Blogger etiquette
*This is just my opinion, and what I’ve learned in my two years of blogging. This is by no means fact or law.
Isn’t it sad that I feel the need to insert a disclaimer?
Now, for most of these things, I’m more lenient when it comes to newbie bloggers who don’t know any better. I probably made plenty of mistakes in my first months of blogging (I admit I was guilty of excessive commenting to get traffic in my early days *cringes*)!
1. Don’t leave generic comments.
You know what I’m talking about: Those one liner comments that simply say “Great post” or “Great review.” To me, this kind of comment tells me that the commenter didn’t actually read said review. Why was it great? You seriously don’t have anything else to say other than that? I’m not asking for a novel, guys. But a sentence or two would be nice, if only to prove that someone actually reads my posts and cares about what I have to say.
Now, if it’s someone that I know well and that comments regularly, I don’t mind a one-liner comment (as long as it’s not “great review” lol) because I know they care about my content, and chances are they at least skimmed the post.
If you want more detail, Cee @ Novel Hermit explains it perfectly!
2. Don’t ask people to follow your blog.
There is nothing more annoying than getting a tweet or comment asking you to “please stop by my blog.” This goes right along with the half-assed comments, and it’s especially bad on memes. You know, when someone says “Great post! Here’s mine: [link to their blog]” HOW in holy hell can you expect someone to care about your blog, when you’ve made no effort to care about theirs?! I mean, I know how hard it is to start blogging, believe me, I KNOW. But when you see the same generic comment from the same person over and over and over again, it makes you think that they just post comments to get traffic. If you’re going to link your blog, that’s fine. But leave a meaningful comment! People are much more likely to return the favor.
When someone says to me, “Hi! Can you please check out my blog?” I ignore the comment entirely. Maybe it’s rude, but hey. If you can’t do for me what you want me to do for you…just saying. Now, when someone leaves a meaningful comment on one of my posts, especially a thought-provoking one, I’m probably going to visit their blog, follow them on twitter, and maybe even subscribe to their posts. I like to talk to bookish people. If I feel like I’m going to make a new friend from the interaction, I’m more willing to put in a little effort. I have no interest in someone who only cares about pageviews.
I personally never link to my blog when leaving comments (the only exception being recently, when I leave comments on other people’s Life of a Blogger posts). I usually comment under ‘Jessi @ Novel Heartbeat,’ that way if someone is interested, they can seek me out. I don’t want to force my blog on anyone!
3. Don’t take something that isn’t yours.
This is a major, major thing for me. If you are participating in any meme/challenge/etc, always link back to the host. Never, ever take someone’s feature or meme and make it your own. NEVER copy and paste from anyone else’s blog, unless it’s a meme or you have direct permission from that person to use their content. If you’re not sure, ask permission first. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Sure, there may be no original idea out there, but if you do exactly what someone else is doing (i.e. You start a feature with the same exact name as someone else’s…not cool), it’s called plagiarism. Stealing an idea is still considered plagiarism, guys.
This goes the same for pictures. If someone has specifically made a graphic for their blog, they’ve probably spent lots of time on it (for example, Ashley’s awesome graphics she puts in reviews). Taking it and making it look like it’s yours is ignorant and disgraceful of that person’s hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be inspired by others. But take that inspiration and make it your own. You want to do a Blogger Spotlight post? Well, someone else already has it. So what should you do instead? Come up with a unique name for it, that fits your blog, like Reanna’s Phantasmic Friends. You can’t just take something that isn’t yours. It’s hurtful, and believe me, it feels awful to be on the receiving end, to have your hard work taken.
If you see something like this, speak up! Sometimes it can be an honest mistake – i.e. someone simply forgot to link up. (Usually in this case, the person will be very polite, and will comply quickly and easily.) But if it’s blatant theft, then the content needs to be taken down (and this is where it has the potential to get ugly; because the offender is likely to get very defensive – which, to me, is the first sign that they know they’re wrong). BUT – don’t post it all over social media: If it’s someone else’s work, email the person that owns the original content and let them know, then it’s up to them to decide how to handle it. If it’s your work, email the person that has taken your work and politely tell them that it’s yours and they should take it down or change it (it’s probably going to be difficult and awkward, there’s no way to avoid that). Things like this should always be handled privately and professionally unless the thief refuses to cooperate.
