Saturday, March 20, 2010

Officially...Books--Cats; Life Is Sweet!

You know, I commented on a blog this morning owned by Carol Mitchell, author of a number of books, including my favorite, What Happened to Suzy, that I was now officially retired...you know, I've reached "that" age. That age when you are automatically registered into Medicare and told you must now do this, this and this...

Well, I did kinda retire...again... I've given up my partnership at Independent Professional Book Reviews site, but that really didn't change much since I told the director of the site that she could call upon me whenever she needs me...

Then again...I seem to be reviewing for a lot more clients and publishers these days...So what does it mean to retire?

Well, instantly, I changed my slogan on the bottom of my official working email address... It now reads:

Books--Cats; Life Is Sweet!
Now you might want how the above article link got here! Me Too! Well, I'm testing out Zemanta. Cool application so far!

And totally relevant to this blog post...ever more cool!

Do people appreciate what they don't pay for? Well, that has been an argument in the past, ongoing and in the future for book reviewers! You know, though, I never had the issue raised by any of my clients in the past! It was always somebody "else" who declared that my reviews were "bought" if they were paid for...

Geesh! You know, I worked for nearly 40 years in educational administration at a nearby university. I earned my respect there by performing...Yes, I was paid, but practically all of my "clients" made more than I did! They were deans, directors, vice-presidents, and the president...either my work was acceptable or it was not. Nobody questioned whether I should be paid for that work...

So, in the publishing world, why isn't it the same, I thought? Everybody has a certain niche...mine soon became that I was a reader and I knew enough that reviewing a book was a task for which I quickly gained credibility... Guess what, for "some" of those reviews I was paid... For some I wasn't, except of course, with a copy of the book.

Well, I just spent a few minutes trying to link another reference provided me by Zemanta, only to find it (as I was proofreading my entry) posted with the other link above...So, I'll just mention that I thought the "How Book Reviews Work" entry was excellent and I thoroughly agree with her! The only thing I've touched on, only incidentally, is Trends. I could be wrong, but I think most readers know that vampires are in...that there are many more books in science fiction/fantasy...but, who knows, you might see more of that in my reviews in the future...

So, officially, I am now retired...I'm no longer charging for any review...except of course I still need that book you want me to review...lol

Zemanta has performed well, for my first effort and here I am checking out how to allow YOU to Reblog Me! What that means is that if you like my book reviews and want to refer them to your friends, I don't mind! Just hit reblog like I just did with one of my favorite book marketing experts.... in my last entry!

And don't forget Life is Sweet...with a cat or two and all the books you can read!




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1 comment:

  1. Hi Karen,

    thank you for kind words about Zemanta, we are trying hard to offer the best experience possible for blog writers!

    If you have any questions/ideas, don't hesitate to contact us at support@zemanta.com

    bye
    Andraz Tori, CTO at Zemanta

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