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Book Blast: THE BOOK BLOGGER PLATFORM by Barb Drozdowich

10/21/2014

12 Comments

 
Today, as part of a virtual book blast tour, I have an excerpt from Barb Drozdowich's The Book Blogger Platform, a guide for book bloggers. Barb will be giving away a $20 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter, so be sure to enter for your chance to win.

You can read my review of this guide here.
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About the book:

Book Blogging - One of the Best Hobbies in the World! Join thousands of book bloggers in expressing their joy of reading!

Are you a book blogger or do you want to be one? Are you having trouble handling the technical details of blogging? The Book Blogger Platform can be a "user manual" for your blog! A book written by a book blogger for book bloggers and that answers all your questions!

The Book Blogger Platform covers topics such as:

1. What a book blogger blog needs to contain
2. A step by step guide to manipulating images and videos
3. A description of all the common features hosted by book bloggers
4. A description of the social media aspect to a book blogger platform
5. Being Social - the social aspect of book blogging

If you are tired of always asking other bloggers questions, let The Book Blogger Platform guide you painlessly. Over 80 color graphics lead you step by step through some of the more difficult technical issues that bloggers face.

Pick up a copy today and approach blogging with confidence!

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

Just as all book bloggers are different, their approach to book blogging is also different. Some book bloggers consider themselves primarily book reviewers. Some book bloggers consider themselves primarily promoters of books. Some book bloggers will only post about a book they have read. Some book bloggers will post about any book that belongs to a genre that fits the profile of their blog.

Book bloggers who consider themselves primarily book reviewers make their reviews the main focus of their blog. They often take their self-imposed “job” of reviewing books very seriously. They put hours of work into reading a book and then creating the right combination of words to best describe their thoughts and impressions. It’s a labor of love.

Many book bloggers, such as myself, consider themselves primarily promoters of books. I began my blog posting reviews of books I’d read, and I worked hard to grow my blog’s audience. I am very proud of my blog and the work that goes into it. However, I have a full-time job and a family. I don’t have enough reading hours to review one book a day, so I fill my blog’s days with a mixture of reviews and promotions. I don’t post more than once a day, but I use the platform I have built to promote as many books and authors as I can that fit within my reading taste. 

As I mentioned above, some book bloggers will only post about books they have read. They feel that posting about a book is a recommendation of that book and they don’t want to recommend a book they haven’t read.

Have I read all the books that are promoted on my blog? No. I fit into the other camp of book bloggers. I see promoting books, whether through blog tours, reviews, or other promotions, as simply sharing information. I leave it up to my readers to decide whether to read the book or not.

Another area in which people hold strong feelings centers on whether or not to post negative reviews. One camp feels that all book bloggers who review books need to post negative reviews. They feel that having an assortment of positive and negative reviews creates balance. It allows readers to read about what the blogger likes and doesn’t like and why. It is often said that reviewers who only post positive reviews risk having their honesty questioned.

I am of the camp that doesn’t bother to finish a book if I am not enjoying it. I feel no need to talk about a book I didn’t like. I have boxes and boxes of books to be read. My Nook (e-reader) is full of little gems waiting for my attention. Maybe it’s my age, but I don’t soldier on, I move on. I do, however, make it clear in my review policy that I only talk about books that I enjoyed reading.

This topic will come up again later; you do need to give some thought to your philosophy on book blogging. Are you going to only post reviews? Are you only going to promote books you have read? This isn’t necessarily something that will be decided on at the beginning and that you can never change. Many book bloggers change their views as time progresses.

Accompanying your philosophy of blogging is your view of how much of a platform you are going to have. I started my blog to express my thoughts about the books I’d read. It never really occurred to me that other people would read what I had read, let alone comment on it or share it with friends!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with creating a book blog to share your thoughts with friends—old friends as well as new. If, however, you actively seek out blog tour posts and post promotions of author’s books, you should also be actively growing your book blogger platform. If someone is paying to post on your blog via a blog tour, you should be able to share this information with as many people as possible.

Everyone starts out as a baby blogger. Everyone has a different view of what they want their blog to be. There is no right or wrong answer. Every blog should be a reflection of its owner and its owner’s tastes.

I hope to use this book to describe the Book Blogger Platform in its entirety. I hope to give you a lot to think about. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and my blogs every day. My contact links will be listed at the end of this book. I love answering questions and chatting about books!


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About the author:

Social media and Wordpress consultant Barb Drozdowich has taught at universities and colleges, trained technical personnel in the banking industry and, most recently, used her expertise to help dozens of authors develop the social media platform needed to succeed in today’s fast evolving publishing world. She owns Bakerview Consulting and manages the popular blog, Sugarbeat’s Books.



For more about Barb Drozdowich and her books, visit her website, like her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter or Google+. The Book Blogger Platform is currently available exclusively at Amazon on Kindle.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
12 Comments
Goddess Fish Promotions link
10/22/2014 07:26:47 pm

Thanks for hosting!

Reply
Sue VanNort
10/22/2014 09:08:58 pm

Being a blogger myself, I am very interested to learn more of my favorite pasttime!

Reply
Barb Drozdowich link
10/22/2014 10:52:42 pm

Morning Sue!
Isn't book blogging the best hobby anyone can have? Keep reading :)

Barb

Reply
Barb Drozdowich link
10/22/2014 10:51:20 pm

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book and to promote it on your blog. I appreciate your time and your efforts!

Barb

Reply
Sandy
10/23/2014 12:16:18 am

Great bits of information. I am a reviewer and co-own a book review site. You touch on some subjects that most bloggers are concerned about-negative vs positive reviews and DNF. Thanks for the opportunity and the giveaway. Even bloggers like to win ;)

Reply
Barb Drozdowich link
10/23/2014 01:36:05 am

Hi Sandy!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree with your comments - many bloggers are concerned about many things these days. I wrote this book to be as helpful as I could to as many as I could. I like to think there is a little something for everyone. Obviously, the majority is for baby bloggers, but we all started there at one point :)

I hope that my book helps provoke thought. I don't have all the answers, nor do I want to have them. I remember all the questions when I first started. I'm not a person who is happy stumbling around looking for answers! My background is science - therefore my love of instructional books :)

Book Blogging is a hobby, and as such, needs to be the creation of the owner. If I can add a tidbit here or there to ease someone's way into the best hobby in the world...I'm happy to do that!

Good luck in the giveaway. If you are interested in a copy, drop me a note and we can talk.
Barb

Reply
Rita Wray
10/23/2014 02:09:49 am

Great excerpt.

Reply
Laura Roberts link
10/23/2014 11:34:47 am

Thanks for sharing this excerpt! I'm always curious to learn more about blogging.

Reply
Lindsay
10/23/2014 11:46:48 am

I enjoyed reading about whether to post negative reviews.

Reply
Barb Drozdowich link
10/23/2014 11:57:00 am

Hi Ladies! Thanks for stopping by! Laura - I think that book blogging is the best hobby anyone can have! Lindsay - I think posting negative reviews - or any reviews - should be a personal decision. It has to be something that you are comfortable with.

Thanks again,
Barb

Reply
Mary Preston
10/23/2014 05:37:04 pm

Useful information.

Reply
bn100
10/24/2014 11:31:05 am

Informative post

Reply



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