So I guess I’m in good company with finally launching NOLA next Wednesday. If you don’t know why June 26 is so significant, you can read my recent blog post: Are You Ready to Visit NOLA?
I’ve had several Swarm members buzz around and ask how they can help beyond buying the book.
Frankly My Dear . . . How to Write a Book Review
Lemme tell ya: There are two things an author covets more than anything once the book is published. (Well, three if you count coffee.) The first is sales. Buy the book. Buy it for yourself. Your friend. Your significant other. Your neighbor, mailman, kid’s cousin’s dog walker’s parents. Buy. The. Book. And buy it in all forms. Print. Digital. Audio. However it’s available, however you’ll read it.
I mean, yah, we totally write because we don’t know how to not write, and you hear us say, “Oh, even if no one bought my books ever I’d still be a writer.” What a load of youknowwhat. I mean, it’s true. But in a demented, look at my sadlittlelife kind of way. So, really. We like the book sales. I ain’t gonna lie.
The best nonmonetary way you can support your favorite authors is to write a review and share it. But readers. Well, y’all are readers, yah? Not writers. You want to get into the characters, the setting, the whole joie de vivre of it. “Oh, great,” you say. “Now she’s speaking French. I’m never gonna understand!”
Calm you’re kettles. It’s gonna be okay.
Reviews show popularity. And you know who gets noticed in the industry? The ones who are getting noticed. Think on that for a minute.
Amazon and Goodreads drive book popularity based partly on sales and reviews. That’s why both are important.
The most important thing to realize is a book review is not a book report.
There are three things imperative to a good book review:
You have a social media site to share the review on (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
You have an account at Amazon and/or Goodreads
You’ve read the book.
Seriously. That’s it. Once that’s all been established, you click on the book link, then click on “Reviews,” then click where it says, “Leave Your Own Review.” Type away, and share.
The second most important thing to realize is this is your review.
You’re not graded on sentence structure, grammar, or word count. You won’t be put in reviewer jail if you misquote something. Just tell the author and their audience if you enjoyed the book, and why/why not. Use your own words and speaking style. Don’t fancy it up or dumb it down. Most review site require a minimum of 250 characters. Easy peasy.
PERSONAL PREFERENCE: There is no wrong way to leave a review, but don’t give away spoilers like, “It was really crazy how that spaceship zapped up Rain and Josie at the very end. I mean, I thought it wasn’t a sci-fi.” [Real spoiler alert: that is not how NOLA actually ends.]
Now, I’m not all in for author-bashing or trolling (those little internet mongrels that like to badmouth strangers just because they can!), but I am a fan of authenticity. So be honest, but be nice. Remember, you’re reviewing the book, not the author, not their lifestyle. If you want to review that, go to other websites. Get me?
A detailed review can be as short as three or four sentences. Did you find it compelling? A page turner or a nodder (one that put you to sleep)? Do you want more from this author, these characters? If the story is set in a real place, did the reading feel accurate? Did you emote through the story?
Based on the above, a positive review of the Wizard of Oz might read: (Five Stars) “I was enthralled with the duality of worlds and Dorothy’s struggle to realize everything she needed she already had. The Flying Monkeys were very scary, but the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man were wonderful companions and showed a true depth of character as they grew along their journey. I highly recommend this book, and can’t wait for the sequel. “
A negative review might read: (Two Stars) “The fantasy worlds were too much for me to grasp. Frank L. Baum’s writing style is definitely for children. Although the writing is clean and the plot flows as it should, this book isn’t for me.”
You may be asked to title your review. This isn’t mandatory, so you can start with the first line of your review.
But the stars. If you feel the book is really good, but not as great as others you’ve read, it’s okay to leave four stars instead of five. Note that a Five Star Review means you really loved the book and want more. One Star means you’ll never read that book again. Three Stars mean you’re either apathetic, or the book didn’t reach it’s full potential.
PERSONAL PREFERENCE: Review the book and the author, but leave out any personal details. “I really loved helping Amy Pen brainstorm as she outlined this story,” or “I’ve known John Writer since we were kids and I’m so proud of him.” Those personal kudos can go on your social media sites, but don’t belong in a review.
Reviews are an author’s equivalent to crypto-coin. Well, maybe not. But sort of. And you have the power to make them rich.
Here are a few other ways you can support your favorite authors:
Ways to Support Your Favorite Author
Leave a comment: Do you leave reviews for books you’ve read? What are some of your favorite summer reads?