As far as reviews go, I personally never read reviews of a book that I’m a) currently reading, or b) reading soon, because I don’t want any phrases of someone else’s review to stand out in my mind. I want each and every review to be 100% me!
I’ll say it again: DON’T take something that isn’t yours. Ever.
4. Don’t obsess over ARCs.
If all you care about is ARCs, you should quit right now. Sorry if that’s harsh, but that is not the reason you should book blog. Bloggers who are only in it for free books are a disgrace to the rest of the book blogging community.
Don’t tweet authors repeatedly and ask for a copy of their book. Chances are, they don’t even handle ARCs anyway. Not to mention it’s rude and annoying. It’s one thing to say “Ohhh, Anita, I hope I get an ARC of Unhinged, I can’t wait to read it!” but another thing entirely to say “Hey Anita, do you think you could get me an ARC of Unhinged? Pretty please?” (This didn’t actually happen by the way, I made up the scenario ;p) The answer is going to be no, because she probably can’t.
At the same time, don’t get butthurt because someone got an ARC you wanted. Oh, I know all about ARC envy. Many a time I’ve coveted a shiny ARC that someone else had (*coughs* The Winner’s Curse). As a book blogger, it’s hard not to be envious! But don’t let it turn into a big deal. Don’t get pissed at somebody because they got one and you didn’t. It’s not their fault! And don’t get angry because someone posted on your Waiting on Wednesday post that they have it. They’re probably just excited to read it too, not shoving it in your face to be malicious. *rolls eyes* This goes along with the same old discussion that people are too touchy these days.
5. Don’t attack someone for their opinion.
Just because you LOVED say, Divergent for example, doesn’t mean everyone else will. There’s no need to verbally deride someone because they didn’t like your favorite book. We all have opinions! Maybe they loved something that you hate. Not everyone is going to enjoy the same things; you have to learn to accept that. If you see someone complaining about something in a book, don’t tell them “Well, you just didn’t understand what the author was trying to do.” There’s no need to insult a reader’s intelligence because they don’t agree with you!
6. Don’t bash any authors
There’s a major difference between author bashing and negative reviews. You can definitely rant about the book in a negative review without demeaning the author’s name. (I did a discussion about bad reactions to negative reviews not too long ago!) Yes, a ‘negative’ review may still be painful to read, but as an author, they have to realize that when you put something on the market for consumers, you’re opening yourself up to public opinion. And isn’t it the point of a book reviewer to be 100% honest?
BUT – don’t ever call the author names, or say that he (or she) is a piece of trash for writing a terrible book. The author may be a perfectly respectable dude, you just didn’t like his book. Maybe someone else will. Or maybe writing just isn’t his forte. Either way, the author isn’t a bad person because the book was disagreeable.
I hate when these things happen. Especially when they start unnecessary drama. I loooove the book blogging world and I love all the new friends I’ve made along the way, so it makes me sad to see bloggers go at each other. Sometimes, yes, it’s warranted. If a blogger crosses a line, I completely agree with standing up for yourself, and even your friends, as long as it doesn’t turn into a lynch mob. If the blogger admits her mistake and apologizes, let it go! If they don’t, be professional. Don’t lower yourself to their level. It makes you look bad, too, when you call names and fling insults. If you have to go public, just stick to the facts and try your best to stay professional.
Ultimately, what I want to know is: Can’t we all just get along?!
Yes, I know, it’s impossible. But one can hope, right?
Normally, when someone posts a generic comment on my blog, I don’t even reply to them, let alone return the comment and check out their blog. I do think that commenting is a way of getting to know people, which is why you should try to make an effort. The one you’re leaving comments to spent minutes (hours for some, maybe) thinking and composing their posts, and you won’t even bother to skim? Please. If you’re not interested in the post (the topic isn’t interesting, or the book review is of one you don’t know of), then I guess it’s better to just not comment at all.
