but from my perspective I’m doing them a favor by providing them with a free marketing platform…which I do not have to do.
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That last paragraph is completely true, I couldn’t agree more! I’m very much in the camp of I’m giving them free marketing as opposed to they are doing me a favour. Sure, I get a post out of it but they get free publicity so it works both ways. It’s not just they are doing me the favour by offering to appear on my lowly little blog.
That’s one of the issues I have with authors and them not sending me all the required information for posts (author picture, author bio, SM links, book blurb, book links). Admittedly, I could get the book links as I do for a review but the author information, no. Some seem to think that they can just send the guest post or excerpt and nothing else and I’ll find the rest, as though it’s my job. Erm….no, blogging isn’t my job anyway and it just seems lazy. Appearing on a blog is promotion, surely authors should have a file of all the required information to send to people. I mean, how can you promote yourself if you don’t bother to send the items telling people who you are.😂
Yeah, that’s my issue with guest posts too. Which is why I told the author that. If I knew of their work or followed them on SM I could perhaps suggest a guest post idea but for someone I don’t know, I wouldn’t have a clue! If I suggest a guest post to an author anyway there’s nothing to say that they will want to write about that topic which means it was all irrelevant and a waste of time. Best just to let them write about what they want or for them to suggest an idea for your blog.
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Yeah, even if the author has an easily accessible media kit on their author web page, I would think its in their own interest to send any links, photos, bios, etc. they want included in the post to ensure that it *is* included. If it’s not in the email, I think they run the risk of the blogger not adding it to the post, which, again, is more of a problem for the author than it is for the blogger. I don’t want to be cynical, but in the end, no one is more invested in good marketing than the author themselves, so they should really look out for their own interests in these types of transactions. It would be disappointing to write a whole guest post and then not get clear links back to your author web site, where readers can buy the book, etc.
Same, I have a hard time coming up with viable ideas for guest posts if I’m in a situation where I’m specifically not reviewing their work, have never read any of their work, and generally know very little about them as a author. It works much better for me when they pitch a guest post idea!
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All very true and I agree with it everything.
I have to say that the ‘evil’ part of me really wants to just post whatever I get sent one of these days just to see if there is any comeback over it from the author! 🙂
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Yeah, it’s a thing! And, yeah, it’s weird!😂 I’d presume that the authors got declined by bloggers and then decided that they were being discriminated against due to their genre and/or them being indie authors.
There’s some weird ones out there though. I’ve had requests from authors for genres I don’t read that have told me, that as I don’t read that genre I’m the ideal person to read the book and give a different view which would be great as the book isn’t a typical book in that genre and I’m not a typical reader of that genre! Weird!😂
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Huh… I’ve had a couple of times where I had to suggest a topic for a guest post to author… that was after reading their book because I had to get a feel for it… after those times, I was like- never again- if they can’t be arse, why should I be arsed?
then again, sometimes authors just don’t know… they have no clue about marketing, so what if there’s 8354358645 posts about book marketing 101 on google…
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I don’t mind the whole suggesting a guest post topic, it’s the second hand content and attitude of the author that annoyed me. Most authors (from my experience) seems to ask if you have any ideas for a guest post regardless of whether it’s you or them who suggest a guest post. I’m sure they are just being polite but if you suggest something that they don’t want to write then they won’t do it anyway, it’s often pointless and easier for them to just write about what they want.
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I’m on Goodreads now and I had put five stars on there about Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I put on my blog that my mother is a fan of Dean Koontz. I’m not because I never read his books until now. I got an email from an author saying to read their book because it’s for fans of Dean Koontz. To me, the book didn’t sound like Dean Koontz and I probably won’t read it.
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Wow, have to say only had one or two that have pissed me off this much and I do tend to give them a royal dressing down much like you have when they do. But thankfully and as you have pointed out it’s rare. The ignoring of the closed to review requests thing never ceases to amaze me. I’ve found that many now use a different contact form I have for my Bookshelf feature as though bypassing the correct form will make me open to review requests all of a sudden. Sorry mate my TBR is breaking me in half so only my favourite authors are getting through right now!
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I’m not surprised that they use the different contact form, authors be sneaky feckers when they want to be!
Alas, it’s the few that ruin it for the many. I don’t do this to get hassle and yet they think they can get away with it, oh hell no, it’s no wonder lots of bloggers stay away from working with authors.
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