Bologosphere is sharing of information at reader’s speed whereas traditional media has its set periodicity.

Secondly there’s a whole lot of value in new user created content such as blogging, shared photos, videos, etc. Readers and viewers enjoy the directness and honesty, which you rarely fine in printed matter. Bloggers aren’t afraid to say what they think when they review a book. How often do you read a printed review that describes the merits of a writers style, the imagery and motifs, etc, etc, but doesn’t say if the book is dull or a fun read.

Bloggers most often go from personal experience, or an adverse reaction to someone else’s view. For my money there’s a lot more directness and passion that you don’t always get from a piece by a professional journalist.

The world is changing. We expect reactions and opinions at digital speed – not slow monthly instalments. The places where readers find intelligent, thoughtful, provocative reviews and ideas is also changing.

And my writing this comment after having read this post is just further evidence of that.

I understand why I started a webblog a couple of months ago — my editor and my agent pushed me toward it, suggesting that it might be fun and better yet, would help sell books. It was a mercenary beginning, although I do not yet know if that intended result will be consequential.

Fun? That’s not exactly what I think of when I think of fun. I am also not sure if my webblog could be thought of as any kind of platform. I find enormous freedom with the structure of my novels — when I’m writing them. Although, like fun, maybe that’s not what others would think of as freedom.

I suppose I just don’t know so far why I’m doing it. Maybe all will be revealed at a later time? What I do know is that the entertainment value of toying around with the software program that substantiates the webblog does assuage some boredom.

Although frankly, I still much prefer writing with a pen on good paper. Maybe I should write the webblog postings with a pen in a notebook and then just scan the pages onto the blog?

I have definitely noticed what an astonishing variety of literary webblogs there are, and have been surprised to find how interesting a whole lot of them are.

I write my book reviews in the first person, because it’s a blog. I don’t write plot summaries in my reviews because I figure there are other sources on the web which do that already (I’ve taken to copying the blurb from the publisher), but if I were writing for a newspaper it would be worth the space and time to write it in. If I don’t have any insight that’s any different from what everybody else is saying or “I liked this one!” I don’t bother with a review.

When I want to read about a book, I’ll go to GoodReads or LibraryThing, Amazon or Barnes & Noble, where I can see several reviews of the same book in one place. I do skim the book review section of my local paper and often find books from there, but generally I don’t read blog reviews for their own sake unless I’m already interested in the book.

“I’m not a professional and never pretended to be. I’m just a reader with an opinion.”

Exactly my point. I guess, most of the bloggers fall in that category and all their readers recognise that fact. Therefore the debate that Ms. Warren wanted to trigger is factually a non-issue. And look out, there are some really serious ‘journal’ style blogs around already. Only they might not have the kind of names writing for them as for the journals for obvious financial reasons.

Donigan,

Totally agree with you that not only blogs and journals differ in both content and target, but so do different blogs when compared to each other. Blogging by nature, I believe, is attractive for anyone who feels like writing and sharing – anything. The kind of freedom one has on a blog is unparalleled.

Just a thought – maybe, the authors like you have started liking blogging because it gives you a platform to express what you cannot in within the bounds of a carefully plotted story.

There is another distinction between types of literary blogs: Those written by readers and book lovers who are not themselves authors (although who are certainly writers, the blog as evidence), and those written by authors … the distinction being between writers whose books are published and writers who books are not (yet).

Maintaining one of those author blogs, I confess that the idea for it did not occur to me; my agent and publisher suggested it was a way to sell more books. That’s why I gave it a try. A byproduct, an unexpected and unintentional byproduct is that I kind of like doing it, especially after discovering a function more valuable than selling books: offering a platform where an author and his curious readers can communicate, which is a novelty indeed for writers, who in the past seldom if ever encountered their readers.

I have not yet decided if this is a positive or a negative thing.

I’ve read the article a few times now. There is some useful information there but I don’t believe bloggers will consider themselves professional (unless we start getting paid). Our reviews will continue to be personal because blogs are personal. I’m about to use a cliched expression but it’s apples and oranges. I’m not a professional and never pretended to be. I’m just a reader with an opinion.

I think the idea of the Professional Book Review Blog is a good one. I can’t have a discussion with a newspaper. I believe most bloggers started because they could express their opinions on the books they read. We don’t just want to read a review. We want to comment, to discuss. That’s the society we’ve become. Newspapers have to get with the times.