Today we are happy to welcome Kenneth Rosenberg to BLI, author of the romance novel No Cure for the Broken Hearted
! Yes, you read that right, Kenneth as a man is the author of a sweet romance novel called a “fantastic love story” on Amazon. Today he is here to share with us his take as an author on book blogs, please give him a warm welcome and there is a giveaway waiting for you at the end! 😉
Of course, I know I don’t need to explain to anyone here how great books blogs are. If you didn’t already know, you wouldn’t be here, right?! That said, I still think it is worth pondering the importance of book blogs amid today’s rapidly evolving publishing industry.
Much has been said already about how ebooks have opened the field to authors who previously couldn’t get published. I’m one of those writers who heard for years from the publishing industry that my books just didn’t fit the market. None of these agents or editors could seem to figure out how to categorize my books, and if a book didn’t fit into one of their specific categories, then they couldn’t figure out how to sell it. Often it was as simple as that.
Now, of course, we writers have the option of going the “indie” route. I put up my first book, No Cure for the Broken Hearted
, mostly out of frustration. To my surprise it has actually done quite well, climbing as high as #9 on the Kindle bestseller list in the UK. Now instead of the gatekeepers determining what might sell, it is up to the actual market.
But how do readers figure out what books they might like to read? It used to be that book reviews and author interviews were the domain of the Sunday newspapers. Increasingly, as newspapers continue to cut their budgets, it is book blogs that are taking over that space.
Even more important from the perspective of an indie writer, is that newspapers still refuse to review independent books at all. Book blogs are one of the only ways we “indies” can get the word out about our books. Bloggers often don’t care about the distinction between a traditionally published book and an independent book. They’re just looking for a good book.
To some degree, book bloggers have become the new gatekeepers. The difference is that while the old gatekeepers were trying to figure out what might sell, book bloggers are just being honest about what they like or don’t like. To a blogger it is not about markets or categories, it is about whether or not they like a book, pure and simple. And if they like a book, other people might like it, too.
Personally, this new publishing dynamic is a huge relief. Not everyone is going to like my books. That’s fine with me. Not everyone is going to like any book, but with this newly level playing field at least I have a chance to get my books out there to let the bloggers, and ultimately the readers, decide.
From a reader’s perspective, I think there is an even grander dynamic at play as far as blogs are concerned. In a sense, book blogs are like the new multi-national reading groups. They are a virtual gathering place for like-minded people to come together to share their love for books and to form communities from all around the world.
Since I became involved in this independent publishing revolution, I’ve made friends with bloggers, readers and other writers from across the U.S., UK, Europe and South America. From them I’ve received many helpful comments, interesting perspectives, and perhaps best of all, a sense of camaraderie that can be hard to come by in such a solitary profession as writing.
When indie superstar Amanda Hocking talks about the keys to her success, she invariably gives a lot of credit to book blogs. I couldn’t agree more. Bloggers work long hours, reading and reviewing books, arranging interviews, and holding guest posts, giveaways and more. They don’t do it for money. They don’t get paid at all. They do it because they love books, and they want to share that love with others.
As both a reader and a writer, I’d like to end here by saying to bloggers everywhere how grateful I am for all of the hard work that you do. Maybe you don’t hear this enough, but the service you provide to both readers and writers is enormous. As the publishing industry continues to evolve, the role of blogs like this one will only grow.So to all of you bloggers out there, thank you for all that you do. It is appreciated!
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~*~*Giveaway*~*~
All you have to do is leave a comment for Kennth or answer any of these questions:How do you decide what to read? Do book blogs influence your reading choices? Or what other way do you determine whether or not to give a book a chance?
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)
Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).
This giveaway is open worldwide!
Giveaway ends on Saturday, June 4 and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
About Stella
Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.
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Wow! This is a very interesting and insightful post! Actually, I think I'm going to bookmark it to read it every time I feel that my work as a book blogger is in vain and that maybe I should give up. 🙂
And book bloggers do influence my reading choices, because, just like Kenneth said, we are all like-minded people talking about the books we love. We recommend books we enjoyed to each other, then to Real Life friends and so on. It's a great community!:)
Also, I need to say that I've found a lot of nice authors and amazing books thanks to them. Because yes, at the end of the day, all I'm looking for is a good read, no matter the publishing house, how famous the author is or if he is mentioned in NYT.
Excellent post. I agree with you. I do not blog but visit many. Not only have I been exposed to SO many wonderful authors I would never have read before but I feel I've made friends as well. Thank you for such a great post!
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
Great post! I visit a lot of blogs, but very seldom comment.
If it wasn't for blogs I wouldn't have found half of the authors I read.
kissinoak at frontier dot com
This post was just a delight to read. It's actually nice to hear opinions about the book blogging community from the perspective of the author; it's because of their work that we do what we do (and enjoy it so darn much!).
As for the question…I must admit: nowadays, the vast majority of my book choices are informed by the opinions and features I read about on other blogs or book communities (like GoodReads). I've been reading many more books via tours and indie author's suggestions, though. I'm finding it's rather fun to discover hidden gems. ^__^
-Alisha @ MNtR
myneedtoread [at] gmail [dot] com
I agree excellent post! I love hearing from "indie authors" especially since reading your story helps to encourage a soon to be indie author myself. Reading that a man has written a romance story also provides encouragement since I keep developing this paranormal romance story in the back of my head.
Also Deea keep book blogging!
Hey, thanks for all the great posts! Deea, I hope you don't give up! And Steve, good luck with your book. Hopefully we'll be seeing it pop up on the book blogs before too long.
Honestly, I have to admit that I used to read just about anything in the past. Now that I've started following book blogs, I find that I tend to keep an eye out for books for which I've read good reviews. Now my tastes have fallen in line with the book blogs I follow as I tend to read more Young Adult, Dystopian and Fantasy novels, wheras I used to mainly read romance and contemporary fiction novels.
sarah.setar@gmail.com
wow, that was nice 🙂 He knows you can catch more flies/bloggers with honey than vinegar .
Reviews can help me decide when to read a book (how far up my TBR list I put it), but I decide if I want to read a book based on the blurb. If the story appeals to me then I will read it no matter what others say.
I am a follower and email subscriber. I decide to pick or read a book based on the cover, story line and subject or if i hear anything good about it. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
I just grab from my TBR shelf–usually something there catches my eye as being next as compared to all of the other poor little books sitting next to it.
meredithfl at gmail dot com
Thanks Kenneth I needed the boost! I am close to finishing my first young adult paranormal book. It has a little bit of everything; love, action, etc. I just looked at drafts of the book cover and I am excited! I hope to self publish by end of September…keeping my fingers crossed and keep on going! Thanks!! 🙂