Armchair BEA Day 4: Ethics and Non-Fiction

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Man do these events move fast!! We are on day 4 already!! Ethics. Hmmm. This is an important topic but also one with many viewpoints. I was very fortunate to be inspired to blog by some really cool bloggers whose examples I followed.

Last year however one of these bloggers was involved in an event that heated up the internet and forced me to make a hard choice. I don’t want to go into specifics but if you are a blogger and a YA book lover you know the situation intimately.

 

Lets just say someone I admire was revealed to be a plagiarist. I read her explanation and a lot of of hurtful things from the blogging community that forced me to decide if I wanted to continue to visit her blog. As I was in the process of making my decision I noticed little to no decrease in the amount of review books or blog opportunities she received. 

This bothered me deeply. It made me realize that the repercussions I thought should happen to the blogger didn’t necessarily match those of others.

It also had  me question everything about blogging. Were review opportunities based on a bloggers reputation and the quality of their reviews? Or do companies not care about a bloggers practices  as long as the site their using gets tons of hits ?

You know what the answer to these questions are?  It’s not my business. I was judging the entire situation through my personal beliefs and prejudices. 

Ethics are different for each one of As bloggers we tend to create our own personal “laws” about how a Blogger, Publisher and Author should act. But book blogging has no laws. There are trends, and trendsetters but in the end it comes down to personal choices by Individual bloggers.

Not everyone will hold a door open for you, or give up a seat for a pregnant woman on a train. And though we all may gasp at such rude behavior that person has a right to do as they please. So my point is : Form your own Ethic code. Follow it and don’t worry what others are doing.

I do however suggest the following to Bloggers: 

Update your Review Policy

Make sure you are clear about the type of books you want to read and review and be sure to mention if you will not finish a book you aren't enjoying if that is your policy.

Choose Your Fights Wisely

In the three years I’ve been blogging there have been some “incidents”. Take a moment to take a deep breath and really find out what’s going on for yourself before you comment. There have been some things that I have commented on and some that I just walked away from.

 

No Blogger Is An Island

 

Have a circle of bloggers that you chat with and can bounce ideas off of. The more blogs you follow and bloggers you connect with gives you an opportunity for feedback and friendships. It’s also important to have this support so you don't succumb to the pressures of blogging. I also find that other bloggers motivate me to be more consistent in my updates and help me to find any untapped niches in the blogging world that I can fill.

 

NON-FICTION

So. Looking at the name of my blog you would be right in guessing I don’t read a lot of Non-Fiction. When I do however I love science and history based reads here are three that I hope to finish this year: