Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "fourth-of-july"
Honestly
Happy (bleeping) birthday, America! You know I love ya, but please forgive me if I'm not in a very festive mood.
It's hot. It's humid. And while everyone else in the country is out soaking up the sun, enjoying cookouts and getting ready for tonight's firework displays, I am stuck inside working on my laptop. Again. And for the record, we don't even have central air conditioning.
But as usual I do have a lot on my mind. And as usual I feel compelled to blog about it -- even if no one else cares.
You see, the members of various writers groups here on goodreads and elsewhere are currently engaged in a never-ending debate about book reviews. Some are wondering about the merits of paying for reviews. Others are wondering what constitutes an honest review. I've chimed in on those threads and for brevity's sake I won't repeat myself here.
But the bottom line is, there are no easy answers. There are just facts -- and the facts are that most authors aren't backed by big-time publishers with unlimited marketing budgets. The facts are that no matter how much we try to convince ourselves and everyone else that we're not in this for the money, we all want to sell our books. The facts are that without the backing of large publishing houses, we are all responsible for finding new and innovative ways to do that.
The facts are that the Internet provides a wealth of opportunities for book promotion including various ways of getting paid and unpaid reviews. The facts are that for every legitimate opportunity, there are likely tons of unscrupulous people looking to take advantage of new or unsuspecting authors.
Of course that isn't right, but it is what it is. After all, this is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a bastion of capitalism -- for better and for worse.
Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. So, God Bless America!
And until next time, "That's life..."
It's hot. It's humid. And while everyone else in the country is out soaking up the sun, enjoying cookouts and getting ready for tonight's firework displays, I am stuck inside working on my laptop. Again. And for the record, we don't even have central air conditioning.
But as usual I do have a lot on my mind. And as usual I feel compelled to blog about it -- even if no one else cares.
You see, the members of various writers groups here on goodreads and elsewhere are currently engaged in a never-ending debate about book reviews. Some are wondering about the merits of paying for reviews. Others are wondering what constitutes an honest review. I've chimed in on those threads and for brevity's sake I won't repeat myself here.
But the bottom line is, there are no easy answers. There are just facts -- and the facts are that most authors aren't backed by big-time publishers with unlimited marketing budgets. The facts are that no matter how much we try to convince ourselves and everyone else that we're not in this for the money, we all want to sell our books. The facts are that without the backing of large publishing houses, we are all responsible for finding new and innovative ways to do that.
The facts are that the Internet provides a wealth of opportunities for book promotion including various ways of getting paid and unpaid reviews. The facts are that for every legitimate opportunity, there are likely tons of unscrupulous people looking to take advantage of new or unsuspecting authors.
Of course that isn't right, but it is what it is. After all, this is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a bastion of capitalism -- for better and for worse.
Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. So, God Bless America!
And until next time, "That's life..."
That's life...
All you may -- or may not -- want to know about my adventures as an author and other stuff.
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