As part of my 360 degree look at the publishing industry, today I talk with Bibi, from book blogging site bibianesebookblog.com.

Bibi describes herself as a 33 year young mother of cats and a bookworm with capitals through and through. She loves nothing more than disappearing from the world to get into whatever universe the next book in line represents. When she’s not busy reading she runs a blog where she rants and raves about books. As part of my Inside the Publishing Industry Series I approached Bibi to talk about the relevance of book bloggers in the book publishing world.

Thank you very much for taking part in this discussion. Can you give me a brief introduction to your blog?

As you say, my blog is where I talk about books, characters and even sometimes my everyday life. Though, I want it to be personal I tend to try and focus more on reviews and interact with the community through book tags. The idea of blogging started a year ago when it really hit me, how few people I know IRL that are interested in listening to me talk about my latest read. So, I needed a place to let it all out because for me it can be quite a hollow experience if you got no one to share it with. My preferred reads are Romance and it’s (very) many sub genres. Like Reverse Harem, Erotica, Paranormal etc. but I also like to mix it up with fantasy every now and then.

What is your motivation for blogging about books?

At first I wasn’t sure anyone would ever be reading what I posted, so then it was just for me. But after I’ve realised that people do follow and read my posts, that is a big part of the motivation. Though, I only blog about books that inspire me whether it’s in a positive or negative way. At least a few times a month I read a book that’s just so mediocre that I don’t really have any opinions, thoughts or views on the matter. Those books never make it to my blog. I really do need to feel something, otherwise no post can come from it.

Do you ever give books bad reviews?

Yes – if I don’t like the book I’ll be 100% honest. I’ve previously made a discussion post just about this topic, because I don’t understand that some people hold back, or even think its rude to post negative reviews. I mean at the end of the day writing is an art and all art is subject to individual taste. Simple as.

Don’t get me wrong I get that it can be hard for the author, to have their life’s work trashed by some no-name self-proclaimed blogger… but isn’t that part of what you need to expect when you make anything public? To me it’s the same as not everyone likes my writing style, my blog or even me.

How do you choose which books you’ll read and review?

I quite regularly get contacted by authors who wants me to read and review their work. Aside from that being incredibly flattering, that’s also my priority. Anything with a deadline on it (like arc & beta’s) come first. Then I go by new releases and recommendations. I used to request books from Netgalley, but had to stop as they sometimes approved it on the day the review had to be written. Way too much stress! So many times I’ve had to put down a book I really wanted to read to adhere to deadlines, which I won’t do anymore. Because at that point my beloved hobby became a chore!

I think book bloggers can play a big part in an independently published author’s career, are you mindful of that when you review a book or when you choose a book to read?

I agree – I think bloggers can play a big part for indie authors. No matter whether self published, or published from a huge publishing house I’m still staying true to my views and opinions. However, my system is usually this:

Amazon reviews: short and sweet but still with the star rating I deem appropriate. Though I always try to find 1 redeeming or positive thing to mention there.

Goodreads: part of the review on my blog with a direct link

My blog: complete honesty and in-depth info about what I love and hate.

I work on a regular basis with quite a few indie authors, so they know what to expect from me. If I don’t like their book I’ll usually say something like “I expected more after previously reading x” that way I draw attention to some of their work I’ve really loved, which makes it less negative. At least from my point of view.

Do you ever get authors of the books you’ve reviewed contacting you?

It has happened once or twice. Once to set the record straight about something on Goodreads, once to thank me for taking the time to write the review (that was even a negative review). I mean on Twitter they will happily re-tweet etc. the above is just direct messages 😊 I’m not one of those people that think authors can’t contact reviewers, so I usually enjoy it when it happens.

Thank you Bibi for joining me today and I wish you luck with the continued success of your blog.

If you enjoyed this interview then why not follow my blog where I’ll be posting more interviews and conversations soon. I regularly provide an insight into my own experiences as I publish and promote my debut novel, In The End, an apocalyptic thriller that will leave you breathless which is available to buy now.

A final note – If you’re ready this in December 2018 and have a moment to spare, please can you take a second to vote for my novel’s cover by clicking here and pressing the vote button! Thank you.