Category: Blogging

Book Review Blogging Made Easy

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

I’ve written before about how to get books for free by reviewing them on your blog. Since that post, more and more Christian publishers are starting up book review programs for bloggers. Rather than having to email publishers and plead for a book, they are soliciting you to join their book review program. That makes it easier to manage so I’m hoping more of you bloggers out there can take advantage of this. Reading good books is important, and promoting them on your blog keeps your blogging productive and helps publicize a good thing.

So here are the book review programs I’m aware of. If you know of others, please let me know, I’ll add them to the list. I’ll divide them up into those programs that send an actual book, and those that send a PDF copy. Note: click on the Publisher names to visit the book review program and join!

Physical Copies

  1. Thomas Nelson
  2. Bethany House
  3. Tyndale House
  4. NavPress
  5. Waterbrook Multnomah

E-Books (PDF) Copies

  1. Reformation Trust
  2. NetGalley — titles by Broadman & Holman, Moody, Barbour, and others

Personally, I prefer reviewing physical books. The NetGalley thing is primarily self contained. They want you to post reviews on their site. Reformation Trust will send you a hard copy of the book, after you’ve posted your review. For me it is hard to read PDF books, though. So unless I get a free Kindle sometime soon, I’m going to continue my slow progress on pdf book reviewing.

I hope the trend continues with more and more Chrisitan publishers opening up to bloggers. It creates great publicity for them, and exposes their material to many new readers. And it makes blogging a more productive and fulfilling hobby!

Update: WaterBrook Multnomah can be added to the list too.

Mircroblogging: Twitter As the New Frontier of Blogging

~ fundyreformed

Twitter is steadily becoming more and more popular, especially with bloggers. If you haven’t explored Twitter yet, you’re missing out on the microblogging revolution.

Blogging is great, but particularly with biblioblogging, posts can tend to be lengthy and updating one’s blog can be time-consuming. Microblogging, however, provides a much simpler alternative to blogging. Sites like Twitter, allow you to provide a link or a comment or both, in 140 characters or less. One click, and the update is published. You can follow lots of people’s updates more easily because they are at most 140 characters long (2 or 3 sentences). For commenting, you can reply (with an @ sign as in @johndoe how are you doing today?). You can also direct message your twitter friends.   Conversations are still possible, but everything is streamlined in the microblogging world.

Some blogging friends of mine enjoy Twitter more regularly than their blogging platform. It’s easy to discover new links and trends than using a standard blog reader (like Google Reader). When news is happening, it spreads fast on Twitter. And for those who use cell phones and hand held media devices, twitter is a perfect way to stay connected to your online social sites and friends, while on the go.

From time to time, I’m sure you’ve noticed that things slow down around here. My blog has always been somewhat inconsistent, with flashes of blog action followed by seasons of sporadic posting. If you’re hungry to know what I’m up to, and what I’m finding interesting on the web during these times, you can check my twitter feed (now in its own box in my sidebar). Sometimes I’ll share things on Twitter that I decide not to highlight on my blog. I was twittering about the Mark Driscoll – John MacArthur blog wars, and recently shared a link with John Piper’s thoughts on the topic in my twitter feed. Speaking of Piper, I also recently shared a link to his positive mention of Kevin Bauder’s call for fundamentalists to fight for a fundamentlism worth saving in light of recent anti-Calvinistic rhetoric from a FBBF speaker.

I also use my Twitter feed to update my Facebook account status. This lets me interact more on Facebook without having to log in over there. It makes me look like I use Facebook all the time, when in reality I only respond to people contacting me through Facebook from my Twitter updates.

Microblogging with Twitter makes sense, especially for bloggers, who can publicize important posts with Twitter, and reach a wider audience. It’s a whole new social media that’s really its own new world. Why not add some Christ-centered content into the mix?

One more application regarding microblogging. I have some friends who enjoy reading blogs, but don’t want to keep up with one of their own. For them, microblogging had given them an easy way to be a blogger of sorts, to share info and links and thoughts with others in an effort to influence them for Christ. I’d encourage any of my regular readers who don’t have their own blog, to sign up for a Twitter account, and add me as a friend. In time, bit by bit, you’ll see the benefits of Twitter and learn how it works. From there it’s fun to enter the world of microblogging.

