Kidlit Bloggers - How They Decide What Books to Review - Part 2
This is the second post in my series on Kidlit bloggers and how they decide what books to review and which authors to interview. Today's guest is Sheila Ruth of Wand and Worlds. Welcome, Sheila!
1. What is your name, your blog's name and its URL?
Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds: http://www.wandsandworlds.com/blog1
2. What is your blog's focus and how long have you been blogging?
I have a fairly narrow focus, in that I blog about children's and young adult fantasy and science fiction. Even within that narrow genre, there's more books published within a year than I could possibly cover. I've been blogging for a little over three years.
3. Do you review books as well as interview authors?
I primarily review books; I have occasionally done interviews, but not many.
4. What is your policy on reviews: do you only review books you feel positively about? Or do you post negative reviews on your site?
I try to be thorough in my reviews; that means that even for a book that I liked I often have some critique. But in general my reviews tend to be more positive than negative. If I don't like a book, I often won't finish it, and even if I do, I generally don't like to post a review if i can't say more good than bad things about it. The exception is if a book has received a lot of hype, and I feel that a counter-opinion is important.
5. What makes you decide to interview a particular author?
The interviews I've done have all been a result of opportunity - either a publicist tells me that an author is going to be in my area (or at a conference like BEA), or an author did a blog tour and I was invited to participate. I don't actively seek interviews, but if an interesting author or book comes along, I'd consider it.
6. Do you interview/review published authors only, or self-published authors too?
Self-published authors are published authors! Or did you mean, do I review traditionally published authors only? I'm well known for being a big supporter of independent publishing, which includes self-publishing, and I will consider reviewing any print book with an ISBN. However, publishers and self-publishers should know that I have very high standards. I expect independent and self-published books to be at least as high quality as the books coming from the large publishers, and maybe even higher, because they have to be to compete. If your book isn't well-written, thoroughly edited (preferably by a professional editor), and professionally designed, don't bother sending it to me. Also, if you haven't read at least a couple of YA or middle-grade books prior to writing your book, it probably won't get a good review from me. I'm always surprised at the number of people who don't read YA and don't know the current standards, but who think that they can write YA. But if your self-published or small press book meets the criteria above, I want to hear about it!
7. How do you generally find out about the books you review and the authors you interview? (Do authors or publishers approach you, do you hear about them elsewhere on the internet, do you read reviews first in the trade magazines? Please try to give percentages if you can).
Probably 80% of the books I review are from the publishers, and that includes self-publishers (who are both the author and the publisher). I'm on the review list for many of the big publishers, and get a lot of unsolicited books in the mail. I only review a small percentage of the books I receive unsolicited. Publishers also email me and let me know about books they think I'd be interested in. Authors also sometimes email me. About 10% of the books are books I've seen mention of on other blogs, and the rest are generally sequels to books I loved and that I've been waiting for.
8. Do publishers send you ARCs, do you buy the books yourself, do authors send you their books directly, . . . how do you actually get the books you review? (Please try to give percentages if you can).
90% of the books are ARCs or finished books sent to me by publishers (and occasionally authors). The rest are books that I checked out from the library or purchased.
9. Do you mind if authors contact you directly to ask for a review or interviews?
I don't mind at all. I love to hear from authors.
10. What's the proper etiquette for an author to ask for a review on your blog? An interview? Can they ask for one without the other (i.e. will you interview them if you don't review their book?)
Authors and publishers can email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com to request a review. They should write a short but catchy description of the book; if the description doesn't catch my interest, I'm less likely to review it. Tell me what makes your book different from the hundreds of other YA fantasy books published each year. I also appreciate a link to a web site where I can get more information and see what the cover looks like. (Yes, I do judge a book by its cover - at least somewhat. The kids and teens will, so if the cover isn't good, it isn't likely to catch their interest, either). I won't do an interview unless I've at least read the book, because I don't want to seem to be endorsing a book unless I know it's worth endorsing.
I also want to apologize in advance (and apologize to anyone who has emailed me in the past). I'm really bad about responding to email review queries. If you email me and don't get a response, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm not interested. I have a tendency to take on too much and get overloaded, and sometimes I'd like to review a book, but I'm not sure if I have the time. So I'll hold off on responding, hoping that I can break free enough time to review the book. Then, I sometimes forget about the review query and never get back to it. So if you emailed me about a review, and you haven't received a response from me in a couple of weeks, I give permission for you to send me a follow-up email - once. Please don't keep emailing me repeatedly. And whether or not I agree to review the book, please don't spam me with news about your book. I don't care that your book won an award or had an article published about it, and sending me that stuff will just annoy me and make me less likely to want to review the book.
