Get Listed! with Book Bloggers by @sugarbeatbc

You have written a book and published it!

Yay!

What do you mean, you have no one waiting to read and review your book?

book-blogger-badredhead-sshh

Ssshhh…don’t tell Rachel…..

Today we are going to talk about Book Bloggers, how to find them and what they can do for you.

Book Bloggers are people who have created a blog to talk about books.

There are thousands of us!

Yes, I’m a book blogger and have been for almost 5 years. I blog at Sugarbeat’s Books. I’m also the author of 6 books covering topics that are designed to help authors and book bloggers.

Every book blogger is as individual as you are. Each of us has individual tastes in reading and we will run our blogs according to our own rules. The one thing that we all have in common is that we LOVE books. Our blogs are all about the topic of books. We feature them, we review them, we chat about them, and we do all this for FREE.

I work with authors every day and the question of “how do I find someone to review my book” comes up often. Buying reviews is not an option as I’m sure you are aware. Asking for a review from a book blogger is a great option in my opinion.

Several years ago I decided to create my own database of book bloggers. I had just finished writing a book called, “The Author’s Guide to Working with Book Bloggers” and the ‘birth’ of The Book Blogger List seemed to be a logical next step to help authors. When I started the site, I thought I would list my blog and the blogs of some of my book blogger friends. It never really occurred to me that book bloggers would continue to find the site – that word would spread to the degree that it has.

The Book Blogger List header

The Book Blogger List was started in January 2013, which makes it almost 2 years old. Since it’s creation, I have listed just over 1700 book bloggers. As you can see, it is much more than a list of me and a few of my friends! I’m very proud of my site and I’m also proud of its mention this week in the Publisher’s Weekly article.

To be listed The Book Blogger List, fill out a form on the site. All of the entries are vetted to ensure that the primary topic of the blog is books and that they are current. I do not judge the content of the blog; I leave that to the readers of the blog and authors who may wish to ask the book blogger to review their book. I create a listing for each blog complete with a list of genres they read.

Bookblogger List showing Fiction Dropdown

All of the blogs on the site are accessed via the genres they read. Let’s say you have written a Historical Romance – my favorite! – just click on the menu for Fiction and choose Historical Romance. You can then scroll through all of the blogs that identify themselves as readers of Historical Romance. There are pages and pages of them!

Each entry has a graphic of the blogger’s header, a blurb from each blogger about their blog, a list of the genres they read, and a link to their blog. Find a blogger that looks interesting to you and click on the link to take you to their blog. Once you get there have a look around. You are looking for a couple of things.

  1. Does the blog seem be well organized and posted to regularly? To a certain extent, the saying “build it and they will come” applies to blogs. A blog that is posted to regularly will attract traffic naturally over time. You want to get as much ‘bang for your buck’ as you can. Look for blogs that have a larger audience so hopefully a lot of readers will see the information about your book.
  2. Read some of the posts and reviews. Would you appreciate the same thing said about your book? Let’s face it, some bloggers know that they can attract a lot of attention with snark. It’s entertaining, but only if you are not the recipient of it.
  3. Read the blogger’s Review Policy. Almost all experienced bloggers have a Review Policy if they take external submissions. (It may not be labeled Review Policy, but might be found in an “About Me” page) Find out how the blogger wants to be contacted – quite a few have a submission form. Read their rules. They are the king or queen of their blog and are usually very clear about what they will and won’t read, their estimated timeline, where they post their reviews other than their blog. (Goodreads, Amazon, etc.)

Once you have found a book blogger that looks like they might be interested in reading your book, I suggest that you start a spreadsheet with information about the bloggers you want to contact. It will help you keep track of who you contacted, who said no/yes and what you need to send them.

Finding some book bloggers to read your book is certainly a time consuming activity. I like to think that my site makes it easier to find appropriate bloggers than let’s say, a Google search, but still time consuming. Like any overwhelming activity – attack it in small bits. Send out a few queries each morning while having your morning coffee. This makes the task more manageable.

The Book Bloggers’ Contribution to Your Book Success

[share ]Book bloggers have become the new gatekeepers to publishing success[/share] to a certain extent. Experienced book bloggers may get hundreds of submissions and because there are still only 24 hours in a day, they can afford to be picky about which books they choose to fill their limited reading time, and which queries end up in the trash bin.

To help you along your way navigating the world of book bloggers, a few pieces of advice:

  • [share ]When contacting bloggers be polite and don’t use a form letter[/share] – especially one addressed to ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or ‘Dear Blogger’ – book bloggers can spot these a mile away and they aren’t appreciated.
  • Send a clear note to the blogger containing information about the book you want them to look at, even include cover graphics, but don’t send an unsolicited copy of your book. That is asking for piracy!
  • Only send a note to bloggers that will very likely enjoy your book according to their description of their reading tastes. Just as you know what books you will like and which books you likely won’t, book bloggers are just the same. I read Regency Romance. I want Cinderella, in a beautiful gown, dancing at a ball with a Duke. I don’t read Apocalyptic Horror where the hero might feel a bit of fondness for the heroine by the end of the story. Make sense?
  • Be patient. Book bloggers read and review books for free. You are the one that is making some money. Most experienced bloggers will receive hundreds of queries and pestering isn’t appreciated!

Book bloggers went to the trouble to open a blog because they want to chat about books! Authors are rock stars to book bloggers and we love to help you promote your book!

Don’t hesitate to drop by my site, The Book Blogger List, and find some potential reviewers for your book – I have over 1700 book lovers listed. Subscribe to receive updates to my collection in your mailbox, or like us on Facebook.

photo credit: inertia_tw via photopin
license: cc

Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a post again! I will never share your email and that’s a promise. Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or @BadRedheadMedia for social media, branding, or marketing help. Increase your blog traffic by participating in #MondayBlogs (a Twitter meme I created to share posts on Mondays — no book promo) and entering my free feature giveaway.
Broken Pieces is still going strong on Amazon’s Women’s (paid) Poetry list. Pick up a copy today, one for a friend. Broken Places will be out January from Booktrope.
Author Social Media Boot Camp! Take a look: group sessions for authors on a budget. Now you too can get affordable, effective help FAST! Follow @ASMBootCamp on Twitter and sign up today here!  December 11 ‘Crash Course’ to get your book up to holiday speed, just $57! Sign up here
All content copyrighted unless otherwise specified. © 2014 by Rachel Thompson, author. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided a link back to this page and proper attribution is given to me as the original author.
Posted in ,

3 Comments

  1. […] Weekly!) and all you need to do is find the ones who fit your genre and connect with them. Read this post by founder Barb Drozdowich for all the […]

  2. […] you approaching book bloggers (politely) for […]

  3. […] Are you approaching book bloggers and review sites (politely) for […]

Leave a Comment