This is a weekly meme run by Miz B of Should be Reading.
Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!
My Musing:
Do you ever wonder sometimes if there are simply too many virtual book tour (VBT) companies out there? It seems a new one crops up every week. I know I certainly receive more than my fair share of requests from VBT companies.
When I first started blogging, there weren't that many companies. I remember almost begging publishers to review books at my blog. Then blogging and online book promotion exploded. My TBR pile also exploded. As an author, I know how tough it is to get exposure for your book; so I hate to say no to someone asking me to promote a book on my blog.
But where does it end? I'm looking at the hundreds of books in my office and I know I can't keep up. There's no way I'll be able to review all these books and still have a life. And yet, I love buying new books and reading new books despite my enormous pile. This was supposed to be my year to catch up, but I look at my schedule for May and June, and I see I've taken on eight new titles. What the heck am I thinking?
How about you? Do you love the requests from virtual book tour companies? Or does it make you sick to your stomach every time a new request appears in your inbox? How do you stay on top of your TBR pile?
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7 comments:
Hi! Stopping by to say thank you for visiting my blog. I have done some writing myself, made submissions and got all the requisite rejections so I know how hard it is to break into the field and while you would like to help everybody you just can't. I don't know how you make the decision of one work over another, sounds very difficult. I will be checking back often to see your reviews.
I was feeling so inundated by these requests, and while I enjoyed reading new authors, I also started to feel stressed out. With deadlines, like I felt with my job all those years!
So I started saying no, politely; I get fewer requests these days.
Mostly I get review books from Amazon Vine or the occasional author I know.
Here's my “MUSING MONDAYS POST”
I just started doing the tours and only take the ones that are books or authors I love. So far I am not overwhelmed with tours just with books.
My Musing
I haven't done kind of VBT--reading is a way to escape for me, I'm afraid I would pressure myself to read if I joined in. I love to follow them, though.
I have never requested a book to review. I've thought about it, but it seems like a bit too much pressure. My TBR pile is high enough as it is! I'm actually new to book blogging and I've never really understood VBT. Is it just sort of a tour blog-to-blog of reviews being posted?
I very rarely take an unsolicited book now because I can't do it justice. It is so easy to say yes to too much and then feel like you've failed.
Great musing post and I think many of us go through the same thing and then take stock.
Thanks for comments, everyone. Sorry I was late in visiting your blogs. Crazy day yesterday.
Saturdaynightwriting, a virtual book tour is where different blogs host an author by posting a book review, a guest post, a spotlight of the book, or interview the author. I actually work for a virtual book tour company who works with authors to set up these tours. I love them, but they are time consuming for bloggers.
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