Virtual Book Tours: Your Thoughts?

The other day I posted a piece of writing that vented my frustration with certain parts of the YA blogosphere. While I stand by what I wrote, I did want to take the opportunity to expand on my thoughts about Virtual Book Tours.

Only a couple of weeks ago I signed my name up for a couple of book tours. Not so bad in the scheme of things. The thing is, my thoughts on book tours have been pretty much consistent for the past few months.I don't like doing them and I don't like reading them. So, here I was signing up for book tours...or declaring my interest in being a part of them...when I didn't really believe in their effectiveness. I officially became a hypocrite.

Why did I sign up? I have moved countries, lost a supply of ARCS and most importantly, have no brick and mortar bookstores around me (that supply English YA). It drives a woman to desperate actions. But then I found Book Depository...purchased some new and older YA titles that interested me. I got more enjoyment out of those books than I did out of many of the review copies I received last year. While my name is still on those lists, I won't be accepting a role in the tours should I be invited. Though I seriously doubt that I will be.

In the beginning of my review blogging stint, I took part in a handful of tours but almost immediately felt like I was much better off doing my own thing. If I am not comfortable with the tour it reflects in the attention that I shine on the author's work. The last thing I wanted to do is do them a disservice.

I just don't think that book tours work all that well. They can and do. But in the various methods I have seen of late, it is clear that they aren't.

Why I find book blog tours restrictive as a participant...

• The authors put a lot of time into the tours from querying bloggers, to scheduling, to mail outs to answers ridiculous amounts of questions. It is because of this that I feel pressure (whether it is there or not) to review more positively.
• I hate posting a series of links or a schedule at the bottom of my post. Call me lazy (I am but that kind of stuff drives me mad). Some tours don't do this so it could be considered a moot point.
• Less freedom - I hate being contingent on a date. Being scheduled to post on a certain day doesn't please me. I have enough (more loose) time frames swimming around in my brain for release dates as it is.
• Lack of autonomy - It's too perscriptive and it makes me feel like I am doing a job rather than doing something I enjoy. I could be more creative but the author usually has a certain idea of how they'd like their tour to go and I don't like to upset the status quo or seem ungrateful.
• Lack of spark - Bear with me...I love the thrill of the chase. I love writing emails to authors requesting interviews. I love nervously awaiting for their reply, then devising a series of questions. I like that thrill. It's all a bit more impersonal with tours as (usually) the author has to deal with 10 bloggers simultaneously. This isn't the same for all authors but I like the book butterflies.

Why I don't respond to tours as a reader.

• Many books that tour already have sizeable marketing budgets and a lot of visibility. They really have no need for a book tour. I believe (and I could be wrong) that the biggest benefit of a tour is developing recognition and buzz for a book. I'd rather see books with smaller print runs, debut authors and smaller profile authors with tours.
• Sometimes the pressure results in similarly bland, favourable reviews that don't really tell you much about the book other that it's 'cute', 'fun' or 'awesome'.
• Swamping of the feeds.
• Interviews that make me drowsy due to the sheer number of questions the author is asked. If the tour involves countless bloggers, the interviews get progressively a) repetitive or b) boring. Kudos to authors that really mix up their answers and ensure repetition doesn't occurs which involves considerable effort on their part.
• To varying degrees it robs bloggers of their personality in those posts. This is debatable.
• Too many participants (which relates to feed swamping). If the blogger pool is too big, no one in the blogosphere will have to buy it as they will all be stops on the tour! Blogger malaise...I might read the first two stops but will fail to read any others. This is extremely disadvantageous to bloggers with the later stops. Keep the tour reasonable in terms of stops and diverse content.
• Interviews. I am one of those individuals that likes to read the author's perspective on the process and their characters/plot AFTER reading the book. The likelihood is, I won't have read the book yet if it is a launch tour so I won't read the interview. For some people, the interview tempts them into buying it or creates brand recognition. For me it just makes my reader's feeds slightly less daunting. I find guest posts much more effective.
• It means that I am getting hit with blog posts, tweets, Facebook status updates/fanpages etc left, right and centre. Information on the tour, the blogger's stop, the author's link, the other bloggers' retweets and everything else under the sun. This doesn't even include their reminders about their actual physical tour, podcast appearances, tv/radio appearances, contests, guest posts on other author's sites and the more ridiculous aspects like character's freaking birthdays (seriously?) etc. It hurts my head.
• Sometimes an author's content contributions can sound a little sale-heavy. Lacking in a personal touch that renders a reader cold. If it sounds like a spiel then my off switch flicks.

