Attention Bloggers Who Will Not Review Self-Published Books...

ATTENTION ALL BLOGGERS WHO WILL NOT REVIEW SELF-PUBLISHED BOOKS

I have mind-blowing information that may shock you, so hold onto your seats because this might get ugly.

YOU... YES, YOU... ARE SELF-FREAKIN' PUBLISHED!!!

That's right.  Every time you press that "Publish" button, guess what?  You have just self-published!  You have just committed the crime that all of us self-published authors have done which cause you to refuse to review our books!

Okay, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's what I've witnessed online.

So I was looking for people to review my independently published books.  The traditional media largely ignored me because they're all in bed with the big corporate publishers.  Fair enough.  They're all part of the same family.  So I figure I'll go to my family, the community of people who are interested in independent publishing, i.e. the blogging community.  They're all self-publishers, so why wouldn't they give a chance to self-published books.

Now I expected many of them to not have the time to read my book.  There are a lot of independent authors and publishers out there, so if they're already full, I completely understand.  What I wasn't prepared for is this:

"No self-published books."

That's right.  BLOGGERS sticking their noses up to self-published books.  The hypocrisy here is amazing.  They want you to overlook every traditionally written newspaper, magazine, large format business, etc. to read their blogs, but they won't lower themselves to read your self-published writing.

So I have made a basic determination.  Any blog which says it will not read self-published material is not worth my time.  I even look for that policy first.  Because if they don't have time to help their fellow independent artists, then I have no time for them.

Huffington Post Talks About the Shifting Landscape of Book Reviews

My mother sent me this wonderful article from the Huffington Post talking about the changing landscape not only of publishing, but of spreading the word regarding books; primarily through reviews.  They even bring up a topic I spoke on earlier; that of the need for bloggers not to ignore their own kind and review other self-published authors.

See it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/self-published-book-reviews_n_3467890.html

Bloggers Who Have Forgotten Their Roots

As I’ve tried to get my books spoken about and reviewed by bloggers, I’ve come across the same problem so many times:  Signs on the blogging websites that say they will not take any self-published books.  They review or write only about traditionally published books.

I’ve got a little piece of news for all you bloggers who say that.  YOU ARE SELF PUBLISHED!!!!

Yes, that’s right.  As you’re sitting there behind your keyboard all holier than thou, taking only the “legitimately” published books, you are forgetting that one basic fact.  You are not in a magazine, a periodical, or any other “legitimate,” or “traditionally” published manuscript.  You are SELF-FUCKING-PUBLISHED!!!

I have been rejected by magazines, radio stations, and television stations.  While I’m disappointed, I’m not surprised and I don’t hold it against them.  They have a world of their own, and they want to stick to it.  I hope they’ll open themselves up to us independents, (and some of them have,) but if they don’t, they’re merely sticking to their kind.

You bloggers who won’t talk about or review self-published works are downright hypocrites.

If we have to be traditionally published to be good enough for you, why shouldn't you have to be traditionally published in a magazine in order to be good enough for us?

I have made a determination, and I call on everyone to do the same.  Whenever I look at blogs, even if I’m not in any way considering sending my books to them, I take a look at their submission policy.  If the blogger refuses to have anything to do with self-published works, either for stories, reviews, or whatever, I tag that blog and never return.  I also make it a point to tell people not to go to that blog.

Now, to be clear, this is not the same as being personally rejected by a blog.  If there’s a blog which rejects me, but they take independently published works, I’ll strive to rise to their level and hope they’ll accept me in the future.  I’ll even recommend the site.

But if you reject self-published, independently published books and you’re a blogger, then I’m sorry, but I only read traditionally published magazines.