Newsletter #76 — Book Bloggers
February 15, 2024
Newsletter #76 — Book Bloggers
Book Bloggers — Just when I thought I had all my review submissions under control (professional journals for the book industry, and popular and influential journals for the public), some research I was doing made me realize I had not included book bloggers.
You might be surprised to know how many people have been writing book blogs for the last twenty years or so. Some of these bloggers have 1,000 viewers a month. Others have 70,000 viewers a month. And a few others, over 200,000. So it seems wise for me to reach out to some of these book lovers with Exit Velocity.
Exit Velocity falls into at least two genres: Political Fiction and Science Fiction. I think it also falls into Contemporary Fiction and General Fiction — but I have found that because the novel contains elements of science fiction, the sci-fi trumps everything. That is to say that once bookstores and reviewers learn that there's some science fiction in the book, they discount the other genres. And so, because of this book-industry attitude, I have (for now) concentrated on the science fiction aspects of my novel. For the book bloggers, I have (for now) culled them by whether or not they review science fiction; then by whether or not they review independently published books; and finally by the number of subscribers — I wanted 20,000 or more. Even with all this culling, I have a dozen book bloggers to write to.
And of course each wants something different — an ARC, a PDF, a digital copy, a Kindle ebook, or access through NetGalley.
However, I don't have much hope for the results of writing to a dozen or more sci-fi book bloggers, and that's because they seem to review mostly fantasy books featuring dark, dark covers. Exit Velocity is not fantasy, nor is its cover dark. It will be interesting to see if any book bloggers review my novel: I hope so!
Red, Black, and White — Last month I designed my Zoom background for any interviews I might have regarding Exit Velocity. This took less than five seconds — I dragged the cover of my novel into the Zoom screen, and, Voila! A lovely background.
As I sat there staring at myself on the screen, I realized something: the red sweatshirt I was wearing happened to look great with the red, black, and white background.
And so (because I doubt I will be wearing a frayed sweatshirt, red or any other color on any of my Zoom interviews) I called my favorite clothing store, Toko Santa Fe, and ordered a red shirt. And a black one. Oh, okay: a white one, too! Now I am sartorially set for all Exit Velocity encounters for the next several light years or so.
In the picture above, I am wearing neither red, nor black, nor white (except for the necklace, which is also from Toko Santa Fe), but I happened to be on a Zoom meeting and made double-use of it by taking a screenshot.
Important note: I do hope my new clothes fare better than did those of Rowan Pickett in the opening chapter of Exit Velocity.
YA Reading — In preparation for the March presentation at the Illinois Reading Council Conference (mentioned in an earlier newsletter), I read three recent YA novels with social justice themes. One focuses on sexual attack, another on poverty, and the third on racism and stereotyping. The realities of our world — and the kinds of injustices Rowan Pickett wants to overturn.
Updating Websites — Every time I publish a new book, I try to remember to update the websites of all the organizations I belong to, and all the places where I have a social presence. These get more numerous with each book! Last week I updated my profile on the Authors Guild site. For some reason the link won't reproduce here, but if you're interested, you can find it by googling Authors Guild Profile Barbara Gregorich.
Setting— Here's my February 15 blog, "Clean as Bone."