It’s a known fact that puppies lower blood pressure, so here is a puppy.
In case you were wondering where the reviews have been the past few days, I have decided to participate in the #Bloggerblackout. What’s that? It’s a time to reconnect with why I blog.
There have been crazy things going on in the blogging sphere over the last few weeks, and if you aren’t aware of them, check out this post at Book Binge. It sums up pretty much how I feel, with handy links if you want to read about what’s going on. I don’t feel like recapping; I’m recapped out.
Here are my thoughts on the situation:
Stalking is just wrong, and showing up unannounced on a reviewer’s doorstep with the intent to “confront” them because they didn’t like your book is beyond wrong. (I won’t even go into the issue of animal cruelty that the author admitted to – if you have been following my blog, you know already know how I feel about that!)
Physically attacking a people who panned a book is even worse, yet it happened not long ago. (what? WHAT?!)
Authors who cheer the above actions or think that it’s childish and ridiculous to take a break from reviewing don’t deserve any of my time or attention. Going forward, they more than likely won’t get any of it. While I try to not let the actions of authors in Real Life color my feelings for their books, some actions are so egregious that even I can’t look the other way.
I will not be reviewing any books until next week. That’s at the earliest. I have one review commitment that I will honor for next Tuesday. I suspect things will get back to normal shortly after that.
I am not doing this to “punish” anyone. I am not boycotting any publishers (with one exception, but I don’t normally read many of their books anyway). I have no plans to review any books written by Hale, but then again, I never did. The authors that have spoken out in her support haven’t been on my radar, so odds are, they have ensured that they remain that way. There’s enough drama out there without me worrying about making an overly sensitive writer butt-hurt.
I just wanted to make one more comment, and that’s about the nonsense floating around that because I receive review books, I owe an author page time on my blog. Sorry, this doesn’t work that way. Even if all of the review copies stopped showing up in my mailbox, I would still have that massive TBR mountain to scale, as well as the library to haunt. And, with my Scribd subscription, I have access to an awesome digital collection of unlimited reads for less than 10 bucks a month.
I work 60 hours a week. I have a family I like to interact with. I have animals to care for, as well as a house to maintain. What I don’t have is an abundance of time. Operating my blog costs me hundreds of dollars a year. There are hosting fees, equipment expenses (because, yes, even my PCs breakdown and need to be repaired), and the most expensive resource of all – my time. There are days when all I do is work at my RL job, and then rush home to work on my “fun” job. I am not paid to blog. I earn pennies on my affiliate links. I have no incentive to spend this much time doing something that costs so much yet pays back so little.
So why do I do it? Because I love books, and I love sharing information and my thoughts about books. I also enjoy interacting with other book lovers, bloggers, and authors. Even after all of the nuttiness of the last few weeks, I still enjoy doing this. I hope that you’ll continue to visit the Manga Maniac Cafe. I’ve read some wonderful books over the last week, and I’m eager to share my thoughts on them. I just need a little downtime to find a little balance during this latest bout of insanity, and I hope that you understand why I’m doing this. There is a huge disconnect in the book blogging realm, and I really need to step back and recharge.
The post #Bloggerblackout and What it Means to Me appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.
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