Reader Question: How do I get ARCs/galleys easily?
This one was sent to me by LibraryDad via twitter. I think this is one of those questions that eventually gets asked by someone somewhere. Those of us who review books, whether professionally or as amateurs, love getting advanced reader copies (ARCs or galleys). I’m not entirely sure why. I like them because it’s nice to know I have one of the first printed copies if a particular book turns out to be a favorite (such as Sly Mongoose, which you should all go buy, because Mr. Buckell recently had twins and could use the extra royalties). But how do you get them? I’ll be honest that I don’t think there’s an easy answer or even a preferable answer here. I can only say the truth of the matter. There is no way to get ARCs easily, especially not through publishers. Publishers are not going to send free books to anyone. It costs them money not only to print out the book, but also to ship it to you, all on some hope that your review will bring them enough sales to cover it. There has to be some sort of discernible influence bloggers have on sales, otherwise I don’t think publishers would keep sending us books. Here are some key factors that can help you get books from publishers, particularly ARCs: A platform for reviews.This can be in the form of a blog, a website, etc. It needs to be something that can be navigated and has a way to view the reviews. Don’t bury them in the abyss. A niche.This isn’t necessary, but it helps if you have a specific kind of book you read. That helps them target to you and to your readers. This is more about not being a “I read every single thing in the universe” type person. I mean, if you read everything, great, but I’ve yet to see a successful blog/website that wasn’t clearly divided into sections that focused on everything. A back catalogue of reviews.Basically, you need to have actually done some reviews. You’re not going to get much from publishers if you haven’t actually done something productive in the reviewing community. An online following of some significance.They are not going to send you books if you get 25 unique hits a month. Not unless you win some from them. You need to have some sort of steady, significant traffic. This doesn’t need to be thousands of people, but it does need to be something they can figure into potential sales. The blog that I post my reviews on (run by the awesome SQT) gets a fair amount of traffic (more than I get here, actually). It also has a vibrant community. These things make it a website publishers will turn to for reviews (well, they won’t come to you, but you know what I mean), because, presumably, SQT’s blog brings them sales and exposure in a quantity that matters.Oh, and this takes a lot of time and effort. And even with that, there’s no guarantee you’ll ever succeed in creating a following. I’ve been at this for three years and while I love my readers, there aren’t a whole lot of them. Those that have stuck with me for a while certainly deserve kudos, though. You guys are awesome. The big thing is the following. Publishers have got to know that sending you books is good for them. You can track all that with the various sites out there, such as SiteMeter, Google Analytics, etc. Assuming you have a following, you review on some sort of timely schedule, and haven’t pissed off all the publishers, the next order of the day is actually contacting publishers. My recommendation is either follow their procedures for review requests, if they have any, or read books from that publisher, review them, and let the author know. Either way can work, but neither is a guarantee. All I know is that I have done it both ways and been relatively successful. It should be noted here that your intention should never be to simply get free books (particularly ARCs/galleys). ARCs are sent out specifically to be reviewed. Publishers are usually aware that reviewers can’t review everything, but that doesn’t mean you should never review the books. This isn’t about showing off that you got a bunch of free books; it’s about providing a service for publishers while doing something you like. If you just want to read books and have some collectibles, then you need to find ARCs in some of these ways: Garage sales, used bookstores (which technically shouldn’t be selling them), ebay, and other places like that. Friends Giveaways (blogs, publishers, authors, etc.). If you want to review books and let people know about them, then you should work on building up a fanbase and a back-catalogue of reviews. One step at a time. Eventually, if all goes well, you can request books from publishers (following their guidelines, if they have any–this is really important) or get them another way. ARCs are sort of like crack for reviewers, I suppose. Most of us love them, even desire them. And there’s nothing like getting books in the mail. One of my favorite things is when there’s a bubble envelope sitting in the mailbox waiting for me to open it. It doesn’t matter if I’ve had a bad day, that can really cheer me up. Hopefully that answers the question. This is sort of a short “how to” for reviewing in general, but so be it. Anyone else out there have advice on this matter? Is there a magical easy way to get ARCs? I don’t think signing up for contests is necessarily an easy way, because it’s random, but maybe that’s the easiest method to get your hands on these things. Anywho. If you have a question you’d like me to answer, feel free to send it to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, or leave it as a comment, or send it as a twitter message with
Reader Question: Why Science Fiction?
