NINJA STUFF: An Appropriate Relationship Between Author and Blogger (Part Two)

Last Time on Ninja Stuff: I talked about how authors should better appreciate bloggers for all the hard, usually unpaid work they do to promote books. I stated that I think a writer who requests a blogger to feature them should have the courtesy to promote that post should a blogger agree to do them a solid. I also admitted that I'd been a tad too hasty in commenting on a post advocating for bloggers (whom I love) because I didn't think through the ramifications of requiring authors (whom I also love) to promote posts about their work.

And now the thrilling conclusion...

Today, I want to talk about book bloggers, their relationship to authors, and some behaviors that are definitely not okay. Chief among them is charging or otherwise extorting authors for reviews. Unfortunately, authors are surrounded by folks who want to take advantage of their big book dreams pretty much everywhere they go.

There are probably exceptions (please name them in the comments if you know of some), but I would be deeply skeptical of any blogger or review publication that wanted to charge for a review. As an author I don't consider a review I have to pay for to be worth having.

Certainly, I would never want to be found having paid for a positive review of my book. Whatever short-term advantage such a review might give me would be far outweighed by the potential risk of my having been discovered buying a planted review. I'd rather let one book get destroyed by troll reviewers than risk the integrity of my entire body of work (of which there will soon be one). As a blogger, I don't want people thinking my opinion is for sale (I will give you a totally biased 5-star review for free).

I'm in a somewhat unique position as an online reviewer because I don't actually write reviews in the traditional sense and I'm now an author. I write posts about books, telling you the key details and praising the strong points of each novel. But the following disclaimer has appeared on every Book of the Week "review" I've ever written:

I’ll leave you to discover the negative qualities of each week’s book on your own.

What is that!?! If I tried to get a gig as a professional critic someplace, I'd be laughed right out. What kind of reviewer doesn't write criticism? The kind who writes reviews because he loves books and authors and doesn't care that he's not known for being a hard-nosed critic.

I'm okay with this because there is no such thing as an objective reviewer. Certainly, there are many reviewers closer to being objective than me, but a review, no matter how substantially argued, is just the opinion of the reviewer. Art is subjective, period, end of story. So is its enjoyment.

Bloggers have their own tastes and bias. Some are more objective than others. Over time, bloggers develop a reputation and their readers typically take this into consideration when evaluating their reviews. If a book becomes relevant enough for readers to discuss, a consensus will eventually form, and readers will have their own opinion outside the consensus. Neither my automatic 5-star review or a review written by the author's mom will hold that great a sway. A book attracts readers or it doesn't.

And reviews aren't the final word. I don't care that Bait 3D currently has an average of less than stellar reviews. I loved that movie. 3D sharks in a grocery store is choice entertainment and I'll never believe otherwise.  I would've watched it even if it only had one star and I can't wait for the sequel. Conversely, I still haven't seen The Artist, which won all the academy awards and the hearts of critics everywhere. If it were on, I wouldn't leave the room, but no amount of critical praise is enough to convince me to invest two hours of my life I could otherwise be enjoying Sharknado.

I don't think book blogging should be elite. Some bloggers will rise to greater notoriety than others as will some authors, but all should be welcome. Online real estate is plentiful and cheap, so if you like books, why not stake out your lot? If you're an author thinking of establishing or expanding your online presence, you should absolutely consider starting a book blog because then you'll be part of the solution for authors who need to get the word out. Karma will come back to you when you have a book to promote. Trust me, I know.

There is no one way to run a book blog. Book bloggers don't have to have any special training and there is no uniform code of ethics for online reviewers. Anyone, anywhere can up and declare themselves a ninja just as anyone, anywhere can up and declare themselves an author, and that is a beautiful thing. All are welcome, which means authors will always encounter conflicting submission guidelines and one-off oddities when seeking book promotion.

