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Mine would be to only ask for the books that really interest you! I know everyone ends up with huge TBRs – you should see my own bedside table! But it helps us to know and understand your passions, which is harder to understand if you say yes to everything we offer. Every now and then we have books which we have limited copies of, and we have to be choosy about sending them out – I always prioritise discerning bloggers who I know are going to read the things I send, and it really helps if I can target bloggers who I KNOW will love the book.

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Do keep in touch and send me your reviews in an email – just in case I have missed your post. It shows me that you really want to review our books (not just receive free books!) and it means that I remember you for when I next want to send out some review copies.

It’s also really great if your reviews include what your thoughts are on the book instead of summarising it, and even better if there are a couple of really quotable sentences that I can use to show off our book in our weekly campaigns updates or even on Amazon! Book bloggers are fantastic.

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We love hearing how excited bloggers are to read our books – and we really do appreciate all the time and effort bloggers put in to promote them. My advice would be to keep in touch – sometimes if we are having a tough day, an email from a lovely blogger expressing how much they can’t wait to read our books cheers us right up!

Also when requesting a review copy – include as much detail as possible, i.e stats and address etc! Super helpful and saves a lot of time.

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I think one of the most important things to remember is that the very best reviews don’t just regurgitate the plot but dig a little deeper. We want to hear why you loved the book and why you think others will love it too. I find that it’s far more interesting to read about how the book moved or affected you and whether it made you laugh, cry, despair, rejoice or all of the above!

I’m also always on the lookout for a really fantastic quote that can be pulled from a review and used throughout the publicity campaign. There’s only so many times a publicist can say that the book is amazing without some wonderful reviews and beautifully phrased quotes to back us up, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind!

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This is a tricky one as I’m generally in awe at how nice, patient and brilliant all the bloggers I work with are! I think it’s really just a case of staying in touch- let us know when something has caught your eye, or if you’re looking for a particular ‘type’ of read for a round up or piece you’re writing. We’ll always have some recommendations up our sleeves. Funnily enough, we LOVE a chance to chat about books and getting to know you a bit better will help us when we come to plan our blog tours and social activity.

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Book bloggers really are a huge part of spreading the word about a book and we can’t thank them enough really! They give so much time to participating in blog tours and writing reviews. If a number of book bloggers get behind a book it can really make the difference!

We’re always happy to hear from bloggers and it’s helpful knowing the sorts of books they’re hoping to review so that we can prioritise them on mailing lists. It’s great hearing from excited bloggers when they see a book that they would love to review!

Some already do this but I find it useful when bloggers send me an email with a link to their blog review with a short quote. Some of their quotes make it in to finished copies of books if they’ve given a quote for a proof for example!

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Ask for review copies! Tell us what books you like to review, links to your social pages and where to send review copies. Small companies rely so much on word of mouth and online reviews, so we'd always be happy to offer free books in exchange for reviews!

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Anthony Barlow- Matthew James (Tiny Tree)

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Anthony Barlow- Matthew James (Tiny Tree)

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I feel a bit unqualified here, but my biggest tip would be to be bold. Talk to publishers whose books you like and ask to work with them. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Talking to lots of lovely book bloggers is a real highlight of my job. You’re all super passionate and that really helps keep us motivated. The other thing I would say is to promote yourself on social media as much as possible. Oh, and take good photos of books — I love sharing stuff like that

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Keep in touch, there are so many blogs and of course bloggers move onto other things after a while, it’s hard to keep up! Do let us know whenever you feature our books, we are always pleased to see a book championed and we can remember you when something similar is published that we think you will like.

Cancelling all our live events has been heartbreaking but virtual events mean bloggers from all over the country can now attend events for free so that’s a really exciting opportunity. Make sure we have your details and if you’re invited to something do attend and share with your followers if you enjoyed it.

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On a practical level, when you contact publishers it’s really helpful to be specific about what sort of books you like the best – whether it's middle-grade fantasy, books in verse or historical YA… or a combination of lots of different genres. If you let us know what you’re likely to enjoy, we can make sure we send you books we think you’ll love, which helps us, and you! It’s also really useful for us if you include 'pull quotes' in your review. These are short and snappy lines we can 'pull' out and use for other PR purposes – for example, 'I fell in love with the gorgeous settings' or 'The best book about friendship I’ve ever read’. They sum up what you enjoyed about the book, and every publicist loves them.

I’d also say that it’s so important with your blog – as in life – to be yourself. You don’t have to make your blog try and fit a mould – so write about the books you truly love, which light you up and make your heart race. Only you can put together your specific, personal corner of the Internet, so make it as ‘you' as possible and you’ll be going down the right path.