Reasons why book tours are a good idea -

• Effective means for getting a title out there when there is no marketing budget.
• Great for bloggers (and authors) that are geographically isolated and/or find it difficult to travel (I think Kate Forsyth did this well recently with The Puzzle Ring as she contacted several bloggers on multiple continents).
• Everyone can get 'face time' with an author.
• The experience is online forever. You can revisit it. It's not one moment in time.
• You can wear your pyjamas while experiencing the tour.

I am sure there are many more points on both sides of the argument. Please remember these are only my feelings about this subject. Your thoughts might differ and that's okay. Discussion is a good thing.

What Bugs Me in the Blogosphere.

I am in a whinging mood so I thought I would list all the things that bug me at the moment. Then ... perhaps, I can move on and collect better karma (the Mr T graphic is directed at myself so please, no hate mail).

• Bloggers who link their post in my comment section.

Ahhh. If I am interested in your IMM or even your blog, I will click on your username. My blog is not your billboard! It actually does the opposite of what you've intended...turns me off. Links in comments are a sign (to me) that it's a new blogger trying to build a profile. My advice? Stop doing it, it's not doing you any favours. And commenting with one word and then a hyperlink doesn't fool me...heck, it wouldn't even fool Jessica Simpson.

Exception...I've reviewed an author and you've conducted an interview with that author. The interview sheds light on something in my review. Then by all means link.

To make a long story short. Link when you know for sure that I will find it of interest, don't when it is to serve your own gain.

• Publicity whores

There's a difference between getting the word out there and getting all your stuff out there and IN MY FACE every five minutes. Whether on twitter or facebook, I will unfollow/hide you if you continue to hit me with the publicity tsunami (especially once the retweet second, third and fourth waves hit). This applies to authors and bloggers alike. It has actually changed my perception of individuals as I think its really inconsiderate. It is spam. And I don't like spam in food or online varieties.

• Book tours

Now I am going to sound like a hag. I don't think book blogging tours work. I was for a very short time in a book blogging tour group until I realised it bored me. Tours flush the blogosphere with too much of the same product. Tour reviews and interviews are often stale and make blogging seem more like a job than booky fun.

I honestly think that targeting 3-4 influential bloggers (by this I mean articulate, well read, quality review writers), who enjoy the genre you write, would be a better bet. I honestly think that having one Steph Su Reads review (hopefully a positive one) outweighs ten blah-written reviews.

• Bad interviews

This rests on both contributors of an interview. To keep it brief - ask interesting, book and career relevant questions. Add some random things. Keep the author on their toes with questions about their book that show insight or a new perspective on their work. Keep the readers on their toes with some random fun questions that reflect the person, not just the author.

Authors...if a blogger asks the same questions you've been asked before...tell them. Believe me, I've been grateful when an author has informed me (nicely) of this. I don't want recycled questions and answers on my blog...what's the point? So think outside the square and challenge yourself, the author and your readers.

• Twitter

I LOVE Twitter. Love it, love it, love it. But there are a few people that I very much like that keep using it to ask questions that have no business being asked on Twitter. Your conduct with authors, in asking for interviews/ARCs, should NEVER be public. Or even worse, asking vaguely if any authors want to be interviewed as an undirected tweet. It's like trawling a net in the ocean to catch anything that's out there. In the end in reflects poorly on the blogger but it pisses me off on the manners front too.

It ultimately comes down to this. Do I want to read a blog where the blogger doesn't invest in what they are posting? If they are randomly trawling for interviews with anyone that puts their hand up...does this truly reflect this reading? No.

Then I start doubting myself and what a blog is supposed to be. My blog is me. My blog shares my opinions but perhaps I think of blogging differently. I don't interview anyone I haven't read. I don't interview anyone who's work I don't respond to. I figure my personal opinions and preferences have to hold weight and that dictates who I interview and how I ask for interviews. Lecture done.

• Blanket emails

If you can't figure out my name is Adele then you have no business emailing me about how much you love my blog! Seriously, it's there IN THE EMAIL ADDRESS ITSELF, which is on the MAIN PAGE!

• Online Booksellers that don't differentiate YA from Children's Books

Yes, that's right Book Depository you bug me. Most of the time I know what I am looking for but like all bookworms, I browse. But when I have to sort through all the children's fiction, it's a problem and I am not buying as much as I would have otherwise (though still a lot).

**Credit where credit is due - I griped about this on Twitter. The BDep. CEO spotted it, DMed me his email address to have a proper whinge. The whinge was nicely put, as much as whingeing can be and he responded. Gotta give the man some serious kudos. They are currently working on changing this NOW...not because of me though I like to think I played a part.

