Part of the NBCC’s Campaign to Save Book Reviewing, their blog features “posts by concerned writers, op-eds, Q and As, and tips about how you can get involved to make sure that owners and editors know that book sections and book culture matter.” Here’s an excerpt:
Q. What forms do you find effective online?
A. Peer marketing, word of mouth. You grow to trust a website or friends. And whether that’s a blog or a bookstore website or a MySpace page, it’s important to get our books in the hands of the right people.
Q. Is there a bookstore website you can use as an example?
A. Powells.com does a tremendous job. I’m a big fan of their website. It’s one of the best bookstore websites out there. It’s the experience you get when you walk into a store. They’ve been able to replicate that experience online. Really hand selling, with recommendations, news, It’s a nice informative website. They have a Powell’s blog, with authors who guest blog. There are recaps of what is going on in publishing today, an award just announced, a book that was just reviewed. It’s a good way to keep people interested.
Q. And literary blogs?
A. I know there has been a lot of discussion lately of the importance of bloggers to the industry. I think they are important. Whether you write for a newspaper or a magazine or you’re just my mom, and you tell me about a book you like, I think opinions matter. The blogging community is important to the industry.