Therefore, I can't chastise book bloggers for not following the rules as there are no established rules for me to appeal to. So what follows is a list of things I think book bloggers should do to at a minimum:

1. Post your reviews to sites other than your blog. This is a win/win. People aren't searching Google for "Indiana dad who writes zombie books and has opinions on middle grade fiction" (pity). But they are searching for opinions on books and my reviews are more likely to be seen on Amazon and Goodreads than they are at this blog. Esteemed Readers who like my reviews follow me home, which is a win for me. They also encounter my opinion at a crucial location when they're considering purchasing the book in question, which is a win for the author. Win/win. Do this.

2. Be consistent and fair in your treatment of authors. Readers will turn on you if you're rude to an author. If your average review is 700 words, try to maintain that average for books you like and books you don't. If you savage authors for their shortcomings, make sure you're consistently savaging the same shortcomings across multiple books and writers.

3. Write a review submission policy. You can only complain about authors not following it if you  have one. Mine's simple: if it's a middle grade or young adult book, email me. I might say no, especially just now, since having a baby has put considerable restraints on my writing and blogging time. Unless you send me a mass email or form letter (delete!), I usually respond within a week.

4. Be polite and respectful. You don't have to look at books through rose-colored glasses like I do, but writing books is hard. Whatever you're reading, someone, somewhere probably loved it and worked hard on it (maybe not hard enough, but still). You can write that the book is bad without attacking the author personally. You can treat authors of bad books with the same courtesy you treat authors of great books.

5. If an author gives you an interview or a guest post, they are your guest. Treat them as such and be thankful they've agreed to appear at your blog.

6. Maintain an easy-to-search list of links. This is another win/win. Readers will appreciate being able to navigate your site and authors will get more bang for their buck. Not everyone reads a review the day it's posted. The great (and sometimes terrible) thing about online is it's forever. Your review is still valuable to the author two years later, so make it easy for readers to find. When I interviewed Courtney Summers, she was a debut novelist, and her interview has only become more impressive for me to have with each book she's published. If you're interviewing me, keep that link posted as it's a long-term investment:)

7. If an author requests a reasonable change, make it. I've had authors and agents request I update their photos, bios, answers, and other information. If someone writes a guest post for you, then notices an error and brings it to your attention, correct it. The change makes you both look better and you'll develop a reputation for being a blogger who's easy to work with. The writing community is a small one and you want that reputation. If an author requests an unreasonable change, such as please reread my book and reconsider your review, respond and let them know why their request is unreasonable. If the author persists, you have my permission to block them:)

8. Remember that authors are magical. An author is someone stuck half in another world and deserves the benefit of the doubt. Just now I was changing my son's diaper while simultaneously imagining we were surrounded by walking corpses and pondering how we might escape (very practical). I'm not all here and I'm not the only one. Authors sometimes say strange things and behave oddly. So long as they're courteous to you, return their courtesy and understand that an author's aloofness is a natural outgrowth of their profession.


If I think of anything else, I'll update this list later. But I think this is a good start.

I've got one last bit of advice for book bloggers: you're the reporter, not the story. Always remember that in your dealings with authors, even when it gets difficult, and it probably will at some point. Lois Lowery is a big deal author and rightly admired for her contribution to literature (as are most of the authors who've appeared here, but I had to pick one to make this point). Her accomplishments are hers, not mine (obviously). Any glory that falls on me for having had the good fortune to feature her here is reflected glory. I'm just the guy holding the microphone for a greater talent and I do well to remember it.

By and large, authors are very nice people and appreciate their fans. I've had the experience of big time authors being extra nice to me and I highly recommend it as it's awesome. Courtney Summers thanked me in the back of her zombie book (how awesome is that) and of course I thanked her in the back of mine. Darby Karchut's new book, Gideon's Spear, available today, features a blurb from yours truly. Both of these things were a surprise to me as the authors decided to do them without my knowledge and I'm very excited and grateful.

Just yesterday in response to the first part of this post, Hugh Howey wrote on Facebook where my mom could see it that I was an "excellent writer." It made me feel warm and fuzzy because I really admire Hugh Howey and I have his email address. I could bug him right not and ask him to read my book, request that he tell me once again how special I am, ask him to give me writing advice, etc. And he's such a nice guy, he might even do some of those things, but it would be wrong of me to ask.