This is an interesting question submitted by Perry on Facebook. The reason it’s interesting is because I’m not sure what it’s asking. It could be asking several different things at once, such as: Why do you like science fiction? Why do you write/blog about science fiction? Why science fiction and not something else? How exactly do I approach this question if there are so many ideas infused into it? I figure the best way to do so is to answer each of the questions above as best I can. Here goes: Why do you like science fiction?One of the great things about science fiction is that it never ceases to amaze me. While the genre has largely lost it’s “wow” factor in the world, it is still a genre full of new and fresh ideas. The reason I like science fiction as much as I do is because I find the genre fascinating, whether it be far-future space opera or near-future hard SF. As a genre of ideas, it is one that constantly challenges me to rethink the world I live in, and the world I will one day live in, to rethink who I am and what it means to be human. Since my academic interests are invested in the notion of “the human,” this is a perfect genre for bringing up difficult issues to deal with, particularly about humanity and the other (whatever that other might be). I also happen to like spaceships and space battles. I like explosions and aliens and all the nifty cliches of the genre. It’s sort of hard not to for me. I’m also a big fan of science, even if I am not, and never will be, a scientist. Science fiction either approaches science from a realistic perspective or from a perspective that takes liberty with reality. But in true science fiction, science is always there in some capacity. As an avid fan of science, science fiction lets me see an author’s vision of the future based on where we are now; it’s also fascinating to see how science fiction and reality blend together. So, to put it simply: I like science fiction because it is the one genre that offers me everything I want in one package. Why do I write/blog about science fiction?I blog about a lot of things, but science fiction is certainly the big one. Fantasy and writing are pretty much tied for second place, I suppose. Blogging is, in part, an extension of what I want to do professionally. It’s an avenue through which I can express my opinions on the genre and converse with other fans, etc. I can’t exactly go down the street and find a big science fiction fan club to hang out in–I’m not even sure we have one in Santa Cruz. Blogging is basically the best way I have of communicating with folks interested in the same subjects as myself. And since I am going to be spending most of my academic career studying science fiction and its related genres, I find a blog is a healthy way of excavating ideas, thoughts, opinions, etc.–even if they’re not particularly good ideas, thoughts, or opinions. I write science fiction for an entirely different reason, though. I cannot for the life of me write anything but speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, etc.). If I start writing a story about the real world, I tune out. Getting excited about such things is impossible for me. The real world is too bland for my tastes, which probably says a lot about my tastes when there is so much going on in this world these days. But that’s the truth. When I write normal fiction, I’m pretty much bored after sentence two; when I write science fiction or fantasy, it’s a whole other story. I get excited about writing stories where I get to express my ideas of the future, or fiddle with concepts of humanity, etc. There’s something purely enjoyable about writing in this genre. Maybe it’s just me and I have some sort of ultra-fantasy gene. Whatever the internal or genetic reason, I write science fiction because I enjoy it. Period. Why science fiction and not something else?Well, I do like fantasy and related genres, but I am generally uninterested in fiction that is not fantastic in some way. The reason is that I find real life boring. I don’t mean my real life, but real life as it pertains to fiction. There’s nothing entertaining about people going through regular everyday things. I don’t particularly care about anything to do with the real world, as far as fiction is concerned (non-fiction is an entirely different story). The thing is, I live in real life; I don’t want to read about it. For this reason, I am interested in science fiction and related genres both personally and professionally. I am fascinated by the fantastic, by spaceships and dragons and anything that lies in the cracks. If there isn’t some sort of speculative premise in a story, I’m unlikely to read it with much enthusiasm. My tastes do change, though, and there are exceptions to this (Thomas Pynchon and a few African authors are good exceptions), but for the most part I stick to my guns on speculative fiction. And that’s that. Thanks for the question, Perry. Now I’ll throw it out to all of you. Why science fiction? Or, if science fiction isn’t your thing, why whatever you read (fantasy, horror, etc.)? If you’d like to send me a question, you can email it to me at arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, leave it as a comment here or anywhere, or send it as a twitter message with @shaunduke at the front of the message. Thanks.
