DISQUS

Thanks! That was the easiest widget in the world to install!

I loved the evocative use of color words to describe nature--which, of course, is the only acceptable use of color in Abascar. I loved that it promised (and fulfilled that promise) to be a rare gem: a literary fantasy.

Mark, you said: "Many people seem to write these ridiculously glowing reviews… more positive than we would write about Shakespeare or other classics. I think blog tours sometimes create a false obligation that goes along with receiving a free book. I don’t fault the blog tours for this, but we need to educate participants better about the ethics of reviewing a book."

Oh, how I agree!

On one tour I was on (not CSFF or CFBA) someone I'd never seen before took afront that I gave a negative review. Obviously she felt that it was my duty, having accepted a free book, to *promote* it. (She wasn't the author or the tour's organizer.) I'm thinking that not every tour organizer makes clear what the goals are and what is acceptable.

I'd emailed with the author before the tour discussing the issue I had with the novel and while I'm sure she'd have preferred that I love her story, she thanked me for being brave enough to have an opposing point of view. Not that she commented on my post or has emailed me since, but that's another issue!

Like Becky said, at CSFF it is still, barely, a small enough group that you begin to remember the participants and what to expect from them. And that sense of community does help to build a solid tour.

I've found the dissection of blog touring that you're doing in these posts very interesting. Thanks!