I’ve been getting a lot of emails recently since I started doing the “In My Mailbox” posts, asking “How do you get all of those books?” So I thought I would address it here in case anyone else was wondering the same thing.
First off, let me start by saying that I know it seems like I get books every week, but I’ve just had a few good weeks recently, it usually IS NOT like that at all!
Believe it or not, it doesn’t happen overnight either. I’ve almost been blogging a year now and let me tell you, when I started I DID NOT get any books in the mail. And really it didn’t bother me. And I wouldn't suggest starting a book blog if you are using it for the sole purpose of gaining free books. I DO NOT have this site to get free books, I’m not going to lie and say that it isn’t a nice incentive, because it is, but I do it because I love to read, I always have, I probably always will. Now that, that is out of the way, lets continue.
A lot of major publishing houses have early reviewer programs for teens. HarperTeen, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Henry Holt are some, just to name a few. There are also bookish sites, like BookDivas and Young Adults Book Central (YABC). I actually have a list of links and some blogging tips from a guest post I did at Harmony Book Reviews, you can check out that post here. Those sites offer ARC (advance reader copies) but there are a lot of members and the companies are limited on how many ARCs they can print, so you might not always get the book you want. Still you should try them out. Do note that most of these programs are for residents of the US, but I do know Harper had a similar program in Canada.
It wasn’t until I was blogging for about five or six months, that I had a steady flow of books to review. And by steady, I mean one book a week, on the good weeks. Luckily I had a few authors and publishers who had faith in my little book site and it grew from there.
My preferred method of contact is to have authors/publishers/publicists contact me. I just started, and by just started I mean in the last month or so (October-November 2008), reversing that method of contact. (although I still prefer it that way). And I’m only doing it now, because I believe my site has something to offer. On an average I gain about 500 visitors a day. That’s 3,500 visitors a week, around 14,000 visitors a month. Now to some bloggers that’s nothing, but for me, I don’t feel like I’m asking for a handout, when I say “Hey I’d love to review your book.” because I’m not only saying that, but also... not only am I interested but the totally excellent and awesome people that stop by my site are going to see it too and they might get interested.
So there it is. I think I said everything I wanted to say. Which is basically, just to sum it all up for you, I have no idea how I get all those books, I like to think it’s luck!
Hopefully that answers the question and then some. Don’t be afraid to email me if you do have any questions, I’m always up for that. I’ll try to answer them as best as possible, but really I have no idea what I’m doing. :)