Just a little oversight on what peeves me the most as a blogger.
Disclaimer: Not of these apply in all situations and to all bloggers. Also, there are many more things that could be on this list.
Comments Like…
– “Please check out my blog and comment!”
– “Great haul! Check mine out here!
– “Bob @ Bob Reads… link to a post from his blog… I think you’ll enjoy this! [insert another link]… add comment luv for the same link.”
I love comments. I honestly do. But when people leave comments like that… what’s the point. You might as well not have left a comment at all, to me at least. I’m all for self promotion and everything but there’s something called being subtle. Also another thing some people do that annoys the heck out of me in comments is copy and past their link(s) and then use comment luv for that same link. Now I love visiting new blogs, especially if someone commented, but that’s just overkill.
Review Requests Like…
– “I know you’re not taking requests now but…”
– “I know you don’t like horror but I promise you’ll love this one!”
– “This book will change you’re life!”
Sorry bro, but if I say I’m not taking requests, I’m not taking requests. No exceptions. What makes you so special I should bend the rules for you? Also there’s a reason why I list the genres I don’t like. Don’t promise me I’ll love your’s when I hated everyone else’s. Horror just isn’t my thing. And the last thing I need is another book whose author believes it is “life changing”. You know what would be life changing? If I don’t get any more requests like the ones mentioned above!
People criticizing other’s for their opinions
Opinions, opinions, opinions. Everyone has them. Everyone is entitled to them. And they are well… opinions. They are not facts that are set in stone. They are personal beliefs and feelings. Just because you feel a certain way towards a book doesn’t mean that everyone has to feel that same exact way. Just because they have different opinions doesn’t mean you can bash them for it. If people were to be punished for speaking their minds, the people punishing others would essentially be destroying freedom of speech. And if that happens, what am I going to do with all my (currently non-existent but soon to be existent) book reviews?
I’m on this email list?
WHERE DID YOU GET MY EMAIL?!?!? I don’t know how many times I got put on email lists I DIDN’T sign up for. I don’t care if you get my email from some other company and think you’re product will be a good replacement. I don’t care if you think I need to know about some “life changing” way of life. (Seriously though, what’s up with “life changing”? What if I like my life the way it is?). If I didn’t personally sign up for your annoying email, I. DON’T. WANT. IT!
Plagiarism and Stolen Ideas
Plagiarism hasn’t really happened to me (that I’m aware of) but one of my greatest pet peeves in the whole entire world is when people take the credit for the work of other people. How can you willingly steal the fruit of someone else’s labor? That’s just not right, man.
And stolen ideas. Urgh. Okay, I do agree that everyone can have similar ideas. But seriously. There are only so many similar ideas you can have before it becomes clear you’re taking those ideas from someone else. I don’t care if you’re changing the name of the feature to make more… you. I don’t care if you feature already existed and just needed a better name. I don’t care. Stealing is stealing. And stealing is illegal. I work hard to try (doesn’t mean I always succeed) to be more original. It’s a lot harder than you would think. You have to be somewhat unique to be remembered and not just blend in with the crowd (I would know). Why do you think my discussion posts are called ‘Investigated’ and not ‘Discussed’?
I’m just going to leave it at that for today. Like I said, this list is long, and may not apply to all book bloggers so please don’t get offended. If you do something that appears on this list (like get my email from who knows where) just think of this as an eye opener that your behavior needs to change.
What do you hate as a blogger (or what would you hate if you aren’t one)?
Yes! Everything on this list. So over the nice haul, now look at mine. Say something else. That is not a comment, it is an advertisement. I am on so many email lists I didn’t sign up for. I even managed to get on a few “master lists” for tour blogs that I know I never signed up for. Ugh!
Urgh, I hate those stupid master lists. Especially when you’re added to one without your permission. That’s the worst. What part of “I don’t care” do those people not understand?
Thanks for stopping by Karen! 🙂
I had a little surprise in my email inbox when I got an email from “Paging Serenity”! (Until I opened the email)….Love the new blog name!
I am not taking review requests but I still get a ton of them, really annoying!
And Plagiarism? That is just wrong.
This is a great post!
Haha, thanks. I’m glad you liked the new name… I probably should make a new post about that.
Thanks for stopping by Em! 😀
Haha! I think you hit on all of the major points. Those self-promotion comments bug me so much! I used to do that to people before I learned better. *wince*
And some review requests don’t even ASK if I want to review that book, they just send me a synopsis of the book and what my address is (for physical copies). :p The. Worst.
I think everyone does the self promo thing in the beginning. I’m guilty of doing that too. Oops. You don’t really see how annoying it is until people do it to you. And ew, those review requests sound horrific. Thankfully I’ve never really gotten any of those… yet.
Thanks for stopping by Sophia! 😀
So agree! I love this – I recently did a rant about author spam emails too, so I know what you’re talking about. We bloggers deserve respect dang it!
Exactly! Why doesn’t everyone get that?!
Thanks for stopping by Julie! 😀
Totally agree with all of these! The review e-mails are definitely the most annoying to me. Especially when I get a mass e-mail to lots of other bloggers, and it’s a genre that my policy specifically says I will not read. Great post!
I don’t get why people send mass emails and think that they are effective. Not only is it kind of sending the message that “I don’t care enough to personalize this” but it’s also really rude of them.
Thanks for stopping by Morgan! 🙂
[…] Emz lists five things book bloggers hate. […]
I came over to see your Sunday post and saw this. Had to come by and see. Plagiarism would have to be what I hate the most, but I don’t think it has happened to me, as far as I know. I try not to sweat the small stuff. There will always be people messing up a good thing, but I refuse to let it dictate my actions. Thanks for sharing this great post. Now, I’m going back to your Sunday post and see what else is happening. ^_^
sherry @ fundinmental Sherry’s Shelves
Yes to all of these! I have to admit, that sometimes I’m half tempted to delete the sort of comments that are basically just ‘Come and visit my blog!’ :/
I hate being randomly added to promo lists/newsletters too. Especially when whoever sent the email obviously has no idea how email works, and puts all the addresses in the To field so you can see how many other bloggers have received the same cut and paste job. Not professional!
I hate spammy comments. I just ignore it when people are blatantly just there for self-promotion, although to be honest I don’t get a lot of those. Most of my commenters seem pretty genuine. I wouldn’t visit a link from someone who was just commenting to get me to visit their link. It’s pointless.
It seems that the internet’s love of nostalgia extends beyond just pop culture, with the Slender Man and copy-paste ghost stories like Teresa Fidalgo getting a second wind this year, but how did the dead girl tale start and is there a shred of truth to it?