You know that really cool part of being a blogger? The part where
we get those shiny ARCs months before their release date? It's pretty
awesome. I want to start out this post by saying that I am in no way
bragging about the ARCs I have. I am grateful to every single publisher
for giving me free copies of their books to read. What I want to talk
about today is the etiquette for reviewing these books.
So you get a book, let's just take The Return by
Jennifer L. Armentrout for example, months and months before release. I
got this book at BEA. It doesn't come out until February 2015. Normally I
try to wait to read these books until it gets a little closer so that I
can review it closer to the release date. But sometimes I don't want to
wait. Because it's a book I've been highly anticipating, like Mortal Heart and I'm tired of waiting. So I read it.
But the question is, do I review it that early? I think
no. Most publishers say within a few weeks or a month of release date.
But I also feel the need to talk about the book immediately. So I just
started a feature called Early Bird Special where I highlight some books
that I've read really early and loved and basically highlight
why you should be anticipating it. I've seen a couple of other bloggers
like Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner and Cuddlebuggery do this and
have really liked it. I'll do a full review of the book closer to
release date as well. But what do you guys think?
Do you like the brief snapshot a post like my Early Bird
Special gives you or would you rather see a full review months ahead of
release? Or would you rather I just wait to release the review until
closer to the release date. As a blogger, how do you handle this?
I like these features, especially when I have the ARC and have been putting it off. It gives me motivation! Kelly (Belle of the Literati) does one too-- Early RSVP or something like that. Her and I have similar tastes so I'm a fan! I agree though- sometimes after reading the ARC of a book that doesn't come out FOR MONTHS, I'm dying to say something about it right away, especially if it was crazy good!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Then I will keep on doing it. :) Oh yeah, you're right. I totally forgot about Kelly's Early RSVP feature. Yes! It's like I legit can't keep my mouth shut. lol
DeleteI like that you have the Early Bird special because it's a quick snapshot of a book that you're excited about and review later on. I know for me I'll probably just write the review and schedule it very far in advance, then maybe do a Waiting on Wednesday and share my thoughts quickly or something like that.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the Waiting on Wednesday w/snapshot. That would be a good way of doing it too. :)
DeleteI think you're handling it correctly! I don't like reading reviews of books that haven't been released yet, but I don't mind a snapshot post about an upcoming release :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it!
DeleteI like the post, I think that's a good way to do it. I usually just go ahead and read it and then schedule the post for within the month it comes out. If I don't get it from the publisher, though, I just schedule the review for whenever I want. ~Pam
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'll definitely still do a full review later, but I wanted to talk about the ones that I absolutely fell in love with, you know?
DeleteI love that you're calling it Early Bird Special. That fits perfectly with your blog. :) For me, I try to stick to my reading schedule. If, however, I find myself wanting to read a book like Falling into Place in June when I really should wait until July or August, I'll go ahead and read it and then write my review and save it as a draft until it gets closer to the release date.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree. I try really hard to stick to my schedule, but when I have shiny books like Mortal Heart, The Return, and Heir of Fire sitting here staring at me, it's hard to resist. Lol.
DeleteI love these features because there are times where I see a book on Netgalley and I have no idea whether or not to request it. All I see on Goodreads is "review closer to publication date" which in no way helps me to decide if I should request it!
ReplyDeleteI read books really early on, and then just draft the review until it's appropriate to post. However I send it to the publisher early on.
Same here! I love seeing at least a brief snapshot of ppl's thoughts. Although I'll probably only do these for books that I love. The other ones that I don't love, I'll just write the review and schedule it out closer to release date.
DeleteHonestly, I don't like reviews ahead of time at all, even if it's within a month like the publishers request. I'm always disappointed when I read a review and then find out the book isn't available to the average reader yet. So as a blogger, I always schedule my reviews for just after the release date.
ReplyDeleteBut I think a quick snapshot is a perfect compromise, especially since that format makes it clear that the book won't be available for a while.
That's a really great point. It can be frustrating. But I don't mind all that much as a reader. I have plenty of other books to keep my occupied while I wait. Usually I post my reviews the week of or the week before release so that's pretty close.
Delete