This is crucial to understand. If you want to piss an author off, impose on them with personal requests. Hugh Howey's time is not better spent placating me. He's a busy guy and I and all his fans are better served if he spends his time writing his next book, which is something we can all enjoy. He's got a website full of great advice to writers. We can all read it. He arranges fan meetings and next time he does one close to me, I'll try to go as I'd enjoy meeting him in person and that's time he's set up in his schedule to do that.

DO NOT DEVELOP A REPUTATION AS SOMEONE WHO EXHORTS AUTHORS. DO NOT ASK THEM TO CRITIQUE YOUR MANUSCRIPT, DO NOT WRITE THEM SIX MONTHS AFTER THEIR REVIEW AND ASK THEM FOR ADVICE. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THEIR POST AT YOUR BLOG AND THAT IS ALL, AND ONLY THAT MUCH BECAUSE THEY AGREED TO DO IT. YOU ARE BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY.

That being said, the situation does sometimes get murky, I know. I had a well known author insist on critiquing my manuscript without my even hinting I wanted it, though I did appreciate it (I'm not passing that up). Another author insisted on introducing me to her agent. And I don't mind asking authors if their agents or editors would want to appear here as that's my schtick and the author is totally welcome to ignore the request.

Part of the reason a writer might want to start a book blog is to network and make writer friends. By meeting so many writers, I've found some really cool people I now consider friends. I tried to be brief and respectful and professional in my emails to Lynne Reid Banks, but every time I did, she emailed me back and we had a lovely correspondence that went on for some time and I treasure it. What's key, though, is that correspondence was on her terms. I didn't expect it and l certainly didn't feel entitled to it. It just happened and it was very nice. I don't expect it to be repeated the next time I interview a childhood hero.

To further confuse this issue, I summoned up all the courage I ever had or ever will have, took a crazy leap of faith, and asked Richard Adams to blub my book, and he did. He said he was happy to and I believe him. I don't ask authors who appear here for blurbs anymore because the authors I asked after Mr. Adams did not respond favorably, nor should they have. It was an abuse of my position to ask. As soon as an author politely pointed this out to me, I felt pretty low and I won't do it again.

As I've said, there is no hard and fast code of ethics for book bloggers to follow. None of us is specially trained to do this and most of us aren't getting paid. Mistakes happen. But I think if we book bloggers proceed with the understanding that we're doing this for a love of books and authors and that the blog itself is its own reward, we'll be all right.

7 Questions For: Author Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader's Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award.

Click here to read my review of The Giver.

And now Lois Lowry faces the 7 Questions:


Question Seven: What are your top three favorite books?

THE ESSENTIAL NEW YORK TIMES COOKBOOK.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY.

THE COLLECTED LETTERS OF E.B. WHITE


Question Six: How much time do you spend each week writing? Reading?

Probably four hours a day, including weekends, in each category. Now to do the math: 28 hours writing,. 28 reading.


Question Five: What was the path that led you to publication?

College—writing—college again—writing—marriage—writing—baby;baby;baby;baby—writing—graduate school—writing—sent a few things off to publishers—BINGO


Question Four: Do you believe writers are born, taught or both? Which was true for you?

I think some people are born with an ear and aptitude for language. I think certain elements of the craft of writing, and an appreciation of fine literature, can be taught. There are those who are born with the gift but never study, and there are those who study and study but simply never have the gift. When the two things combine, as they did for me, then one becomes a writer.


Question Three: What is your favorite thing about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

My favorite thing about writing is the solitude of it. Least favorite: the necessary look-how-great-I-am promotion required of professional writers.


Question Two: What one bit of wisdom would you impart to an aspiring writer? (feel free to include as many other bits of wisdom as you like)

These are the things that are time-wasters and ultimately unimportant: reading about writing (including the words I am currently putting on the page); schmoozing about writing; going to workshops about writing. This is the thing that matters: writing.