And damn plagiarism! Just recently, a load of our schoolmates plagiarized in writing their book reports. It’s unfair the people whose ideas they originally were. They actually thought and spent their time working on whatever those ideas are.
#5, of course. My most recent example would be of Tahereh Mafi’s Ignite Me. People keep defending Warner to fans of Adam (*cough* like me) and it’s really disturbing me. People may view things differently, and other people’s opinions shouldn’t change that.
Thanks for sharing Jessi! <3
Yeah! Even if I like the post, but have nothing to say, I don’t comment. If I can’t come up with more than a sentence I don’t bother!
I think it’s a damn shame, really. It’s sad that people can’t think for themselves anymore…
Oh wow! I’m actually Team Warner myself (and I despise Adam lol), but I can see the problems that people would have with him. It’s all a matter of opinion!
omg I totally agree with everything that you said. If someone only says, “great review” then it really turns me off but if they have some kind of comment above them saying “great review” then at least they took the time to pay attention to the title of my post. Also, people who take other people’s ideas make me so angry because obviously that person spent a lot of time working on their feature and unless they’re giving permission to post a response on their blog or participate, then it’s definitely not okay.
It seems that author bashing is also becoming a bigger and bigger issue because I hear more and more of it nowadays or maybe it’s just because I’m aware of it now. Anyway, fantastic discussion, Jessi! <33
Same here! I don’t mind “great review” as long as that’s not ALL it says. In fact, I think most of my comments say something along those lines! But my regular commenters actually take the effort to read and discuss (like you!). It makes my blood boil when some random person comments with only “great review” -___-
I think it’s more of a problem…people are just too touchy nowadays!
One thing that gets me (personally) is the whole blogger loyalty thing. I want to support my favorite blogs and bloggy friends but I feel guilty for not reading all the reviews they’ve posted since I started following. Yet I’m not interested in every book people review and I don’t always feel like reading reviews. I have to tell myself it’s okay sometimes. I have no idea why this is….
Attacking someone’s opinion. Yeah, not fun. Got that from a couple of people on Amazon for my review of Allegiant. I think I replied twice and I’m pretty sure I was kind and respectable. Then when they kept replying and kind of getting mean I was like, oh well, I’m not feeding this. Deal with it people. :) I think we forget that when you reply with something mean you’re making the reviewer feel bad too (for a different reason but still). It can be hard to hold your tongue when you see a negative review of a book you love but this comes back to the whole think before you speak/type.
ARC obsession comes in waves for me. But I’ve learned a lot about what ARCs to request since I’ve started. A lot of the time, even if it’s a book I really want, I’ll look at the release date. If it’s close, then I usually won’t request it since A.) I probably won’t read it in time. And B.) I’m a mood reader.
I agree with you on the blogger loyalty point. Lately I just haven’t enjoyed reading book reviews X_X If I do read them, then I’m really picky about it and only want to read reviews for books that I’m considering picking up but am torn on.
I feel bad though because there are a lot of bloggers I LOVE (as people, for their personalities, etc.) but I rarely read their blogs or comment because I don’t like reading reviews anymore, or because I don’t have the same interest in books that they do. :(
I do too! I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’d rather read a discussion post instead of a review which isn’t really a good thing. If I don’t want to read reviews, what makes me think that people are going to read mine? :(
That’s the thing is to just stay respectable. It can be very hard sometimes…people can be so ignorant! They really do need to think before they type. Not everyone is going to have the same opinion! But apparently Veronica Roth fans are crazy anyway?
Same here! If it doesn’t come out for months I’ll get it, but if I only have a month to read it I may not have time. I’m kind of overwhelmed right now with spring releases – I know I have plenty of time, but still – and I just want to get them over with and catch up. I only request books I’m DYING to read anymore. I’m a mood reader, too! I feel like sometimes I’m like “OMGSH I want this book sooo bad!” then I download it, and by the time I can finally get to it I don’t want to read it anymore!
Awesome points! I agree with all of those. Luckily I don’t get a lot of #1 or #2 on my blog anymore. I think it helps that I no longer link up with memes. When I used to do that, I’d get a ton of stupid, spammy, copy & pasted comments on my meme posts. Now I don’t like up with anything and almost all comments are genuine, which ROCKS! ♥
Yeah, cutting out memes really helped! Thankfully I haven’t had many generic comments lately either. Most of mine are regular commenters who always have something genuine to say!
