1. If you want me to retweet a contest, I'm more than happy to do that- if you have a retweet button. If you don't, I have to grab the link, shorten it, come up with the perfect tagline, and then post. This is a huge hassle if I'm trying to go through every site on a huge giveaway hop. Please use retweet buttons!
2. I don't mind infreqeunt posts. I would rather have one amazing post a week than ten so-so posts. Also, I'm more likely to unfollow someone who posts repeatedly about how sorry they are that they're not posting than I am to unfollow someone who hasn't posted in a while. (I can understand the urge to do this, I'm not doing very well at keeping new content up, but please refrain!)
3. If I open up your post in my reader and it gives me two sentences, then says go to the blog for more, I WILL NOT GO TO THE BLOG FOR MORE. I am usually reading these on my cell. It takes ages to load your blog, then I have to zoom in the read the page. I'm reading about a zillion posts a day, it just doesn't make sense for me to waste an extra five minutes on a post when I'm not even sure what it will be about. I'm sorry, but I will probably end up unfollowing you if you do this. (I can understand that you want the page hits, it just doesn't work for someone using a cellphone.)
4. I usually only read the first 3-4 reviews of any particular book. If you're a favorite of mine of your rating is wildly different from the others, I'll give it a read, but usually it's review overload. This can't really be avoided since publishers usually want review out right before the book is out, but try to put something original in.
5. I almost never enter contests that require a comment to enter. For one, this is a huge hassle. I can't comment from my app, so I have to open the page. Then I have to zoom in enough that I can hit the comment button, and then I have to scroll through 80 comments and think of something original to say. My other problem with this is that I have to leave an email address where anyone can get it. I have an email address that I only use for blogging and I never had any spam until I started entering contests. I'm not positive that this is the reason, but it certainly seems that way to me. Also, google forms are SO MUCH EASIER!
6. Pictures make everything better! I am 90% more likely to stop and read your post in it's entirety if it has a picture or two. When there are 65 IMM in my mailbox, I start to skip the ones that are text only. (Also, please put short summaries/links to amazon in your IMM. I love being able to click the link and add it to my wishlist right there.)
7. I love pictures of people's shelves! I wish more people would post pictures of what's on their shelf, explain their shelving system, and generally gush over book-nerdy things. I'm considering keeping an updated picture of my collection on the blog.
8. Please don't use white or yellow writing on your blog. I can't see it unless I go directly to your blog and it's torture!
9. I love to see author interviews that have a picture of the book at the beginning. I often have to scroll down to see the book (if it's even there) and then back up if I'm interested in the author. It's just a personal preference, but that's what I'm sharing here, right?
10. Reviews of older books always get a thorough read. I love posts about new books, but it's only new the first time I see it. I love to see posts where bloggers take the time do dig up lesser known or older books to review. (Also, it's great to be able to get excited about a book and immediately go out and get it. It's torture to read about an amazing new book and then realize that you have to wait six months to get your hands on it.)
Well, that ended up being longer than I expected. I just thought it might be helpful to let you guys know what I'm thinking about when I go through my blogs. Here's hoping you get a lot of pages read today. :)
Well, that ended up being longer than I expected. I just thought it might be helpful to let you guys know what I'm thinking about when I go through my blogs. Here's hoping you get a lot of pages read today. :)
