Lately I been thinking about ARC envy. Why? I am being honest here, I get envious when I see other bloggers getting ARCs. I understand that as a blogger I am not entitled (AT ALL) to ARCs but they are nice, right? It got me thinking, I can't be the only one can I? Sometimes when I see other bloggers getting ARCs I feel like I did something wrong, am I not good at writing reviews? Are my stats too low? I genuinely feel down about it. I've noticed a lot of people have turned to #BooksforTrade to try and score that ARC they wanted but didn't get.
I think sometimes when you don't get the ARC you wanted or not the book mail you expected you feel like you aren't worth it as a blogger. You seem to have similar stats? Maybe yours are higher? I think ARCs make us feel like we are "sucessful" bloggers. But that means crap. We are all successful, I mean look at us. We spend hours at our computers typing reviews, discussions and memes. We read over a 100 books (give or take) a year! If that isn't successful in the blogger world I don't know what is!
Though envy is perfectly normal just remember these things:
ALL of those books will be published
Not having ARCs does not make you less of a blogger
This post was short, my thoughts weren't all that clear on the subject. But I just wanted to put it out there that maybe you aren't the only one out there that feels envious. Envy is an emotion after all.
How do you feel about ARCs? Do You Get Envious? Or you just cool with what over comes your way?
I think everyone feels a slight bit of envy, even if your heart just tugs a bit because you REALLY wanted that one book and don't have it ... yet. But, as you said, all these books WILL be published. So if I don't get an ARC of a book I really want, I just countdown the days until my pre-order arrives! It is hard, and it is just another reason for us to bring ourselves down or to have negative thoughts, but sometimes you just have to remember that you are good enough and doing enough. It doesn't matter how many ARCs you get (or don't get), it's about producing content you are proud of!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Amber!
Jamie @ Books and Ladders
I get insanely jealous, it is honestly one of my worst qualities so ARCs are a touchy thing for me and I become so envious of some bloggers. But I'm getting better at it. I am getting better with it, I don't pre-order much because I never have any money (Still focusing on school) but I know it will be out in stores eventually.
DeleteI think that jealously is something that everyone wrestles. I try to remember that a certain book will be out in a few months, so I try to be happy for those who got the books, besides there is NG and Edelweiss. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGrace @ Books of Love
It is. It is human emotion. It fuels us. NG anf Edelweiss are my saviors sometimes to be honest, but ARCs aren't everything so I keep myself grounded and remember they will be in the stores soon!
DeleteActually, I don't like getting ARC's. It would be nice to be on the cool list for promos and stuff, but I find that ARCs often have typos and changes to be made. It bugs me. When I spend time reading a book, I want it to be all prettyful with no mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI never noticed the errors to be honest, I catch one occasionally but I never let it bother me. But I totally get what you mean!
DeleteI'm in complete agreement! I use to get more jealous of ARCs, but not as much any more at all. Mainly because I've come to terms with what my blog is and with the knowledge that with ARCs comes pressure to get them read and reviewed. Really the only time I feel a twinge of jealousy now is when they get the cool ARC packages like the ones for Lady Midnight and that's because they just look neat so it would be fun to have one!!!!! not because it made me feel my blog wasn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteAfter awhile you accept what it is. We put so much work into our blogs, we should be proud of it regardless on what was receive. I get insanely envious when HT send out packages and every one it talking about them. *Sigh* We get through it though.
DeleteI neeeeeever get book mail. Partly because I live outside the U.S. and partly because my stats aren't as high. Yeah, I see bloggers who receive maybe 10-15 books per week and it makes me feel like maybe I should step up my game, but at the same time I know that the book will come out eventually or I can try and get it from Edelweiss or something. Plus having a ton of arcs also would take away the pleasure of reading because you HAVE to read all the books and it's just not the kind of pressure I want for my blog.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it doesn't stop me from scouring the Books for Trade tag on Twitter if there's a book I reaaaaallly want hahaha.
Well said, Amber! And I agree with a lot of it. For me it tends to be the e-arcs vs the physical arcs. I get approved fairly regularly when I request a digital arc but have never received a physical. For a while I held that up as some sort of standard. And I finally decided, "why am I even worried about this?" I mean seriously, arcs isn't why I do this anyway. And I receive e-arcs all the time. So why have I decided arbitrarily that a physical arc somehow *means* something? I find myself concentrating more and more on backlist titles so arcs are even less of a concern for me now.
ReplyDeleteTanya @ Girl Plus Books
I'm so glad you touched on this subject! I think the envy is normal, for several reasons. I'm still a newbie blogger, I don't post that much, my stats aren't particularly incredible, so I don't necessarily feel like a failure, but I get envy because people are getting to read books that I want to read, before they're released, and without paying for them. My envy is more like, "Dude, you're lucky, I wish I was lucky enough to get that." And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. It makes me happy that you aren't sitting here criticizing ARC envy, because, like I said, I think it's normal, and, yeah, when it reaches a certain degree, it can be a horrible thing, but for the most part, it's not really that bad.
ReplyDelete~ Lefty @ The Left-Handed Book Lover
When people get really big arcs (like the people who just got Lady Midnight) I definitely feel some ARC envy! Which I think is totally normal! When I was a newbie blogger I think I was way more jealous of arcs but now that I am able to get some of my own I don't feel that jealous over arcs. Also, I have to budget my reading time very wisely since I'm super busy, so I don't mind having to wait until release dates to read. I also try not to request many ARCS for that reason since chances are if I would have gotten the book as an ARC I most likely wouldn't have had a chance to get to it until after the release date. (Which actually happened with me when I got an Illuminae arc..I didn't get to read it until 2016 and I felt soo bad).
ReplyDeleteI suppose I feel a little envy for the few I have a really hard time waiting for. However, I know that I am really new to the game and unlikely to get an ARC so I haven't requested any yet. Perhaps when I have been bloggin a year then I will try. I guess I fear rejection because then I would question my review quality like you mentioned.
ReplyDelete