• My narcissistic tendencies

I look at my unchanging follower numbers and get blog-conscious. I see other blogs getting into the top hundreds and wonder how on earth they are making that happen? Do all those followers read their blog? I am lucky to get 2-3 comments per post. It's worse with the blogs that started the same month as me. They all kick my followers number in the ass. I am a petty, petty individual.

Maybe I could boost it with a competition...of which I don't typically run. But I am proud that my blog has 347 followers gathered from non-contest means. That means the followers actually wish to read it...that's got to mean something right? Though only 25 people bothered to take part in my survey. Sigh - I have to get over myself already.

• Braggarts

I know some bloggers are friends with authors. It's bound to happen. We were all those book obsessed, somewhat dorky (whether on the inside or outside, or both) teens that treasured our library cards and lusted after Gilbert Blythe. There's a lot of common ground there.

But I think those friendships are better kept on the down low. I hate seeing bloggers talk about authors like they are their best friends. I have several authors that I am pretty chummy with and I have been VERY conscious of not talking about them. I never want them to think that my blog is more important than my friendship with them. I think I've done a pretty good job of it too. I've kept my mouth shut, I am interested in them as people and most people are none the wiser.

There is a line there though and it is fuzzy. I think that's why I am ultra careful. I don't even post when I receive signed books as it makes it a personal gift. Perhaps I am over reacting but it's something to think about.

Before you start calling me a hypocrite...Courtney Summers is my wife in a joking sense...I am NOT bragging about our actual matrimony. That would be crass and quite honestly, beneath me :) I am not a tweet kiss and tell kind of gal.

What gripes do you have?

Interview - Melina Marchetta (The Piper's Son)

Melina Marchetta burst into the Australian literary scene in 1992 with her debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi. Alibrandi won her the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year for Older Readers, as did her 2004 sophomoric release, Saving Francesca. Her third title, On the Jellicoe Road (or Jellicoe Road as it is alternatively titled in the US), won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and her latest US release Finnikin of the Rock won the Aurealis Award for best long fiction in a YA release.

Marchetta, an English high school teacher until 2006, now devotes her time to writing. Her fifth title and first sequel, The Piper's Son was released in Australia on March 1, 2010 with the US release scheduled for March 2011. My review for The Piper's Son can be found here.

Last week I had the opportunity to interview Marchetta on this new story featuring familiar faces.

Why do you think it was Tom that starting speaking to you after completing Saving Francesca, instead of Francesca herself or even Tara?
I think it’s because Georgie (his Aunt) spoke to me first and Tom found me through her. I didn’t actually think Tom was big enough a character to carry a story. If it had to be anyone from Saving Francesca, I thought it would have been Will Trombal or Tara.

But I figured Tom couldn’t be too insignificant because he gets two pretty important scenes in Francesca. One is when they dance Venus in drama class together and the other is when he comes across Frankie and her brother crying in the library. The line in Francesca, ‘I want to be the first male in the Mackee family to reach 40 and still have a liver’ stuck with me and it became the basis for Tom living with Georgie and Joe during most of Year 11. To be honest, Tom has been one of my biggest surprises and I’m glad I didn’t kick him out of my head.

I have a thing for Marchetta love interests, Will isn't an exception (most probably as they have an awesome first snog). How much thought went into where Frankie and Will would be five years after the events of SF?
I had to make sure that their relationship never dominated Tom’s story so I sent Will to Sumatra to work. (I’m always sending poor Will overseas). I had to be really careful with Will and Frankie. There had to be reasons why they were still together and not just because my Francesca readers were expecting it. Will also had to have a purpose in Tom’s journey regardless of how the two feel about each other, so when Will was on the scene I made the best of him.

You've mentioned previously that Georgie elicits one of two very strong reactions from readers. Why do you think this is the case?
The guys in this novel are responsible for unintentionally damaging each other and their families. I don’t hear a peep about what bastards they are. But friends and family have told me they want to slap Georgie. Really hard. Others have told me they want to shake her. I love that reaction because it’s so emotional but it makes me realise that Tom gets away with things because he’s young and Dominic and Sam get away with it because they are male. It’s almost as if people believe that women of a certain age can’t go around making mistakes because they should know better.

