So, over the last few months I’ve been somewhat vocal (typal?) with the book blogging crowd whenever a post gets written about blogging independence. Taking free books, accepting sponsored blog tours
, and other such things compromise your independence as a blogger. How much of your independence you want to give up is entirely up to you. At a certain level, I don’t really want to read your reviews if you aren’t really independent.
I’m already a bit iffy if the blogger takes free review copies or when they participate in <q>blog tours</q>. But if you are okay with reading blogs that do that, that’s your call.
But what really chaps my hide are people who take money in return for reviews. This came up a couple of months ago in posts on a couple of blogs about possible application of government regulations regarding accepting sponsorship. The general tone seemed to be: accepting review copies is fine, and we would never accept payola!
Well, now one of the book blogging community
has announced her payola policy. BookReviewsByBobbie charges $55 for a book review on her review site. Nowhere on her site (as of this writing, I expect that will change if this shit hits the fan) does she explain that she takes money for these posts. She explains it on a complete other site, where no one really will think to look. I can’t imagine anyone with integrity approving of this arrangement.
Nevertheless, BookReviewsByBobbie received six nominations for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) awards. I’ve never been too keen on those awards, though I’m not really against them either. Mostly a mutual appreciation society. And that’s good in a way because it cross-promotes some pretty good blogs.
But promoting a reviewer who takes money for her reviews? I sure hope the folks that run BBAW and all of its various supporters make a quick and visible effort to distance themselves from this kind of crap. I’ve gotten some indication that they will. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I hope everyone else refuses to deal with that site, removing links etc. (The link in this post will be here for only a week so people know which site I am talking about after which I will remove them.)
Meanwhile, I hope that book bloggers generally will realize that this can happen here
. It might even be me, or you. I won’t tell people to stop taking review copies or joining blog tours. But I will say this: pay attention to when your gut tells you something is questionable. When you worry about whether it’s okay to say something negative. When you worry about turning down a publicist’s review request. When it seems like a few bucks is better compensation for your time.
Edited with further developments: BBAW responds to this criticism with the surprising statement that payola sites are eligible for awards. I’ll be writing another post about this later, but this link needs to be included here as well.
I saw your comment on Twitter and Amy’s response. I then went to Bobbie’s blogs to check them both out.
I’m not sure if she changed what you had originally read, but she states that the packages offered for sale are for publicity only and that they do not include a review.
She also states that this publicity is put under the sidebar banner of “Highlight Advertisement” over on her review blog, thus making clear it is paid for.
However, if both sites are not delved into too deeply, the overall aspect and motivation of both blogs can be misconstrued.
Either way, one can see how her “publicity” busines, so conjoined with her book review site, can cause one to question the credibility even though she has posted a disclosure statement on the publicity blog.
Perhaps it should also be made clear on her book review blog also.
I sense this will be a contentious issue to say the least, and will be interested to see the other comments your post is going to receive.
As a book reviewer who blogs, I am watching this issue intently. I don’t necessarily agree with everyone all the time, including you, but I am always, always open to meaningful discourse.
I hope this is what happens with this case.
Her “Dedicated Book Reviews” doesn’t actually include a book review. Or does it? Frankly, I don’t give damn. Her current sponsored author/book is Amy Stewart’s Wicked Plants according to her “Dedicated Book Reviews” site. However, her “Friday Finds” post highlighting Wicked Plants doesn’t say word #1 about it being paid for.
But even if she were to highlight it, I don’t trust her reviews now. Here’s just ONE scenario: publicist handles two authors. Author #1 gets a paid post. Author #2 doesn’t pay for a post. Can she review that honestly? No.
I see that. Also, she states on the review site under her review policy:
At this time I am not accepting new review titles on Book Reviews By Bobbie . . . If you would still like me to review or promote your book, please choose from several different options at my associate site Dedicated Book Reviews.
It says “review” there, and then on the other site it says no review is included.
And only those willing to check it out like you did, find those discrepancies.
