When my first novel, Nefertiti, was published by Random House in 2007, I knew I would face an uphill battle trying to distinguish the book from the 200,000 other books being published that year. As a debut author, there was little chance that my novel would be reviewed by any of the bigger newspapers or magazines. Certainly, my publishing house would do what they could, but with dwindling space in newspapers for book reviews, and fierce competition in magazines, what were the odds of landing plumb real estate in USA Today or People? Yet I knew from reading other authors’ blogs that to leave publicity up to the whim of the gods was to doom your career before it even started. Determined not be a one-book-wonder, I read countless articles about publicity, searching for that magical idea which would separate my historical novel from the rest.

Then, one day, as I was emailing “Kailana” from the fantastic blog The Written World, it came to me. What do I do when procrastinating from writing? Where do I go when I want advice on what to read? Who do I turn to when I want to share a wonderful novel I’ve just discovered? The answer wasn’t newspapers or magazines, but blogs! And suddenly I realized that the answer had been there all along. Instead of doing a bookstore tour, why not a blog tour? Why not email all of my favorite bloggers and ask if they wanted a book for review?

Thus began a two year journey during which I discovered more than one hundred blogs about books. Slowly, I got to know each and every blogger, and soon I was reading all of their blogs daily (much to my editor’s chagrin, no doubt!). With inspiration from Kailana, I created a page just for bloggers on my website, a one-stop-shop, so to speak, where bloggers could go and collect all of the information they needed about my books.

Today, there are more than two hundred bloggers whose posts I follow weekly, not just because I enjoy what they write, but because I feel like I’ve come to know each of them after several years of reading their entries. When I learned that Kimber An of The Star Captain’s Daughter had just given birth to her fourth child, I celebrated with her. And when Margaret Chind from the blog Creative Madness That Makes Me Myself gave birth to her first little girl, I could not have been happier! Bloggers haven’t just been a promotional tool, they’ve become virtual friends. I can trust them to keep me entertained, and I know that if my TBR pile ever reaches such dangerously low levels that I can see over it, they can be counted on to build it back up to frightening heights.

So for all of the bloggers who keep me laughing and buying new books, I absolutely cannot thank you enough! When my third novel, Cleopatra’s Daughter, debuts on September 15th, I will be doing a blog tour of more than 150 blogs. I don’t believe that any other author has attempted a tour of this scale, and I’m tremendously excited to meet so many new readers. Of course, none of this would be possible if bloggers themselves were not such generous and passionate readers. And this is why we have Blogger Appreciation Week. To say thank you to the many, many people who put in hours of work each week simply to spread the word about great books!

Michelle Moran is the author of Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen, and Cleopatra’s Daughter.

Well yesterday was a gush fest, but now it’s time to really get to know each other.  A whole lot of you signed up to exchange interviews and now is the time to share them.  I can’t wait to find out what you asked each other!

For today’s Mister Linky please enter your description with your name and who you are interviewing like this:  Books Are My Life interviews Books Take the Cake

Sound good?  Then I won’t take up anymore of your time…let’s get started!

I was thrilled when Amy approached IREX to see if we could giveaway our latest eReader to one of the esteemed book bloggers participating in this week’s event. We have been spending years developing a perfect device for exactly this audience, those who truly enjoy escaping from the day by curling up with a book on their lap.

IREX has been working hard to create a device that would allow you, as readers, to have this same paper like experience on the IREX device as you do a book…  with a just few added conveniences- of course.-including the Barnes & Noble eBook catalog at your finger tips! Now instead of carrying your books on your vacation, you can simply log on to a 3G network, free of charge, and have your next book purchased and delivered in minutes.

In addition, IREX also strongly believes in an open DRM platform for its consumers. What does that mean to you? It gives you the choice to purchase books, magazines, and newspapers from a variety of stores and be able to take that content from one device to another. Whether you want to read that book on your smart phone during a quick break or spend time with the IREX device on the couch, you can do that. We won’t delete your copy of 1984…

So stay tuned, we will be announcing more details shortly, including where you can find an IREX digital eReader near you.  In the meantime, you can follow us on twitter @IREXeReader

to learn all about the growing eReader industry and what that means for your favorite authors and publishers.

Good luck this week!

-Kevin Hamilton. CEO IREX

I am so excited to share this very special giveaway with you.  IREX Technologies has generously offered one of their forthcoming consumer eReaders to a lucky BBAW participant in the United States!

