I’ve decided to do a part two of “How Do You Get All Those Books?” Mostly because I’ve got an insane amount of emails (and I don’t mind them at all!) about getting books and going into more detail with the how’s of it all. .
You can check out my first “How do you get all those books?” post, here. And I also posted about getting books for review during my blog tips series, you can see that post, here.
I’m going to start with a little disclaimer almost identical to what I mentioned in the first “HDYGATB?” post: I am very fortunate and extremely lucky that I receive the amount of books that I do. And I know that and truly appreciate it. I didn’t start my blog to receive early copies/ARCs, and I wouldn’t recommend starting your blog for the sole purpose of getting free books. Here’s a comment from an anonymous publicist that I got during my blog tips series:
“As a publicist, I've noticed a marked increase in the number of emails I've been receiving asking for free books to "review on a blog." (I'm wondering if it's due to review bloggers like TSS explaining how she did it.) Often, the so-called reviewer doesn't even include their blog, and, if they do, it's barely active, or consists mainly of posts bragging about all the free books they get. Visitors? Comments? Nope.
If you are starting a blog for the purpose of getting free books -- guys, it shows. Worry less about your header graphics and more about providing lots of great content that will draw visitors into your blog. Look at the story siren: she regularly posts reviews, interviews, contests, round ups, etc., and hers is a popular blog visited by tons of readers! Publicists send promotional materials to "big mouths," not to freeloaders just looking for an excuse to score arcs.”
Book blogging has changed drastically from the time that I first started. I remember when there were just a few of us book bloggers (in my little corner of the world) that focused on YA novels and now there are hundreds! And I think that is awesome, but I’m hoping that the people that are starting them are doing it for the right reasons, sharing their love of reading.
For me getting ARCs for review wasn’t something that happened overnight, but I’ve seen that trend starting to change. It seems like there is a significant amount of “new” bloggers (and by new I mean, those who have been blogging for less than five months) that seem to be getting ARCs without a problem.
Here is a question I’ve been getting a lot lately: What do you say when you ask for a book?
Introducing yourself is always a good thing! I also tell the recipient a little bit about my blog, what it features, how many visitors and so on. I also provide a link to my blog. Mention why the author would want to feature their book on your site, and also include the title of the book in question.
If you didn’t see the author’s side of “HDYGATB” that Saundra Mitchell did, you should check that out.
Question 2: Who do you contact when you want a book? or Can you give me the name of your contact for _______ ?
There are really two ways to go about contacting, either authors and/or publishers. Most of the time authors have emails that you can use to contact them personally. A lot of times if an author is interested in having you review their novel, they will put you in contact with their publicist, and you can go from there.
The majority of the times, authors contact me. Granted if there is a book I’m really interested, I do try to obtain one, but I prefer the author to contact me first, mainly because I’m a very shy person, believe it or not!
Check out publisher websites, sometimes you can find contact information there. Lenore of Presenting Lenore even has a link to a Review Copy Helper that you can find on her New Blogger FAQ.
And I have to agree with other bloggers when I suggest you don’t ask other reviewers for their publisher contact information. Because honestly, it’s not our information to give.
Question 3: What other places are there to get ARCs?
I explained that a little bit further in a past post you can find, here. I’ve mentioned early reviewer programs and other bookish sites.
In essence, the reason I get “all those books” is because I take the time to work hard on my blog.
In the fear that I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, this will most likely be my last post discussing the nuts and bolts of getting books. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can leave then in the comments. I’ll add them to the main body of the post and address them accordingly.