Reader Question: Current Events and Reader Preferences and Experience
TruGenius recently left a comment asking me the following: How do current social events shape readers preferences? I’m going to start this off by saying that I am in no way a genius on this subject. I haven’t spent years studying book sales, trends, etc. So everything I am going to say on this subject is going to be based on what I know and think I know either through my readings on the Internet or interactions with friends, family, and readers. One thing that has always surprised me about the publishing industry and readers is how unpredictable they can be at times. I imagine someone saw the boom in urban fantasy coming from a mile away, but I don’t think anyone could have accurately predicted that young adult fantasy and science fiction would explode as it did, nor that young readers would be so eager to set aside their video games and cell phones to dig into a book. Looking at YA numbers is usually a jaw-dropping experience for me–I’m used to seeing 50,000 units sold as the “big number,” rather than the massive 500,000 to 1,000,000 that seems relatively common in YA these days. But is any of this indicative of social trends in response to the events of the last decade? Some of it, perhaps. There is certainly something to be said about recession and book sales. We saw the sale of e-readers spike (as well as ebooks), and polls have shown that people are reading more now than they were before the initial crash of the economy. I can’t say if these increases have remained steady: I suspect that the sales have not, but the reading has. And there isn’t anything there to indicate any specific trends (such as in genre). But this post is more about the influence of current events on reader preferences–specifically what kinds of books people are more likely to read during social, national, or global stress. From what I understand about trending, the economy can have a big influence on what kinds of books sell and what movies will succeed. io9 had a post a while ago about the trends of dystopias during economic booms and recessions that showed a correlation between strong(er) economic status and the success or rise of dystopic movies. The same thing seems true about books: dystopian fiction seems to do better, or at least is more prevalent, during economic booms (or stable trends in the economy). But this isn’t always the case. Recently we’ve seen a flood of Mayan doomsday novels (and films), most of which are doing quite well, even in these difficult times. I suspect that our relative proximity to 2012 has a lot to do with this and don’t be surprised if 2011 is filled to the brim with written works all across the board. With all that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that dystopias will shrink during this recession, Mayan doomsday fiction will remain steady, and other forms of fiction (possibly more optimistic forms) will see an increase. I could be wrong, though, and probably am. The one thing I’m not wrong about is that we will see an increase in desire for adventure-based fiction and highly escapist literature. This may not be reflected in sales, particularly because the economy is hurting just as bad as individual people are, but it will be reflected in readers themselves, who may or may not spend more time at libraries or reading their backlist of books they’ve bought, but never read. I would also suspect that Obama’s historical presidency would have some influence on books in the U.S., but I haven’t seen much in the last year in the way of future ground-breaking U.S. elections. Maybe we’ve yet to see Obama’s influence on literature. I think what I’m trying to get at here is that it’s sort of impossible to truly know what the market will do at any point (the market, of course, responds to sales, which leads directly to reader preferences). We can look back and see how major events in the world have influenced literature and reader preferences, but can any of us say that we could have predicted those changes, or that we can use what happened in the past to reflect upon the future of trends? I don’t think so. The problem is that each event is relatively unique from the one that precedes it. Current events do shape literature, but it’s hard to tell where that shaping will go. Sure, bad times seem to produce greater desire for escapism, and happy times produce greater desire for depressing fiction, but that might be the only trend we can actually pin down, with the exception to war. There are, I think, two trends in reader preferences during war: one is a boom in war-based literature with clearer indications of good and evil, and the other is a boom in war-based literature where the boundaries turn grey. We get that boost of patriotism in the beginning, and then when things turn out to be different than we imagined, we begin to see that fade. We saw this happen with the Bush Administration (at least I think so). At first, when 9/11 happened, we saw patriotism explode: readers wanted books on the subject, even when it was in their fiction; they wanted heroes of all shapes and sizes. But when things started turning ugly, when we began to see what was wrong with the war in greater numbers, then readers seemed to want something else: they desired fiction proposing “the truth” (and sometimes conspiracy theories or propaganda); they wanted stories about wars going in ways unexpected and characters who were flawed, imperfect people. This is more based on what seems “dominant” than one whether one exists and the other does not. Both exist and always have, I think, but they shift back and forth depending on what is going on in the real world. With all that I have
