I’m just curious..how many of you keep up with the happenings at places like RWA, AAR, RTB, Avon Authors and etc?
Personally? I don’t visit them at all. Or rarely, I suppose. If I’m directed there, sure, I’ll check it out, but I don’t make a habit of it.
As a reader, I’m much more interested in what other readers have to say about books, authors, etc. I don’t like to keep my finger in every Romance pie out there. I just like to read.
Maybe I’m somewhat lazy, or maybe I’m a bit more discerning than others, but I don’t go to AAR or RWA for book/author recs. I go to The Good, The Bad and The Unread or Dear Author or Where’s My Hero or Rowena, Isabel, Jazz, Daph, Ames, Mailyn, CindyS, Nath, Devon, Lori (who almost always feels the same as me about books), my favorite book pimp Casee or any other number of romance-related blogs/sites/etc out there.
Am I missing something, though? Am I hurting myself by not checking AAR and RWA every day, looking for new stuff to read? For new recs? For new Author-type drama or Rabid Fangirls galore? I don’t feel like I am. I feel like I read a good balance of new and old authors, different sub-genre’s. I was a little slow to jump on the eBook bandwagon, but now that I’m here I’m not getting off anytime soon. Am I alright sticking with sites I know, love and am comfortable with? Or do I need to branch out?
As most of you know by now, some of my favorite Readers recently put together a new site called Romance Advances: Building Your To Be Read Mountain, One Book At A Time. Basically the concept is a list of to be published romance novels, all in one place. They’re still in the Beta stages, still working on coding and book lists and everything else, but the idea is amazing. To have every novel being released in 2007 (for now, other years to follow) right there in one spot. No more jumping from site to site trying to find out what’s what and when it’s coming.
But Syb had a post about about RA and a comment someone had left about it. The gist of it?
Kimber An:
All right, I checked out the site. It’s wonderful. Very easy to find all the information one needs to know. However, there’s nothing about it which would convince my Hesitant-to-Buy-New readers to buy. If that’s your goal, then maybe you should brainstorm ideas.
Well, this sparked some rambling from Syb and then a long post about the goals of RA. The thing is, I like what they’re doing. If I want to know what’s coming out in August, 2007, I just go over and check. Easy-peasy, right? And if I want to know what others are saying about a book that was released in March, 2007, I check my favorite reader blogs. ‘Nuff said.
But in her post, Sybil goes on to say:
And that brings us to the ‘RWA approved only’ thing… we are looking at that and will most likely toss it sooner than later. BUT (isn’t there always a but) the other route we are looking at is Staff Approved Publishers. And that will be reader/site-centric: how many romance novels does the publisher do, how many cross-over books are there, are they really cross-over or bad marketing, how early does the publisher have the information available, how quickly do they get the information out, do the covers need to be uploaded, what is the ratio of novella’s to full length and so forth and so on.
So I can already guess that will upset people too but it will make sense to us in a way we can answer to vs… “I don’t know why they aren’t RWA approved“. And help get to our goal of no author left behind quicker. At least that is the plan, at this moment.
I love the idea of Staff Approved Publishers and Staff Picks for books. These are readers. I trust readers. I know what they like, how they view books and what their grades mean (this from reading their various blogs) and it helps me choose the books I read. Do I really care what publishers are RWA approved? Not really.
Isabel Says
I don’t ever check the sites Holly just mentioned. The AAR or the RWA. I did once and never again. All the books I love had bad reviews. The books I hated, had glowing reviews. I suppose if I wanted, I could just look for the bad reviews and go by that recommendation. Most of the stuff those sites like are those flowery and wordy books. Not really my style.
For the most part I stick with what my friends and family recommend. We have similar tastes. If they say it’s good, I’ll read it. If they say it sucks, I stay away. That or my curiosty will get the best of me and I’ll have to read it for myself.
Rowena Says
Rowena here and since Holly and Izzy has said everything that I would have said, I’ll just say DITTO to everything they said…I’m not all about those sites and blogs, I’ll listen to Mailyn and Ames over any of those AAR, RWA blogs/sites. Like home dude, the author of that one book said, I’m just not that into them. =)
I visit AAR quite a bit and really like it. But that’s pretty much it except for blogs. Someone said once and I think it explains the difference pretty well, that visiting message boards is like going to a really fun party, but visiting blogs is like visiting someone at home. I enjoy both. Plus, when I first started getting to ‘know’ the online romance community, blogs weren’t big back then so message boards were about all there was. And I have gotten to see and kind of get to know some regular posters at AAR. Of course not as well as I do by reading blogs.
As for the reviews at AAR – I don’t so much use them based on grades but more on what the book is about.
