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.

Blog Resolutions

I LOVED Liz B.'s post on New Year's blogging resolutions (inspired by Semicolon), so I thought I'd follow suit. My resolutions may be the same as others', but I still want to take part. Here are my blogging resolutions for 2007:

1. Stop using JacketFlap to read blogs. I think JacketFlap is a great service for others, but not for me. I tend to miss posts and not read as thoroughly by reading blogs on this service. From now on, I plan on clicking from my own roll and then checking the Flap once a week or so for new blogs out there. This for me is the most important resolution.
2. Participate in Semicolon's Saturday Reviews! I always forget, because it's a busy day for me with the kids.
3. Like Liz, I need to track my review copies and be more vigilant about reading in order received. I'm working on a system now.
4. Pay attention to Children's Book Reviews!! It's been more than a month since I've been adding links and I really want this to be a good resource for others.
5. Get a new design. One with better linking and categorizing. I prefer Typepad's formats--will I have to move there? Do it, even if I'm afraid of losing readers.