She is making it really hard for the rest of us, and not helping her cause at all by contradictory information and behavior.
I am getting all worked up now thinking about how much this is going to set back the credibility many of us work so hard to maintain.
I have to say, if you look at it as advertising, then who cares? You pay for advertising (or if not, then you’ll probably get what you paid for). If I spend $55 advertising on Google, besides getting a lot more eyeballs on my ad, how is that any different than paying $55 dollars to get an ad on a website somewhere else?
BUT…
(and it’s a big but) If you’re paying $55 to put an ad on a book-blogging site, and if that ad looks even remotely like the reviews on said book-blogging site, then I don’t think you can really look at it as advertising. Subsidy reviews in disguise are as bad as subsidy publishers in disguise. “Oh, no, we’re not a subsidy publisher – why, we reject %90 of manuscripts! (except no one can ever find any of those writers that got rejected) By the way, that’ll be $17,000, please.” So said a letter from a non-subsidy subsidy publisher, and it seems to me that this is a non-subsidy subsidy book-blog.
(no relation to J.C., whose blog I am now on my way toward)
I re-read her “Dedicated Reviews” site and found what I saw originally where she offers book reviews for $55. That can be found here: http://dedicatedbookreviews.blogspot.com/2009/08/book-promotion-packages.html
All I can say regarding that link is “Wow”.
Everything she lists is done by others, many others, for free.
Either way, from the posting on the BBAW site, it seems as if she won’t make it shortlist. I believe Spet. 7th is the date where the shortlist will be announced.
We’ll see then. I have faith in BBAW and its panelists in that they will do what’s right, and fair.
It would seem if she doesn’t receive payment for the reviews then she should probably change the name of th site to Dedicated Book Promotions maybe. I think that if you have to pay for a review its not worth the page its listed on and I wouldn’t trust anything further from the person paid for said review.
I’m working through my feelings on the whole pay-for-play thing because I just joined the BlogHer network and BlogHer routinely works with advertisers to run paid promotions for their bloggers- when the blogger gets paid in cash and/or product to review a product or service in a review blog separate from his/her main blog. On the one hand, I have yet to read a negative review. On the other, they’re disclosing left and right that they’re getting paid, so the reader can take it with a grain of salt anyway. And the truth is- I would love to participate in some of these promotions. And I like that BlogHer has found a business model that allows bloggers to make some income from their blogging. I’ve always believed that what we do has some monetary value and we deserve to be compensated when what we write helps sell someone else’s product or enhance their business. My whole problem with blog tours is that everyone BUT the blogger gets paid. It’s up to the blogger to behave ethically and honestly but as long as he/she is doing that, I’m not sure I see the harm.
As far as a paid reviewer being eligible for BBAW, that seems a little suspect. I would like to see ALL pro sites become INeligible, if only to level the playing field. I think BBAW should be for “amateurs”- regular people like you and me who don’t blog for a company (I evaluated one blog run by PBS for a BBAW award- seems a little skewed to me) and don’t have to hold their work to professional standards.
Enough from me for today!
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It depends on who’s doing the paying. Reviewers for the NY Times get paid for their reviews, for instance. And getting paid by BlogHer ala a syndication deal is fine with me too. I’m not familiar with BlogHer’s payment deal though. It might be something I consider problematic; it might not. (
Last year the Stranger (local alt-weekly here in Seattle that is the only decent books section in town) found out that one its advertising reps had been writing music reviews. They immediately took action and apologized. The point being, it was important to them to keep a wall between the people bringing money in and the editorial content they were writing.
A paid review site isn’t necessarily a completely awful thing. If I go to one of those virtual blog tour sites I know they are promoting stuff. If I go to an author’s web site, I know they are promoting their work. But they are no longer reviewing. Now they are selling. Phrasing shouldn’t be “here’s a book review” it should be “here’s something I want to sell you.” As you are now a publicist rather than a reviewer or critic.
(I will have more on this later in a separate post. It’s half written.)
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