Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers "confess" and vent about blogging-related topics. This meme is hosted by Midnyte Reader and For What It's Worth. So click on the link(s), grab the logo and jump right in! Let's get to know each other a little better :).
June 3 Question: Do participating in book tours/cover reveals and author guests post drive traffic to your blog? What type of problems have you encountered when hosting them? (please keep it civil - no names or calling specific people out) As a blog follower, are you ever turned off by these kinds of posts? How much publicity is too much?
As a blogger, I've never participated in such events yet...so I can only put my 2 cents in as a follower of other blogs. Maybe I'm in the minority, because apparently most people get excited about cover reveals...but covers don't do anything for me. Yes, I can appreciate them and their relevance to the story they enfold, but to me a book is essentially a bunch of words on white paper...its appeal is exclusively content-related, and no clever or fine package will ever be able to draw me to it and make me like it more. While, on the other hand, a well-thought title will never fail to entice me and persuade me to look into a novel in more details.
An author guest post will get my interest just in case I already know said author from a previous book, or the guest post itself is about a book I have in my TR or NS (Not Sure) list. Unless the book title calls to me again, that is ;). I mean, if I don't know the author or book yet, but the title sounds promising in that it winks at my favourite type of contents.
Another thing I noticed is that there are massive cover reveals or book tours...a particular cover or book is out, and all the blogging world is revolving about it. Being the proud creator and owner of a blog called Offbeat YA, I would like more variety...how many new books are out in a week? surely more than one...even in a single day...but all blogs seem to focus on the same item...Who wants to adopt a stray novel? ;)
I've been honest...let's hope this won't be the beginning of my end LOL. Now, what about you?
An author guest post will get my interest just in case I already know said author from a previous book, or the guest post itself is about a book I have in my TR or NS (Not Sure) list. Unless the book title calls to me again, that is ;). I mean, if I don't know the author or book yet, but the title sounds promising in that it winks at my favourite type of contents.
Another thing I noticed is that there are massive cover reveals or book tours...a particular cover or book is out, and all the blogging world is revolving about it. Being the proud creator and owner of a blog called Offbeat YA, I would like more variety...how many new books are out in a week? surely more than one...even in a single day...but all blogs seem to focus on the same item...Who wants to adopt a stray novel? ;)
I've been honest...let's hope this won't be the beginning of my end LOL. Now, what about you?
I like seeing cover reveals, so long as they aren't on a million blogs. I love looking at covers and pretty covers always draw my attention. :)
ReplyDeleteI understand your point, because of course my hypotetical blank cover with only a title would look really dull ;D. But what I don't get is the hype around a pic...and I'm afraid that, most of the times, cover reveals are a substitute for more meaningful (and laborious) posts...Also, as you say, there's the million blogs issue :(.
Deletelove your comment about adopting a stray novel..yes I have become more picky about books I read :)
ReplyDeleteYes I pass over the massive cover reveals too
I guess in time we tend to become pickier and pickier. Too many books, too little time...and money...Also, I personally feel bad about having unloved books around.
DeleteEverything massive always backfires with me too...especially cover reveals LOL.
I want to adopt that stray novel! I've got to admit the cover reveals I tend to do are the ones which DON'T state that about a million people will be able to do it. I just would be put off if I was told they'd be seeing that book on about 50 zillion sites. That means I really, really cannot create unique content. It's all done or maybe the author's like, "But that's favouritism." No, I'm a blogger who doesn't like to be have a "photocopy blog", lol. RESPECT ME, PEOPLE. I'm joking BTW...
ReplyDeleteI do love my covers still & think they can be great content for posts. I think cover reveals are easier to understand than some of the other promotion. It has to be on the same day to be a "reveal" of something. If not it was probably added to Goodreads on Day 1. Yes, you can format it & give your opinion on it but it's understandable that the author wouldn't say "check out the cover @ ..."
For other events? Especially lengthy ones (I've seen month-long ones) it can seem competitive & authors should not feel it's OK to treat it just as marketing without putting in more thought to it. You don't have to write a million things on a certain day, spread it out! XD If you want it to be long have a day off (I've seen tour hosts that do this- like none on Sunday's or something & I love it!)
Totally in agreement with the photocopy blog issue...oh, the horror! LOL. You're right about cover reveals being easier to understand...especially for readers who have little time (or desire) to look into a long, detailed post...but what do those (I mean the cover reveals) really add to one's blog, or say about the book itself? It's likely that both the book and the blog will go unnoticed in the long run.
DeleteGood point about the marketing issue. And gosh, a whole month devoted to a single event? O_O Let's go adopt a stray novel!
Hi! I'm in agreement on the cover reveals --- it's not something I find that interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like the point you make about wanting more variety -- and I'd like to see that, too. :)
I guess some authors (or publishers) are not pushy enough in trying to promote their books, while others are more committed...so it's always the same stuff we see around. It's a pity...I found quite a few books I really liked by mere chance - or because I'm a Goodreads hunter! ;)
DeleteI totally understand on where you're coming from. I just started recently on cover reveals and only do them for books I'm anticipating and sometime for authors (which I'm a fan of). But I add in blurbs and give readers an excerpt to peak their interest for the book. And yes, I get annoyed by massive book tour/cover reveals where the blogging world seems to be revolving around. That's why I do my own cover reveals for some of the books I'm anticipating that aren't being acknowledged.
ReplyDeleteThat was my very point, and I'm glad I'm not alone. Will check on your blog for cover reveals in this case - in search of less overused books!
DeleteHonesty is always awesome. I think you have a great point. I like covers, but I don't need a cover reveal. I guess I'm a patient person and can wait till the book comes out or even closer to the release date. And yeah, I agree with you...there must be more than one book that comes out at a given time...what about those poor books?
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam. We definitely need to form the official League for the Adoption of Stray Books!
DeleteI participated in one cover reveal because I liked the first book and I got to give a copy away. Didn't drive any extra traffic to my blog. But I like review/interview/guest blog type tours. They have real, original content.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll have to follow one of those more closely, because you have a point here. Maybe I just haven't been drawn to them because the books weren't really my thing.
DeleteThat's interesting that covers don't draw you in. Most people go solely by the cover. I used to until I was burned so many times. Plus I'm tired of all the same...same...same covers. Now it's the summary or a recommendation from a trusted reviewer.
ReplyDeleteI used to do more reveals but when I realized it became 100's of bloggers doing it on the same day I stopped.
Maybe the fact that I can't buy new books on the very day they're out, but only a bunch of them twice a year or so, helps me discriminating more than your average reader...LOL. But a cover would never draw me to a book anyway. From what I can see though, you're right about the extreme cover-likeness - there seems to be a specific trend for them too. I understand that it's hard to come up with different ideas or even different images, but as long as you're not an indie, your publishers could as well squeeze their purse (or brain!) a little more in order to produce a better cover. On the other hand, with all the next-this-and-that new books are marketed as, I suppose publishers actually go for the likeness, because readers of the previous-this-and-that will be likely to buy said new books hoping to find the same, beloved pattern...until they're fed up with it, that is. But in that case, a new pattern will be born...
Delete(...oh, the cynical in me. LOL).
Yes, the one-day-clone-posting issue...it gets annoying, doesn't it? :)
Great post! I'm not big on cover reveals either, especially if everyone is doing it on the same day. I'd rather see the cover on the review or Waiting on Wednesday type of post.
ReplyDeleteThat's the main point...because most of us follow the same blogs, whether it's because they're friends of us, or have lots of giveaways, or do follow-for-a-follows...so that we end up seeing the same thing everywhere...and with very little personal content added. Also, the marketing campaign for some books is particularly aggressive...
Delete