September, 2010

New (and Hopefully Temporary) Blogging Rule

I’ve got to cut back. I’ve already done this to a degree in that I’ve only done one post a week for the past two weeks. That trend will need to continue, since I’m incapable of operating on less than five hours of sleep. Five stretches me to the breaking point, which I’ve already hit several times over the last two years.

So except for those weeks (see Under Heaven week) when I feature an author’s book and an author interview, I will likely only have one blog post up. Of course, if I receive notice of a juicy contest with a deadline, I’ll blog about it. 🙂 Also, this will allow me time to visit other people! What with commenting here, reviewing there and trying to block out my next story, I haven’t been a very good blog buddy and I miss that. Hopefully, this will give me a little more leeway.

Thank you for your understanding!

Rules of Book Reviewdom

I’ve read several articles on blog book reviewing and opinions vary. A lot of folks notice how blogs usually rave about books, so honesty becomes suspect. Yesterday I read an article on blog ethics and that reminded me, I’ve never stated my Book Review Policy, so I thought I’d lay out Vic’s Rules of Book Reviewdom:

1. Never be snarky. I know there are reviewers who do this, but I’m not one of them. I know how much insensitive comments hurt and I try not to make them – at least not in print!

2. Always be honest. If there is an aspect of the book I believe could have been stronger, I will say so. See rule #1 on how I do that.

3. If I did not enjoy the book, I will not review it on this blog. Life is short. I have been asked to do reviews of self-published books and many times, they’re works that weren’t ready for print. Since I have (thus far) been asked to do them through a different blog that I do not run, I work within all of my rules but this one. I write the best review I can and try to dwell on the positives more than on the negatives. But on this blog, you’re only going to see reviews of books I enjoyed. The level of my enjoyment can fluctuate, of course. LOL

4. If I personally know the author or (the Lord could be so kind) am paid by the author for the review, I will let you know. Ethically, I think that’s fair. Again, see rules #2 and #3 to know how I review books. You don’t get a free ride just because you paid me gazillions (of pennies) or because you know me.

Have I left out anything? Any questions? Buehller?