Book Reviews Matter...

Most people working in publishing think that sending out books to newspapers and magazines is marketing; to be fair it is, although it is a very small part of marketing and given the declining sales of newspapers it is also becoming a less effective piece of marketing. Enter an American web site called LitMob who says on their web site...

"We obviously think that great literature and a strong and intelligent reader base are alive and well. That the media has chosen to ignore readers is insignificant. We believe in great books and created Lit Mob as a way to showcase those books that are worth your time. We will not be reviewing all books. You will not see the words “John” and “Grisham” placed together anywhere on our site. The new Harry Potter? Sorry, we won’t be covering that either. Like The New York Times Book Review? Great, so do we, but we will be traveling on a much different path than the Good Gray Lady.

So what can you expect from Lit Mob? We promise our readers concise reviews of books that we feel are interesting, and worthy of a strong latte and a warm comforter. We won’t love them all, and we won’t be afraid to voice our opinion. We are independent, intelligent, and LOVE books - just like you."

Given that it's an American site much of their coverage will naturally be geared to the US market. It would be great to see something similar here in the UK; maybe LitMob UK will be their next step?