This is the first instalment of a new regular feature here at Reading Upside Down. A similar, hopefully weekly, post will be made at Oh, the Thinks you can Think using the same heading. The plan (yes, we do have one), is to post a weekly summary of the things that have caught our attention on the wonderful and wacky world wide web.
The aim is to post this every Monday. True to form, this is the first Which? What? Who? post and I am already a day late. I shall aim to be more punctual next week.
The best thing about starting this book blog has been the discovery of the extensive and active book blogging community. There are so many great blogs discussing some great books and book-related topics everyday.
Book Discussions
I’ve stumbled across a few discussions about the purpose and effectiveness of book blogs, particularly when related to book sales. Natalie at Book, Line and Sinker brought this up as she contemplated the 6-month anniversary of her blog and Charlotte Abbott posted a summary of the recent #followreader discussion topic on the same subject at Follow the Reader.
A hands-on example of book blogs promoting the sales of books can be found this week at My Friend Amy and Presenting Lenore. Both Amy and Lenore are promoting Beth Kephart’s latest book, Nothing but Ghosts, and are aiming for 200 online sales by the end of this week. Their promotion includes interviews with the author and a book launch party held at My Friend Amy.
Several of the comments I have read have pondered whether book blogs promote books to anyone other than other book bloggers. Even if this were the case, there must be some flow-on effect from this sales-wise. An example of active promotion of books to bloggers comes from Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog, who asked for recommendations of YA authors and blogs. If you’re looking for some good YA, the comments section of this post is a good place to start.
On a completely different topic, I found this post about not posting negative reviews and the resulting comments at J.Kaye’s Book Blog very thought provoking.
Fave Book Blogs this week:
Book, Line and Sinker
Lost in Books
J.Kaye’s Book Blog
Cindy’s Love of Books
Ms. Bookish
That’s it for this week. I will be better organised (probably) and have an actual Which? What? Who? format ready (maybe) for next week. I might even have a fancy little Which? What? Who? picture to accompany the post (probably not).
