At the Guardian book blog, Ed Champion bashed Thomas Nelson Books’ new policy of sharing free review copies with bloggers in exchange for reviews. The post criticizes the newly minted Book Review Blogger reviewers: “None of these bloggers stopped to consider that by giving into Thomas Nelson Books’s intrusive demands, they were compromising their work.”
As GalleyCat reported last week, the company drew hundreds of eager readers when it instituted this innovative policy. According to CEO Michael Hyatt, the company generated around 140 book reviews of 200 words or more when it first tried the exchange with The Faith of Barack Obama. Hyatt hoped to sign up 10,000 reviewers in for the campaign, and reportedly recruited more than 600 reviewers on the first day of the official program.
The Guardian post also cited criticism from J. Steve Miller and Chad Post, stoking a book review debate that will certainly rage for years to come. Add your thoughts in the comments for a future post…