My Blogging Apology
So I’m being honest when I say I’ve been doing this
blog a disservice. When I started I had so many goals, ideas and ways
to share my love of reading withI’ve been LAZY. I’ve been taking the easy way out and
only now has it come to my attention how little any of that matters. For the
past few months aside from special giveaways my Blog has mostly consisted of
blog tours, promos and other pre-formatted postings. This was never my intent
and frankly I don’t like it.
the world or at least fellow book addicts like
myself. My first few posts had a monthly theme and featured books fitting said
theme. I chose an awesome author as author of the month and paid homage to
their art. In the past year much of that was lost. Sure I can blame it on
becoming full-time at my local library or I can just fess up and tell the
truth…
the world or at least fellow book addicts like
myself. My first few posts had a monthly theme and featured books fitting said
theme. I chose an awesome author as author of the month and paid homage to
their art. In the past year much of that was lost. Sure I can blame it on
becoming full-time at my local library or I can just fess up and tell the
truth…
Blog Tours were everything I thought I wanted and this blog
needed. How wrong I was. Don’t get me wrong, I love them but rather than being
free and expressive about things I squeezed into a mold in order to get free
ARC copies of books and be included in author giveaways. Sure I always posted
my reviews and followed all the rules but now it all feels too comformidable,
excuse the made up word… I’m all about helping my fellow blogger or
author but personally I can see how I let the blog tours take over.
The allure of having everything sent in an easy HTML format that you can copy
and paste was exciting; I could set up tons of posts and have more time for
reading. Sure it worked for awhile but look at me now.
So in honor of all the
authors and bloggers who lost their love of reading, writing, blogging and
books, I am pledging to make my blog my happy place, one full of peace and
books, as if there anything
better. This will become the place where things I want to post, things I want
to share and things that generally make me happy will be included. But don’t
worry I’ll always include things for you guys, my followers as well. I won’t
beg anyone for likes, I won’t recommend books I don’t like but I will be honest
and respectful at the same time. If our interests are not aligned I won’t be
offended. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I hope our reading tastes
are similar and all my hard work will help you in the end, if not I wish you
the best of luck in finding bloggers who better fit your needs. 
Recently I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about tours
from both authors and bloggers alike. Apparently many authors are not seeing
any positive results from paying money to companies to help promo their work.
Why??? My opinion as a reader and follower: Blog tours are boring. Aside from the bloggers reviews, most
posts are exactly the same, there’s no originality and they’ve come now to
appear more like advertisements than a post to help promote an author and their
work. I respect all the work authors and tour hosts put into these tours but
even with adding a few personal touches each post is still basically an
advertisement. There also lies an issue with bloggers and authors fighting,
disagreeing and basically bashing each other. In my past two years of blogging
I’ve seen far too many bloggers and authors leave the spotlight and give up
altogether. That’s not right. We all should know how to say we don’t like
something without calling names, placing blame or acting like we’re still in
pre-school and need our teacher to hold our hand. It’s disgusting to hear of the
things people write online. Sure we have the freedom to express ourselves but
human decency should also play a part. I won’t even go into the issue of
piracy, it’s sickening lately how bloggers are misusing their relationships with
authors and giving the rest of us a bad rep.
After my rant about tours I realize I can’t let them have
control anymore. I can’t let the ARC copies of unreleased books tempt me. From now on I will only stick with less than
five tours a month (if even that many) and they’ll all be by authors I’ve read
before or have come highly recommended. As sad as it makes me I will be very
hesitant as to what books and authors I will accept. Plagiarism is another issue plaguing this
industry that I just don’t understand. Its sad people need to
behave like children when we’re all participating in something we love. Far too
many times have I received an ARC only to find the author plagiarized half of
it…. Shame shame.
To avoid all this nonsense I will still help promo the
authors I love and who I’ve helped before. I may try to move away from the
typical posts like everyone else, but hey, I know you guys love flair so I’ll
try and keep the ‘Wow’ factor up. I will in the next few months be bringing
back our monthly themes as well as hosting a monthly giveaway. (I have more
swag than I know what to do with… Help me-take some, please…) I’d also love to
hear what everyone would like to see more of. I’m trying to find a way to
incorporate my hippie nature and love of books into some cool monthly posts
although I have yet to think of anything. Ideas are always welcome as well as
guest reviewers and other bloggers. I probably won’t be doing many SALE or
FREEBIE posts because let’s face it, everyone does, and at some point almost
every book is on SALE. (Plus I bet everyone has more than enough books already
sitting on their kindle, I know I do. So I’ll try to limit how much I tempt
you…)
To followers of my BLOG, thank-you, seriously. Sure many of
you don’t read my posts everyday or even visit the blog but just having people
follow means enough. It means all my ranting, raving and plain CRAZY means
something so thanks, at least I know someone is listening. From now on try and
be a better blogger. I’ll make things interesting and I’ll do what I can to
keep everyone happy without taking the easy way out… Go easy on me if I’m slacking
off, chances are my face is attached to my kindle…
Feel free to comment below or email me with any blog
suggestions or any other random thought you may have at crystaldc18@gmail.com
Also if you want some of the massive amounts of swag I have
please let me know and I’ll send you tons. Use email above and Subject Line:
GIMME SWAG or leave a comment on this post.
I’m off to Blog… First order of business is updating the
Coming Soon page and finishing the 20+ reviews I have… Imma slacker I know. Stay Tuned
P.S. Since I work at my local library in a few different
departments, I have some insider knowledge on book repair, ordering and
maintenance, I am thinking of hosting a monthly “Babying Your Books,” post on
which I will tell you ways to ensure your hardcover’s and paperbacks stay alive
for as long as possible. It will eventually veer into tablets and e-book
devices. Let me know if you guys would be interested in something like this.XOXOXOX ~ Crystal
And as always,
PEACE LOVE & HAPPY READING!!
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