Contact
To My Readers
When you want to get in touch with me, use the form at the bottom of this page. I’d love to hear anything that you have to say.
Please note that I am a reviewer of books not the author of the books I review. So please don’t contact me asking questions that are intended for the author.
To Authors, Publishers, Publicists and Everybody Else
This blog is a voluntary, part-time effort written by a passionate reader who loves to share that passion with others. Read my about me page to get a tad bit more personal. On the blog front, here’s a bit more information:
- On organizing committee for the first Book Blogger Convention held in New York City on May 28th, 2010.
- 2010 BookExpo America attendee.
- Hosted three Utah book blogger and author socials and proactive in promoting Utah book bloggers.
- Panelist on Book Bloggers/Online Reviews on WriteOn! Round Table Blog Talk Radio Show with Ron Hogan and Yen Cheong hosted by Stimulating Conversation. (listen now)
- Guest on the That’s How I Blog Blog Talk Radio Show hosted by Nicole at Linus’s Blanket. (listen now)
- 2010 Cybils for Fiction Picture Books second round panelist/judge.
- Best Kidlit Blog 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week.
- Best Challenge Host 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week.
- 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week shortlisted for Best Blog Post, Most Extravagant Giveaways, Most Altruistic, Best Series or Feature, Best Community Builder.
- Host the popular Bloggiesta Challenge.
- Attend 2009 BookExpo America, the North American publishing premiere trade show in New York City.
- Panelist on 2009 Book Bloggers Panel at Book Expo America. (listen now)
- Most Altruistic Blog 2008 Book Blogger Appreciation Week.
- Most Extravagant Giveaways 2008 Book Blogger Appreciation Week.
- Raised more than $1,000 in conjunction with my Reading and Blogging for Darfur Awareness Campaign.
I’m more than happy to accept review copies and catalogs from authors and publishers and participate in blog tours and author interviews. Due to the overwhelming amount of requests I receive, I am selective about the titles I accept. I also receive too many requests to respond individually to each one, if you don’t hear back from me, don’t hesitate to contact me with another title down the road.
To get an idea of the types of reviews I write and what you may end up receiving from me check out the posts tagged review copy, blog tour, and author interviews. And of course, book reviews and my archives as a whole.
What do I like to read? As a prolific reader I review every single book I read including picture and board books, middle grade, young adult, fiction, and non-fiction. This blog represents a fair balance between each age representation. To get an idea of my reading tastes visit my book reviews archive. I am partial to literary fiction, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, classics, memoirs, free verse novels, anything that addresses social issues, holocaust books, books set in foreign countries (particularly Africa and Asia), books about polygamy, great young adult and middle grade books, as well as picture books that my two boys ages three and four will enjoy. I am also thinking about beginning to review gardening and photography books as I have a deep interest in those subjects as well (I’m a Master Gardener and hold a degree in Photography).
What do I not like to read? I normally do not read mysteries, romance, chick-lit, thrillers, horror, crime, poetry (with the exception of free verse novels), science-fiction, fantasy (light fantasy I can handle), urban fantasy, heavy paranormal or erotica. I also tend to dislike books that are particularly vulgar, overly sexual, gory, extremely graphic, and have an unusual amount of foul language.
Do I read e-books or self published books? I do not consider e-books or pdf’s for review as I do not have an e-reader (anybody want to solve this problem for me?!). I will consider the rare self-published book.
What can you expect from me? My acceptance of a review copy does not guarantee that I will read the book or write a review. But if I finish reading the book I will write a review. If I read more than half of the book but discontinue I usually write a synopsis and then a semi-review to state reasons why I could not continue reading (only two books this year). While I try to only accept review books I think I will like, I can not guarantee that the review will be positive, but it will be fair. I write reviews that I feel are honest and will help my readers select quality books for their reading time. I always include book cover, link to author website, publication details, link to purchase, synopsis, and my personal thoughts about the book in each review. I do NOT post my reviews on any other sites such as Amazon, Library Thing, Good Reads, etc. I also do not send you a link to the review after it’s posted. Either have Google Alerts set up for your title or subscribe to my blog.
When will I review a book? I try to read the review titles that I receive in a timely manner but do to time constraints (come babysit my two little boys and you’ll soon see what I mean!) and other reading interests it sometimes may take a while. My rule of thumb is that if the book is an ARC, I will try to review the book in the month surrounding its release date, in most cases before the book is published. If the book is already published then it may take me anywhere from 2-6 months to read and review it. The exception to this is blog tours and author interviews in which I will post the review on a pre-specified date. (As of May 2010, I still have books I read six months ago that have not been reviewed yet. Must be a bit patient around here.)
Compensation. I do not receive any monetary compensation for writing reviews. The compensation received from this blog is from Amazon, Indie Bound and Powells, whereby I get a small commission if you click through a product link from my site and make a purchase during that same session. I also run Chitika ads which are shown to only search engine traffic. Currently, this is put right back into the blog with giveaways, postage, hosting fees, and attending book industry related events.
Traffic Details. As of May 2010, this blog receives currently receives 30,000 visitors a month, has surpassed half a million page views, has an Alexa rank of 225,721, a Google Page Rank of 5 and a Technorati authority of 550. I have received over 19,000 comments over a course of 850+ posts. As you can see, I have a very active blog with a very decent amount of traffic in addition to 950+ RSS subscribers. I am also very active in social networks such as Twitter (4,000+ followers), Facebook, Book Blog Ning and have profiles at Blog Catalog, CafeMom, and YouTube. My blog articles are also syndicated through BlogBurst and picked up by online newspapers like the Chicago Sun Times (which has generated more than 40,000 views on their site). Website Grader grades this blog at 99.99%
Advertising. I am beginning to look into advertising/sponsorship opportunities to maintain this blog and attend book industry events like BookExpo America, where I was on a book blogging panel last year. Visit my advertising page, if you’d like to work something out.
Do not hesitate to use the form below to contact me regarding review books or other opportunities.
Thanks!
