The webcasts from the National Book Festival are up, including the one of Mo Willems with my daughter as Piggie! If you want watch that part — and of course you do — it is about halfway through the webcast, at the twelve-minute mark. You’ll also see Mo’s daughter Trixie of Knuffle Bunny fame. Watch it and come back and be excited with me.
Today my post over at Booklights covers picture books about babies. Go add some favorites to the comments.
The interpretations of the Federal Trade Commission guidelines are making things look either HUGE or no big deal for book bloggers, so we’ll be waiting to see how it shakes out. There is a great post at Boston Bibliophile with a lawyer’s viewpoint, and Chasing Ray is asking for — and receiving — responses from publishers. What are you hearing around the interwebs?
Showing posts with label FTC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FTC. Show all posts
Well, this is going to get interesting.
The Federal Trade Commission has come up with its final guidelines on regulating endorsements and testimonials, which will indeed affect bloggers. The first hint of the problem is in the title of the report itself, which specifies endorsements and testimonials.
But book reviews are not advertising endorsements or testimonials, are they?
Ah, I answer that question with another question. Have you noticed how freely the word review has been thrown around the blogosphere, especially in the pitches by companies? Have you wondered how one “reviews” a bookshelf or swingset or tungsten rings?
You see, the businesses were very savvy about this coming development and hoped to tie the issues together by linking the word review to what are obvious endorsements being paid for in product. I’ve been watching this going on with the mommy bloggers and gritting my teeth, while remaining hopeful that the FTC would know the difference between a review and an endorsement. I talked about it here in July, saying, “Book blogs are likely to stay under the radar because we’re not pulling in the numbers of readers and because there is a longstanding tradition of books being sent out for review in newspapers and journals.”
I may have been wrong. Mostly in making the assumption that the FTC would address this issue with, um... intelligence. The eighty-one page final guidelines have only caused more questions that the FTC doesn’t seem to define or understand. I saw it through my book blogger eyes, but niche groups everywhere have questions and concerns, as shown in this article from Wired.
But as a book blogger, I’m very concerned that Richard Cleland of the Bureau of Consumer Protections had this to say in a conversation with Ed Champion about getting books for review:
Chasing Ray has a wonderful post about how this would look to the publishers. In case you’re wondering, Not Good. There is no way that book bloggers would want the responsibility and expense of returning books with a receipt so they couldn’t be declared as income. There is no way that the publishers would want the responsibility and expense of tracking those returned books. It’s illogical that I could receive dozens of books from a publisher, but only have to declare as “income” the one that I review — because I’ve now endorsed it.
In fact, it’s the idiocy of this concept along with the long tradition of print media receiving books for review that gives me hope. Because the guidelines as written and as they want to be applied to book bloggers are just too stupid to exist. That said, they won’t disappear by us not talking about them. We do need to make some noise. Bloggers are good writers, obviously, so dash off a letter to the FTC, your congressman, the local paper. Your publisher.
Galleycat has been turning out a lot of information on this new development, but we can’t let Ron Hogan and Ed Champion go this alone. And I’m not just talking about bloggers. Publishers, editors, and authors had better make their case too, because the FTC regulations as they are being interpreted could shut down a source of book reviews and interviews just as newspaper reviews are in a death spiral. Publishers may have thought that the FTC had nothing to do with them, as evidenced by the fact that they are not noted as having submitted comments to the proposed regulation (page 3). Big mistake, because this is going to be an issue for all involved parties, and we can’t let it be left up to people completely ignorant of how the publishing industry works to determine how it’s going to work from now on.
Now, the bright spot is how completely relevant KidLitCon09 seems right now — especially our panel about the relationships between bloggers, authors, and publishers. There’s still space available. Register now and be part of the conversation.
The Federal Trade Commission has come up with its final guidelines on regulating endorsements and testimonials, which will indeed affect bloggers. The first hint of the problem is in the title of the report itself, which specifies endorsements and testimonials.
But book reviews are not advertising endorsements or testimonials, are they?
Ah, I answer that question with another question. Have you noticed how freely the word review has been thrown around the blogosphere, especially in the pitches by companies? Have you wondered how one “reviews” a bookshelf or swingset or tungsten rings?
You see, the businesses were very savvy about this coming development and hoped to tie the issues together by linking the word review to what are obvious endorsements being paid for in product. I’ve been watching this going on with the mommy bloggers and gritting my teeth, while remaining hopeful that the FTC would know the difference between a review and an endorsement. I talked about it here in July, saying, “Book blogs are likely to stay under the radar because we’re not pulling in the numbers of readers and because there is a longstanding tradition of books being sent out for review in newspapers and journals.”