All your novels have a strong focus on family. How much does this reflect on your own life?
Regardless of whether the Finch-Mackee family is different to mine or yours, on a cultural level, the emotions are the same and many families are constantly working at holding it together. There’s a scene in Piper’s Son that I really love where Georgie, Tom and Nanni Grace are in the backyard with Sam’s son, Callum. That was almost an identical day to one of ours except for the content of the conversation. All of us in my sisters backyard, very vulnerable and there’s my six year old nephew walking around with a crazy hat on, a satchel over his shoulder and the cord of a night gown in his hand, whipping trees. When I asked my sister what he was doing she told me he was being Indiana Jones. Some of our most beautiful photos come from that day. That’s what I wanted to capture in this novel. People holding it together and succeeding some days and failing other days.

The Piper's Son felt like an unofficial companion piece for Looking for Alibrandi as there are three generations of males coming to grips with what hadn't been said but staying strong despite this. Is that a fair assumption?
I jokingly refer to Alibrandi, Francesca and Piper’s Son as my inner west trilogy, but apart from the three generation similarity to Alibrandi I mostly used Francesca as a guide to write this and not just because the novels share characters. In Francesca I concentrated on a couple of months in her life and I had two major settings: school and her house. With Piper’s Son I concentrated on a couple of months in Tom’s life and set it two places: Georgie’s house and The Union pub.

I need to know where Jimmy is...do you even know?
I have no idea. At this point I can honestly say that there is no Jimmy Hailler novel. Jimmy is being very Jimmy and not telling me anything.

Did the relationship depicted between Finnikin and his father influence the development of the Tom and Dom relationship in The Piper's Son?
It helped. Especially that the fathers in both novels don’t do much talking. In Finnikin I had to convey so much love between those men through their actions because Trevanion wasn’t the chattiest person in the world after ten years in a barbaric prison. With Tom it was even more difficult. Father and son had been so close all their lives and now there’s total silence. If I counted how many pages of dialogue between them, there’s less than three. But I’d love to think that every time Tom and Dominic are in the same room they’re so achingly aware of each other.

You've tried a couple of new things in this novel; a contemporary male perspective, a middle aged female perspective and duel protagonists. Do you feel this reflects your growth as a writer?
Hmm. I’m older than Georgie and if anyone refers to me, or my friends, as middle-aged we get a bit on the cranky side.

But the answer is no to whether I believe Piper’s Son reflects my growth as a writer. I felt Jellicoe did that and then Finnikin. They were both very tricky novels to write and they hurt my head. Piper’s Son hurt my heart, but writing it on a technical level wasn’t difficult. I read a wonderful review the other day but it was prefaced by the fact that I had returned to form. What I’ve done is returned to a world that my Alibrandi and Francesca readers loved, but in my opinion my best writing has been in Jellicoe and Finnikin.

Is there much pressure with The Piper's Son's release as your previous works have received critical acclaim?
I try not to get caught up with the pressure because there is absolutely nothing I can do to change how people are going to react to my work or their expectations. I don’t think I reinvented the wheel with Piper’s Son, so it’s not going to throw people. The worst thing for me would be an indifference to it. I’ve always said that what writers want most is for people to read their work.

How had it been knowing Finnikin of the Rock has joined your other works in the US market?
I always worry for my novels in the US market because there are so many released over there and I wonder how mine is going to survive, especially that Finnikin is a traditional fantasy and not part of the popular genres flying off the shelves. I’ve read wonderful reactions to it and I’ve read not so wonderful ones, but the majority have been good and I've received quite a few starred reviews, so I feel as if I’m off on a strong start. I’ve heard people complain that it’s not Jellicoe. Here in Australia when Jellicoe came out I heard people complain that it wasn’t Alibrandi.

What do people mispronounce the most - Alibrandi or Marchetta?
Definitely Marchetta. When I was teaching and the boys would hear it mispronounced, they’d hiss with fury. I don’t worry too much about the way Alibrandi is pronounced. I just say it with the Italian “a” vowel sound (Alibrundy). I was at a function at the Art Gallery once with friends and I bumped into a very pretentious acquaintance who introduced me as the writer of Looking For Alibrumby. There have been many Brumby jokes as a result since then.

What YA titles have you read recently that have excited you?
I haven’t read enough of anything recently to properly answer that, but the most recent was Some Girls Are, which I thought was fantastic and last year my favourites were Everything Beautiful , Bloodflower and Raw Blue. I was asked to blurb Wintergirls and I had a few envious moments reading it because the writing was just so beautiful. Will Grayson Will Grayson is another one that charmed me and made me laugh. I have a massive TBR pile and I know some great titles are coming soon. I’m dying to read Monster of Men, Guardian of the Dead, Saltwater Vampires and Little Paradise.

