I snorted into my tea at this. I had to double-check which review blog I was reading (via my feed reader).

I think authors online have the roughest waters to navigate on this issue, by far.

@Tumperkin:

But I think it’s important to keep in mind that different people blog for different reasons and with different objectives and that blogging is not merely a joint effort at marketing the genre or certain authors writing in it.

Amen, sister.

@Janet W: I have not been following that Ben story, and am not even sure who he is (NFL, right?). But I wouldn’t be surprised if the “skank whore”/”asking for it”/”framed the rich athlete” discourse hasn’t popped up. It always does.

@Rebecca @ The Book Lady’s Blog:

Thanks for your feedback and for pushing the conversation further. I think the most important thing is that book bloggers acknowledge what we’re doing and speak about it honestly.

Thanks for stopping by Rebecca. I agree with you on this, and on several of your points.

@katiebabs:

I don’t understand what’s the big deal with marketing yourself and your blog? Blogging for some is a business and if they treat it like so, and can make money or whatever off of it, I say go for theirs.

And honestly, why is it bad for blogs to have ads on them?

I agree with you. I think we should be celebrating women who have managed to wring some economic gains from their blogs.

As a blog reader, though, there are points where the promo and ads become too much for me. But that’s a completely different issue.

@willaful: My restraint. It is awesome.

@Liz: Great link. Thank you!

@SarahT:

While I found Book Lady’s post interesting, I was left with the impression that marketing myself and my blog and was something I SHOULD be doing, as opposed to COULD be doing.

I didn’t mention this, but yes, I can see how it woudl come off that way.

As for the “holier than thou”, I haven;t sen anyone make those kinds of claims. I do think that bloggers who choose to take ads, to monetize, to publicize, to forge agreements with major corporations, acquire a new set of potential issues which are different in kind from the ethical issues facing bloggers who don’t do any of that, but there is no reason they can’t navigate those waters wonderfully and well.

@Lijakaca: Good choice. I spent much of last week with a dangerously high blood pressure over it. I do really enjoy the AAR blogs though.

@SonomaLass:

There’s a TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE and NSFW link I could insert here, but out of respect for the decorum and dignity of your block, I will not.

Decorum and dignity! And you’re the woman who has inspired me to rename “member week” (formerly known as “penis week”) “cucumber week”.

The thing that gets me is the inconsistency. Apple will allow corporations (such as Playboy’s owner) with whom it has advantageous relationships to publish apps, but won’t allow others. It’s not principle based (which would be problematic enough) but profit based.

I’m really happy for Mark Fiore that his battle to get his cartoons on the iPo/ad was successful. I’m hoping Apple will start to realize that they are just giving themselves headaches with all this censorship crap. Is it just that they don’t want to be the newest delivery device for porn? Because, um, they’re too late. There’s a TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE and NSFW link I could insert here, but out of respect for the decorum and dignity of your block, I will not. (Anyone who wants it, let me know, or find it on Sarah Frantz’ , Twitter page.)

While I found Book Lady’s post interesting, I was left with the impression that marketing myself and my blog and was something I SHOULD be doing, as opposed to COULD be doing.

I use Feed2Tweet to send automatic tweets when I post something new on my blog. Other than that, I don’t actively promote it.

The one part of Book Lady’s post I am in full agreement with is her objection to holier-than-thou bloggers who claim they are “nobler”, or “purer”, simply because they don’t accept ARCs or host ads. I rarely review ARCs and I don’t want ads on my blog, but that is my choice. While I find online ads annoying, I understand why some bloggers choose to run them, especially if they routinely host a lot of giveaways and so on.

There’s more than one type of book blog and I think Book Lady fails to take that into consideration. Plus her definition of marketing and mine are are apparently very different.

Ah Jessica, I love you!