http://www.sffworld.com/forums/blog.php?650-Sffnews en Sat, 25 May 2013 07:17:15 GMT vBulletin 25 http://www.sffworld.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.sffworld.com/forums/blog.php?650-Sffnews http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?663-Interesting-Tidbit-for-Reviewers Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:15:42 GMT While browsing some sites today I came across The Book Smugglers site. This little disclaimer caught my eye.
[QUOTE]In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, The Book Smugglers would like everyone to know that while we do purchase our own books for review on occasion, you should assume that every book reviewed here at The Book Smugglers was provided to the reviewers by the publisher or the author for free unless specified otherwise.[/QUOTE]

This is the first time I've seen a [B]OBVIOUS [/B]disclaimer about this on a book review site/blog. There a quite a few peeps out there now with blogs trying to garner ARC's from publishers and some have been very successful. When they receive their first few ARC's they tend to thank the publisher in there review but after awhile they tend to just skip over that they have received the book for free. Those of us with no life who follow these blogs know that they are receiving them for free but random people have no idea.

Can a person who starts a blog with the aim of receiving free books stay unbiased and give a balanced review about a book given that it's cost them nothing except time? That's a question for a different post and from memory has already been discussed elsewhere.

The point of this post is to make you reviewers or would be reviewers aware that there are guidelines concerning this and even though they are USA ones in the interests transparency you should stick that disclaimer or something very close to it somewhere on your blog and with the actual review if you post your reviews in forums around the web.

[URL="http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf"]FTC Guidelines[/URL]. I'll site the relevant example(I think) to save you time.

[I]"A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or “blog” where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog. He tests the new gaming system and writes a favorable review.


Because his review is disseminated via a form of consumer-generated media in which his relationship to the advertiser is not inherently obvious, readers are unlikely to know that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, and given the value of the video game system, this fact likely would materially affect the credibility they attach to his endorsement. Accordingly, the blogger should clearly and conspicuously disclose that he received the gaming system free of charge.


80
The manufacturer should advise him at the time it provides the gaming system that this connection should be disclosed, and it should have procedures in place to try to monitor his postings for compliance."
Read more... [/I] ]]> ChrisW http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?663-Interesting-Tidbit-for-Reviewers http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?662-Bitching-about-the-bitching-of-the-bitching Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:09:53 GMT Not sure what I'm bitching about? I'm bitching about the bitching about the bitching over George R R Martin and the long wait for his next book. You know that guy that became famous for killing off characters you thought were main characters and therefore immune to death. He writes good books too.

Before I start here's my disclaimer: Although I love the books(first three) and think he's a great writer, my dislike for the guy is so great that I decided before A Feast for Crows came out that I would no longer buy or read the series anymore. Why? Well I feel that he insulted me twice during the wait for Feast. Firstly when he told people who complained about the wait to get a life and then after Bush won his second term and he decided to attack anyone who voted or would have voted for Bush in an update about Feast. So yeah he's a fat git.

Ok back to the bitching about the wait. As an outsider(as much as I can be) looking at the debates that rage around this issue, this is how I see it. There be four groups. The paitent long suffering fan who tries to feel superior by saying it takes as long as it takes and it will be worth the wait and you cant rush art blah blah blah. The apologists who make up excuses for him and rewrite history to prove that it really isn't as long as a wait as it seems or that other authors have taken longer blah blah blah. The diehard fan who just needs to vent be it via forums or blogs aimed at mocking the man but who will still be lined up at midnight to buy the next book and lastly there is the group who are the most sane people IMO who have just had enough of the delay and the apparent lack work ethic from GRRM and quite calmly say so.

The long suffering fan group are the bitches. They bitch about people bitching about the wait or who attack GRRM. What these bitches fail to appreciate most of the time is that if no one was bitching about the wait or GRRM's work ethic then the books most likely wouldn't be worth reading to start with. People don't usually bitch about stuff, especially with the passion which occurs in this debate unless they have strong feelings about the thing there bitching about.

So stop the bitching bitches so I dont have to bitch about you! Let the the other bitches bitch and be happy about it.

End Rant. ]]> ChrisW http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?662-Bitching-about-the-bitching-of-the-bitching http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?483-The-Week-That-Was Sun, 02 May 2010 00:25:43 GMT Patrick Rothfuss long awaited The Wise Man’s Fear has been slated for a March 1st 2011 release by his publisher. This is subject to him having the book done by September and although he thinks that that date is highly achievable, I for one have doubts based on his previous track record. Personally... Patrick Rothfuss long awaited The Wise Man’s Fear has been slated for a March 1st 2011 release by his publisher. This is subject to him having the book done by September and although he thinks that that date is highly achievable, I for one have doubts based on his previous track record. Personally I think he should have waited until he actually had the book done before announcing it otherwise he's just making himself look more like GRRM and asking for the same sort of criticism. More so than already. Anyways I'll hope for the best as The Name of the Wind is one of the best debuts I've ever read.


While you wait you can always check out The Adventures of the Princess and Mr Whiffle. Die hard fans only I suspect. Buy direct from the publisher if you want a copy.

Link time:

[URL="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/15/2010-04-15_ride_of_a_lifetime_next_stop_hollywood_for_f_train_writer.html"]Article[/URL] - Peter V Brett.

[URL="http://www.dragonpage.com/2010/04/27/cover-to-cover-405a/"]Interview[/URL] - George R R Martin.

[URL="http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/04/win-advance-reading-copy-of-china.html"]Competition[/URL] - Kraken by China Miéville.

[URL="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/2010/04/giveaway-long-price-quartet-daniel.html"]Competition[/URL] - Shadow and Betrayal and Seasons of War by Daniel Abraham(UK only).
Read more... ]]> ChrisW http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?483-The-Week-That-Was http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?482-quot-Towers-of-Midnight-quot-Full-Cover-and-Synopsis Sun, 02 May 2010 00:21:54 GMT From Tor's Fall catalogue

[QUOTE]The end draws near....


The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.


Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in Tel’aran’rhiod and find a way—at long last—to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever.


Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways—the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn—have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.


This penultimate novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series—the second of three based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007—brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.


Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice.
[/QUOTE]

There's also an interesting interview with RJ's wife and editor over on [URL="http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=59222"]Tor.com[/URL]

Here's the rough Cover pieced together from different pics.

[IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4PYcQB6w-JU/S9u_Juuox3I/AAAAAAAAABw/oyIk2dg4uXc/s1600/ToM_cover_us_earlyPreview_full.jpg[/IMG] ]]> ChrisW http://www.sffworld.com/forums/entry.php?482-quot-Towers-of-Midnight-quot-Full-Cover-and-Synopsis