This is going to be a short post since I am so late posting! Had a very busy day
Of course, I owe my even having a book blog to Ryan at Wordsmithonia. I met him on Twitter and the rest is history. We still stay in touch at least every week via our blogs or Facebook. Ours is one of the best friendships. Who says you can't make good friends online!
I have made many other friends in the book blogging world. Marie at The Burton Book Review has become a friend and we co-host the blog, Historical Fiction Connection together.
There are many, many others who I have met through my weekly Cat Thursday feature and many others with which we interact on each other's blogs. They know who they are. =O)
As far as publishers/publicists, I have never contacted any directly about reviewing a book. Haven't had to! I was receiving so many queries, I had to stop accepting review copies, except for special cases. It's so hard for me to refuse, but I have stayed pretty strong. I work fairly regularly with Pump Up Your Book! and Tribute Books. They are both great to work with. Also, Amy at Passages to the Past now runs Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. She is also great to work with.
And I have had some great interaction with authors. To name a few...Robert Parry (Virgin and the Crab, The Arrow Chest), Christy English (The Queen's Pawn, To Be Queen), Scott Nicholson (numerous horror and thriller novels and many others), Lisa Kessler (Across the Veil). Authors are really great to work with and all of my experiences so far have been wonderful.
I really feel like the best way to build and nurture relationships with anyone we as book bloggers interact with, be it fellow bloggers, authors, or publicists/publishers, is to always be polite and mindful of other's opinions. And reciprocate, reciprocate, reciprocate! I work very hard at this and I do fail at times. But the effort is to always interact with anyone who comments on your blog. And return the visit! If I'm failing miserably at this, please let me know. I am a work in progress and improvement is a constant goal.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
ReplyDeleteCommenting is what I've found to be the best way to build relationships too.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that when I started responding to comments is when my blog really picked up, so I stand behind that statement 100%.
ReplyDelete"reciprocate, reciprocate, reciprocate!!" Soooo many need to read this and do the same. You do it quite well...I do my best...we are all lacking sometimes but others are lacking ALL of the time! :)
ReplyDeleteYou rock...that's all I'm going to say.
ReplyDeleteGREAT advice.
ReplyDeleteJust swinging by on the Armchair - been behind, wanted to check out everyone participating. The list is long! Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteThank you to all who stopped by and commented. It has been a busy week, but I'm trying to be accountable and follow my own advice. *L*
ReplyDeleteLovely compliments from you all and I appreciate it. =O)
The one thing that I really miss when my computer time really gets curtailed (like it has been lately) is talking to everyone else!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Lisa! A lot of good friends here among book bloggers!
ReplyDelete