11. What if an author published by a small, medium (or large) publisher doesn't have an extra ARC to send to you? Are they out of luck?
I'll review from either an ARC or a finished book, but I can't review unless I can get a copy of the book. I don't review from e-books yet. (Maybe someday I'll have one of the e-book readers, and if that happens, I'll probably accept e-books for review). Authors can ask their publisher to send me a review copy; I'm on many of the publishers review lists, so sometimes they'll send me a copy at an author's request.
12. What's the wrong way for an author to go about asking to be interviewed or reviewed?
The wrong way is to send me an email with poor spelling or usage. Seriously. You'd be amazed how many authors send me poorly written emails riddled with errors to ask for a review. You're supposed to be a writer - words are your tools - show me you know how to use them, or I have no interest in reading your book.
13. Is more necessarily better when it comes to internet reviews for a new author? Should a new author strive to get reviewed and interviewed on as many blogs as possible?
Yes! One blog review isn't likely to do much for a book's sales. I've read marketing experts who say that a person needs to see your message multiple times before they act on it, and I think that goes for reviews as well. The more blogs that review your book, the more times people will see your message. You can also start to get a snowball effect, where more bloggers want to review your book because they've seen it on other blogs. The holy grail, of course, is that elusive quality: buzz.
14. Do you participate in organized blog tours for authors? Are these tours something the authors pay for or simply set up on their own?
I have participated in blog tours, and would again, but I prefer to do things on my own. I don't like to be tied into a schedule or an obligation. If I don't like a book, I want to be able to opt out of reviewing it.
15. Do you have any advice to give new authors on how best to get the word out about their books?
There's no shortcuts and there's no tricks that I know of. It just takes work and constantly plugging away. One thing that helps is to become active in the kidlit blogging community. Start a blog yourself, comment on other blogs, participate in carnivals and memes and Poetry Friday and the Cybils and other Kidlitosphere-wide activities. Join the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group. Don't just blog or comment to promote your book; become a part of the community. Take an interest in what other people are doing and saying, and not just on your own message. Eventually you'll naturally become known.
Thanks, Sheila! That's really helpful information. I appreciate your candid answers!
1. What is your name, your blog's name and its URL?
Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds: http://www.wandsandworlds.com/blog1
2. What is your blog's focus and how long have you been blogging?
I have a fairly narrow focus, in that I blog about children's and young adult fantasy and science fiction. Even within that narrow genre, there's more books published within a year than I could possibly cover. I've been blogging for a little over three years.
3. Do you review books as well as interview authors?
I primarily review books; I have occasionally done interviews, but not many.
4. What is your policy on reviews: do you only review books you feel positively about? Or do you post negative reviews on your site?
I try to be thorough in my reviews; that means that even for a book that I liked I often have some critique. But in general my reviews tend to be more positive than negative. If I don't like a book, I often won't finish it, and even if I do, I generally don't like to post a review if i can't say more good than bad things about it. The exception is if a book has received a lot of hype, and I feel that a counter-opinion is important.
5. What makes you decide to interview a particular author?
The interviews I've done have all been a result of opportunity - either a publicist tells me that an author is going to be in my area (or at a conference like BEA), or an author did a blog tour and I was invited to participate. I don't actively seek interviews, but if an interesting author or book comes along, I'd consider it.
6. Do you interview/review published authors only, or self-published authors too?
Self-published authors are published authors! Or did you mean, do I review traditionally published authors only? I'm well known for being a big supporter of independent publishing, which includes self-publishing, and I will consider reviewing any print book with an ISBN. However, publishers and self-publishers should know that I have very high standards. I expect independent and self-published books to be at least as high quality as the books coming from the large publishers, and maybe even higher, because they have to be to compete. If your book isn't well-written, thoroughly edited (preferably by a professional editor), and professionally designed, don't bother sending it to me. Also, if you haven't read at least a couple of YA or middle-grade books prior to writing your book, it probably won't get a good review from me. I'm always surprised at the number of people who don't read YA and don't know the current standards, but who think that they can write YA. But if your self-published or small press book meets the criteria above, I want to hear about it!
7. How do you generally find out about the books you review and the authors you interview? (Do authors or publishers approach you, do you hear about them elsewhere on the internet, do you read reviews first in the trade magazines? Please try to give percentages if you can).
