What Is A Reviewer/Influencer

There has been a lot of talk lately on the American Christian Fiction Writers newsgroup about the definition of reviewer and/or influencer. This is a very debated subject as are many on the newsgroup. When you have a lot of people giving opinions you will have almost as many different opinions as people. That is human nature or as Ches McCartney a.k.a. The Goatman would say, "That's just human environment." If you don't know who The Goatman is look him up on facebook - you will get a kick out of this wonderful character of God's.

Back to the discussion of reviewer vs. influencer. I have been what some would consider both. I review books for WaterBrookMulnoman.com who has graciously given me the book "Forget Me Not" to read and review. These books come from the publisher and they will give you a review copy and a giveaway copy if you want to participate in the giveaway. Since I have just started doing giveaways I have decided to give away my reviewers copy so we can recycle books. Some people would consider a review of a book telling the good and the bad and the ugly. And this might be true. When I first started reviewing I came upon this dilemma pretty quick. I was stumped as what to do. After thinking about the situation I've decided that I will only write a review of a book that I enjoyed reading and think others would enjoy. The reasons are: I know how much works goes into writing a book - any book and I do not want to downgrade another writer's work - I don't feel professional enough for that. Another reason is we all have different likes and dislikes in books and genres and this makes it extremely hard to be impartial. What one person hates another might love. Therefore, that is how I made my decision.

An influencer is a person that the author asked to read their book and influence others to read it as well. Usually, influencers have read the author before and would love to help promote their books. You might blog about it, go to book sites and write a review, maybe send out postcards to your friends, etc. Anything to get the word out that the author has a new book on the horizon.

Both reviewers/influencers are usually provided with a book to keep for the time and effort they have put into helping spread the word. To sum it up: You won't see a book on my blog that I didn't like or that I just couldn't get through reading it. That is how you will know what I truly feel about a book. If you see it I liked it - or someone else did! I hope this explanation helped a little and did not confuse you more. LOL Now on to the next review!