Treat the blogger like any other reviewer. You can pitch your book and offer them a review copy, but don’t nag, stalk, or harass them. Just because they request a review copy does not guarantee they will review the book. It’s perfectly acceptable to follow up to ensure the book arrived safely (and with the reliability of the postal service, I highly recommend that), but if they confirm receiving the book, leave it at that.
Don’t just pitch, read! In the months after you sell your book, I recommend becoming a regular reader and commenter at a variety of book blogs. This will give you a sense of what books the blogger enjoys and commenting with expand your name recognition.
Email, don’t comment, on your review. My thoughts on this have changed (as I mentioned in a previous post), but when the blogger reviews your book positively, resist the urge to comment with a thank you. They may feel like it’s stalking or that they’re audience won’t speak freely if they know they author is reading. I would, however, recommend emailing them a thank you note. Everyone likes a thank you note.
To share or not to share? Bloggers do love it when you tweet or post the review to Facebook. It helps increase traffic to their sites and expands their name recognition. But if the blog reviews are pouring in (and hopefully they will!), I would recommend being selective of which ones you post to your social media pages. If the blogger offers a long form review with a great pull quote, share it. If it’s just summary with 1 line of commentary, skip it.
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