Probably 80% of the books I review are from the publishers, and that includes self-publishers (who are both the author and the publisher). I'm on the review list for many of the big publishers, and get a lot of unsolicited books in the mail. I only review a small percentage of the books I receive unsolicited. Publishers also email me and let me know about books they think I'd be interested in. Authors also sometimes email me. About 10% of the books are books I've seen mention of on other blogs, and the rest are generally sequels to books I loved and that I've been waiting for.
8. Do publishers send you ARCs, do you buy the books yourself, do authors send you their books directly, . . . how do you actually get the books you review? (Please try to give percentages if you can).
90% of the books are ARCs or finished books sent to me by publishers (and occasionally authors). The rest are books that I checked out from the library or purchased.
9. Do you mind if authors contact you directly to ask for a review or interviews?
I don't mind at all. I love to hear from authors.
10. What's the proper etiquette for an author to ask for a review on your blog? An interview? Can they ask for one without the other (i.e. will you interview them if you don't review their book?)
Authors and publishers can email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com to request a review. They should write a short but catchy description of the book; if the description doesn't catch my interest, I'm less likely to review it. Tell me what makes your book different from the hundreds of other YA fantasy books published each year. I also appreciate a link to a web site where I can get more information and see what the cover looks like. (Yes, I do judge a book by its cover - at least somewhat. The kids and teens will, so if the cover isn't good, it isn't likely to catch their interest, either). I won't do an interview unless I've at least read the book, because I don't want to seem to be endorsing a book unless I know it's worth endorsing.
I also want to apologize in advance (and apologize to anyone who has emailed me in the past). I'm really bad about responding to email review queries. If you email me and don't get a response, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm not interested. I have a tendency to take on too much and get overloaded, and sometimes I'd like to review a book, but I'm not sure if I have the time. So I'll hold off on responding, hoping that I can break free enough time to review the book. Then, I sometimes forget about the review query and never get back to it. So if you emailed me about a review, and you haven't received a response from me in a couple of weeks, I give permission for you to send me a follow-up email - once. Please don't keep emailing me repeatedly. And whether or not I agree to review the book, please don't spam me with news about your book. I don't care that your book won an award or had an article published about it, and sending me that stuff will just annoy me and make me less likely to want to review the book.
11. What if an author published by a small, medium (or large) publisher doesn't have an extra ARC to send to you? Are they out of luck?
I'll review from either an ARC or a finished book, but I can't review unless I can get a copy of the book. I don't review from e-books yet. (Maybe someday I'll have one of the e-book readers, and if that happens, I'll probably accept e-books for review). Authors can ask their publisher to send me a review copy; I'm on many of the publishers review lists, so sometimes they'll send me a copy at an author's request.
12. What's the wrong way for an author to go about asking to be interviewed or reviewed?
The wrong way is to send me an email with poor spelling or usage. Seriously. You'd be amazed how many authors send me poorly written emails riddled with errors to ask for a review. You're supposed to be a writer - words are your tools - show me you know how to use them, or I have no interest in reading your book.
13. Is more necessarily better when it comes to internet reviews for a new author? Should a new author strive to get reviewed and interviewed on as many blogs as possible?
Yes! One blog review isn't likely to do much for a book's sales. I've read marketing experts who say that a person needs to see your message multiple times before they act on it, and I think that goes for reviews as well. The more blogs that review your book, the more times people will see your message. You can also start to get a snowball effect, where more bloggers want to review your book because they've seen it on other blogs. The holy grail, of course, is that elusive quality: buzz.
14. Do you participate in organized blog tours for authors? Are these tours something the authors pay for or simply set up on their own?
I have participated in blog tours, and would again, but I prefer to do things on my own. I don't like to be tied into a schedule or an obligation. If I don't like a book, I want to be able to opt out of reviewing it.
15. Do you have any advice to give new authors on how best to get the word out about their books?
There's no shortcuts and there's no tricks that I know of. It just takes work and constantly plugging away. One thing that helps is to become active in the kidlit blogging community. Start a blog yourself, comment on other blogs, participate in carnivals and memes and Poetry Friday and the Cybils and other Kidlitosphere-wide activities. Join the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group. Don't just blog or comment to promote your book; become a part of the community. Take an interest in what other people are doing and saying, and not just on your own message. Eventually you'll naturally become known.
Thanks, Sheila! That's really helpful information. I appreciate your candid answers!