Okay, I totally had to laugh at the first two. I was totally guilty of number 1 when I was a new blogger. I had so few (or no) followers and I Googled how to get more followers and one of the search results said to comment on other blogs, but don’t forget to leave a link to your blog! So, I’d leave very short, non-meaningful comments along with a link to my blog. It wasn’t necessarily that I didn’t read the post I was commenting on, I just wasn’t much of a commenter. I am a shy person and it took me awhile to be able to comment thoughtfully on other people’s blogs. I just didn’t feel I had anything interesting to say. So, I wouldn’t say much. I’ve gotten better now (as I ramble on and on…)
Anyway, great post! Hehe…but I mean it :)
I think we all were ;)
Haha I think it just takes some learning when you’re a newbie. I’ve learned a lot in the last two years!
I guilty for sometimes doing the one liner thing! *hangs head in shame*. It’s not that I don’t read the post, because most of the time I do. It’s usually that I’m on a tight schedule and a lot of times if I see that they’ve commented on one of my posts I want to comment back but don’t have a whole lot of time. I know, still no excuse! I am ashamed.
I also tend to ignore those people who just say “Great post! Check out mine: [insert link here]”. Especially if they do that on a meme and EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. It’s like, really? You couldn’t say something about the post other than that? It’s definitely not going to make me look.
When I first joined NetGalley it was because The Iron Traitor was up and I wanted a copy SO SO BAD! But unfortunately I didn’t get one and I was super disappointed. And of course I was a bit envious of those who DID get a copy but there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. Sometimes you’re approved and sometimes you’re not. It’s no fault of your own or the other bloggers. It does get hard though! Especially if it’s one you’re absolutely dying to read. The people who want them just to get the free books though.. that’s just wrong and NOT the point of ARCs at all. It’s even worse when those people get them just to release them onto the internet before the release date.
I do tend to post my meme posts or a link to my blog on comments but it’s not there for “oh look at me! come check out my blog! please, please!” I usually put it there a courtesy, in case they want to check out my post/blog they’ll have a quick way to get there and won’t have to do any digging to get there. That’s one of my pet peeves actually. haha I like when people leave links to their blog. I hate clicking on a name and it taking me to google+ and then they have several posts from several different blogs and I have NO IDEA how to find theirs. I usually just give up looking.
And now that I’ve written a novel for you to read, I think I’ll end with say… great post! ;) haha seriously. It was. :)
Sadly I don’t comment as much as I’d like to because of the lack of time! I save up my posts in my subscription folder to comment on when I get a chance…sometimes they sit there for a while >.< Yeah, I think way too many people focus on the 'free books' aspect, it makes me sad. It's easy to get caught up in it, but it shouldn't drive what we do! Haha thanks Kelly! :)
YES! Great points here, and even though they seem like they should be common sense, they’re not. I always return meaningful comments, but I don’t waste my time with the “great pots, here’s my link” comments either. They’re not respecting my time so I should not feel the need to visit that site.
The not taking something that isn’t yours has become such a delicate issue lately. Nowadays it is so hard to tell when someone made something themselves (graphic for example) or it is something that is used by anyone (like a meme or gif).
As for bashing/attacking people – like you said, we really need to be able to get along. This is a hobby, something we love to do. It sucks when there are a few trolls (and there will always be trolls) ruining it for the rest of us. But we also need to develop a bit of thick skin and let the negativity roll away, and for goodness sake do not feed the trolls.
This is an excellent post, I shared it :)
It really is hard to tell anymore. Or when someone starts something and it spawns a bunch of them, so everyone has the same thing and you don’t know who came up with it in the first place.
You’re right, there will always be trolls =/
Thanks for sharing :)
Great tips for starting bloggers. I think we all made mistakes like this (I know I used to leave the same looking comments on memes in the beginning) and that’s why I don’t mind when a newbie does these things. But I do appreciate longer comments that shows someone read my review/discussion post. The whole ‘follow me (and I follow back)’ is annoying. I do leave my links sometimes to make it easier, but I make sure I post something with depth. Plagiarism is a no-go. No matter if you are new, everyone should know this is disrespectful.