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I think book bloggers are a wonderful, organic part of the book trade which has evolved naturally in recent years, especially through social media, and helps to give the children’s book world the vitality and enthusiasm which makes it such a fun place to work. I’m not sure how much I can give in the way of tips because there is such great, unselfish work going on to help bring a variety of new books to children. I would say don’t undervalue your importance in highlighting a diversity of books from smaller presses without big marketing budgets or clout with the bookshops, to new readers across the country. Smaller presses love to hear from you and, as many bloggers are also teachers or librarians, the quality of reviews is really high. Given the tiny amount of review space for children’s books in the mainstream press that is so important – thank you all!

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I really love chatting to book bloggers – your support is so, so invaluable and appreciated, never mind how nice it is to talk about the books with people who love them just as much as we do! Honestly I would say that it’s always worth getting in touch when you have chance (I know book bloggers are as short on time as we are!). It’s really nice to get a special email about a book that has caught your eye for a particular reason, or if you have an idea of something you want to try.

Enthusiasm for particular books is wonderful in a busy inbox, so be specific and don’t worry too much about saying what you think we want to hear. All we really want to know is what you genuinely think about our books and what might work for you, and we can go from there!

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Reach out to publicists and tell them what you’d like to read and how you’d support that book from your channels. There are so few opportunities for children’s books in traditional media that publicists are always looking for people who are passionate about, and want to support, children’s books. Book bloggers have done so much to raise the awareness of particular titles and to create a buzz of excitement so they’re very rewarding to work with.

Early proof reviews from bloggers can be invaluable to a campaign so make sure your review is quotable, with a short headline quote that sums up your longer review. There’s the chance this will be used on the finished book.

It can be challenging keeping up with the online community chat (I’m a full-time working mum of three) which is why I love meeting face-to-face if the opportunity arises. Try and attend book launches if you get an invite or get to your local book festival so you can meet publicists in person. Now that video meetings have become the norm, you could suggest a virtual meeting with a publicist to tell them about your blog and to hear from them about upcoming titles.

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Firstly, creative but feasible ideas for content are a great way to catch our attention. The majority of ARC requests we receive are from bloggers looking to read and review – whilst good reviews are very important for any book, the occasional outside-of-the-box

concept (for instance, live-streamed interviews) can really stand out, and help bloggers with smaller follower-counts who might not otherwise qualify for a limited ARC-run.

Showing interest in debut authors or smaller releases is another way to start building your relationship with a publicist – if we know you’ve produced high-quality content in the past, we’re much more likely to work with you again.

Finally, something I’d always say to bear in mind is not to take rejections on ARC requests – or sometimes even a lack of a reply – personally. I’ve mentioned the incredible number of emails which go through a publicist’s mailbox, which often leaves little time to read requests, check a blog’s following and make a quick decision. On occasion, requests can also go unnoticed, so it’s always worth sending a quick follow-up email if you haven’t had a response within a fortnight.

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Firstly, blog bloggers are awesome. I am always so impressed with bloggers who read like lightning, keep up friendly conversations on social media and keep a handle on their other responsibilities (be it a full time job or a university degree). Plus they’re always so excited and enthusiastic about our books and it always fills me with joy.

Here are four tips I hope will be useful…

· Follow publicists on social media to see what they’re working on but email them to ask for review copies. I only ever really use twitter during work hours and rarely check it on weekends. I hate the thought that I might miss a blogger’s request on twitter so email is always the best place to find me. My Instagram is currently private.

· Email a link to your review to the publicist or tag in the publisher in a post when it’s online. We often have to create a round-up of top reviews for the rest of the publishing team and the author themselves so having an extra nudge reminding us that your review is live means we’ll share it far and wide.

· Consider sharing your review on other platforms such as GoodReads, Waterstones and Amazon. I know Amazon isn’t everyone’s favourite and personally I think everyone should be supporting their own local bookshop but Amazon rating can make a huge impact on an author’s career, especially a debut author. Then tell the publicist that you’ve shared the review and they will be incredibly grateful (as will the author themselves).

· Include your latest statistics with us. When you first email a publicist its best to share your social media and blog statistics – sometimes we only have a limited number of book proofs or advanced copies to give away and we want to make sure that you have a good number of followers to share your review with. For bloggers just starting out I’d recommend reviewing the books you’ve bought to build up your portfolio before asking publishers for free copies.

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As I book blogger myself I’d say be conscious of the books you’re request. There are so many amazing books out there (my to read list is shamefully long) and taking the time to read a book you’re actually interested and passionate about will definitely reflect in your review. But don’t be afraid to reach out to publishers if there’s a book you really want to review on your platform. It can be disappointing if you don’t hear back but that shouldn’t stop you from reading the book, buy the book and support your local/indie bookshops and the authors instead!