Advice on Writing Reviews Part Three
(Read Part One and Part Two)Moving on from all the general stuff, we get to some specifics. Now, since I write “Comprehensive Reviews,” I can’t provide any specific advice for any other form. I assume that the emailer likes the way I review books, so I’ll offer some insight on that front.When writing a review, I immediately place into focus three things: Synopsis/HookThe basic story, the plot, etc. Pros/ConsWhat’s good and what’s bad. Like/Not LikeDid I like it or did I dislike it? Why? Anything that fits around these isn’t necessarily important, because the three things above are what I look for in a review (#3 more so than the others). Ultimately, everything ties into #3, because what a reader of these kinds of reviews generally wants (or I assume they want, because it’s what I want too) is the answer to the question: do I want to read this? There are too many books published every year for any one person to read, and a reader’s time is precious. They have to know whether or not they want to read a book and fast.On top of these elements, however, I tend to toss in some personal reaction. I like to tell the reader my personal reactions to elements within the story. Was a particular scene emotionally gripping? Did I cry? Did I grimace? Did I actually have a visceral reaction to something that a character did? I consider this to be an important aspect of my reviews because I get the sense that readers want books that are engaging on multiple levels. If a book did something for me on an emotional or physical level, that’s something they’d like to know so they don’t go and buy some book that turns out to be emotionally empty. Personal opinion doesn’t have to be specifically in this vein, though. You can fiddle with the imaginary “conventions” of book reviewing all you want. What you do in your reviews, however, is up to you. Don’t let me determine how you write your reviews (or anyone else, for that matter). Sit down and give it a shot. When I started writing reviews, I was horrible (I’ve gone back to look). I don’t consider myself a particularly good reviewer today, but I can see how I have improved. There’s nothing wrong with starting and sucking (just like in writing fiction).What is important is determining what you want to do with your reviews, how you want to present them, and then doing it. Everything else can fall into place one piece at a time.
Advice on Writing Reviews Part Two
(Read Part One and Part Three)Alright, so I’ve gone through the types of reviewers, but what about reviewing in general? Well, before you sit down to actually write reviews, you should really think about what you’re doing. Consider what kinds of reviews you want to write, what kinds of books you want to write them about, etc. Once you’ve decided these things, you should stick to some basic reviewing “rules” (they’re not really rules as much as good ideas): Be HonestThis can sometimes be difficult, even though people constantly say “well I’m honest about all my reviews.” The fact is that it can take some practice to actually be honest on reviews. It takes guts to actually say “this book was horrible.” After all, we’re human beings and often times we like to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. There are other factors that play into this too, such as horror stories of authors throwing tantrums over a review, and even some cases where the author actually told the reviewer to commit suicide. These things can happen. Thankfully it doesn’t happen often. A good way to start out is to follow the second rule, because you aren’t inhibited by such factors as trying to please the publisher, the author, etc. Read Your Library FirstDon’t immediately start asking for review copies. First, it’s stupid because no publisher is going to send you ARCs (advanced review copies) if you haven’t even started reviewing. The primary reason for reading books you’ve bought is that you’re not obligated in any way, even just by some internal argument with yourself, to do anything but be honest. It’s a great way to hone your abilities too. Read Other ReviewersA great way to pick up little tricks and such is to see what others are doing and trying it yourself. This can lead to altering it to fit what you want to do with reviewing. Don’t go overboard, though. Find reviewers you enjoy reading and try to figure out why you like their reviews over others. That’s likely the kind of thing you want to include in your reviews. Write For Yourself, KindaReviews are obviously meant for other people to read, but unless you like writing in styles that aren’t your own or doing things that you generally wouldn’t do, I suggest sticking to what you like about the form. Write reviews you would want to see, but also pay attention to how you write them. You don’t want to alienate readers, but you also don’t want to have cookie-cutter reviews. Writing reviews for yourself can add a bit of personal flavor. Try ThingsIf you get an idea on how to improve your reviews, try it. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting. After all, a long time ago someone on the Interwebs sat down, saw blogging, and thought, hey, why don’t I try doing a book review blog? Trying new things can help improve your reviews. I recommend not going overboard though. Don’t just throw random things in there in the name of experimentation; be reasonable and logical. Anyone reading this post, feel free to add your own little rules in the comments. I think we should try to consider this as some sort of unofficial, slightly comprehensive guide to book reviewing, or something on that order. There will be a third installment after this that will dig into how I do reviews, to a certain extent. Stay tuned!