Yes, of course it’s normal to get jealous every now and then (because let’s face it, getting ARC’s is a good feeling and there are just books worth dying for), but that’s indeed NOT what bloggging is about. When I started, I didn’t even know this was a thing.
Great post Jessi! :)
Yeah, I tend to be more lenient with newbies because they probably don’t know any better. I’m sure we all made the same mistakes at one time!
I agree! ARCs should just be a bonus for our hard work, not the thing that drives us!
They might be your opinions but I think all of these are great points to make, and mistakes I think we all make when we’re just beginning out. Luckily I learned early, so I don’t think I did too much damage!
Leaving meaningless or promotion comments in my biggest bugbear, and if I receive a comment like that on my blog I will outright ignore it. I don’t care if people think that rude — I personally think I’m just responding in kind. I didn’t initiate the rudeness, the commenter did when they disregarded my entire post. I recently had a comment on a discussion of mine that simply stated that they’d also written a post on the same topic. There was no way I was going to answer that, or check out their post either.
It’s not that I expect a massive essay on every post I wrote, particularly on TTT’s and WoW’s, but a comment should at least indicate that you’ve read that post. I’d answer a one-sentence comment that addresses a point in my post, for example, but “great pick” on my WoW post really doesn’t.
Exactly! And I agree, I don’t expect an essay, but more than 3 words would be nice!
Thankfully I don’t get those anymore because I cut out memes!
Lovely post! You make some very good points, which I heartily agree with. I still think commenting is one of the hardest things for me. A lot of times I want to comment, but I don’t always know what to say. & I hate leaving comments that just say “great post” or whatnot. I hate receiving them too.
Great post! I was definitely guilty of #1 in the beginning. I’ve also been guilty of #2 at times but I’ve gotten a lot better. There are times I just don’t know what to say. I’ve just decided to not comment anymore when I feel like that now. I think these are common faux pas among new bloggers as they’re not sure what to do or where to start. As for #3, #5 and #6, these are NOT okay. EVER! I don’t care if you’ve just started or if you’ve been blogging half your life, it’s bad all the way around.
I really try to not comment unless I have something I REALLY want to share and I just have to say something. Like when I comment here, I usually find myself writing a huge paragraph />.<\
I don't really put my link in comments… There might be a few out there from a while back. And some from when I checked out other people's StS posts. But lately I haven't had time to go around, much less to go around and put my link everywhere o.o
As for taking stuff that isn't mine… That's what I'm most paranoid about. I'm really new to book blogging, as in writing actual reviews and such. Before, my blog was more original as far as content, but not very appealing… I'm trying to balance that, but I'm not sure how, you know?
And I'm way to new to think about ARCs unless it's for those blog tours. And they're usually e-copies, so I don't mind one way or another.
Bashing reviewers and authors is not cool… Even I know that. Every now and then I see people who hated something I loved and well… I lament and then I move on. Sometimes I'll leave a comment like: I liked it because of (this), but I see how you may not have like (whatever) because blah blah… It's not like I can change their opinion (or want to), but I like discussing books both ways, good and bad. That makes sense, right?
As long as you don’t willingly take something that isn’t yours, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about! Just blog and review from the heart and you’ll be fine :)
Sometimes that’s all you can do is lament and move on. If it’s someone I’m familiar with I’ll leave a “aw I loved this one it’s a shame you didn’t like it” or something to that effect. If I don’t know them, I don’t bother because I don’t want someone to take offense!
I like discussing them, too! I don’t mind debating over a book as long as it doesn’t turn ugly…which usually it does =/
I think I have managed to avoid all of these! And I really HATE generic comments. Maybe the people who comment that way think they are contributing via page visits and comment count but I don’t feel comfortable commenting that way. I always try to write something genuine and contributory. Sometimes with memes when I am visiting a blog in return for commenting on my own and our tastes are totally different I might not have much to say but even then I try to write something more than “Great list.”
