Tips on Reviewing Books

[Shanda]

I'm new to book blogging and would love to hear tips and suggestions on writing book reviews on my blog. Any format you follow? Any help would be welcome. Thanks!

[Amy Jacobs]

If you want you can take a look at my blog and see how I have it set up. I try to do author interviews on Tuesdays and a review of books whenever I finish one. I also keep on my sidebar a list of upcoming events so people who have certain interests can know when to check back. I usually offer a contest once a week but sometimes just once a month depending on what I have. Amy
http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/

[Shanda]

Thanks Amy, that's generous of you to offer. I'll check you out.

[Emily]

I think any formats is fine so long as it is entertaining, informative and you keep it fairly consistent.

[Christy Pinheiro]

Shanda, why don't you post the link to your blog so we can see it an make suggestions. That might help us better understand what you are looking for.

[Shanda]

Christy, this makes me feel really vulnerable, but here it is; www.bookthoughtsbyshanda.blogspot.com. Just don't laugh and remember I'm a newbie.

[Christy Pinheiro]

Whay would I laugh? I think the blog looks good. You should post your submission guidelines in your profile or on the front page of your blog if you want authors or publishers to send you books for review. Here's mine so you can see how I set it up.

The Self Publishing Maven


By the way, I accidentally "stole" someone else's blog name, too. And now it's part of my permanent URL. Bummer. But at least I changed the title of my blog. Oh well, chalk one up to experience. Other than that, I think it looks good. Just keep at it and in a few months you'll start to see real results.

Plus, I think that you shouldn't feel vunerable. We are all in a public forum here and all of us have had to deal with critisicm and a few trolls. I'll tell you, it's a great way to toughen up and also meet new friends. I've gotten really wonderful ideas from the people here and that's what we are all here for. To provide feedback and help each other out.

[Jaime Huff]

I haven't looked at your blog yet (don't worry! Nobody will laugh! Be confident and have fun! You are doing this for fun, right??) but one tip that I can't stress enough DON'T POST SPOILERS (at least without a spoiler alert) or give away too much of the plot!

Here's my blog : http://booknerdextraordinaire.blogspot.com As you can see, I am pretty new, too. Some of my reviews are detailed and a little longer, but some are short and sweet.

[Shanda]

Thank you all so much for helping me. I appreciate you sharing your blogs and your ideas with me. It is a lot of fun and fun to meet everyone who loves books as much as me!

[Joseph Arellano]

It basically looks just fine to me, although I have just one small suggestion... You might want to consider different colors for the type as the ones you have may be/are difficult for near color-blind people (like myself) to read. Joseph
http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/

[Shanda]

Thanks for letting me know that - I hadn't considered that.

[Tricia]

You could also join the Blogging Tips group on this site hosted by Natasha. :)

[Shanda]

Oh great idea, thanks.