Question One: If you could have lunch with any writer, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

Flannery O'Connor. No reason except that we would both make lunch short in order to go back to work.

www.loislowry.com

Book of the Week: THE GIVER by Lois Lowry

I’m so excited, Esteemed Reader (and I just can’t hide it). This week marks the first of two very big surprises at this blog. As I’ve said before and often, I’m thrilled every time a writer agrees to appear here. I feel the same way about the literary agents we’ve interviewed, as they are a writer’s ambassador to Quan. I couldn’t be happier with the success of all of these interviews and I think there’s something really very neat about having so many diverse writers answer the same 7 Questions. I feel I’ve learned a lot from these interviews and I hope you feel that way too, Esteemed Reader. Sometimes when I’m feeling blue about the writing business, I come back to my own blog and read these writer interviews and they inspire me to keep going.

In fact, the person who benefits most from all this blogging is me. I’ve been doing this for exactly one year this week and I feel I’ve learned more from reading and reviewing one middle grade novel a week than I did in four years in a creative writing program at Indiana University. I want to offer my most profound gratitude to every writer and every literary agent who has made time for us. This blog wouldn’t be what it is without them and we’ve had some incredible opportunities to talk with writers I never dreamed would be possible or I would have started blogging years ago.

So how shall we celebrate one year of our ninja training? How about with a classic middle grade book such as The Giver, one of my most favorite books? Oh, and by the way, this Thursday, mark it on your calendar, one of my childhood heroes, Lois Lowry will be here to face the 7 Questions. No, that’s not a typo, Esteemed Reader. You read correctly. Two time Newbery winner and one of the writers who first inspired me to pick up a pen, Lois Lowry is going to appear at this blog. How’s that for an anniversary celebration?

And that’s not all! Next week, another of my most favorite writers from my childhood and author of several classic middle grade novels will be here as well. Who is it? I’m not going to say as that would spoil the surprise, but I got word from her within the same 24 hours as Lois Lowry and my heart nearly exploded with happiness. I’ve found the only fair way to post interviews at this blog is in the order I receive them, so she will have to wait until next week, but make sure you’re here as you won’t want to miss this!

According to the back cover, The Giver is a Boston-Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, an American Library Association Notable Book for Children, a winner of the Regina Medal, a Booklist Editors Choice, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and it won the John Newbery Award. With all of that, do you really need me to tell you that The Giver is a really good book? Probably not, but I’m going to anyway. The Giver is a really good book and one of my all time favorites. If you haven’t read it, stop what you’re doing and read it now.

The focus of The Giver is the people living in The Community, a perfect society. There are echoes of Brave New World and 1984, but The Giver is only a dystopian novel depending on how you look at it. The Community is a utopia. It’s perhaps a little rough around the edges, true, but it’s a mostly perfect place and it has to be, or the main thesis of the novel would fall short. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but just remember that for this book to work, life in The Community has to be a life worth considering or there is no dilemma for our characters or the reader.

Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world… You may say Lois Lowry is a dreamer, but this is the world of The Community. There is almost no pain, no sickness, no poverty, no religion, no racism, no one is left wanting for anything (and what they might want, they’ve never known), and almost no one is ever lonely. I know what you’re thinking, Esteemed reader: What’s the catch? Well there is one and we’ll get to it, but first consider life in The Community.

The people of The Community are healthy because for the first year of their life they are in the care of nurturers, who ensure every baby is the perfect weight and well taken care of by experienced professionals. There are no unwanted children in The Community and that right there is something to consider. Every child growing up in The Community is given everything they’ll ever need and cared for all the way into their old age.

True, the members of The Community do have to give up some things, but that’s not all bad either. At twelve years of age, a committee decides a person’s occupation and they go into training and there they’ll work for the rest of their lives, so job stability is never an issue. If a person requests one, a mate will be assigned to them. A mate carefully chosen by committee to ensure they are a perfect match for their spouse and later the couple can apply for two children, a girl and a boy. When the children have grown, they’ll live with their friends, Mom and Dad will live with their friends, and no one is lonely or rejected.