It’s not always easy to know what is the “right” thing to do or say. I’m still learning the ropes and I often look towards other bloggers to see what is appropriate behavior. But if you happen to look at someone who is doing it “wrong”, you might make the mistake of thinking that is right and mimic it.
We need more posts like these! :)
Nicole @ The Quiet Concert
That’s why I don’t participate in memes anymore >.< It can be very hard sometimes, especially if you don't know the community! Even I was guilty of the meme comments when I first started. But it's a learning experience. Yeah, that's the unfortunate part. I can think of a couple of bloggers that have displayed very bad behavior, and they are 'popular' experienced bloggers with a high following. I hope they're not teaching bad habits!
I don’t mind generic comments so much; I usually just don’t give them too much attention. Maybe they just wanted to let me know that they had read my post, but didn’t have anything to really add to the conversation.
I also don’t mind when people link to their blog in comments, as long as the comment isn’t only to link to their blog. I know it makes it easier for me to find them, if I want to return the favour by visiting/commenting on their blog!
I definitely agree with everything else though! I’ve worked hard on some of my graphics and I’d be devastated to see someone take one without permission.
True, it is alright to link if it’s at the end of a comment. It’s just the “please visit my blog at this link” comments that annoy me.
It doesn’t feel good, that’s for sure =/
And YOU’RE RELAUNCHING YOUR BLOG?! Yay!!! I pre-subscribed :)
1. I don’t get a lot of generic comments anymore because of that discussion post and because I no longer link my memes. It’s been great! I actually get to read comments from people who are genuinely interested in what I have to say! However, I did get the extremely generic comment (a few words that told me absolutely nothing) and that totally irritates me. I know that the person is a newbie, but I’m like gahhhhh, put a little effort into the comment!
2. I wonder if people who explicitly writes “check out my blog” in their comments know that other bloggers will probably not do that. At times, I want to shout, “NOOOO. DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO. YOU’RE NOT MY MOM.” ;D To me, that phrase translates to “hey, don’t check out my blog” and “i just want more page views” (if that makes any sense). I never link to my posts on other blogs unless it’s part of CommentLuv.
5. Yup! Everybody have different opinions, and being super aggressive (where you’re shouting profanity and name-calling) at somebody who doesn’t share it is totally not cool. If somebody doesn’t like a book I like, I just think either “more of this book for me then” and “I have enough love for the both of us.” Lol.
That’s awesome! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when people leave genuine comments ^.^
Hahaha right?! When someone tells me to do something, I’m less likely to do it (what can I say, I’m a rebel).
Great way to look at it! It just irks me when people get standoffish about it. Or if they’re condescending like “Well you obviously didn’t understand what the author was trying to do” Well how ’bout you drink a nice tall glass of shutup juice, hmm?
[…] Novel Heartbeat discusses blogger etiquette […]
[…] it’d be devastating for the book industry for sure. Novel Heartbeat’s discussion on Blogger Etiquette – I’m sure it’s been said time and time again and most people of guilty of some […]
Oh my goodness I did so many of these as a baby blogger. I might do a discussion post on “then” and “now” and what I’ve personally learned. I look back and CRINGE.
Those people who leave generic “wow great post, here’s my blog” comments KILL ME. Like… I would rather NOT get comments (and sob, alone, in the corner) than get those. Ugh.
And YES to not stressing over ARCs. It is SO not worth it.
You should do it! Yeah, I look back and cringe at all the memes and tours I used to do >.<
A. FREAKING. MEN.
I love you, Jessi. I love you.
I hate people who Obsess Over ARCs or whine about how they don’t get many books. Okay people, I live in Canada where it’s even less than Americans, but you don’t see me getting hurt over it. Who cares?
I used to be all about Physical ARCs but realized that eARCs are just as good if not better! Let’s be honest, it’s not that big of a deal after a while…
I also can’t take people who ask me to follow their blog. I have ROUNDS. I will follow your blog if I’m actually going to read it. If not, sorry, not sorry.
AMAZING (FREAKING) post!!! <333
Hehehee I love you too!
Very true…I think people from Asia get even less! I have a blogger buddy from Macedonia, and he can’t get them because they don’t ship there. At least we have them available! eARCs are better sometimes, because they don’t take up space and they’re easy to get!
