Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Calling All Bloggers! I Need Advice! I Need Help!

Calling all bloggers!

I need help with my reviews...I need some advice on these things. Please take the time to comment and answer them. I really want to know what you guys think:

1. Should my reviews be in first person or third person? With 'I's or 'the reader's?

2. Should I include a short summary at the beginning of each review?

3. What do you guys think I need to improve on, on my reviews?

4. What would you rate my current reviews? Be honest! It's okay if you rate them badly; all you need to do is justify why it is...

5. How many reviews should I try to aim for, each week?

6. Anything else you'd like to add?

That's it! I'd really appreciate it if you guys could answer these! I've been having trouble lately...please let me know what you think! :-)

Thanks!

my signature

8 comments:

So Many Books, So Little Time September 9, 2009 at 5:24 PM  

Your reviews should definitely be in first person, you current reviews are really good, a short summary of the book at the beginning is good and only do as many reviews each week as you can.

Lexie September 9, 2009 at 5:29 PM  

Okay here's my humble opinion...

1. Should my reviews be in first person or third person? With 'I's or 'the reader's?
--I do both in my reviews depending on if I'm talking about something *I* cared about or something that is a general thing for the reader to notice.

2. Should I include a short summary at the beginning of each review?
--as a rule I always include a blurb about the book. Be it from Amazon, the author's website or the back of the book. Since not everyone has read what i'm posting it sometimes helps and it leaves me free to only summarize the plot points I found most intriguing in my review.

3. What do you guys think I need to improve on, on my reviews?
--I like your reviews actually. They're in depth and tend to cover all aspects of the book. I tend to just skim or skip the 'report card' portion though, since you lay out your feelings in the review body itself so well.

4. What would you rate my current reviews? --B+, like I said the report card is the only portion I don't tend to read and I think it would be good to have some sort of link for the readers to go and buy the book (or pre-order of whatever). There's a bunch of ways to do it, I use Amazon Associates since sometimes I get a bit of money back from it.

5. How many reviews should I try to aim for, each week?
--however many you think you can handle. I can't judge since I don't know your RL stuffs. I average about 2-3 a week on my blog and another 4 or so for the sites I review for. Some weeks there are way more and others there are way less. 2-3 though seems a good ratio with meme's and what such.

6. Anything else you'd like to add?
--Not that I am one to talk, but your sidebars are very wordy--there's large chunks of text and then more large chunks of text. I think some of it might serve you better to have a post that you link to so that its not just endless words.

I hope some of this helps!

BookChic September 10, 2009 at 1:29 AM  

I just have thoughts on a couple questions, not all. Here are my answers.

1. Should my reviews be in first person or third person? With 'I's or 'the reader's?
-I usually do both, just like Lexie said. Whatever you're comfortable with, do it.

2. Should I include a short summary at the beginning of each review?
-Definitely. Otherwise, people won't know what the book is about.

5. How many reviews should I try to aim for, each week?
-As many as you feel comfortable doing. I don't know what your schedule is like so I can't provide you with a number. It's whatever you feel comfortable doing.

Adele September 10, 2009 at 2:16 AM  

I like your reviews just fine, do whatever feels comfortable. The way i see it, we are not charging for our opinions so we get to offer them however we see fit.

A Passion For Books September 10, 2009 at 8:30 AM  

I think your reviews should be in first person considering its a reflection of your feelings.

I always post a summary of the story that way if people haven't heard of or forgot what it was about they can. If they don't want to read it, they can scroll on down. I usually just post the blurb from amazon, goodreads, or the authors website.

I like your reviews now.

I can't really rate it because like I said before I like your reviews. By the time I finish reading it I know whether I want to read the book or not. The only thing - I tend to skip the report card section and just look at the total score. Personally, I like the good old-fashion star rating.

I don't think you should aim for a certain number of reviews a week. Just however many you can. I usually only post about 2 or 3 because some books are bigger so it takes me longer to read. Don't overload your self because this should be fun :)

Overall, I think you are doing just fine.

I love your blog! There had to get that out of my system.

There's my opinion, hope it helps.

Lindsay :) September 10, 2009 at 9:09 AM  

I agree with Casey 100%

~Lindsay
JABA

Shalonda September 10, 2009 at 10:30 AM  

I pretty much echo everyone's comments.

I think BookChic was very wise in advising you to post as many reviews as you are comfortable with.

A very well respected blogger told me when I first started that blogging is supposed to be fun, so don't do anything overwhelming. I am VERY busy so I only review when I can. That may mean one review a month or a one a week. Either way, I'm having fun doing it and I'm not stressing myself out.

Anonymous,  September 12, 2009 at 9:20 AM  

1. Should my reviews be in first person or third person? With 'I's or 'the reader's?
[ I think your reviews should be done in 1st person. It's your review, how you felt and what you thought about the book. ]


2. Should I include a short summary at the beginning of each review?
[ I think that would help. That way, if someone comes across a book that you're reviewing and they haven't heard of it before, they can read the blurb without clicking out to another webpage. ]


5. How many reviews should I try to aim for, each week?
[ Depends on how many books you read. I'm a slow reader so I may do one review every week or every other. Life gets in the way of reading :) ]

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