Saturday, August 13, 2011

In My Mailbox: Greedy or Grateful?

Hey lovelies!

Sorry that I've been pretty MIA for the last week. I have had almost no time for bloggy-type things between working my last week and finishing up packing for my move, and there has been WAY too much to do. I can't keep track of all my books! I have freaking boxes of them just piled up...I won't be able to find anything for months. I am back at it though, and I won't be neglecting you for more than a day for a very long time. :) yay!

So I actually didn't find anything In My Mailbox this week. Despite my stalking the post-man religiously. I feel like he might be filing anti-stalking paperwork as we speak just because of the creepy way I watch him walk by my front porch without bringing me any awesome presents...I think I'm going to start making muffins for him or something so that he's more encouraged to bring me books. Though I did win a few contests around the blogosphere over the last week. I'm hoping next week will be ridiculous and I will be practically crying with joy over fantabulous bookish things.

This week, while doing my blog stalking and checking on a few publisher's websites, I found an interesting article where a publisher was quoted referring to In My Mailbox and similar posts. He claimed that bloggers who were "bragging" about the books they got during the week didn't deserve to get ARC's and etc because they were just gloating over getting free books. This publisher then went on to say that the majority of bloggers just blog to get books for free. When I read it, I was just like...WHAT??? Do publishers really think we're only in it for the books? Or that we're bragging when post about the books we've got?? I don't know about you guys, but I love stalking everyone and seeing what they got during the week and where they got it from. It's a way to shamelessly promote other blogs that you love, and I find so many cool and interesting books from IMM that I would have never heard about otherwise. I always include links to where I got the books from, whether it's another blog or an author's website. And as for me just blogging to get free books...do they know how much time it takes to read and review the books? And manage the site? And just...idk...comment and talk with other bloggers? I spend a good chunk of my time working my butt off to create reviews that are insightful, and to have great discussions with others. It wouldn't be worth it to just blog for the books. I love blogging and reading and everything, but if it was just about the free books, I would have gotten jaded and deleted the blog after a few weeks. I looked at IMM as a way to increase traffic to all the blogs and amazing authors that I love while finding great new books to read... But apparently, this is considered bragging and makes me look "snobby and greedy"...

What do you think? Is doing an In My Mailbox post a way of being greedy? Or grateful??


9 comments:

  1. I think hes a douche i love in my mail box and i stalk my favorite blogs every week to see what they got. for me its all about keeping up to date and finding awesome reads. I can not tell you how many awesome books ive read because I heard of them through IMM.

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  2. It's really only a problem if you do IMM and never review any of the books you get. Otherwise, it's fun to see what everyone is getting!

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  3. I think IMM can be done a right and a wrong way. Most of the blogs I see are just people genuinely excited to have received what they received and what to share it. But sometimes you can get people who seem like they're bragging about how much they got, but I think that's fairly rare. This guy obviously does not understand the excitement that comes from getting books in the mail!!

    The Cait Files

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  4. I think to an outsider who is unfamiliar with the memes and the book blogging community, it could come across that way.

    When I first started it seemed like bragging to me. I don't think that way anymore because I understand why people do these posts.

    Since the book blogging community is so friendly and close (and only book bloggers seem to comment) we focus on other book bloggers when making our posts. We forget that many people stop by that aren't aware of book blogging norms. I know I do.

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  5. I'm as far as you can get from being a book blogger...I like to see what you get :) I never gave it a second thought.

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  6. We all know that what he said is wrong but it makes me giggle a little because I've never received an ARC for review- only if I've won them. If I don't win the books I'm showing, I buy them, which is a majority of the books I show in my IMMs. I love seeing what everyone gets. IMMs are basically what introduce me to books I'd like to read in the future. Whenever I look through them, I make sure I have my list with me in case something catches my interest.

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  7. I do in my mailbox to spread the word about the books I receive and it's more publicity for the books. Plus it's away to show how grateful I am.

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  8. That's ridiculous! IMM is just more publicity for the books we're all reading. I hear about books on IMM all the time.

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  9. What are you talking about chick?

    FIRST it's a GREAT BOOK PROMOTION, and second it's totally about being grateful!
    Check out my IMM!

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