Haha unapologetic, I like it ;D I feel the same way!
You touched on a lot of really great points here! I haaate generic comments, especially on a top ten tues post where they just say “great list! check out my TTT”… it’s like… ummm… yeah, i don’t think i will. It’s rude. Even if someone wants to leave a quickie comment, it shouldn’t be that hard to come up with 1 meaningful sentence that actually shows they read the post!
I’m also with you on not reading reviews of books I plan to read or review in the near future! I never want my opinions to be swayed by something I read or for me take someone else’s words and subconsciously have them spun in my own review!
Exactly!! I think it’s just laziness to leave a few words in a comment. You’re right, a sentence isn’t that hard. And taking that small bit of extra time might earn you a new friend or follower! Maybe I don’t understand because blogger interaction comes easy to me, who knows.
Yep, same here! I feel like if I read someone else’s review first, I’m going to take bits of that and end up putting them in my own review. Definitely don’t want that!
I really liked this post…
[pause for effect]
I’m kidding, this was great and a lot of the stuff you pointed out, at least for me, felt like common sense. But perhaps that is just what I’m used to doing from my educational past. References and acknowledging ownership. I can’t say my blogging is perfect, but I can say I’ve learned techniques and scenarios a lot quicker with the help of other bloggers, inadvertently they helped me quite a bit in being a little more up-to-speed with how things worth.
When I first started blogging I was excited about the prospect of receiving ARCs, but after awhile with a little digging I realized they weren’t always necessary and I was quite content with reading it after it was released. This year I’ve been taking advantage of ecopies, which I seem to adapt quickly with and I feel like I have a tendency of finishing them quicker.
I will always prefer paper, being a librarian and all. But ebooks are just as good as ARCs. :)
Haha I see what you did there ;p
I mean, don’t they teach the whole references and acknowledgement in high school, though? They did when I was in school! Maybe people just forget?
Same here! I still get excited when I receive a package, but they’re not as special as they used to be. I can usually get most galleys I request, so I don’t need the paper ARCs as much! I used to hate ecopies, but lately I feel like it’s easier because I can just stick my Kindle in my purse. I can’t do that with a paper ARC – unless I want to damage the cover >.<
Oh phew, I was worried that joke was going to fall on deaf ears ;P
Reference and acknowledgement, plagiarism, a page that includes all your citations and credits. It’s things that are discussed during high school and into post-secondary. It’s ALL things that even if it isn’t discussed should be considered common courtesy, which, sadly, is quickly forgotten when people hit the internet. Like, I mean, I know sometimes I’m guilty and write the one liners but I honestly sometimes have nothing else to say except for “Good job!” or “Great post!” or “Couldn’t agree more!”. Couldn’t be any worst than nodding to a statement during a face-to-face conversation.
Another thing is, depending on how old a book is, you can probably get ahold of the publisher and make a request. I know I did that in the past telling the publisher who I was, what I did, and why I wanted the book and they happily sent me the book plus freebies that had similar context than the original requested novel. It was awesome! I read the books, made my reviews and sent the info to the publisher to let them know the “situation” with an informal request for more books if they thought of other titles with similar character situations. Easy peezy :)
I just don’t understand it!! And then when they’re caught, they get all defensive like they’re the victim…which just proves they obviously know they’re wrong. *shakes head*
That is awesome! I haven’t emailed very much just because it’s kind of intimidating, I guess? I don’t really have any other reason. Good idea, though! I’m bad about emailing reviews. I need to do that…
I actually don’t get very many one-liners. I must be lucky or something :p If I get any it’s spam.. or a n00b or… I can’t think of any others.
The emailing thing is pretty simplistic. It doesn’t hurt to practice. ;) I think as long as you aren’t harassing them every time you think of a book you want you’re pretty decent. It’s like asking for an ARC – I think. :s
Great discussion topic and post. I hope that I’m not guilty of any of these. I believe I was about the 1 liner thing in the beginning. I didn’t understand what I was doing (like all of us it seems).