Okay, one more tip. If you have Firefox as your browser, consider adding TwitterFox as an add-on. It is the easiest way to manage your twitter updates right from your browser. It makes Twittering even easier. You can retweet and shorten links automatically, and it sorts your replies and direct messages as well.

Blogging for Books part 2

~ Bob Hayton ~ 8 Comments

Last week I started sharing how serious bloggers can get free books to review on their blogs. I shared how Reformation Trust and Thomas Nelson, both have book review programs that bloggers are free to sign up for. Today I’ll share how to get books from other publishers that don’t have such programs.

It’s really quite simple. All you do is ask. Let me illustrate this for you, by sharing my story.

My Personal Story

A few months back, I was reading some blogs and other sites online and I came across an interesting discussion on the Biblical flood. In it I found out about a book called Beyond Creation Science: New Covenant Creation from Genesis to Revelation. I looked at the website for the book, and got interested in it. I’m interested in the creation debate and prophecy, and I thought I’d like to check this book out. (Note, I’ll be reviewing this one soon.)

Once I knew I was interested in the book, I emailed one of the authors (whose email was visible on the site). I described my blog, how many visitors I get on average, and who my target audience is of my blog. Then I simply asked if they had review copies and promised to do a review if they would furnish one. Very soon I had a positive respone, and a week or so later had a free book at my door.

Later once I met Shaun Tabbat and we compared blog notes. I soon realized he was using this same method to get books from respected publishers like Crossway, IVP, Kregel and others.

I decided to try and see if I could get some books to review on my blog from them. So I sent out my requests, either via a form submission or email, to various publishers. I tried to pick books interesting to me, that would fit in to my overall blog plans. I honestly expected to get some “no”s; so I wasn’t prepared for the response. I’ve asked 13 publishers to date, and have received free books from 12 of them. The last one hasn’t responded. Besides smaller private publishers, I’ve gotten books from IVP, Kregel, Crossway, Fortress Press, Harvest House, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, Thomas Nelson, & Reformation Trust.

Given my success, I thought I’d share this strategy with my blogging friends. Many of you, like me, are strapped for funds and can’t get these exciting new books you hear about. This might help you like me to enjoy some good books, and then review them on your blog.

Answers to some common questions:

How many hits do you need to average to be able to do this?

I’m not really sure how many hits one has to have to be considered. The main thing is knowing your audience and describing your blog well.

Is this just a cheap way of getting a free book? Isn’t this sort of dishonest?

Not at all. In today’s world, especially, more and more books are bought and promoted online. Recently I posted a review of one of my personal books, in the comments someone shared that they actually went on to purchase the book as a result of my post. This is the benefit we bring to publishers. Their product will be talked about and publicized. And the cost for them is negligible. It’s inexpensive marketing. As long as you pledge in good faith to review the book, and you actually do follow through, there is no dishonesty. A publisher will easily be able to tell if you don’t follow through and won’t honor requests for more books.

Where do I find publishers’ email addresses? How do I request books?

I recommend Googling for Christian Publishers and just go to each publisher’s website and look around. Often you’ll find a contact form, or a media submission form. Sometimes, as with Crossway, IVP and Fortress you’ll need to register with them as a media outlet. In the comments section you clarify you are a blogger and give your request.   You can look for contact us, or about us pages on most publisher’s sites.

One other tip would be to look for smaller independent book publishers. These people are more likely to say yes as they don’t have the large marketing budgets other publishers have. A list of small Christian publishers can be found here (compliments of Christian Small Publishers Association).

Any other tips for getting them to say “yes”?

I’d recommend having a book in mind when you contact a publisher. Tell them why you’re interested in the book and that you think it will interest your readers. I try to stick to books that I’d be glad to blog about on my blog, and that would fit into my existing blog themes.

Also, be sure to mention you will post your review on your site as well as on Amazon.com or some other site like that. Posting the review on Amazon helps publishers have a voice in the largest bookselling site out there. Reviews on Amazon consistently influence shoppers, so this is a great help in a publisher (actually the publicist or marketer) deciding to accept your request.

