Where would we be without authors? Without publishers? Do I even dare picture such a life? *faints dramatically*. Today, on the 4th day of my blogoversary celebration week, I'm going to talk about these wonderful people who let us experience worlds beyond our own. Really, it's just a big blah blah post about being starstruck by authors and publishers!
Starstruck
Like probably a lot of you, I felt very intimidated by authors and publishers when I started blogging. To me, authors have always been superstars. I'm not saying this to flatter -- although I do love to flatter authors I love -- but for a girl from a small town Canada where no big authors ever come for signings, I was very starstruck from the whole idea of communicating with these famous people, and actually get replies, and eventually call them friends! At first I was flooded with a sense of astonishment and intimidation: What should I do? What should I say? How should I respond? What if I don't say the right thing? These were all questions than ran through my anxiety filled mind when I got emails and tweets from these people. It was surreal to say the least.
My advice to those who feel the same - authors are people too! And those publishers, they're not so scary! Once I began to get more social with them, I saw how genuinely awesome they all are. Never would I have thought I could tweet an author how much their book moved me, and get a direct message back. Authors love to hear from readers, and a lot of them are very social online. They love to talk, to play around, some will even make jokes at your expense! And THAT is what I love the most about blogging! These people have created stories, worlds, words I've gotten lost in since I could hardly walk, and getting to chat with them blows my mind every single day. They are not mythical beings after all! So don't be afraid to chat them up, I'm happy to call a lot of authors friends.
Tweets that make blogging worth it:
Carrie wrote The Forest of Hands and Teeth series that I highly enjoyed and knowing she read and liked my review is seriously a huge highlight in my blogging year! I literally squeed when I saw this tweet.
Tweets like this remind me how much authors love us, too!
And then there's always the bizarre heartwarming relationships you might strike up.
Warning: Some content may be explicit! >.<
I know right? The basement? Who does she think I am? I would at "least" chain her in the spare bedroom. Maybe.
So you see? Authors love their readers! They're amazingly talented, and they're the reason we are all here today blogging, and talking about what we love! Don't be afraid to strike up a conversation, though I would advise against kidnapping threats just yet.
Self Publishing
In this modern, online world, you don't need a publisher to get a book out there. Self published authors are a big deal in the blogging community, and I am beyond amazed at how wonderful these people are. Sure there are bad apples in the mix, but I have personally never had any bad experiences, and even if I would, the bad would definitely not trump the good. I have made friends with self published authors I will be forever thankful for, I have read books that became 5-star favorites, and I have come to notice that they can be just as good as any published book out there. For new blogs, don't let any drama stop you from reading self published books, you may just miss your next favorite novel.
With this said, review requests are a common occurrence in blogging and one "mistake" a lot of us make at the start is accept any request we get out of excitement or intimidation, which end up with us getting books that aren't quite our taste. I know it's exciting, but nothing good will come of accepting books you likely won't enjoy. Read the synopsis, read a few reviews, and make sure it's up your alley.
Note for author: Read our review policy! You will learn our book taste, what we want to see in a request, and other very useful info, which can very well determine if the request will be ignored or not. I kid you not, I got a review request on Formspring the other day. O_O Getting spammed on Facebook and Twitter with random links to your book is the surest way to make sure I never read it. I know authors are busy, but bloggers are busy too, and making a little effort will highly increase your chances that we will at least have a look!
Shout Out
Shout out to Kathleen Peacock, Rhiannon Frater, Matt Merrick, JL Bryan, Devri Walls, Helen Keeble, Miranda Kenneally, Nikki Jefford, Lynn Rush, Cambria Hebert, Marie Landry, O'Dell Hutchison, Michelle Madow, Patrice Michelle, Belle Whittington, Taryn Browning, Heather McCorkle, Elsie Chapman, Trish Wolfe, Rachel Harris, Kelley York, and Marie Rutkoski - and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone - who are fabulous authors who I've come to know and am happy to call a friend! Thank you, for all your support and for everything that you do!
Publishers
Publishers are also a big source of intimidation to us bloggers, and ARCs are a big reason. You got a book from a publisher that you hated? You know what? It happens, and the publishers will not black list you! Reviews are to lead people to and from certain books and negative reviews are not a bad thing! They need them as much as they need positives, and no matter what, they will thank you for taking the time to read and review the book. Like I said with authors, don't be scared to approach them with a reply to their tweets, by tagging them on your review tweet, or by emailing about receiving review books. Be professional and courteous, and you win soon strike up relationships with employees there as well!
This is also a bit stunning to me even now. I would never have thought I would be in regular contact with big publishers, not to mention actually receive books from them for review. I am forever thankful for this privilege as a blogger. Even though relationships with publishers are often a bit more formal than the quirky conversations you can have with authors, they're very friendly and social online and I love that about them!
It goes without saying that I'm thankful for all the publishers I have come to know and who have made this year - this blog - what it is today!
And a BIG thank you to ALL authors and publishers! You give us something to be passionate about, and that's something you should all be proud of!
