#bookstagrammer – Rosepoint Publishing

Is There an Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs?

Surprise, surprise, just as I was thinking of writing about some of my favorite review blogs and extended sources of book reviews, I was emailed a request by Jordan to consider being added to the Kindlepreneur Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs.

Well, timing is everything!

I occasionally get a request to suggest a good book review blog by persons searching Quora for ideas and I’m listed in several directories as well. Of course, I confronted that same question after I published my grandfather’s manuscripts, and certainly for an Indie author publishing a debut novel, it’s a major concern. The first three rules of marketing any book are reviews, reviews, reviews. (Okay, maybe the first rule must be a well-edited novel, but you know what I mean.)

This appears to be the one definitive article that may answer all your burning questions. I particularly love Dave’s video—be patient—there is a lot of good information contained in that video where he goes into detail regarding the Amazon Book Review Rules (explained)!

Seriously, Amazon book reviews still hold a lot of weight whether or not you are in the school of thought that reviews are given less weight these days than they use to be or not. Amazon tends to change its rules, the algorithm by which they allow, or disallow, a book review. If it’s a good review, you don’t want to risk losing it owing to the failure of one of their rules. (I urge you to watch that video.)

According to Mr. Cheechaw of Amazon, “…we will continue to allow the age old practice of providing advance review copies of books.” Really? Maybe, maybe not, watch out for the caveats, and Dave covers many of them. (Don’t be a “gotcha!”)

While authors usually have an ideal word length for their novel review, there is a wide disparity of what just how many words that might be. For instance, one of my authors always reminds me to keep his reviews to a short paragraph—three or four sentences—so he can show more reviews on his first page. I’ve seen an average of between 500 to 1000 words and my reviews generally run between 400 to 800 depending on the novel.

I’m thrilled to be invited to this exclusive list of book review bloggers and would urge you to take advantage of the expertise that Dave Chesson’s website Kindlepreneur will provide you well above and beyond this list.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Instagram vs WordPress – Want More From Your Pics?

Rob Moses at Rob Moses Photography started his blog about the same time as I, was one of the first to follow me, and I’ve followed with interest his beautiful and unique pictures. I’ve mentioned him before. He takes a lot of pictures; a lot of different types of pictures. Street photography and city skylines are some of his most favourite things to shoot, but he also finds himself shooting more landscapes than he thought he would.

Most recently, he ran a rant about Instagram vs WordPress which I found so exactly echoed my own sentiments, as well as recent discussions with many of my own followers, that I thought I’d share with you. No doubt you agree. Instagram is too much fun, gets too much attention, and so rewarding that’s it’s difficult to get back to the WP blog subject of the day. For me, of course, the time is spent in crafting “bookstagrams.” (And you have my invitation to follow my efforts in the widget column on the right or @rosepointpub.)

For me, Instagram is an attractive alternative to either Pinterest or Facebook. The two image-sharing platforms were both released approximately 2010 and I’ve yet to really figure out Pinterest. According to Digital Guide, there were approximately 400 million Instagrammers to 100 million Pinteresters back in 2016. Currently, there are almost 75 million WordPress sites out there with over 50% of those (or 37 million) on the free WordPress.com. There are articles on WP vs Tumblr, WP vs Squarespace and Instagram vs Flickr. (And I did try Flickr.) But Instagram–and further–Bookstagram really caught my attention. Now that Instagram has the “story” capability, the ability to add dialogue has expanded dramatically. I love books and they make some gorgeous pictures and now stories (posts) as well!

Time is at such a premium–especially at my age–and I no longer have a full-time job. As jmeyersforeman noted in part, “I think both Instagram and WordPress have their purpose, as you said, Instagram is great for it’s immediacy, while WordPress gives you a longer format to explore topics and it takes time to develop those posts…we only have so much time in the day and we have to decide where we get the most reward for our time.”

Rosepoint Reviews – November Recap

Happy Holidays!

We are now on a frantic race to the end of the year! SOO much to do on top of regular blogging, reading and reviewing activities. Gifts, wrapping, cards, dinners, and events, one of which I’m participating in tomorrow at the Lake County Public Library! I will be presenting the new edition of Sole Survivor, new cover, as well as the story of how the painting came into my possession almost 90+ years after it was painted. If you just happen to be in the area….

Author Event - Lake County Public Library

Gearing up on holidays, and down on books, I read and reviewed seven books including many ARC’s, as well as #ThrowbackThursdays highlighting two of my favorites (Dr. Jan Pol and M. D. Grayson). Spent some heavy time doing #AmReading posts, as well as #TBR pics, which is a great way to introduce what I’ll be reading and reviewing next. These are concentrated on #Bookstagram and shared with this blog. Bookstagram gives me the opportunity to use that artistic inclination my grandfather bestowed on me, and it’s been a lot of fun.

The Whispering Room: A Jane Hawk Novel by Dean Koontz

My November reads, all ARC’s through NetGalley:

November 06 – Outside the Wire by Patricia Smiley
November 07 – Stay Calm and Collie On by Lane Stone
November 11 – The Tell All by Libby Howard
November 19 – The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz
November 21 – The Compass Island Incident by Wade Fowler
November 26 – The Plot is Murder by V. M. Burns
November 28 – Mayhem & Mass by Olivia Mathews

Here’s hoping all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good day of food and family, but many of you not in the U.S. will also have a chance to do that on Christmas. There is something magical this time off year; in our part of the world, snowfall and the beautiful sights and smells of leaves, fireplaces, and winter-time activities. In my younger years, that included skiing. Now I’m looking wistfully at snowmobiles. Definitely on my bucket list!

Not all of my December reads are ARC’s from NetGalley, but the month has filled in very quickly. Hope all of you are avoiding the puddles and finding just the perfect gifts! Winter is a great time to read. Do you have one you are excited about? I’m always open to recommendations! ©2017 Virginia Williams I Love Likes and Comments--Please Share!