Wednesday 7 February 2018

Why I No Longer Will Do Reviews For Blog Tours

This has been a quiet rule I have had in the past. Never felt the need to do this, but I have got unstuck once of two recently and I wanted to write this and explain why.

People, when I do a blog tour, I normally ask that I don't do a review for the tour. Now, like I said before, I have been unstuck so I have had to write a review for the tour and (thankful!), I have enjoyed reading the book (either certain aspects or the whole thing) so writing the review for the tour has been a breeze. But, I just want to make it public so everyone knows and we're on the same page.

I don't like doing reviews for blogs tours, therefore I won't be doing them anymore.

I will happily do most things for blog tours - I love doing a blog tour! I love following them on blogs I adore and going "OOOOH!" over them. I get a strange thrill every time I get an email in connection to blog tour am involved in and I read/devour the post I'm meant to be posting for my stop long before I schedule/post them. I love being involved with blog tours where I can go "YOU GUYS! WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK! IT'S SO GOOD!!!"

But reviews for blog tours... er... this is where I get a little uneasy over them...

Ok, I do have reasons. The main reason is pressure of what if. What if I agree to do a review for a blog tour, start reading the book and hate the book am reading? I can't write a review for a book I don't like for a blog tour (the main aim of which is to be positive and to sell the book). So, I'm stuck. Do I continue reading a book I dislike? Do I write a review in which I feel like I'm lying or blurring the line between my opinion and what I'm expected to say? Do I go back to the publisher and go "Actually... we need something else" and in most case, it's too late?

There are other reasons, but, mainly, I don't want that pressure. And reading should be fun and a pleasure. Same goes with blogging. I want to be passionate about books and I want to talk about books that I read and gone "Wow! Oh wow!".

So, no more reviews for blog tours. I know I'm going to shoot myself in the foot as some blog tours I have been connected with over the past few weeks via email have been "review only" and I flat-out said no. But I don't feel comfortable writing a review for a blog tour.

So, am making this public so I can't go back on myself. I love being involved in blog tours and I will continue to, but not a review blog tour.

1 comment:

  1. Ooh I totally get this!
    It's happened in the past where I've just not liked the book at all and had to switch out last minute for something else like a guestpost (or with one cancel altogether as they wanted review only).
    Sadly I did find that when I wasn't willing to review a book for a blog tour I ended up dropped from some lists. But hey, it's my integrity.
    I find that there's a lot more engagement on non-review stops too, as a lot of people won't read a review until they've actually read it themselves. And also people are straight up nosy and like to read writing preferences and top tens and fun research facts.
    Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk

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