I don’t visit any of those that you mentioned, except for RTB which I have on a feed and just skim over most days. Other than that I very much rely on reader blogs to get recommendations, or on those authors that I have enjoyed reading previously, and so will continue to read.
Hey there 😀
I drop by AAR once in a while to see what has been reviewed, but I don’t really read the review LOL 😀 The thing is everyone has different tastes and as Isabel said, more of the books I adored got bad reviews and vice versa. The best is really finding someone with similar taste as you and get recs from those persons. However, I enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews on blog.
As for the time site, Romance Advances, I think the idea is neat. I like that I can find what new books are coming out and when on the same website with synopsis and excerpt. AAR has a list of romance on sale this month, the problem is that I have to google/amazon/chapter-ize every titles that look interesting because it’s not readily available. so a lot of going forth and back… which is why RA sounds really cool. I don’t think the goal is to convince anyone to buy books though.
I rarely visit the sites you mention. I like the idea of RA if it includes information on a new release for Sept ’07. I hate going to Amazon, etc to check out the books “coming soon” but not getting any info whatsoever on the book, so if RA includes a blurb, excerpt or whatever, then I will definitely check it out more frequently.
Overall I prefer to visit reader blogs where their taste is similar to mind – one person’s trash being another’s treasure, and all that.
I do stop in at AAR, to read the reviews, but they tend not to make a big difference to me. They tend to have things a little early though, so if I’m itching for spoilers…but reader blogs are my primary source of info.
Stacy–RA has the publisher info and blurbs for books as far in advance as we can get them. We don’t have excerpts yet, but we do link to the author website, if there is one.
The thing that I’m excited about is the ability to search not only by genre and subgenre etc., but also series and theme, i.e. “bodyguards,” “secret babies” “demons”.
I think that the RWA-approved thing also has to do with keeping things manageable, and not so overwhleming for the folks working on it.
I hear you, Holly. In fact, I hear you so much I had too much to say, so I posted about it on my blog. 😀 Not sure if it will trackback so the direct link is:
http://bevsbooks.com/?p=329
I still rely on reader reviews for book recs more than any other source. But I’m curious and do occassionally stop in at AAR and read a review, especially if there’s a link in a reader review.
I love the new RA site for the reasons you stated. It helps make my shopping list so easy!
I check out the sites AAR and RT (Romantic Times) daily. I mainly lurk around the message boards and occationally post. I actually discovered that other posters had blogs and through the message boards discovered Sybil and Rosario, and eventually that led me here. I had only just discovered blogs about 2 weeks ago and I must say I am addicted. I love to hear what others have to say about what they are reading.
I can understand the appeal of the Message Boards. That’s where I got my start in the romance community. But I don’t trust AAR or RWA for recommendations, because as Isabel said, most of the time the books they review badly are ones I loved and vice verse.
I think things have just shifted some. I don’t visit MB’s too often anymore. I visit blogs instead and I’ve come to rely on them heavily. And every day I discover a new reader. I love it.
Jill,
I’m glad you found the blogs. I love the sense of community here and I hope continue to feel the same way. 🙂
Great post ladies! I rarely visit those sites myself. I much prefer other readers’ opinions, especially since I know who enjoys the same material as me.
I like RA the way it is right now. It doesn’t matter if they become RWA approved. I mean, RA is for the readers, is it not? And not the publishers?
Hey, it did trackback or linkback. Whatever. 😀
I don’t think it’s saying anything bad about any of the other sites to say our tastes have changed or evolved. To not change is to be dead. One thing you have to say about blogs and blogging is that there’s always something new on the horizon. So much so that I spend way too much time finding it. ;p
Now I’m off to find my little list of upcoming books and figure out how to gently “suggest” them to the staff over at Romantic Advances. I didn’t have time to look for a link for that the other day. I was too busy playing in my own new playground to pay attention. Hehehe.
The only time that I ever go around to sites like AAR is if the link is left in a blog post that I’m reading from a reader review, I have never been on the RWA site and really don’t feel as if I’m missing out on anything, but to each his own, I guess.
I’d much rather go to sites like Romantic Advances since it’s put together by people I’ve come to know and trust their judgement by reading their blogs, I’m much too lazy to get to know more people for services that I can readily get from people I already know and love.
I didn’t see Jill’s comment when I posted my comment but I just wanted to welcome you to the blogs Jill…hope to see you around sweets!
I hit Bev’s post before I got here. I agree with Kristie and Bev – I basically started with AAR and the message boards but after a while I needed to branch out.
Now I find Dear Author, Smart Bitches etc too busy for me. Once I see comments over 30 my eyes glaze over.
