Book Blogger Confessions (8)
This week's question:
Making money off your blog: There was a recent controversy about bloggers charging authors for reviews (You can read about it here) which leads to this week's question: Almost all of us blog as a hobby in our spare time, usually for free but is there anything wrong with making money off your blog?
No, I don't think there is anything wrong with making money off a blog as long as it is all ethical and disclosed. I would be turned off by paid product reviews as that wouldn't seem like honest opinions. I may be a hypocrite since I am paid a VERY small fee to review books for RT Magazine, but those aren't posted on my blog, nor are the required to be a glowing review.
Should bloggers charge for reviews?
No, I don't think they should, if nothing to avoid the paid promotion issue. I mean yeah, getting paid to do this would be a dream job for most of us. But when you start accepting payment, your opinion becomes tainted and in the end not worth it.
What about advertising on a blog?
I don't have a problem with it. Let's face it we don't get paid for this, and a lot of spend a good deal of money out of our own pockets for hosting, contests, and shipping costs. If the blogger has found a non-obtrusive way to earn a little money to help recap their costs, I think that's great.
When a blogger does allow book related advertising does it turn you off?
As long as the advertising doesn't take over the entire page or completely distract from the real content, I don't mind it at all.
Make you wonder about the honesty of their reviews?
No, I think advertising is a completely separate thing than their reviews. I would hope that having an advertiser wouldn't color their reviews, because it shouldn't have anything to do with them at all.
Do you have a problem with purchase links (Amazon for example) that earn a blogger a small commission if a person purchases a book through that link?
No, absolutely not. In fact I use these links in most of my posts. I also give mega bonus entries whenever someone purchases something through one of my links. It doesn't cost them anything, but those little kickbacks add up over time and help at least a little bit in recapping my giveaway costs. Let's face it, shipping and purchasing books is expensive.
In fact, for my amazon purchases I always try to go to one of my blogger friend's sites to find an affiliate link to give them credit for the sale. I figure why not help someone else out when I'm making a purchase anyway?
