My friend and fellow book blogger, Autumn, of The Autumn Review recently wrote a piece for a blog called Finding Bliss run by Laura Howard. I loved and agreed with what Autumn said in the piece and so I asked her if I could reprint it. Kindly, she gave me her permission.

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Laura wrote:

Authors need to be aware of the golden resources that are at their finger tips. One of the most important of these is the Book Blogger.

Not only should they be loved, but they should be respected! Autumn of The Autumn Review is here with some insight from a bloggers perspective!

Autumn:

When I started blogging, I already had a few relationships with authors established. That’s what helped me get into the community. I met other bloggers as well as other authors through those relationships. So, in my opinion, I think it’s very important to maintain and develop strong author/blogger relationships.

From what I’ve seen and experienced, there are many authors out there that don’t know all of the advantages of establishing blogger relationships. Bloggers are a fantastic resource for authors to help promote their books. Many blogs out there will not only review for them, but will generally promote them with cover reveals, weekly meme’s, giveaways, and more.

As for my personal experience with authors, I’ve developed some really great professional and personal relationships since I’ve started blogging. I’ve had the opportunity to read some really fantastic books pre-release, as well as beta reading. I think once you establish a trusting relationship with an author, the more they value your input. I also believe that just like in the blogging world, authors talk to each other about the bloggers to trust and rely on.

I do believe there is a limit of how far a blogger will/should go to help an author. Most authors do remember and respect the fact that most bloggers, blog because we love to read. As simple as that. Most of us don’t get paid and some of us make daily posts, which is extremely time consuming. So, yes, we get a lot of free books, but we also do a lot of work. I haven’t run into too many instances in which I’ve felt taken advantage of, but I do see it happen.

There are a few relationships I’ve made with authors that have become true friendships. That said, I don’t treat their books any differently. In fact, I almost feel like I can be more honest with them about a book. I also think that those friends understand that I may not fall in love with every book they write.

Now that I’ve rambled on for way longer than I originally planned, do I think author/blogger relationships are important? You bet I do. If you are an author and want to sell your book’s, I’d highly recommend searching for bloggers within your genre online, through Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, TWITTER and FACEBOOK.

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I have a few thoughts I’d like to add.

I too have formed friendships with several authors, and like Autumn I have no problem in treating their books the same as any other author I review. I’ve worked in management a  long time and we have a saying that applies here. Where business is concerned…it’s not personal. That may sound harsh to some, but it’s necessary in order to maintain integrity.

When I say that I love a book and recommend it? I don’t take that lightly. Books are my passion. They always will be whether Bookish exists or not. When I give an author my support via BT, twitter, or in any other way, it’s because I believe in them, and I want the whole world to know about them and their books.

Tamie Xo