I go in waves about reviews and my enjoyment of reading them. A lot of times I have no interest so might skim but won’t comment. Lately I’ve been really enjoying them. I, like you, won’t read a review of a book I’m reading or just read because I am terrified their wording will stick with me and I’ll accidently regurgitate it in some way.
I’ve not experience the attack on my opinion comment yet. I hope I’ve not done this–I do leave my opinion of the book in my comment but I don’t feel that I’m debating or being ugly. I actually love it when people are very mixed on a book or love a book I don’t like. It intrigues me to experience things from their point of view.
And I totally agree…this community is wonderful and I wish we could always get along :-)
That’s alright, I think most of us bloggers where guilty of #1 in the beginning :) But I think after a couple months of blogging they should start picking up on those little nuances.
I hope you never do have to experience it, it’s not fun. People get up in arms over the silliest things, and it kills me that people can’t have a friendly debate without it turning ugly. You can state your opinion and your side on the matter without being degrading! But sometimes when you do so, people still get offended because your opinion is different than theirs. It’s sad, really. I’m like you, I like to try and understand where someone else is coming from.
[…] Jessi gives some of us a reminder of some basic blogger etiquette. […]
This is a REALLY good post. Thank you so much. (I stumbled across it via another blog I was visiting.) But I really wish these were more well known…it really sucks to have your work stolen. I invented a sort of meme with my sister…and I’d never seen anyone do anything like it before (although, I’m sure they have). But now I see it EVERYWHERE. It’s really frustrating for me, because no one has ever credited me. I don’t want to email everyone and say “stop using my ideas”, because, frankly, I didn’t specify not to copy me. *shrugs* I’ve never known what to do about it. But I wish newbie bloggers would take the time to learn some etiquette about the blogging world.
I definitely know that feeling! I had that problem on an old meme I used…one person in particular took it and didn’t even bother to change the name, so I had to change mine. The actual meme itself wasn’t original, but if you’re going to do the same thing, can’t you be bothered to change the name? Then recently someone tried to take my Life of a Blogger…you can’t change something to make it your own and think it’s okay just because you put “inspired by” and link to me. That’s not inspiration, that’s theft!
It just makes me crazy that people do things like this. Do they do them in ignorance, or on purpose? Because I can’t see how someone could not know that it’s rude…
What a great post! And I’m only a couple weeks behind reading it LOL!
I too hate generic comments. When I first started blogging I was excited about any comment, but now (and I’m still pretty new, less than a year) I want quality comments. If you didn’t read my post, don’t comment because you’ve only created more work for me… I feel obligated to respond to comments and go to your blog. Though, I’m thinking I just might take your stance about the visiting blogs. You’re right – why should I do more for you than you did for me?!
And the plagiarism thing is pretty huge. I get really worried anytime I come up with an idea that I think is at least semi-original and then I realize someone else recently posted on that topic or had that idea. Sometimes on my Fun Questions posts people will say, Oh I just wrote about this recently and I hope they aren’t thinking I stole their idea. Because I never would and hate the idea of someone doing it to me.
Great post! I could write a book in response, but I’ll stop there for now :)
Yep, that’s exactly how I feel! You shouldn’t feel obligated though, if it’s clear that they’re only trying to get traffic. It’s so much easier to just ignore them!
I know what you mean! Sometimes people post very similar discussions, though, there’s no way around it. It’s hard to come up with original ideas anymore! But when it’s a meme, and you take the exact name of it, or copy and paste anything, that’s different!
[…] Blogger Etiquette at Novel Heartbeat […]
Well, I have learned one thing this weekend… I suck at commenting :P
YES TO ALL OF THIS! Generic Commenting is now become my biggest irritation in blogging. I loved Cee’s post on it as well. Argh.
I also agree about the follow your blog thing. I visit back everyone that comments, and about 85% of them don’t leave a link back to their blog. I just click on their name which is normally linked to their blog, but when you leave a link that says, Here’s my blog!! it just irks me! It basically says you are only stopping by my blog to get a comment back. I just.. ugh. I don’t do that to others so I can’t stand it.
And the taking. Well it’s a shame that we have to actually talk about that really..
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get
there! Many thanks