GOING ON A BLOG HUNT

I've had quite an adventure lately in my blog hunt. What's a blog hunt? It's when you scour the blog rolls of your favorite blogs for more favorite blogs. I've been searching (hours each day for a week now) for blogs that review middle grade and fantasy books. What I've discovered is that there aren't as many as I had thought.

I read a lot of YA books and therefore a lot of YA book blog reviews. There seems to be an abundance of YA blogs for obvious reasons. Teens not only read, they are also online - a lot. The average number of followers for YA book blogs seems to be around 1400, with some going into the thousands.

Followers of middle grade book blogs, however, average in the hundreds. This makes sense when you consider the fact that children and pre-teens spend far less time on the computer than their older siblings, and when they are online, they are probably not reading book reviews. Those who do read reviews of kids books are primarily adults. Also, while teens tend to buy books for themselves, it is adults (parents, librarians, teachers) who buy books for kids.

As a new writer of a middle grade novel, my responsibilities include promotion. In my blog hunt, I've come to the conclusion that middle grade book review blogs is still a new frontier.  I have put together a list of about 100 blogs that review middle grade and/or fantasy books and have made it a priority to contact each and every one of them with an invitation to review my book or post an interview. This has taken a lot of effort. The next step is to add those who respond to my own blog roll. The hope is that other authors can access this list with ease to help in their own promotional efforts, and that parents and educators can access them as well. (Don't worry - I will still be reviewing all the books I read - including YA.)

In addition, I have decided to join the ranks of middle grade book blogs. Soon you will see author interviews and excerpts and giveaways right here on A Thousand Wrongs. I invite authors to read my new review policy (at right) and contact me if you'd like to promote your book here.

Parents, librarians & educators, I invite you to follow this blog to get the latest information about books for your kids and to visit some of the blogs I follow.  This project will probably morph and improve over time. The first author interview will post on March 12th when Jenny Lundquist will talk about her debut novel SEEING CINDERELLA. There will be a giveaway, too. So spread the word and don't miss it!