You can also save the review in pdf format so you’ll be able to email a copy of the review to the publicist. There are a few free pdf creating programs online, I use Open Office.

Be timely with your reviews and stay in touch with the publicists. This will help build rapport. You can get to the point where they let you keep extra books to give away on your blog, or they can work with you to help sponsor give-aways on your blog to promote traffic for you, and interest in their products.

So now that the secret is out, get to it. Let’s use this avenue as a way to grow spiritually as Christians, and become better bloggers along the way.

Update: More and more publishers make book review blogging easy.

Books, Blogs, and Blogging for Books

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

The votes are in from my recent poll regarding books and blogs. Out of 30 votes, 9 read blogs more than books, 9 read books more than blogs, and 5 were a toss up. 6 people claimed to read more because of blogging, and I think I’d find myself in that category too.

I could do another poll to see what we think are more valuable and of lasting impact, books or blogs. I don’t think I’ll do that poll though. Most would agree books are more valuable, yet blogging has value and has a place — it offers something books don’t.

Still, books are important, and as a blogger I want to be reading more books than blogs. I want to push myself to grow more through reading more substantive, edited material.

So why not use my blog to get books? Free books at that. I am a sucker for anything free, but this makes sense really. I can read books and review them on my blog. I already do that.

What I’ve found recently is that if you want to read books and review them on your blog, you are a candidate for getting free books directly from publishers.

The only catch is you must agree to review the book. This will cause a buzz to surround the book and earn the publishers free publicity.

In this post and the next, I will share some secrets on how to get free books for blogging. I’ve just started using this technique and I’m up to around a dozen books to review. Some of them are kids books, so I think I can handle it. In truth I hadn’t thought I’d get so many “yes” responses. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

For starters, two publishers make it very easy to get free books. They are courting bloggers and have blog for book programs.

1) Reformation Trust, which was founded by R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries, will provide up to 2 pdf books for your review. Once you are finished with your review, notify them and they’ll send you a free copy of the actual book. I recommend browsing through their selection and finding one you are truly interested in since pdf books are not the easiest way to read, and you want to make this worth your time. For my part, I got Joel Beeke’s new book Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism. I’m close to 100 pages in to it and I’m very excited about the book.

2) Thomas Nelson. They recently created a Book Review Bloggers club, where certain select books are made available to you and you can request more once you finish the books they’ve sent. You have to select the genres which interest you and there are not an unlimited supply of books available. In fact some of the choices they offer aren’t that great, but when i signed up, I was able to get a copy of the The Chronological Study Bible (NKJV) to review. (They actually sent me two copies, so when I get close to posting my review, I’ll be giving the second copy away with their blessing.) I would at least sign up to be included and then keep checking to see when a book is available that interests you. Or be brave and pick a book you don’t know much about, and explore new territory.

In a follow up post I’ll give pointers for how to get books from other publishers. But for now, let me encourage you to check out Shaun Tabbat’s blog, where he reviews books almost weekly, which he gets from publishers. Seeing how others review books, and promote them, can give you ideas for how to do the same yourself.

One last word. I don’t want to turn my blog into a book blog. I don’t think you have to do this in order to take advantage of free books. I try to choose books which fit in to my blog’s overall theme. I’ve gotten a book on worldliness by C.J. Mahaney, and one on redemptive historical interpretation by Dennis Johnson. These are themes that I already cover in my blog, so reviews of these books will fit right in.

Okay, enough for now. Happy reading, I mean, blogging…. 😉

Building a Better Blog

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

Most of you who read my blog, are bloggers yourselves. So we’re all interested in improving our blogs — doing more with them and making sure they are worth maintaining.

I thought the tips given by Abraham Piper in a guest post at Between Two Worlds, would be helpful to share. He approaches blogging as a service for our readers, and I thought that approach was helpful.

Here’s his post title and link. Let me know what you think.

12 Ways to Improve Your Blog by Serving Your Readers: What I Didn’t Say at Band of Bloggers (HT: Shane Vander Hart)