Also, keep your social media platforms fresh and up to date! I was very late to joining Twitter, but this has quickly become one my favourite platforms in engaging with publishers, authors and other book bloggers.

From a publisher’s point of view I’d say, again, don’t be afraid to reach out. Blogging and social media is constantly changing and if you’re bringing something new to the table then just go for it! We’re always looking to keep our contacts updated and we’re always so grateful of the support of all the awesome bloggers out there!

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Tip 1: When you contact a new publicist, include links to other titles you’ve recently reviewed. Show us you’re genuinely interested in the genre. Publicists tend to have a very limited number of ARCs and we need to make sure all copies go to a good home

Tip 2: Be honest – if you’re not enjoying a review copy please email us to let us know. We are always happy for you to pass it on to another blogger who you think would be a better fit. Much as we’d love for all books to have 5 star reviews, we don’t want you to compromise the integrity of your blog. This is a collaborative process, by privately sharing your feedback we can get a clearer idea of the best books for you in the future.

Tip 3: Please don’t DM authors requesting local visits or interviews, these should always be sent to the publicist. An author may open a DM while travelling or on holidays and won’t always be able to give you an immediate answer. If you email us, we can check their schedule and find a date that works best for everyone.

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We are just very grateful to have the support of bloggers, especially as there is very little coverage of children’s books in the press. As a smaller, independent publisher we really do rely on the bloggers for book reviews.

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I’m definitely echoing what Leilah said, in making your content personal to you – don’t feel like you have to follow a format because that’s what everyone else is doing, the more personal it is to what makes you happy, the more you stand out! My other tip however is a practical one – when you read back over your review, if it is a positive review and one you’d especially wish publishers to refer to in their promotional activity, make sure you have a single sentence which summarises your emotional response and what you love about the book, and make sure this sentence is easily quotable without the rest of your review. We call this a pull quote (as we’ve pulled it from your longer review, and as it functions to pull in new readers!) Short, sweet and snappy, these are great for social media cards, press releases and even book internals when it goes to print. Try and avoid having this sentence lead into a longer clause, or a description of the plot, as it needs to work on its own.

E.G. ‘Pure magic, this book made me laugh and cry!’

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Tell publishers and publicists that you want to work with what it is you’re most interested in reading – everyone wins.
Blogs are still key so while I may love your bookstagram, I am more likely to pick you for a blog tour if you also have a blog (even better if you also have Twitter).
We want to quote you! We want to share your thoughts so that others know why this book is worth reading. So, when you are reviewing, think about what will make for a perfect, summarising quote.

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Ah, we love bloggers! I used to blog myself, so it was quite strange at first to find myself on the other side. I would say my top tips are: be specific about what book (or books) you would like to review and why. Give us all the info we need – we get so many emails and are so pressed for time so often that we’re much more likely to grant requests from bloggers that tell us everything we need to know in one place. Be really clear, polite, and enthusiastic, and you can’t go wrong. Sadly there are almost always more requests than there are proofs, so don’t be too disheartened if you don’t get a proof or a book you’ve requested, and don’t let it put you off asking! And for me, email whenever you can. I love interacting with bloggers and readers on social media but it’s really easy for me to miss or forget a comment or even DM on Twitter or Instagram – especially if I’m not at my desk. I have folders for each of my titles so I can quickly tuck away requests for when I’m ready to put together my mailing lists. And I love seeing your reviews and pictures, so please always feel free to tag me!

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Write thoughtful reviews and take your time! Also, sign up to Netgalley.

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My biggest piece of advice for book bloggers is to reach out to publishers with a clear list of facts about your blog, social stats, what genre or age group you specifically like to review and your address to try to get on their mailing lists. You want to make sure you are on their radar for upcoming titles. Publicists communicate with so many different people on a daily basis, so if we know a fantastic book blogger can write a great review and promote on social to help support our books, then we will definitely keep going back to them with books we think they may like!

I would also recommend that if you are ever invited to attend a book launch party to definitely go for it if you can, we would really love to meet you in person. It's also a great opportunity for you to network and meet other people in the book world to grow your contacts.

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I love working with book bloggers. At The Author School (www.theauthorschool.com) I'm always telling authors that bloggers are doing them a favour so they need to think of how they can return that favour :-) My tips for bloggers wanting to work with more books/authors/publishers is to reach out to publicists like me @literallypr on Twitter or via email and introduce yourself, share what you like to read and your links online. Then you can build a relationship with one or two people on that team which will result in a more tailored offering for you. For example, we run blog tours for more than 50% of our clients and we have more than 40 clients per month usually. So it's a great way to hear about new books and get some great content. Plus we ensure that there are photos, author Q&As, extracts etc all ready to go for the bloggers!