What are you working on presently?
I’m working on Froi, who I introduced in Finnikin of the Rock. Very hard work because he did something pretty despicable in Finnikin and it’ difficult beginning with an incredibly flawed and sometimes amoral character. It takes place three years after the end of Finnikin and I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, but the story excites me, especially the new characters, and I feel a bit resentful that I’ve been taken away from it at the moment.

I’m also writing a novel for eight year olds called The Gorgon in the Gully. It’s about Danny Griggs conquering his fears (with help from his older brother who is consequently fighting a territory war out bush).

***

Did that last statement make you jump up and down clapping your hands as I did? Or did the connection between Danny and a certain rugged, fatigue wearing hard-ass completely pass you by? Regardless, leave some comment love for Melina and order this title so you can read about the Saving Francesca gang and be formally introduced to the fantastic Georgie!

A big thank you to Melina Marchetta for taking the time to answer my questions. It is an honour hosting her on this blog.

Review - The Piper's Son / Melina Marchetta

Tom Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle's death.

And in a year when everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

Review - When you open the cover of a Melina Marchetta novel you have certain expectations. If you're a newbie, you expect to be blown away. If you've read her work before, you expect character depth, memorable dialogue and an intriguing family full of skeletons, battened down resentments and fierce love. The Piper's Son will meet both criteria with aplomb.

Arguably The Piper's Son is Melina Marchetta's most adult work. Some may even argue that it doesn't fall within the parameters of what might be considered young adult literature. It spotlights on two members of the Finch-Mackee family - Tom and Georgie (his aunt). Already wisened Marchetta readers will be familiar with one half of the equation having read Saving Francesca, though this does not mean you need read this book knowing the events of the previous one.

Tom's still delightfully chaotic but in the five years since we've left him, he’s travelled an increasingly darkened path. Georgie is new to the fold but provides a welcomed voice of reason and perspective on Tom’s life and those of her family. Their perspectives alternate throughout, shedding light on how Tom and Georgie hit rock bottom after their beloved Joe is killed. While this event quickens their descent into self imposed isolation, it wasn't the initial cause. Georgie is in the midst of a dysfunctional and uncommunicative relationship , while Tom's father's alcoholism and resultant family breakdown has weighed on him. Marchetta's introduce both characters at their lowest ebb and yet it is not a depressing journey.

The Piper's Son is a darker themed book but it never feels overwhelming. Instead it makes the lighter moments feel earned. Marchetta has lovingly crafted the Finch-Mackee family in all their flawed, bawdy brilliance. They are loud, emotional, demonstrative people, unfortunately not when they need to be. The legacy of the first Tom, the cursed Tom, and the tragic death of Joe, casts a shadow over all of them, seeping into the cracks and splitting them apart. There is an overwhelming sense of family history that permeates this tale. Each character is delivered to the reader as a complex, broken individual. There's three generations of stories, slights, fights and silence that influence everything. They are loyal to one another, even in silence. It is what is not said that holds importance for the majority of the book...something true for most families.

Addiction, pride, anger, regret and oblivion are all strong elements of Tom and Georgie's family story. They have addictive personalities-whether people or substances, they hold tight. They don't do anything by halves; even self-destructive behaviour is a gold medal event. Loss, grief and forgiveness filter through strongly, without ever being a clanging anvil.

Whereas the emotional push really derives itself from the internal machinations of the Finch-Mackee family, some comes from Tom's attempts to right him life outside of his family. This throws him back into the friendship fire that is Francesca, Justine, Tara, Will and the rest of the gang. No one has had a particularly easy road since high school and yet this group of people feel the same despite their growth. The text messaging and emails alone will have you chortling as the spirited interchanges and random jokes.

Marchetta has woven a beautiful somewhat saddened tale about loss, hope, family and the realisation that your parents have never been perfect (in fact they might even be more screwed up than you are.) The world is textured and real, the characters nuanced and the plot involving. The Piper's Son is a welcomed addition to the Melina Marchetta library. It will weave its way into your thoughts with the eccentricities and scars of these wonderful people.

My interview with Melina about this book will be posted in the next few days. It's a thought provoking and informative glimpse into the book, its characters and her current projects.

The Piper's Son is available in stores today. An American release date has not been announced so assume it will be in 2011/2012. Those who are not Australian might think about online ordering it from these stores. Book Depository should have it in stock very soon as they have the title up.

Published: March 1, 2010
Format: ARC, 328 pages
Publisher: Penguin Aust.
Source of Review Copy: publisher
Origin: Australia