In the interest of full disclosure (and the FTC guidelines), I do a post every 20 books detailing where my books came from.
Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Given to me during publishing house tour at HarperCollins
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness - Bought
The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June by Robin Benway - Requested review copy
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens - Amazon Vine
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - Accepted as part of a blog tour
Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani - Picked up at BEA 2009
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - Bought
Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White - Bought
Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie - Accepted author pitch
My Double Life by Janette Rallison - Accepted author pitch
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - Picked up at the Bologna Children's Book Fair
Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson - Borrowed from a friend
Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens by Rachelle Rogers Knight - Accepted as part of a blog tour
Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani - Accepted as part of a blog tour
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay - Won via LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Runaway by Meg Cabot - Accepted as part of a blog tour
Being Nikki by Meg Cabot - Unsolicited review copy
Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti - Accepted as part of a blog tour
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer - Bought
The Clearing by Heather Davis - Amazon Vine
Hmm...lots of blog tours this reading period. Usually I don't do that many. Could be doing better on owned books vs review copies, but I just have a ton of review copies. Where are you getting most of your books lately?
Posts
10 comments:
The answer to your question: B.E.A.
Um, has the FTC really come down on us? I think this whole disclosure thing is kinda bunk... and a big failure.
Laura - Legally speaking, we don't have to disclose. But I am anyway.
It's interesting to me how all the different bloggers disclose where their books come from. Some people list it automatically on each post along with title, author, publisher, etc. You make a separate post. Some people thumb their noses at the FTC and say, "Neener neener, I bought it!" :D I always note whether it's a library book, thrift store book, etc., and how I came across it- if it was a TBR book, a random finding, the only book by that particular author my library had, etc. How I find the book is part of the reading journey for me, and sometimes, a serendipitous finding makes the book even better. :)
I find this fascinating. LOL I bought Monsters of Men too. I couldn't resist when I found a signed copy but I'm waiting until I go on holiday to read it. I want to give it my undivided attention and I know if I'm here I'll be thinking I should be reading my review books.
Do you happen to have the link to the FTC disclosure policy?
Inked - Nope...my info is all second-hand.
This makes me realize how lucky I am to have such a good library here in Vancouver. I can find most books I'm looking for, even recently published ones.
Your FTC disclosure is my win. Now off to check out Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness. Thanks!
I actually appreciate the FTC disclosure laws. It helps to understand motivations behind reviewers. Honestly, it is not an issue in the book review blogosphere, but in other products it can mean the difference between knowing a reviewer really loves something and whether he's working for the company to provide an ad and not a review.
My day time grown up job requires me to evaluate websites sometimes as sources for evidence based research. Knowing that the website is owned by the manufacturer of a product they are providing information about puts the information into a necessary perspective. When a website's information is pulled together from independent panels of experts and not the manufacturing company makes the evidence stronger. It's the same principle applied to bloggers under the new(ish) FTC laws.
So I respect what it is trying to accomplish, and I appreciate the reviewers who do disclose freely. I think it's a pretty stand up thing to do even though it sometimes doesn't feel like it should be such a big deal since we love books regardless of how we get our hands on them.
I need to do a better job of posting where my books come from but at the moment most of them come from the library! If it is a free review copy, I always disclose that at the bottom of my review. I like your idea though - it also gives a nice summary of what you've recently reviewed.
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