I may have been wrong. Mostly in making the assumption that the FTC would address this issue with, um... intelligence. The eighty-one page final guidelines have only caused more questions that the FTC doesn’t seem to define or understand. I saw it through my book blogger eyes, but niche groups everywhere have questions and concerns, as shown in this article from Wired.
But as a book blogger, I’m very concerned that Richard Cleland of the Bureau of Consumer Protections had this to say in a conversation with Ed Champion about getting books for review:
“You can return it,” said Cleland. “You review it and return it. I’m not sure that type of situation would be compensation.” If, however, you held onto the unit, then Cleland insisted that it could serve as “compensation.” You could after all sell the product on the streets.Yeah, because we all know the street value of Find My Feet.
Chasing Ray has a wonderful post about how this would look to the publishers. In case you’re wondering, Not Good. There is no way that book bloggers would want the responsibility and expense of returning books with a receipt so they couldn’t be declared as income. There is no way that the publishers would want the responsibility and expense of tracking those returned books. It’s illogical that I could receive dozens of books from a publisher, but only have to declare as “income” the one that I review — because I’ve now endorsed it.
In fact, it’s the idiocy of this concept along with the long tradition of print media receiving books for review that gives me hope. Because the guidelines as written and as they want to be applied to book bloggers are just too stupid to exist. That said, they won’t disappear by us not talking about them. We do need to make some noise. Bloggers are good writers, obviously, so dash off a letter to the FTC, your congressman, the local paper. Your publisher.
Galleycat has been turning out a lot of information on this new development, but we can’t let Ron Hogan and Ed Champion go this alone. And I’m not just talking about bloggers. Publishers, editors, and authors had better make their case too, because the FTC regulations as they are being interpreted could shut down a source of book reviews and interviews just as newspaper reviews are in a death spiral. Publishers may have thought that the FTC had nothing to do with them, as evidenced by the fact that they are not noted as having submitted comments to the proposed regulation (page 3). Big mistake, because this is going to be an issue for all involved parties, and we can’t let it be left up to people completely ignorant of how the publishing industry works to determine how it’s going to work from now on.
Now, the bright spot is how completely relevant KidLitCon09 seems right now — especially our panel about the relationships between bloggers, authors, and publishers. There’s still space available. Register now and be part of the conversation.
The Federal Trade Commission is expected to vote this summer on new ethical guidelines for bloggers. While the revised guidelines will apply to all bloggers, FTC public affairs specialist Betsy Lordan told CNN, “Some of the bigger challenges include the mommy blogger issue and the extent to which the blogger must disclose a relationship with an advertiser.”This CNN article talks about a Public Relations Blackout challenge that Momdot is holding this week in an effort to return to the spirit of community, sharing, and stellar writing that has been taken over by controversy, jealousy, and product reviews. I am concerned that we aren’t taking the meltdown that’s occurring there and learning the lessons so we can avoid it here.
Over the past few months, I’ve seen several discussions about review copies, free bookshelves, advertising, professionalism, and making money. I could write a week’s worth of posts on any of the topics, but in the interest of being direct, I’m presenting the core of my thoughts on each issue. I’ve included links to posts that expand on each topic.
- Free books and ARCs aren’t at issue for book bloggers, given the necessity and history of review copies distributed to reviewers in print and online. However, being transparent about the books received from publishers makes it easier to recognize and avoid further problems with receiving other products. [More on bloggers and commercialism at Boston Bibliophile.]
- Many things can’t really be “reviewed,” no matter how it’s phrased in the pitch, which makes it closer to being paid in product to write about it. There are two issues here — whether you can objectively analyze something of value that was received at no cost and if an analysis of the product would truly be of use to your readers. [Also, watch for jealousy: J. Kaye’s Book Blog.]
- Publishers Weekly and other journals can take ads because there isn’t a direct benefit to the reviewers. The wall between sales and writers is what helps prevent a conflict of interest. As a blogger, you are both writing the reviews and taking the money from advertising, which makes it much harder to retain objectivity. [Read more on publishing and blogs at Tea Cozy.]
- For the most part, blogging should be approached as a creative outlet, writing practice, or networking opportunity. There shouldn’t be an expectation of free stuff or making money, no matter how much time and energy you put into it. [Read more on publishing and blogs at Tea Cozy.]