With a cup full of sweet tea and a house that needs cleaning, Happy Reviewing. ~Molly Jo
Frankly, My Dear . . . Savor the Journey!
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Bohemian Hurricane
Molly Jo is better known as the Bohemian Hurricane. She is the author/curator of The Unemployment Cookbook and several eBooks available on Amazon. Her work-in-progress, NOLA, is a romantic mystery novel set in New Orleans, and the first in her City Series. [Note to Self: Seriously. Change this.]
I realize the title of this post may seem oxymoronic, given that my posts are few and far between lately. This is true, but it’s not true.
I’m not blogging as often as I used to, which means the posts I do write had better be of better quality. Notice the repetitive word, better? Flash back to my Word of the Year post. This is the year when I take what I already have and make it better.
Today’s post is going to be the start of a series on blogging. I’ve been honored to have several people ask for my advice in starting their own blog. There’s a plethora of information I can give, so before we both jump into the deep end, I’d like to ask: what are you asking me?
Check!
For today’s post, I’m asking you to let me know your questions, ideas, thoughts, concerns… What kind of blog are you looking to start? What is its purpose? Is it to educate, share a business, vent, or just be creative?
Who will your audience be? Are you hoping to make money through your blog? Do you want to save the world or entertain your corner of it?
Do you have formatting and start-up questions? Are you interested in the behind-the-scenes work or just the up-front writing?
I’m more than willing to share the journey I’m going through with Frankly, My Dear… but I’d also love to know the journeys you plan to take.
Blank Pages are the World’s Canvas
So here’s your chance. What are your questions about blogging? Leave them in the comments and I’ll curate them together for a series on building a better blog.
Remember: There’s no such thing as a dumb question. When I started blogging, I found that many others had the same questions I did. The research can be tiring and seemingly endless. I’d like to help. Tell me your questions. I’ll find you the answers. Or at least do my best.
Recently, I asked my friend Ann of Doodles and Jots how she was able to get a certain company to sponsor a giveaway on her blog. Her reply was simply, “I asked.”
Okay. You’re right. It wasn’t that simple. But it was close. She told me she found a company that she thought would be more willing to sponsor. She contacted them with her proposal, and after a few months of negotiating emails and phone calls, she had her first giveaway!
Giveaways are great. It’s a way to bring more traffic to your Blog and show off your other skills. Companies pay attention to how thorough you review product; what your presentation style is; and whether your photographs compliment their product.
I’ve previously self-sponsored giveaways for books and gift packs, but recently started to seek Corporate Sponsorship. My first two, Aroma Housewares and Scharffen Berger, were exceptionally helpful. They both cross-promoted the Giveaways on twitter and Facebook. Which led to more Blog traffic.
Which, as any Blogger can tell you, is the ultimate goal of Blogging. I’m no longer lowest on the totem pole when it comes to being noticed. This comes in handy when I seek sponsorship from other companies.
I have a basic format to follow when emailing these companies. First, introductions are important. I tell them who I am, what my Blog is, and why I’m writing them (to seek sponsorship). Then I mention numbers. How many unique daily readers do I have? Approximately how many views per month? These numbers are important. I also let them know that these numbers are growing every day. I reference past reviews and giveaways that I’ve done (including links to the most recent post), and offer to review and promote their product. If there’s a specific product I’m interested in, I say so. Otherwise, I’ll leave that to their discretion. Finally, I tell them which social media sites I’m active on so they know how their Sponsorship will be promoted. I end by thanking them for their consideration, and sign off with my name, email address, and Blog site.
As for companies to contact, I try to stick with ones I’m familiar with. For my first Giveaway, I offered to review a product I already had (the Aroma Housewares’ Rice Cooker). All they had to do was agree to offer one to a random winner. It worked!
Soon after, I contact Scharffen Berger and they immediately responded with a better offer: They sent me eight assorted bars of their Artisan Chocolates and offered to provide the same to TWO winners!
There’s no tried-and-true formula for seeking Sponsors. The bigger Blogs (She’s Becoming DoughMessTic being one of my favorites) pretty much doesn’t have to seek out sponsorship. She’s so well-known, so well-put-together, that companies seek her reviews.
I asked Susan of DoughMessTic how she did it, and she advised to follow through. Respond to every email. Follow up. Be polite. And promote, promote, promote!
