While I was perusing twitter the topic of book blasts came up and I felt like discussing them on the blog since they have become a rather polarizing topic. Some bloggers love them and others hate them with a vehement passion. The biggest complaint I've seen is that:
Books blasts don't offer any unique or exclusive content
A book blast is just the same information offered on multiple blogs on the same day. There isn't anything new or any reason to visit other blogs on the blast because it is just the same information.
While I agree, it is mostly the same thing over and over, there can be different content on each blog. Different excerpts from the novel being promoted or different quotes/photos to break up the monotony. I think it depends on who is hosting the blast as to how much different content will be featured on each blog.
Book blasts only seem to focus on New Adult books or books that aren't in my favorite genreThis is something I've heard multiple times and I don't know if it's true or not. I can't find any evidence supporting this hypothesis that New Adults are more represented in book blasts. I do think, from what I've seen, the majority of books featured in blasts are self-published. Maybe self-published is what people really mean when they say "books outside their genre".
In my opinion though, it is self-published books that benefit the most from Book Blasts. The internet can be a big, scary place and without the help of a publisher books can be listed on Amazon and never heard from again. It is up to the authors to do all the marketing and be the hype-person for their novel. That is really hard! Book blasts are an easy way of getting a variety of bloggers who would probably never reply to the author's review request to feature and take an interest in their novel.
They are annoying, I hate seeming them on everyone's blogsIsn't that the point of a blast? Have the novels information featured on a multitude of different blogs to get the word out about new titles? Book's that are on blast should be featured on a wide variety of blogs because, I think, Book Blasts are really meant for non-bloggers.
As book bloggers we often forget that the bookish community is a whole lot bigger then our little corner of the blogosphere. This isn't a criticism, merely something I've noticed. Before I became a blogger, back when I was just someone who really liked to read, I rarely ventured away from Goodreads. In my Pre-goodreads days I got almost all of my books from Half Price Books, Powells, and my mom's or sister's shelves. It would have taken a lot for me to notice a book. Something that would have caught my notice would have been 10 or 20 sites featuring a new book all on the same day.
Last ThoughtsThese are just some of the main point's I've heard in the polarizing discussion on book blasts. So tell me: do you love them? Hate them? Have my explanations and arguments swayed you one way or another? Tell me in the comments!
In interest of full disclosure I haven't participated in a book blast since December when I promoted The Offering by Kimberly Derting (a book I would have been more then happy to feature book blast or no). I'm not sure if my lack of participation is due to a decline in book blasts or if I haven't had space in my schedule, I'm thinking it's a little of both.
I'm kind of steering away from the 'book blast scene'. I'll only read the post if it's for the next book in a series I love or something like that, and I'll only ever participate if I'm genuinely excited about the novel.
ReplyDeleteI think they're a great way to promote books and I'm glad the bookish community is so awesome and doing posts like that, but I do agree that I get tired of them. Rarely do they offer anything new; it always seems to be the same information repeated over and over. Once I've seen one post for the book, I feel like reading another would be a bit redundant, you know?
I used to like them, but they have just become overwhelming lately. They're good because they usually offer a giveaway, and of course followers like giveaways. But, I've pretty much stopped signing up for them because they do take time to post and they clutter up the blog.
ReplyDeleteI only participate in "book blast" hosted by a hand full of people. Honestly, I stay away from the publishers end, unless it's a release day blast.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like there has been an over abundance of them lately. If 5 blogs I follow participate, I am only going to comment on one of them, not all 5. So there is that.
I do think the point of them is to be EVERYWHERE, for repetitive sake. But I do see why people wouldn't want to see them everywhere they go, ya know?
As a blogger I don't sign up for them. To me they just feel like filler posts. and as a reader, while I don't particularly hate them, I also don't like them either and I will skip them when I'm going through the blogs I follow. I'm just not interested.
ReplyDelete"As book bloggers we often forget that the bookish community is a whole lot bigger then our little corner of the blogosphere." SO TRUE! I never realized I was being "blasted" until I started blogging and really getting into the bookish community. Before that I was just enjoying being exposed to new books. I definitely think blasts are good to have and I do like seeing what is newly out. When I get a bunch of my feed, I look at one and ignore the others. But I am still happy to have seen that one.
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ReplyDeleteI did a couple when I first became aware of them, but quickly realized I didn't like them. For one, it makes me kind of hate the book. I am sick of seeing it everywhere. I don't even like when a book is read and reviewed by a bunch of blogs in the same week or two. Once I have seen it 2 or 3 times, I no longer need to see about it. I don't like repetition. Never really have. When I first signed up for the book blasts, I thought it would be like maybe 10 blogs participating, but it was like 20. It was everywhere. On top of that, none of my readers cared. They were the least commented on, but also the least viewed posts. I just don't see the point. I never read Book Blast Posts. I barely read posts for book tours because it is much the same thing- once I've read 2 or 3 (especially in a week or so's time) and I've figured out by then if I am interested or not. I participate in one or two blog tours by companies run by friends but not very often. I look for original, creative content in book blogs- something unique I can't find everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I hate to sound hypocritical, I have to say that book blasts/blitzes tend to deter me from visiting blogs. So as a result, it defeats the purpose of why such posts exist to begin with. Don't get me wrong, there was a time in my blogging life when I used to sign up for them, but I quickly saw the err in my ways.
ReplyDelete"As book bloggers we often forget that the bookish community is a whole lot bigger then our little corner of the blogosphere." So true! I think we forget that there are people who are not bloggers who read blogs and that is ultimately who these book blasts are aimed for (I think since us bloggers know about most books).
ReplyDeleteIt really bothers me when bloggers try to tell other people how to blog. I've seen so many posts about bloggers complaining that there are too many memes, too many discussions posts, too many cover reveals, too many blog tours. I even saw some that complained when bloggers have too many reviews or 'just' reviews! WTF.
Nobody is forcing you to check out or comment on ANY post! If you don't like it, don't click. I just don't see the point of complaining about it.
I do notice that the majority of these are for self published books, which makes sense since this is the cheapest way to get your book out there. If a giveaway is included, this is also the fastest and easiest way to get new followers.
As I blogger, I rarely do them anymore but only because I barely have time to write my own posts and well, because I'm lazy!
I've never joined any book blasts, but I can see how some people find them annoying because they can get repetitive, especially if many are exactly the same.
ReplyDeleteI don't love or hate them. My personal problem with them is that most book blasts that I've seen feature books outside my genre. I'm not interested in New Adult Romance (or any other form of Romance), which is what I've seen featured most lately.