MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - My new blog pledge: one Smashwords review per week

ficbot · 08-07-2010, 08:59 PM

I have been inspired by the recent upswing in both established authors taking the Smashwords plunge, and the quality and breadth of the discussion here on Mobile Read about them. I really think that it's important to support what Smashwords (and these authors) are doing because as a community we say we want affordable books without DRM and geographical restrictions, and this is where to to go and get them!

That said, there is a ton of absolute dreck on Smashwords and people have lamented how hard it is to find the good stuff and that there are so few blogs and websites offering honest, non-shill reviews. I respect that members here like Nick are helping to promote some of these indie books, but his is not a curated collection---he posts whatever people send him, without comment or review. I think it would be such a cool thing to get a list like his, but a more curated one, of books which have been personally read and reviewed.

To that end, I am reviving my at times quiet ebook blog, and making the following pledge: that I will personally read and review one Smashwords book every week for the next year. I'll likely post other content too---reviews of other ebooks, links to my Teleread articles, etc. But the backbone of the new, improved blog will be one Smashwords book per week, reviewed in full.

I hope that as I get underway and people have a chance to gauge my trustworthiness and see how my tastes may mesh with their own, the blog will grow and might fill a niche that will help guide people to the quality books.

Here is my blog post wherein I explain the project. I hope you will bookmark me, add me to your feeds etc. and join me on this exciting project. I didn't post this in author self-promotions as I am not doing this for attention or promotion or anything like that. I really am just trying to help people find the good stuff and start developing a list of quality Smashwords reads. If you are curious about my tastes, I maintain a click-able, filterable list (with summaries!) of every ebook I read here. And if you want to see just the Smashwords ones (only one so far, but sure to grow) then click here.

I am very excited. I think I always lost track of the blogging because I never had a clear purpose. Now, I do!

08-07-2010, 08:59 PM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	My new blog pledge: one Smashwords review per week I have been inspired by the recent upswing in both established authors taking the Smashwords plunge, and the quality and breadth of the discussion here on Mobile Read about them. I really think that it's important to support what Smashwords (and these authors) are doing because as a community we say we want affordable books without DRM and geographical restrictions, and this is where to to go and get them! That said, there is a ton of absolute dreck on Smashwords and people have lamented how hard it is to find the good stuff and that there are so few blogs and websites offering honest, non-shill reviews. I respect that members here like Nick are helping to promote some of these indie books, but his is not a curated collection---he posts whatever people send him, without comment or review. I think it would be such a cool thing to get a list like his, but a more curated one, of books which have been personally read and reviewed. To that end, I am reviving my at times quiet ebook blog, and making the following pledge: that I will personally read and review one Smashwords book every week for the next year. I'll likely post other content too---reviews of other ebooks, links to my Teleread articles, etc. But the backbone of the new, improved blog will be one Smashwords book per week, reviewed in full. I hope that as I get underway and people have a chance to gauge my trustworthiness and see how my tastes may mesh with their own, the blog will grow and might fill a niche that will help guide people to the quality books. Here is my blog post wherein I explain the project. I hope you will bookmark me, add me to your feeds etc. and join me on this exciting project. I didn't post this in author self-promotions as I am not doing this for attention or promotion or anything like that. I really am just trying to help people find the good stuff and start developing a list of quality Smashwords reads. If you are curious about my tastes, I maintain a click-able, filterable list (with summaries!) of every ebook I read here. And if you want to see just the Smashwords ones (only one so far, but sure to grow) then click here. I am very excited. I think I always lost track of the blogging because I never had a clear purpose. Now, I do!