I wanted to talk books but I also wanted to talk about other things in life with people who also wanted to share. I love my blog and all my blog buddies.
CindyS
I like reader blogs. I used to visit AAR, but I disagree with most of their reviews. Hello Shadow Dance? An ‘F’???? I’m not saying it was A+ material by any means, but come on.
I’ve found quite a few new authors by reading the reader review blogs. Of course I have lots of time to find new authors to try since my job sucks.
Casee,
Shadow Dance by JG got an F? What the hell…yeah, it wasn’t the most perfect book and it was certainly a let down for Noah’s book but I don’t think it was an F read…I quite liked the story just not for Noah.
I have a lot of time to find new authors too…=)
I never read those sites or their mags, really. I also rely on other blogs, and the recs of friends. And I agree, Holly – our tastes run very similar. 🙂
I think your dichotomy of ‘reader reviews’ here on the blog vs. reviews at AAR etc. is strange. Those are reader reviews too. No difference. Readers reading the books write reviews. I don’t get the distinction at all.
You’re right, Veronica, a review is a review. I suppose I just think of AAR as an industry site, rather than a reader site. It’s so much bigger than a blog. There are how many members? As opposed to the small number on a blog.
I don’t “know” the reviewers at AAR like I do the reviewers on the blogs I visit. And I could take the time to visit there and meet some of them, but I guess the sheer number of people makes me think it wouldn’t be as intimate as a blog is.
I know, can you believe that? I didn’t think it lived up to Noah’s expectations either, but really, what would have? Noah was hyped up for so many years that anything short of spectaular would have seemed like a letdown. Not to mention that they gave KILLJOY an A- (WTF?!?!) and Slow Burn a C.
So after that I decided not to read their reviews. Good Lord, what was I thinking. They actually gave Angela Knight’s new book a D-. I never should have revisted. Jaysus.
Resist. Resist. Resist.
LMAO
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!Are you serious? They gave Killjoy an A- and Slow Burn a C? Yeah it wouldn’t be a place I’d ever visit for recs, Killjoy sucked ass and I LOVED SLOW BURN …Hunh, strange!
Dammit, you’re making me want to go over there just to see this madness for myself.
Ugh.
It’s too late, I already went over there, you made me too curious and my eyes almost popped out of my head!
The Dark Highlander got a D?
WTF?
Message Boards can be evol. The one we created and house on Dear Author may or may not be moved to Romantic Advances. Both the MB and RA were at one point suppose to be apart of a bigger idea. It may happen it may not.. we shall see *g*
As for AAR… come now. Readers are all allowed their opinion. AAR reviewers just as much as anyone else. The problems with AAR you are prolly having is they are an old site, with older ideas.
They haven’t joined the web 2.0 format of the web today. At the same time I think they do that because they feel their voice is the review, the rest is left up to the readers to discuss without their input. So it holds them apart and makes it harder to ‘know’ the reviewers.
And they have always clung to the idea they are THE site for reviews, news and romance info going as far as making rules to not link to other reviews sites in almost a plug your ears with your fingers and pretend they aren’t there fashion.
If there is something about the site you don’t like, you are jealous or out to get them or something along those lines. So sadly they are generally outside the community vs apart of it. And honestly they were at one point THE PLACE for romance news.
I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for them. If you ever had time go back and read some of LLB’s old ATBF’s. They are grand and great fun and show what the site was built on and they still are a great resource.
I would say their after hours blog is a complete bust but they have moved to a format with some of their interviews and features that allow a ‘blog’ like fashion to it. But even if they never get the idea there are other people out there doing what they did or even if they start to report on current events in romanceland again they don’t need to be apart of it.
But are and have always had a community of their own. A smaller one yes, but still a whatever works.
I almost never agree with the reviews those places give for books.
I did visit the AAR boards and talk to other readers. I have read a few books that they said were good, but every.single.time I have hated what the other readers loved.
I give up.
I took AAR off my favourites, and I am sticking to my friend blogger opinions from now on.
And they have always clung to the idea they are THE site for reviews, news and romance info going as far as making rules to not link to other reviews sites in almost a plug your ears with your fingers and pretend they aren’t there fashion.
Noticed that, did you? And here I thought I was the only one to ever see that shortcoming for what it was. Snort.
Ahem, okay, just blame the above on lack of sleep. But it’s is true that that it’s the one thing that has always pushed AAR towards being an almost closed community. The Internet is ABOUT links, for goodness sakes. Their “no links” rule has always driven me up the wall for that very reason.
And driven me out to the broader Internet. Yet another example of what I was talking about in my blog.