Dear Mr. Morrow and Publishers Thinking of Doing the Following:
Book bloggers read and review books for the love. We are not paid. At best, some of us will sell a review here or there, or we might earn a little cash from advertising. But almost all of us do this because we love books, and we do it knowing the only form of compensation is the thrill of getting a new book in the mail.
But this is not a job. We are not employees on the tab or paid under the table. Free books does not equal compensation, in part because free books is an unequal relation of value. You give us a book, but we have to read and review it, which means the value of the book in relation to the time spent working on it averages out to less than minimum wage. Effectively, if free books constitute compensation, then those of us who blog about books are making less than someone who works at Taco Bell.
The point is: this is not a job. We do this for the love. Most of us will never have jobs at magazines as reviewers. Most of us will never get beyond sharing our love of books with people who share our interests. That’s just the way it is.
In other words: we are not your bitches.
While you might think your new policies are about efficiency, what they tell the rest of us is that you do not value what we do. As @MotherReader has already pointed out: “Can you imagine them sending this to Horn Book or the NY Times?” Exactly. The language of the letter is a double bitch slap to the face: first, you tell us that what we do is a job, despite the fact that we are not paid for it, and then you treat us as less worthy of the kind of attention afforded to a place whose job it is to review books.
Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand why publishers want to streamline the process, and I sympathize with it. But turning book blogging into a “play by the rules” game is far from streamlining anything.
Instead of treating us like review slaves, you might consider asking book bloggers for their opinions. Surveys are a wonderful thing, and book bloggers are usually quite happy to offer their thoughts on a range of topics related to — you guessed it — books.
Just don’t treat us like we’re your bitches. Because we’re not. We’re lovers of books who enjoy sharing our love with others. Slapping us in the face with these kinds of policies, written with such words, is not a great way to keep us interested in talking about your books.
As Larry of OF Blog says: “I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.”
Signed,
A Book Blogger
——————————————————–
Thoughts from others: Larry at OF Blog; LA Times Blogs.
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We’re Not Your Bitches — Signed, A Book Blogger
Dear Mr. Morrow and Publishers Thinking of Doing the Following:
Book bloggers read and review books for the love. We are not paid. At best, some of us will sell a review here or there, or we might earn a little cash from advertising. But almost all of us do this because we love books, and we do it knowing the only form of compensation is the thrill of getting a new book in the mail.
But this is not a job. We are not employees on the tab or paid under the table. Free books does not equal compensation, in part because free books is an unequal relation of value. You give us a book, but we have to read and review it, which means the value of the book in relation to the time spent working on it averages out to less than minimum wage. Effectively, if free books constitute compensation, then those of us who blog about books are making less than someone who works at Taco Bell.
The point is: this is not a job. We do this for the love. Most of us will never have jobs at magazines as reviewers. Most of us will never get beyond sharing our love of books with people who share our interests. That’s just the way it is.
In other words: we are not your bitches.
While you might think your new policies are about efficiency, what they tell the rest of us is that you do not value what we do. As @MotherReader has already pointed out: “Can you imagine them sending this to Horn Book or the NY Times?” Exactly. The language of the letter is a double bitch slap to the face: first, you tell us that what we do is a job, despite the fact that we are not paid for it, and then you treat us as less worthy of the kind of attention afforded to a place whose job it is to review books.
Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand why publishers want to streamline the process, and I sympathize with it. But turning book blogging into a “play by the rules” game is far from streamlining anything.
Instead of treating us like review slaves, you might consider asking book bloggers for their opinions. Surveys are a wonderful thing, and book bloggers are usually quite happy to offer their thoughts on a range of topics related to — you guessed it — books.
Just don’t treat us like we’re your bitches. Because we’re not. We’re lovers of books who enjoy sharing our love with others. Slapping us in the face with these kinds of policies, written with such words, is not a great way to keep us interested in talking about your books.
As Larry of OF Blog says: “I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.”
Signed,
A Book Blogger
Thoughts from others: Larry at OF Blog; LA Times Blogs.
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