Thursday, February 25, 2010

Who's In?


I know this has been batted around quite a bit, but I have yet to get my two cents in..
This rant is about the so called in crowd of bloggers and the rest of us. Does anyone else feel there is a group, the elite, who rule the book blogging world? You know who you are, the highly energetic organizers of everything from tours to challenges and most of all the Book Bloggers Convention? The same people who spend so much time chattering on Twitter, but only with each other. I have tried to chat my way into some conversations, only to be ignored, and left feeling left out.

What is the protocol for hurt feelings? A big bandaid? This is just like High School all over again, the cheerleaders won't let me sit at their lunch table. I am invisible again. I have thousands of books and I can't even buy my way into this elusive group. Maybe we need to form an invisible elite?! Some days I feel like giving up the ghost and closing the laptop for good, but then I read something wonderful and I just have to share. I started blogging in the hope that I might have something to say, and that someone might just want to read it...I know I have some loyal followers, and I thank you for coming..

I will quietly carry on, and hope that the blogging world opens up just a little for all of us that do not feel included. This community is for everyone, not just a select few.

Rant over.




8 comments:

  1. you've got me here, and I come back regularly. I don't know about an 'elite', but I have a little bug. I want to increase my number of followers and have run a few little contests. I guess my prizes that I buy and mail with my own money aren't good enough. I am lucky to get 5 or 6 entrants, yet those who offer prizes from businesses (at no cost to themselves) seem to get hundreds of entrants and many new followers. Its too bad, as I think that I offer nice prizes. I really don't want to commercialize my blog, but am wondering if I have choice if I want to grow my number of followers.

    NOw don't get wrong, I am not complaining about commercial sponsor of prizes, the whole idea being to get the books and such into the hands of potential customers and this is a successful method. i enter some of those contest. I just don't know if its for me. No easy answer I guess.

    I have joined a few of the memes organized by the more visited blogs and those owners I have found to be very nice and welcoming. They generally come visit my blog and leave a comment within a very short period of time.

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  2. I agree with both you and Heather (commenting above). There does seem to be an "elite" class, but those people (themselves) seem to be (by and large) very nice. I think this idea of elitism is somehow created by newbie book bloggers--they are awed by the blogs with 700+ followers and assume the content of those blogs is more valuable than those of us with fewer followers who have been steadily blogging for a while.

    On the other hand, I do tend to get honked off when these "big name" blogs write posts that are "educational." For example, I read one last week where a blogger wrote a "Dear Publicists/Authors" post regarding how to approach them to request a book review. Seriously, this isn't school. Your blog shouldn't come off as a know-it-all. If just, to me, seemed haughty. That kind of stuff ("educating" bloggers and the publishing community) rubs me the wrong way.

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  3. MMM, food for thought indeed.

    Glad to be back, my thanks for all your kind words. I'm now looking forward to having a good catch up (hopefully, fingers crossed) over the next few days.

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  4. oooooooooooh, interesting.
    1. Move over. I want to sit at your table. I might mooch some of your apple crumble.

    2. I guess I'd like to be more popular, but when I made that decision not to review publisher's copies, that door was closed to me. Also, I don't post often enough and my blog's not blingy enough In addition, I can remember the day when no one commented on my blog, so I'm still thrilled when I get 2 or 3 comments.

    3. Some of the big blogs will go by the wayside...or the author of the blog will get pregnant, give birth and the whole thing will turn into a mommy blog. For some people, this is the new scrapbooking or aerobics class or [insert popular hobby here]

    4. Keep reading and blogging. You do have an audience!

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  5. I'm just discovering your blog (which I've just subscribed to :) from this week's Weekend Cooking. Many of my favorite blogs are the newest ones. I know that others are concerned about the seemingly "elite" bloggers out there (and I've felt similarly, believe me) but try to just do what I do and not let it become too consuming ... if that makes sense.

    You have a very good blog ... looking forward to reading more.

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  6. Not sure what to say-I have met some very nice people through blogging and some blogs get lots of traffic-it took a while to build up people who visit regularly. I host both my own and sponsored giveaway-I do find you have people who follow for a giveaway and then never c ome back again-which I have been guilty of-but I do try to go back again to my less visited blogs.

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  7. I've been quietly reading your blog for a long time and will continue to do so whether you're part of the "in crowd" or not.

    I do understand what you are feeling. High school was over many, many years ago for me. I'm all grown-up and I don't need my worth validated by others. I'm not part of the in-crowd of popular book bloggers and I'm not even trying to join them - I won't tweet anyone. No one needs several alternate ways to contact me. And can I quietly share my observation that some of the "in crowd" write some pretty frivolous posts just to make sure that they post often. Additionally, from experience I realized that several of them don't follow through or finish some of those contests and challenges they run.

    In-ness doesn't necessarily equal substance.
    I think the book blogger appreciation awards of last year made that quite clear to me. At the time I did comment on the blogs of other people who had some real problems with it and wrote a short post about my feelings (Post: http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2009/10/time-enough.html )

    You know what? Keep blogging! Those of us who share similar feelings and attitudes will find each other despite that fact that we may not all be as vocal or conspicuous as the self-proclaimed in-crowd. I think that some of us unheralded bloggers certainly may have more dedication and perseverance in the long run because we continue blogging without a large audience.

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  8. Really interesting post! While there does seem to be an "in" group of bloggers, they all seem really nice.

    Have to admit that I've never had any desire to be part of the popular crowd, either now or back in high school. Too much pressure.

    Just keep doing what you're doing, as you have people that like your blog! I know that I have to remind myself every now & again that I started my blog for the love of reading, so try not to get jealous of the "big dogs". Think it's just human nature... :-)

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