OPEN LETTER: To Readers & Authors

Dear Readers & Authors,

I started my blogging journey because I wanted to share the love of books I had read with other readers who are always on the lookout for something to read “next.”

 When I first started Redhot Romance, my focus was always going to be to share reviews of books that I had read and loved and try to convey it to the small audience that wanted to know what I was reading and what I thought about it.

Along the way last year, I had a panic attack and thought that I needed to be like many of the other book bloggers and promote cover reveals, new releases & review as many books as I could.

I thought that I needed to have a massive following on Facebook to be relevant. And the numbers of followers I had started to consume my thoughts. I thought that I had to be sharing covers, new releases and reviewing as much as possible to be of any relevance.

On top of that, I started obsessing about the reviews of the top romance bloggers. I became addicted to reading how they structured and worded their reviews that had gotten them almost a cult like following. I had convinced myself that I needed to be writing like them to assist the authors I wanted to promote get maximum exposure.

But all that ended up happening was sending me into a spiral of anxiety over needing to have a perfect review. I overwhelmed myself with not being good enough. This caused me to miss review deadlines and essentially lose myself based on thinking that I could only be successful by doing it “their” way.

So over the Xmas/New Year break, I took some time to really evaluate what I wanted out of being a book blogger. And I decided that the only way I have a chance in hell of becoming successful at promoting the authors that I love was if I did it my way that is true to who I am. It’s the only way that anyone would even think about taking notice because it will come from an authentic place.

So while I know that there is a set format that many come to expect from a review post, blog tour post, cover reveal post, new release post and sales post – I just decided that I can’t do it that way and still be me authentically.

If you are a follower of me, you know that I have started a romance magazine which I love doing. But as I have been progressing I have realised that I love approaching books and reviews from an article perspective. So this is going to be my approach from here on out. If this leads to me losing followers, having promo companies and authors refuse to work with me, so be it (even though I would love to maintain all my current relationships and connections). I just need to be true to myself to make this be sustainable and keep me from discontent and burnout long term.

So this means that you will not see many posts on my blog dedicated to only cover reveals and new release notices. I will still share this on social media but my blog posts will mostly be article type posts on things I love about books, authors I want you to check out and books that I have loved, shared in my way. You will start seeing my new approach this week as I catch up on reviews that have plagued me from last year.

I hope that you will stay along for the journey, but understand if I’m not your cup of tea. I will continue to post and create my magazine, even if I am the only one who reads it.

I guess 2016 is about learning to be ok with me and how I do things. It might lead to massive failure but at least I can say that I did it knowing that it was the right move for me.

So in the end, if you are looking for a book blog that is a lot of promo posts on latest releases and covers, it’s not going to be me. And even though it’s not right for me, it is for a lot of others and for a lot of you readers. I don’t judge anyone being true to what they want to do.

So here’s to me being authentic and hopefully having you a long for the ride. I love reading and sharing so I hope that I can continue to be of some benefit.

Be yourself and do it your way – always. Because I sure as hell am.

Love,

Samantha xxx