“Pinterest/Twitter/FB. Use them. Ask friends to help promote. Do a good job for the sponsor, more will come.”
It was affirming to know that I’m already Doing It Right. I’m reaching out, I’m keeping in touch, and I’m definitely seeking promotion through various social networks.
I Googled “How to Get Blog Sponsors”. While most sites state the obvious “Ask” as their Number One rule, I came across this little gem as well: Post it on the Blog. Seriously. Who woulda thought to write on the Blog itself
“Hey! This Blog Needs Sponsors!”
How much more basic than that can a Blogger get?
Well, I’ve definitely been asking. And getting some remarkably wonderful results. I’m working on a Holiday Gift Basket Giveaway for early November, and while I’m still hammering out the small details, I’ve several sponsors on board already with a few more in negotiations. On top of the ones I haven’t heard back from yet. But I think it will be great.
I don’t want to name names just yet. I want to get a few more attached to this Shin-Dig before the Great Reveal. But trust me. It’s worth sticking around for.
Oh. And if you know of a company who might appreciate a good review and want to sponsor a giveaway, send them my way, would ya? Because
Recently, I’ve been asked for my Blog Button. I realized I didn’t have one. How terrible! A Blog Button is a Brand. It’s a digital calling card. It lets people know who you are and how to find you. It’s like having a Blog on speed dial.
Some Buttons are more detailed than others. Some are simple. But all are recognizable. I began scouting around for a photo or image I could use. Because Buttons are small in size in order to fit on a Blog’s sidebar (that column to the left or right of your main articles), I wanted something a little simple yet descriptive.
It took a little time, but I think I’ve captured the essence of who I am, and what my Blog is.
Anyone who wants to share my blog just needs to copy the coding text in the box under the photo, and post it to their own Blog! Their link will have just the photo, not the coding. How’s that for advertising?!
Now for the How-To’s. It’s really not at all as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, I’m not a computer geek AT ALL (well, maybe just a little), so for me to be able to do this by my own research… that should definitely tell you this is easy-peasy!
1. Choose your image. Make sure you have the rights to the photo, or have paid for licensing (my Button image came from Shutterstock, I added the personal photo and all text). Save it to your computer desktop. Even if you have it in your digital photos, I recommend saving a second copy to manipulate without fear of losing the original.
2. Find an online photo editing service. I like Photobucket. It’s free. It’s easy. It allows for creative editing and photo correcting. Create an account if you haven’t already, and upload your image to your online album for editing. Be sure to save when you’re finished. [You can also edit the photo on your computer if you have Photoshop or PowerPoint. Upload the finished image to your online photo album.]
3. Open the image online and make sure it looks like you want it to. THIS PART IS REALLY IMPORTANT! Make sure to save your image to a small size. Buttons are typically 150 x 150 pixels. Most sidebars allow for 200 pixels so you definitely don’t want anything wider than that or it won’t fit. Resize your finished image, and save it to your online album.
4. Open the image again. You’ll see a box list of coding. Select the “HTML code” and copy the entire code. Paste it into a Word Document. [In the image below, this is identified as “Original Coding’].
5. Between the first two quotation marks (“), delete the link and replace it with your Blog home address. Otherwise, it will link back to your online photo only. [In the image below, It’s highlighted as “YOUR_BLOG_HOME_HERE” for your example.]
6. Directly underneath all this code, you’ll want to add the Additional Coding. [In order for you to visibly see it, I had to post it as a photo image. Otherwise, it would act as code, which isn’t helpful for learning.]
7. Where the red link and highlights read “ENTIRE_ABOVE_CODING_HERE”, delete whatever is between the two quotation marks (“) and replace it with the ENTIRE original coding. Make sure the two coding sections are right on top of each other. [See the last section in the image above: “END CODING should look similar to this:”
8. I recommend saving this coding in a Word document for future reference. You can use it as a template for making more badges and buttons for your Blog.
9. To add the Button to your Blog: add the text in HTML format for either a Post or a Widget, and save.
10. If you add it as a Blog Post in HTML, do NOT revert to “visual” post editing before saving. This will invalidate some of the HTML and you’ll have to re-add the coding to make it work.
That’s it! I hope this keeps you from experiencing the headaches I had when trying to find this information. Please let me know if this helped you or if you had problems with my instructions.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Sweeten my tea and share:
Buy NOLA, a romantic location mystery, by Molly Jo Realy
NOLA, by Molly Jo Realy
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