As you know from my end of 2017 round up, one of things I have been struggling with is finding a balance between reading and reviewing Indie alongside Traditionally published. Towards the middle of last year I fell out of love with indie publishing, not because of the books but because the amount I was doing as part of the community had wrung me out. I'm getting back out there now and whilst I am still sad at how easily I had been forgotten by many, it has given me a clean slate with building new relationships and solidifying those who have stayed with me.
A couple of days ago I took part in something that I had not done for a long time. I took part in a facebook book release party. For a long time I stopped attending these as I found they weren't engaging and facebook had become saturated with them. This one though was a breath of fresh air! There were a ton of readers in attendance, the authors were funny and engaging and their posts were fun! I even made some new author friends out of it and plenty of connections insofar as content for this blog is concerned. I felt part of the community again and it felt good.
Where is all this leading to you ask? Well it's made me realise that there are still a ton of indie books out there that I want to read and the easiest way of finding a balance is to simply take it in turns. I have decided that I will alternate between reading a traditionally published title and an Indie title, that way I am dedicating the same time to both, and helping this blog stay relevant in both book communities. I am also going to try and feature an indie title at least once a week in my bookstagram photos although that is a collection I need to build on if i'm looking at getting some in paperback.
So how does this impact on reviews. Simples, you will see more indie reviews from me and i'm also going to cut down on publishing reviews on traditional titles for books that have been out for a long time (for instance I read City of Bones by Cassandra Claire last week but it's been out for 10 years so I doubt i'll have anything fresh or new to say about it!). I am also reconsidering the way I write reviews but I that's still something I'm musing on. One thing that won't change however, is that I will still only post reviews for books that I have really enjoyed. I am still dedicated to not slamming peoples hard work and I will only post reviews that are 3* and over.
I have a couple of beta reads to do in the immediate future but I fully plan on starting this new system at the beginning of February so watch this space!