Again, I know what you’re thinking: how could anyone live with all of their decisions made by others and no freedom? Well, if I may play devil’s advocate, I might ask “what’s so great about freedom?” And temporarily suspend your patriotic programming as an American and really consider it. I’m fortunate that God put the perfect woman on earth just for me and I found her and married her, but Lord knows I found a few who weren’t her beforehand. There were others I could have married that might just have wrecked my life and made wretched my destiny. There was no committee to help me out and I might just have made the wrong choice. Anybody reading ever know anyone who made the wrong choice in a mate?

And what about career choice? Sure, I’ve found the perfect job for me and I couldn’t be happier now, but I spent a lot of years in wrong jobs I chose. And what about the folks we all know who just plain make the wrong choices all around? Their wrong choices don’t affect just them, we all suffer. A person making the choice to lose themselves in drugs or other indulgences may claim it’s only themselves they are hurting, but this is a lie as transparent as Charlie Sheen’s recent claim that he is only going to smoke crack socially (a funnier line than anything on his show).

My favorite thing about The Community is how they treat their old. When folks in The Community get old, they are moved to The House for the Old where they are cared for like the children. They never experience dementia or other horrifying sickness. No one is kept in a hospital bed for years suffering alone. When it’s time, the old person is surrounded by their friends and their life is celebrated. They tell the story of the person’s life and then he or she says one last goodbye and is “released into Elseworld.” Is that a euphemism that means what you think it means? There are no spoilers on this blog, but even if it does mean that, is that really so bad? I can think of much worse ways to go.

So what’s the catch, already? I know it’s our anniversary and all, but this review is running a little long. The catch is that The Community has no memory, no passion, and no sense of its past. They have no hate, but they also have no love. There’s a wonderful freedom in this as well, but is it worth it? I’m not going to tell you and one of my most favorite things about The Giver is that Lois Lowry doesn’t tell you either. The best books provoke the reader’s imagination and leave readers to ponder these questions for themselves and draw their own conclusions. Lowry implies some things, perhaps, but for the most part she is simply asking the question.

Nor is there a lot of explanation about the scientific workings that make The Community possible. Lowry wrote two sequels and I recommend them both and you can check them out if you want more details, but the details are sort of beside the point. There probably isn’t a one hundred percent plausible explanation for everything, but so what? Lowry wisely leaves much of these details to the imagination. For example, genetic engineering is never mentioned, but it’s certainly implied. And whether The Community is achieved through science, recovered UFO technology, or the wave of a wand, it makes little difference and a lesser writer going on and on about the explanation would be a waste of our time. We know The Community isn’t possible, but Lowry need only provide a few details to provoke us to consider the implications of such a world if it were possible. And The Community is very real for the characters in this story, which is what ultimately matters.

Instead, Lowry focuses on the story. When our hero, Jonas, turns twelve he is selected for the most unusual occupation of Receiver. Only one is picked every so many generations and no one really knows what he or she does, only that they need the Receiver and that it is the most important position in The Community. As Receiver, Jonas is separated from the rest of The Community. He is allowed to lie, something no one else is allowed to do, although how can he really know? He is also allowed to ask anyone anything and he is the only person who will know all that there is to know about The Community.

Jonas is sent to the old Receiver, who becomes The Giver, and what he’s giving are memories. I’ve said that The Community has no memory or sense of past. This is because the Receiver holds the memories for them in his head and when he grows old he transmits them to the new Receiver. The Giver transmits memories such as snow and sunburn to Jonas, which he has never experienced living in the climate controlled world of The Community. The Giver also transmits memories of war, poverty, suffering, disease, and all the rest of it to Jonas. But also colors and love, neither of which the people of The Community have ever known because they're colorblind (literally).

