Book Blogger Conference via Armchair BEA

Welcome to my attempt at Book Blogger Conference ideas.  Really, at this point I'm wishing I was there to hear other folks ideas on these things.  However, here's what I have to say about writing and content on blogs.

Tips and tricks on writing good book reviews:
The best I can say is to write what you feel.  Almost all book reviews are subjective.  You as a reader had a reaction to the book and the experience of reading it.  You share those reactions and feelings in a review.  It is so difficult to say objectively something about a book, writing, story, because everyone has their own opinions on the matter and we won't all agree on what's "good" or "bad."  Therefore, I say again, tell us what you feel.  

I do reviews both of books I enjoyed and those I didn't.  If I finish a book, I review it here.  This is why I have both a "Things I Liked" and a "Things I Didn't Like" section.  I rarely have a book that doesn't have something in both categories.  I do have to make sure, however, that I'm not specifically looking for things not to like in a book.  I know it's hard work to get it published, so I don't want to be picky and talk about every small detail that bothered me.  Still, I like to be balanced.  Not everyone is going to want to do this.  Which brings me to:

Do what you are comfortable with.  Find what works best with your style and personality.  You don't have to do things the way others do.  You don't need ratings or stars or publication information.  All you really need is the title, author, and your opinion.  You will probably want more in there, but those are the basics.  Don't try to conform to someone else's standard.  Make your own.

How do I balance reviews with other content?
This is an interesting question.  Going along with my last point about doing what you want, this is kind of the same.  If you've read my blog at all, you'll know that it is heavy on the book reviews.  That is just how I want it.  The purpose for my blog is to review books.  The other content, I try to keep to a minimum, generally two non-review posts and four reviews a week.  This is definitely not going to work for every blog.  In fact, lots of the big and popular blogs have plenty of non-review content.  Another reason I decided to do this is that reviews are what I like to read.  I'll be honest, I skip lots of the TV, music, random thoughts posts on other blogs.  I'm more interested in what someone thought of a book than those other things.  I think it's a great idea to do what you want to see on other blogs.  And also balance it according to what you enjoy writing.  

I'm out of ideas what do I do now?
Read a book.
Read a book blog.

That about does it for my thoughts.  Here's hoping I may have helped someone somewhere decide something!

Feel free to leave your ideas and suggestions for these questions as well! (No, really.  I could use them.)

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