- However, that doesn’t mean that bloggers shouldn’t act professionally. In the book world, there are so very few “professional bloggers” and they make so little money that the phrase is practically meaningless. If you are getting free books or ARCs on any sort of regular basis, you have a responsibility to act in a professional manner. [Professionalism at Chasing Ray.]
Three articles in three days have made me think that bloggers may be in the middle of the next big issue, and I want us to be prepared. First, from PBS MediaShift, an article entitled “Some Bloggers Welcome FTC Scrutiny for Paid Reviews”:
However, I do think that it is an ideal time to step back and look at what we are doing. Is there a difference between a book offered for a review and books given by the publisher for contests? If a publisher offers a book and we all end up reviewing it — think The Chosen One — are we serving less as reviewers and more as an unpaid marketing machine? If a book blogger is offered a product for a group to review, does that change the dynamics of the relationship? Is there a difference between a book sent by the author and one sent by the publisher? And in all of these instances, what sort of disclosure is appropriate?
These are tough questions which will be part of a session at the KidLitosphere Conference. Many bloggers already identify in reviews which books they received from the publisher or author. I haven’t done that consistently, but I will now. Many bloggers make it clear that they are Amazon Associates, earning a small percentage of referral fees from Amazon. I have mentioned it on my blog, but I now plan to make it much clearer. I generally don’t participate in book giveaways or contests, but if I do, I’ll make sure that I am clearer about the source of the prizes. My notable exception is the 48 Hour Book Challenge, where I make it clear that the prizes are donations from authors and bloggers, or collected by me.
I’d urge you to read the articles, look at what you’re doing, and think what changes you might make. And of course, let’s talk about this — because that’s what we do.
When it was reported in 2006 that the FTC would begin forcing word-of-mouth companies — which paid people to hype products to their peers — to disclose their marketing campaigns, Brian Clark predicted at the time that these rules would apply to bloggers as well. Now it looks like his prediction is coming true — and bloggers are taking the news in stride... So when the AP reported recently that the FTC would begin enforcing disclosure rules on bloggers that were paid to review products, received free products or used affiliate links, Clark wasn’t surprised.Then The Washington Post came out with an article focused on Amazon reviewers, but with some related implications:
More commonly, reviewers at the top of Amazon’s charts say they regularly hear from publishers and wannabe authors hoping for a positive word; some prolific or influential reviewers have personal Web sites detailing the books they’re interested in receiving from publishers.And today a New York Times article has me making changes to the way I’ll be doing what I do online:
The proliferation of paid sponsorships online has not been without controversy. Some in the online world deride the actions as kickbacks. Others also question the legitimacy of bloggers’ opinions, even when the commercial relationships are clearly outlined to readers.What will this mean for book bloggers? Perhaps nothing, as the focus seems to be to address the bloggers that are literally being paid per post (in cash or in product) to promote goods and services. There is also a lot of scrutiny in the area of expensive gifts and trips and tech products given to review for wide-reaching blogs. Book blogs are likely to stay under the radar because we’re not pulling in the numbers of readers and because there is a longstanding tradition of books being sent out for review in newspapers and journals.
And the Federal Trade Commission is taking a hard look at such practices and may soon require online media to comply with disclosure rules under its truth-in-advertising guidelines.
However, I do think that it is an ideal time to step back and look at what we are doing. Is there a difference between a book offered for a review and books given by the publisher for contests? If a publisher offers a book and we all end up reviewing it — think The Chosen One — are we serving less as reviewers and more as an unpaid marketing machine? If a book blogger is offered a product for a group to review, does that change the dynamics of the relationship? Is there a difference between a book sent by the author and one sent by the publisher? And in all of these instances, what sort of disclosure is appropriate?
These are tough questions which will be part of a session at the KidLitosphere Conference. Many bloggers already identify in reviews which books they received from the publisher or author. I haven’t done that consistently, but I will now. Many bloggers make it clear that they are Amazon Associates, earning a small percentage of referral fees from Amazon. I have mentioned it on my blog, but I now plan to make it much clearer. I generally don’t participate in book giveaways or contests, but if I do, I’ll make sure that I am clearer about the source of the prizes. My notable exception is the 48 Hour Book Challenge, where I make it clear that the prizes are donations from authors and bloggers, or collected by me.
I’d urge you to read the articles, look at what you’re doing, and think what changes you might make. And of course, let’s talk about this — because that’s what we do.
Posts