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Here’s three tips from me:

1.      Be clear in your approach publishers: I often get emails from bloggers asking to be on our mailing lists, but their messages contain little information about their blogs and/or reach data I can’t decipher. I want to know about your interests, what sorts of books you’re reading and what you’re looking for so I can get a sense of whether you’ll like the books I’m working on.

2.      #BookPost on social media: I love seeing bloggers share what books they’ve received and get excited about a proof or sparkly cover before they’ve read the story. It shows that the blogger is engaged and passionate. If you read the book ahead of publication and want to share your review, do it! Publicists want to see early reviews and buzz, so there’s no need to hold back until publication.

3.      Email signatures: This is going to sound a bit lame, but it’s so helpful if you put your up-to-date postal address in your email signature! I’m often sending out books in a hurry and if your address is in the body of your email, you will likely receive it quicker.

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Probably to please bear with us if we haven’t got back to our request yet, we will get there! But mostly it’s to do what you all already do; be passionate about the books and share, share, share! We love to see people enjoying our books and recommending them to others, and it’s such a special thing for our authors too.

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Bloggers are awesome, and we are so grateful for their support and the amazing community they have created – all through the love of books.

When you’re writing your review, don’t worry too much about making it sound super professional – we just want to hear your enthusiasm, so if you loved it and want to shout about it, that’s great! From a publicity perspective, as well as you guys helping us to spread the word and build buzz around the book, we’re also looking for snappy quotes we can pull out from the review – so really thinking about what it is about this particular book that you enjoyed, why you’d recommend it, and how it made you feel.

Also, always email rather than tweet your requests, if you can – this is 100% the best way to make sure I definitely spot your request! If there’s a specific book you’re hoping to review I’d recommend emailing around 4-6 weeks before publication, as this is when I’m looking to send copies out.

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Don’t send generic emails. It feels like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how many generic emails you get with [insert book title] put in. If you want to get a free copy of a book, you have to tell me why you should be the one to get it. Show me that you’re really interested in the topic, that its an author you’ve been supporting, that you’ve been blogging about similar books.

Cultivate a relationship with publicists. The more I work with you, the more I know that you’re reliable and enthusiastic, the more likely I am to send big, exclusive titles your way and to think of you when I get a book I know you’ll like. Also, don’t just go for the big releases. Bloggers are a core part of launching debut authors and we really appreciate your support. Plus, you never know what exciting new author you’ll be the first to read!

Large follower numbers are great, but high engagement is better. If you get really good engagement but have lower Twitter/Instagram followers, make sure you highlight it to me. I’m interested in the community you’re part of and how you interact with it.

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My tips for Book Bloggers would be to write a great pitch email. We receive countless emails from bloggers on a day-to-day basis. Why should you review this book? I know you love to read, we all do - that's why we're in this industry. I'd like to read an email that makes me excited to send you the book and read your review - not something that is just copy and pasted.

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STAY IN TOUCH. It’s easier for a publicist to curate what they show you if they know what you like. Plus, we love a chat.

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I love it when book bloggers email me with all their info in one place. Let me know what books you like to read, what you don’t like, include your address in the email if you’re asking for a book/to be added to a database, include your stats. I might not come back to you straight away, but I’ll file it away and it’s so much easier if I have all the info there. I might not have time to have a back and forth conversation to get all this info, so you’re more likely to get a response if you’ve already provided everything I need to know.

Also, I much prefer when bloggers follow the professional routes for communication – email and twitter are great, and I don’t really mind if you contact me on Instagram (but the other two would be preferable) but sometimes I get messages on GoodReads and all sorts of random places and it can feel a bit like being bombarded about work from every angle. My GoodReads is for personal use and chances are, if you message me on there, I’m not going to remember that you did when I’m back at work.

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Tip 1: To thine own self be true. Blogs are wonderful spaces, and the absolute best ones reflect the tastes, personality, and passions of their curators.

Tip 2: (And this is something I’ve come to notice in a publishing role more than I ever did as a bookseller…) When reviewing, concentrate how the book made you feel, and who you’d recommend it to rather than describing the plot. Publishers are looking for those reactions and opinions over everything else.

Tip 3: Post reviews and make noise as early as you want. I think it’s a bit of a myth that publishers want you to hold fire for publication day to share your reviews. Early reviews help to create a buzz and encourage pre-orders. Quotes from early reviews are really helpful. There’s nothing to stop you re-sharing on publication day! In fact, please do!

I’ve so much respect for bloggers. Blogs require a lot of time and energy. I’m in awe of anyone that successfully carves out time to keep the plates spinning in their own spare time. It reflects such a level of commitment to the art of promoting books and reading. Heroes, all of you.