I'm With Them.

Hey, I'm back! We got home late yesterday and while scrolling through 1000 reader items, I came upon a reference to this site. Yep. Now authors can pay to be part of a blog tour and have bloggers review their books. You do understand that this means all bloggers will look bad, as if they're all blogging for free books. (Don't get me started on the site's condescending instructions to participating bloggers.)

So, yeah, I stand with Colleen Mondor and Kelly Fineman. And I think we need an image, a button, if you will, declaring our stance as Independent Bloggers. Anyone up for the challenge?

ETA: Look what showed up on Lifehack (coincidentally) today: How to Get a Blogger to Promote Your Product. Quote of note: "While it costs marketers little to reach out to bloggers, it can potentially cost bloggers quite a bit in terms of lost integrity and lost audiences. Offering a blogger your product for free seems nice, but a blogger can quickly lose their readers’ goodwill if they’re perceived as a shill for some company." Word.
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It's Poetry Friday! Sarah Reinhard is on the roundup. I'll be back later with a Poetry Friday book review.
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Don't miss Liz B's post on the U.K. age designation argument. When I first heard of this plan, I thought it might be a good idea. But then, as often happened, I changed my mind and now believe it's a bad plan.