Just in case you don’t know, this eReader will be compatible with Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore when it is released later this year.  It will be a 3G wireless device with an 8 inch screen.

To enter this giveaway, write a post on YOUR blog telling us all what you think the most important feature is in an eReader.  Link back to this post from Kevin Hamilton in your post and be creative!  The more creative and thoughtful your answer is—the better!

Then come back here and put the permalink to your post in the Mister Linky so that we can all join in the conversation.  The eReader will be available late fall and will be shipped to the winner who will be announced on the BBAW blog!

Once again, this contest is only open to US residents. Good luck!!!!!

Small presses like mine have a lot in common with book bloggers: We love books, we don’t make much (if any) money, and we see our mission as building lots of friendly little bridges between readers and authors, far from the hype and bright lights of the Literati Who Know Best, aka the mainstream book industry. 

As an author of more than 35 romance and women’s fiction titles for major publishers, I’ve ranted for two decades about the narrow focus of traditional book reviewers. Now, as a small press publisher, I battle the lack of small press coverage among same. 

Book bloggers to the rescue! 

Bloggers chat, they praise, they share, they condemn, they give honest, unvarnished opinions, they support, they encourage, and most of all, they offer an open-minded welcome to the new and different, the smaller than small, the odd and unique. 

Without book bloggers, small presses like mine, and the authors I publish, would exist in a void outside the gravitational pull of New York. Because of you, we can form our own little solar systems.

BelleBooks
Bell Bridge Books

I personally love to read classic literature, those older books that have been around for dozens or even thousands of years. Book blogs have been a great place for me to remember my old favorites and to discover new old favorites.

Reviewing a classic on a blog may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Most bloggers review classics in a similar style to other works they review: short and to the point, or detailed thoughts about a particular theme, or sarcastic, or rambling and personal. Just because Dickens got paid by the word doesn’t mean your review has to follow the style as well! We rejoice in the individuality of book blogs.

I’ve seen some bloggers do “read-alongs” of the really daunting epics, linking to each other as they progress. Others do weekly or biweekly updates until their personal read of a mega-work is complete. I love to read those progress updates because it is interesting to see how impressions of a book change while progressing through it.

With classics, I think the fact that many people have already read it makes it ideal for online discussion. Our blog audience is our fellow book bloggers in the book community, and we all have a lot to say.

Many familiar old classics (Homer’s epics or Grimm’s fairy tales, for example) have entered in to our literary consciousness already: you may not need to give a complete plot description, and it’s hard to accidentally “spoil” the work for blog readers. With many classic works, people may relate to the issues because they’ve read retellings or even seen a movie. Learning about the original may then be fun for you and for your readers.

It’s perfectly alright to admit “I dislike this classic.” Once, I wrote that I couldn’t finish one classic; another time I posted about how much I disliked a particular classic. Both times, I received a few comments saying “I agree and here’s why” and other comments saying “Oh, I loved this book and here’s why.” Disliking the work opened up the discussion just as much as loving it might have, and I now want to give the books a second chance.

As a blog reader, I love it when someone reviews a classic. If it’s one I’ve read, I like recalling my impressions when I first read it, whether that was last year or in tenth grade. I may even be inspired to reread it. And if it is a work I haven’t read, it is fun to consider how it compares to those I have read. I’ve added so many classics to my “to be read” list, thanks to bloggers!

Don’t hesitate to blog about classics. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these old favorites.

From Rebecca Reid of Rebecca Reads

I love reading book reviews. I’ve been reading newspaper review sections cover-to-cover since I was, oh I don’t know, ten or eleven years old, but it was only sometime over the past few years that I began to realize that the book reviews I was reading represented only a small percentage of the books actually being published in a given year.

By the time my first novel came out a couple of months ago I’d figured out that getting a book by a non-famous author reviewed in a major paper can be a bit of an uphill battle, but I don’t think I realized just how difficult it really is until a couple of months after the book was published: a friend’s mother read my book, liked it a great deal, and sent me an effusive email. She wrote that she’d talked to her husband, who writes editorials for one of the largest newspapers in the country, and her husband had said that he’d talk to the book editor about getting a review. I immediately emailed my publicist. Her response was startling (and testament to her dedication): she’d be happy to send another copy to the book editor, she said, but I should probably know the history—she’d already sent the book review editor an ARC. And a finished copy of the book. And then followed up with him five times. 

