publishers and reviewing book community census results

Bloggers and Publishers (Book Community Census results 4)

Of the “big six” publishing houses, we are in contact with:

Harper Collins seems most engaged with reviewers. Penguin and Random House are, of course, one company, though their imprints are still separate. I have to say I’m surprised that Harper comes out on top; I believe they are stronger in the US than the UK.

HarperCollins
(60%)
Penguin
(58%)
RandomHouse
(45%)
Simon&Schuster
(43%)
Macmillan
(36%)
Hachette
(35%)

Remaining: 16% Pinterest, 6% Facebook group, 5% Snapchat, 4% other.

We’re in contact with one (or more) of the “big six” publishers because…

Lots of young bloggers often ask how publisher connections are made. It looks like a significant portion were made by taking initiative. Good luck!

own initiative
(37%)
varying
(23%)
found
(22%)
other
(13%)
events
(5%)

We accept review requests from independent or micropress authors…

Given the steady popularity of indie authors and smaller publishers, I was interested to see how many people review these books.

yes
(69%)
no
(31%)

If no, we don’t review independent authors because…

Harper Collins seems most engaged with reviewers. Penguin and Random House are, of course, one company, though their imprints are still separate. I have to say I’m surprised that Harper comes out on top; I believe they are stronger in the US than the UK.

variable quality
(39%)
too busy
(35%)
spammy author emails
(33%)
other
(22%)
unsolicited
(11%)
discoverability
(9%)

We would consider reviewing independent authors in the future

Given those responses above, a large majority are still interested in reviewing indie and micropress novels in the future.

yes
(86%)
no
(14%)

We request books on…

Netgalley comes first – but only 65% of people use it, which is less than I expected. I wonder if it’s to do with whether people own an eReader?

Netgalley
(65%)
direct author/publisher contact
(56%)
Edelweiss
(20%)
Bookbridger
(18%)
other
(13%)

We request # number of books per month for review:

<1
(37%)
1
(12%)
2-5
(40%)
6-10
(5%)
11-20
(2%)
21+
(1%)

Of the requests we make, the majority are…

declined
(12%)
50/50 declined/accepted
(29%)
accepted
(53%)
other
(6%)

Of the books we receive, we read…

1/4
(5%)
half
(9%)
three quarters
(14%)
most
(72%)

Of the books we read, we review…

1/4
(13%)
half
(15%)
3/4
(12%)
most
(60%)

We follow # number of book bloggers (and check regularly):

1-4
(14%)
5-10
(26%)
11-20
(24%)
21-49
(13%)
50+
(14%)
none
(9%)

About Rhys

Rhys is a 19 year old with roots in the UK and Germany. Aside from reading and blogging, he also produces theatre, loves Kate Bush and hopes to pursue a career in publishing. His reviews have been widely quoted in books such as Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines Quartet, Catherine Bruton’s Pop!, James Treadwell’s Advent and Anarchy and he has presented at such events as Book Expo America.

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