Random Musing Post : How I decide which book to buy.

I’ve heard so much over the past few weeks that makes me unhappy with what is currently going on in the blogging world. Reviewers being harassed over a negative review (and let me be clear here, it was a negative review of the BOOK not the author though that author has since proven herself unworthy of my hard earned money), authors referring to the blogger response as “bullying” and (I shit you not) likening participants to terrorists and, finally, proclaiming that their work is entitled to reviews. All that above paragraph makes me shake my head in disbelief and wonder where these statements are coming from. Let me be clear here authors; you are not entitled to my time, my blog or my money.

Now here is another shitty statement I want to address that’s come out this week too; bloggers aren’t trust worthy as they are only in it for the free stuff. Absolute bull. Lets start with said “free-stuff”. A typical book costs £5.99 here in the UK (some are less). It takes me 2.5-5 hours to read a book. It takes me around 2 hours to write the review and get it blog ready. That’s around 5 hours per book which is just over a £1 an hour… that barely buys a pint of milk so yup it’s really about the money!

Now, lets start with the “only” part of the free stuff. I actually buy more books than I ever receive for review. In fact, I’ve bought some this morning and I’ve accepted none for weeks. I’m actually considering stopping receiving ARC’s direct from authors (unless I trust you) and just requesting them from Netgalley or buying them. Less chance I’ll pick up something I hate and less direct contact with unknown authors… sad times huh? I digress, I have a system for picking the books I buy and it’s time honored and is working….guess what people, it involves negative reviews!! They are the thing I read first and if I see none, I run away from that book as that is very fishy. No book gets universal approval and, if a book seems to, then there is something very wrong. Negative reviews are part of the system, part of the way we learn to trust in the system. If you take them away, I certainly won’t be buying as many books, sticking only to tried and trusted authors.

I’ve tried to, badly, show my “system” for choosing the books I buy (I know, it’s messy). My money is precious, I don’t deviate.