Publishers are putting out more books than ever before, and review space in the major papers is shrinking. Book bloggers help cover the gap: they review books that will never grace the pages of the New York Times or the Washington Post. 
This in itself is a valuable thing, but after several months of following book bloggers on Twitter and reading their blogs, it occurred to me recently that book bloggers aren’t just filling in for what’s been lost. They’re creating something that wasn’t there before: a new and immediate way for readers, writers and reviewers to interact around a book. They introduce readers to books that we won’t read about anywhere else. They create buzz for books that would otherwise fall under the radar. Their love of books is contagious. I and other writers have tremendous gratitude for what they do, and I’ve come to think of them as an essential part of the literary landscape.

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of Last Night in Montreal.

Welcome to BBAW 09!!  We are beyond thrilled that you’re here!  The book blogging community is truly the best online community there is and while we may have many differences among us, we share a love for books!  So let’s celebrate each other and celebrate books.

Last week was fun seeing all the shortlists and visiting some new blogs but now it’s time to make it personal. 

What book blogs mean something to you?  Who are your most trusted sources for recommendations, your greatest help, the blogger you turn to for a laugh or to vent?  Whose writing do you admire or who introduced you to a whole new genre you didn’t know about?  We want to hear all about them…because we want to know them too!  Please share about the blogs we haven’t had a chance to meet via BBAW and let the party begin!

If this is your first time to use Mister Linky, please use the Mister Linky tutorial.  If you do not submit a permalink, your link will be deleted for the convenience of everyone participating in BBAW.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week now has a CafePress store for any sort of BBAW gear you’d like!

All the proceeds will be going to Amy to help offset the cost of any prize shipping. Please do not feel obligated to purchase anything as Book Blogger Apprecation Week is free for all! The CafePress Store came into being because someone asked if they could get t-shirts printed with the BBAW graphic.

If there is something specific you’d like to see in store, please email Monica (aka monnibo) at monnibo[at]hotmail[dot]com.

It has been brought to the attention of the awards committee that one of the shortlisted blogs in the Best New Blog category did not fully meet the eligibility requirements.  Since we did not stress the date requirement enough, and since this slipped past our panels, and since we are already 2 full days into voting, we are going to let the category stand as is, and take this under advisement as an area to improve in next year. 

Additionally, we have heard your concerns about the awards process!  Thank you for your passion, we can tell this really means a lot to you.  We have already been discussing ways in which we can improve and the following are actions we are committing to for next year:

1) A clear detailed explanation of the process available on the BBAW blog.
2) More transparency in the judging criteria
3) Longer notification periods so that nominees can consider whether or not they are interested in being involved with BBAW.
4) More outreach to all areas of the book community for their input and help.  (we will need your help with this!)

To show you we are serious, I am now posting more details about the scoresheet we used this year.  While the basic categories were announced in advance, I’m giving you the line items.  The scoresheets were finalized literally seconds before we started judging.  We judged blogs based on a holistic approach incorporating some of what is considered to be blogging best practices. 

Quality of Writing (30 points):
*Correct Spelling and Grammar
*Not repetitious. Succinct, concise, and to the point.
*Credits Sources (links properly)
*Writes with authority and accuracy

Category Originality and Diversity of Content(30 points)
*Original Content
*Variety of Content
*Fresh Perspective

Visual Aesthetic and Functionality (15 points)
*Blog is easy on the eyes
*Ease of Navigation
*Easy to subscribe, search, and contact blogger
*Sidebars are neat and not cluttered

Audience Engagement (15 points)
*Posts invite audience participation through comments
*Through humorous and engaging posts
*Through use of pictures, podcasts, vlogs, etc.

Some categories had different criteria, but this is what we used for all the review categories.  The number one criteria was really that the submitted posts fit the category description.

Additionally, if anyone did not respond to our letter, we did not disqualify them.  The committee went around and collected their 5 most recent posts.  The panelists judged the blogs, submitted their scores to the chairperson who averaged them together and took the top 5 scores.  In this way, the shortlists do not reflect any one person’s opinion.

Now you know everything and since you do, I hope we can move on.  There is still much work to be done on BBAW and we want to focus on that and celebrating each other.  It is our sincere hope that the book blogging community can truly celebrate each other next week!  I hope that we can show everyone they should be proud to be part of this community!

(one last note…a lot of information about BBAW can be found on the BBAW blog itself.  Please consider subscribing to the feed so you don’t miss out!)