Why You Should Not Send Me Review Copies

Monday mornings, around here, is where I list new books (and, when I don't have any, old ones instead). Once upon a time, I got a lot of review copies, even though I never made much of an effort to get them. I was a former editor with contacts, I ran a bookish blog when blogs were still somewhat new and shiny, and my traffic, like everyone else's, was much better before the social networks hoovered up all of the eyeballs for themselves.

Those days are long gone. It's even been several years since I would say, only half-joking, that I wouldn't send me review copies. I was working in book publishing as a Marketing Manager at the time, so I still had some skin in that game - oh, sure, Publicity actually handles that side of things, and my day-job was a million miles from the kinds of books I cover here, but I was still in the same world.

I'm not, now. I still do marketing, but not for books. I like what I do now, most of the time, but book publishing is just a neighborhood I used to live in. I got driven out by market forces fifteen years ago, and I don't know if I'd recognize the place if I drove down those streets again.

I still do get some review copies, even these days. Some of it is inertia, I think, and some driven by the fact that free books are cheap, book publicists have a huge world to cover, and I'm not much worse than a lot of what's out there.

And so, today, I was remembering how I used to say in passing why I wouldn't send me review copies. And I decided it should be a post of its own, this week when I don't have any new books.

I'm not 100% serious: I like free stuff, and if you are in a position to send me free stuff, I'd probably be happy to see it. But these are the reasons why it's probably not a great idea for you to waste stuff on me:

Reason the First

I don't review most of what I'm sent for review.

Pretty straightforward: even now, when I only get a trickle, I cover maybe a quarter of that trickle in a good month.

Reason the Second

I don't respond to queries.

This isn't a "I refuse to respond" reason. I just don't respond, for laziness or ambivalence reasons. If I eventually post a review, I might remember to notify you, but probably only about half the time. I'm sorry, but, after all these years, I think that's just the way I am. I do apologize, if that helps: I always feel bad about this, but don't actually change.

Reason the Third

My traffic is lousy.

I don't check it at all regularly these days, but the numbers are hugely down from a decade ago, for all the obvious reasons. My posts are seen by a few dozen people on a good day. By hundreds if something unexpected happens. I'm sure you can do better than me.

Reason the Fourth

I'm unfocused.

This is not a reviewing-comics blog, or a reviewing-SFF blog. I hit some YA, but not consistently. It's a stuff-I-felt-like-reading blog, which leads to a smaller audience (see #3) as well as directly to this reason. Heck, I don't even cover new books consistently.

So, in conclusion: I would really like if you sent me free stuff, because I am human. But I'm honest enough to say that it's probably not a great deal for you.

On the other hand: if you don't mind wasting your time...

If you work for one of the big companies, my address is probably already in your publicity system. You can also email me at gbhhornswoggler@gmail.com, but see note #2 above, and know that I'm apologizing again, as I stare at your email, thinking "that sounds like fun...would I really read it? can I get to it quickly? Oh, I have to think about this." And then look at it again, several times, until I decide it's too late to reply.