Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Update!

Hello, everyone! I thought I would post an update to let everyone know about some upcoming changes to the blog and how that will affect you. 

As many of you know, I have had health problems most of my life. Unfortunately, that sometimes makes it hard to blog consistently. So, I have had to consider things from a new perspective. 

It has always been my goal with this blog to introduce readers to new authors and great books from cozy mysteries to romance. And that is still my main goal. However, my focus has to change a little bit in order to make it fair to you, as a reader, and to the publicists who are gracious enough to send me the books in the first place. 

With that in mind here are some changes I have planned for the blog:

1.) I will probably not post every day. In the past I have tried to post Monday-Friday without fail and sometimes on the weekends. But, I realize that I cannot always keep that promise to the publicists I work with. That doesn't mean it will be weeks without posts, it just might not always be five days a week.

2.) I have always given most of the publicists I work with a specific date when a post will go up. I have decided to throw dates out the window. This will lighten the pressure on me to get out a certain post by a certain day. If my health isn't the greatest that day, it won't be a problem. Lucky for me, the publicists I work with have agreed to this. 

3.) I will also be reviewing on a much lighter basis. I am not going to commit to 30 or 40 reviews a month. I will not post more than one review a day and sometimes I might not post a review at all. 

4.) However, I still want you to know about the great books that are coming out so I will be posting a couple of new features on the blog. A few monthly showcases of what is coming out, including a Penguin cozy mystery showcase and a Penguin romance showcase. I will also be posting what I call a spotlight post on specific books I want you know about. 

5.) The biggest change will be in the giveaways. In the past I have posted a giveaway for almost every book I review. Because I cannot guarantee I will post a full review of a book, I cannot in good conscience expect a publicist to do a giveaway. So, I have decided not to do giveaways for the romances I review or post spotlights for. This also cuts down on the amount of work I have to do.

6.) However, if I post a full review of a cozy mystery there will be a giveaway included. I know that will make many of you happy. But, I will not be reviewing all of the Penguin releases every month, so don't get too excited.

7.) I have never been one to be a part of a lot of meme's posted by other bloggers but I do want to foster interaction with you as the readers of my blog. Without all of the giveaway posts, I fear I will probably have very few comments on anything else. I hope that's not the case. I have been considering a couple of other kinds of posts including an interactive question of the week and a post read-along or book club selection for the month with a discussion at the end. Let me know if you are interested in that sort of thing.

I hope you are not too disappointed by the new changes. It is probably the only way I will be able to continue to blog on a remotely consistent basis. 

Thanks everyone! 

Feedback on this one would be appreciated!

2 comments:

Annette Naish said...

Hey, I have always enjoyed reading what you thought - and I do not believe that will change. So, I will continue to read when you email me and continue to find books that I will enjoy reading. I thank you for what you do. Take care.

Brooke Showalter said...

I enjoy reading your review posts whether they include a giveaway or not, and even when they aren't very frequent. I always like when I see a new email in my inbox from you. I would like seeing spotlight posts for books even if you aren't reviewing. It is a great way to find out about books I might now know about.

I blog, too, and I know that it is a lot of work and stress, especially when you have health issues. Please only do what you feel comfortable reading, and faithful readers like me will still be here. :)