Advice on Writing Reviews Part One
I recently received an email from a reader asking for advice on reviewing books and book review blogs. I figured the best way to answer would be to write a post about it (names excluded, of course). Here is what the reader wrote: The main reason I’m writing this e-mail is to ask you for some pointers on how to actually review books. I’ve been thinking of starting a review blog myself, but my reviews always seem to just consist of “I liked this book, and recommend it”. I want to be able to say more than that, but I don’t know how. I don’t suppose you have any tips you might be willing to share? Rest assured, you won’t get any competition for readers from me. First things first, this is a rather loaded question. There are a lot of different kinds of book reviews, both professional and amateur, and the way I review books is not necessarily the same as someone else. There are different classes or categorizations of book reviewing and each type has advantages and weaknesses. So, with that in mind, you have to decide what kind of book reviewer you want to be. The most common types of book reviewers are as follows (note: this post is not going to be a discussion of which kind of review style is the best one as I am not interested in discussing such matters; people read different kinds of reviews for different reasons; I would, of course, enjoy discussion about these review types and welcome additions to the pros and cons as you see fit): The LiteraryThese are folks like Larry of OF Blog of the Fallen who delve into the text, citing examples, pointing out themes, analyzing, etc. You might consider this to be along the lines of literary criticism. They can be quite interesting forms of reviews when done well and offer an in-depth perspective.Pros: These are designed to please those that are interested in more than whether or not they will like the book. Usually insightful and useful to those wanting to know whether a text is more than just another book about whatever.Cons: They can take a bit of time to do, especially if your reading practices are not already inclined to this sort of thing, and your audience will be relatively select (although not as select as you might think primarily because there aren’t a lot of blogs that do these kinds of reviews). The OMGGo on the Amazon, look up any popular book (Eragon, Twilight, Harry Potter, etc.) and find any 5-star review that essentially opens and closes with some derivation of “OMG this book was teh awzums.” That’s basically what this is, although to varying degrees of literacy.Pros: Quick and easy. These reviews are essentially about how you feel about the work and are not reliant upon objective opinion, informational dialogue (synopsis, plot information, etc.), etc.Cons: Because they don’t rely on objective opinion, informational dialogue, etc. these reviews tend to have value only to people who are already fans of a particular work, or fans of similar works. These reviews lose a lot of the value offered by other formats and really should be kept to convention meetings and Twilight fan clubs (I don’t even think they should be allowed on Amazon, because they provide absolutely nothing of value about a work: people read reviews to find out if they will enjoy a book, not whether you think it’s the best thing since sliced bread). The Reverse OMGTake the opinionated feel of #2 and add in some literacy. Essentially the Reverse OMG is a review that is based on personal opinion, but attempts to present that opinion in a less flamboyant manner. Consider this to be like an expanded #2 if you want.Pros: Tend to be much more interesting for the writer, which makes writing them rather easy.Cons: Suffers from some of the same issues as #2, although to a much lesser degree. Often times these sorts of reviews are placed on a personal blog, rather than a review blog, since they coincide with the writer’s personal opinions. These aren’t necessarily bad, though, and often can be interesting for people who like to get that more personal approach. Plus, they’re readable. The ComprehensiveWell, it’s like the name sounds. Comprehensive reviews, to varying degrees (obviously), attempt to bring a little of everything into the mix. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but by fusing a little personal opinion (I liked it) with informational dialogue (what was the plot, etc.) you end up with a review that tells the reader what the book is about, tells them whether you thought it was good, and informs them on whether they might enjoy it too. Now, this one breaks down into a lot of subtypes, but I’m not going to go into them (mostly because I haven’t the time for the absurdities of review semantics).Pros: Well, you’ve probably read these kinds of reviews in newspapers, magazines, etc. They benefit from being primarily about whether the experience of reading a particular work will be of value to someone who hasn’t read it. That’s the whole point. It’s meant to be clear and decisive on the matter by presenting information, opinion, and relevant comparisons.Cons: Less personal than #3 and generally not literary. Some of the depth of reviewing that is provided by the extremes (#1 and #3, respectively, as both are on different ends of the spectrum and offer insight into two different approaches) is lost here. (I attempt to write these). Those are the basic categories. From those, you have to decide what you want to do (and there is certainly plenty of overlap, to a certain extent, between these). I recommend avoiding #2 like the plague, because we have far too many of those kinds of reviews in the world as it is. That’s all for this edition, though, because to put all of the information I have into one post would be