In order to achieve Utopia, these people have given up everything that might create passion in their lives, even music and, gasp, choke, books. What the heck would I blog about in such a world? This is the most weighty of concerns, I know:) I wondered if the people of The Community ever engaged in, ahem, adult relationships. As this is a book for younger readers, I didn’t think Lowry would cover it, but she does. After Jonas has an inappropriate dream about his sister and a bath (not his biological sister), his mother tells him he must take a pill each day to remove such “stirrings”.

I guess I sort of read over that part as a kid and didn’t catch it until now. But in our world we have Viagra, and in Lowry’s world there are pills that do the exact opposite. I won’t spend a lot of time on this, but I would imagine you adult readers enjoy the capacity to have such relationships. On the other hand, that same capacity has brought about plenty of suffering, so I ask again: Is The Community really that bad?

True, there is no color, no music, no art, no… um, kissing, no passion of any kind, and no books. We who love books might balk at the prospect, but that’s because we know about them. The people in The Community have never had these things and don’t know what they’re missing. Most of them don’t even know about death, and just think how much stress would be relieved if you didn’t know you were going to die one day (spoiler, I know).

But now Jonas does know and the question is what’s he going to do now that he knows? Could it be that something traumatic has happened to The Giver that will make this giving and receiving of memories different than any such giving and receiving that has come in generations past? Of course it could, or this novel will be episodic and there would be no story worth telling that makes this time in The Community’s history more notable than any of the others Lowry could have chosen. But I have promised no spoilers and even though a few probably slipped through, here we’ll leave it.

I haven’t touched much on craft and I’m afraid I’m not going to this week. Lowry does everything right from start to finish. Like a work of Mozart, the misplacing of a single note could mean diminishment, but Lowry absolutely nails every aspect of craft and delivers what may just be a perfect book. Her prose is clear and crisp and never a distraction. In fact, I was so completely drawn into the story upon reading this book, I forgot to take that many notes even though I already knew the ending. The Giver sucks its reader in and I read the whole thing in a single sitting because it became physically impossible for me to put the book down.

Fair warning: there are some extremely disturbing scenes in the later part of the book that would make Stephen King say, “Dude, that’s messed up!” I’m not going to spoil them either. Still, sensitive readers should be aware that you may be most unpleasantly shocked. But remember, it’s good to be shocked every so often.

Be sure to be here on Thursday when none other than Lois Lowry will be here to face the 7 Questions and check back on Saturday as God willing, we’ll have a literary agent here on Saturday as well. By the way, I mentioned God several times in this review, but I also listed “no religion” as a quality of utopia. That is sort of perplexing, isn’t it? I never do quite reveal my full thoughts on religion or even most political issues do I? Thanks for a great year of giving and receiving on this blog everybody:)

And now, because I see I have not included a single passage from the text in this entire longwinded review, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite bits from The Giver:

It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. (a great opening line if I ever read one--MGN)

But her father had already gone to the shelf and taken down the stuffed elephant which was kept there. Many of the comfort objects, like Lily's, were soft, stuffed, imaginary creatures. Jonas's had been called a bear.


"There's administrative work, and the dietary rules, and punishment for disobedience--did you know that they use a discipline wand on the Old, the same as for small children?"


“Definitely not safe,” Jonas said with certainty. “What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?
“Or what if,” he went on, almost laughing at the absurdity, “they chose their own jobs?
“Frightening, isn’t it?” The Giver said.
Jonas chuckled. “Very frightening. I can’t even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices.”


“It’s bye-bye to you, Gabe, in the morning,” Father had said, in his sweet, sing-song voice. (really only effective if read in context, but if you’ve read the book, you know the impact of this line –MGN)

After countless tries, the net yielded two flopping silvery fish. Methodically, Jonas hacked them to pieces with a sharp rock and fed the raw shreds to himself and to… (spoiler — MGN).

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: Book of the Week is simply the best book I happened to read in a given week. There are likely other books as good or better that I just didn’t happen to read that week. Also, all reviews here will be written to highlight a book’s positive qualities. It is my policy that if I don’t have something nice to say online, I won’t say anything at all (usually). I’ll leave you to discover the negative qualities of each week’s book on your own.