Thursday, November 06, 2008

Free Books for Bloggers

I saw this in Publishers Lunch and thought I’d pass it along to those who love to read and who also blog --

According to Publishers Lunch, Thomas Nelson has launched a formal program (not sure exactly what is meant by “formal”) to enroll interested bloggers (“enroll” sounds a bit like “capture”) and provide them with free review copies of select titles in exchange for the promise of a posting of a review of at least 200 words on a blog and at Amazon.com.

The CEO of Thomas, who’s an active blogger, said he was inspired by things that happened on his own blog. He says the idea of doing this program of free books in exchange for book reviews "originally came from heightened interest on my blog, around two of our recent releases, Stephen Mansfield's The Faith of Barack Obama and Lynne Spears' Through the Storm. My readers, many of whom are active bloggers themselves, wanted to engage in the conversation about these products."

He’s not saying that the review has to be positive. He, in fact, says:
The positive reviews will be a priceless word-of-mouth marketing vehicle and the negative reviews will be a useful tool in understanding why a product might not have sold at retail.
Okay, I admit I’m a bit cynical. Too many times I’ve joined a group or gotten something online only to start getting unwanted emails. But…if you look at the Thomas Nelson line of books and they interest you, and you have a blog, and you like to do reviews, and you like free books, and you check out the site and you trust this publisher enough to give them personal info, and you like free books, and you think you’d like to be in the Nelson database of bloggers, and you’d like to get involved in the dialogue, and you like free books, then go check out the program.

Did I mention free books?

17 comments:

  1. Okay, you got me on free books. :-)

    Actually, not sure if I can even take on any more books to review. I have a stack of six waiting right now --ones I've read and haven't written the review yet, and I keep requesting more. :-(

    It will be interesting to see how this marketing plan works out.

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  2. Sounds interesting. I think I'll check it out. thanks, Helen.

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  3. Let me know if you decide to try it out and you like it (or you don't).

    I'm like you Maryann, I've got too many on my Read list already.

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  4. Sounds interesting, but I'm afraid it would be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for me. I've got a foot high stack of books to read on my nightstand that I may never get to. :)

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  5. There must be some avid readers out there who are looking for books to review!

    We'll see if Marvin signs up.

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  6. I signed up. I figure I can always unsign up at some point. I'll let you know how it goes.
    cmr

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  7. Leave it to Chris to be the brave one and sign up for this new idea!

    Looking forward to hearing your report.

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  8. I'm actually going to start giving out free review copies of my book to bloggers as well. If you're interested, let me know - all I ask is for a review in return.

    You can leave a comment at www.beinggod.com.

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  9. I signed up, too. The unique twist for a horror book dealing with Judas Iscariot hooked me. I haven't been spammd at all, either. What's one more book right? (especially free!)

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  10. Okay, if anybody wants to take Bill up on his offer of a free book for a review, go to www.beinggod.com

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  11. Ooh, Chris, that does sound like a good topic for a horror book. Man, that's tempting. Read it fast and tell us what you think!

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  12. I don't have time to do reviews.
    Most of the time, though, reviewers get a free book anyway.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
    http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com

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  13. Morgan, I get the feeling they're trying to reach bloggers who like to read, not necessarily ones who regularly blog. Seems to me they're trying to reach new people, those who don't read review blogs but who might read other blogs.

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  14. Quite intriguing, but like your other readers, I have a stack too long to read as well as requests from fellow bloggers to review his/her work. (I'm not professional.)

    BTW, I'm new here from "The Blood Red Pencil" and I adore your mermaid comment in your profile! :)

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  15. Gel, I'm not a professional reviewer either. And I need to find more time to read. I'm working on a tech book with a really short timeline, then have freelance editing work to do, so I'm falling behind in my reading.

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  16. Awesome. Love free books, mostly because I can't presently afford to buy all the books I am desperate to read.

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  17. This sounds like a good idea for you Hagelrat.

    Your moniker makes me think, Harry Potter.

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