Belinda's Baubles's Blog

Time Magazine’s sucky cover.

15 May 2012 Leave a Comment

by Belinda's Baubles in Totally Random Thoughts

Time magazine has caused a tsunami on the parental values debate. Mum’s are picking sides and passing judgement on their sisters. Do we really need fuel for the fire?

AND NOW for my 2 cents worth.

I think there are 2 major things wrong with this cover and both elements rub me the wrong way.

#1 The layout of the photo.

If Jamie Lynne were sitting on a lounge chair in her own home holding her 3 year old son in both arms and looking lovingly down at him, people would see the ‘attachment’ part of attachment parenting. The love and the beauty that is apparent in this parenting method.

There are a good portion of Mothers who find breast feeding difficult, if not totally impossible. The fact this woman has managed to be able to nurse her son for this long should be applauded.

On the other hand we shouldn’t be guilt tripping women for whom this is not even close to their reality. Which brings us to the second thing I find wrong with this cover.

#2 The headline.

Mothers are finding it hard enough to make their children’s lives as rich as they can without having a world renown magazine telling them they don’t measure up.

“Are you Mum enough.” HOW DARE THEY!

Drawing a line in the sand not only divides the masses, but triggers remorse and regret for women who may feel like they really don’t measure up. This is stupid and takes us backwards not forwards in the struggle for parental support from the community.

For all our bitching and carrying on, there is one positive thing to come from this awful cover…

We’re ALL talking about it.

To review or not to review.

18 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by Belinda's Baubles in Totally Random Thoughts

I read an interesting article by The Guardian this morning and I guess to begin with I had better link to it so you can hop over and give it a browse before I add my two cents.
YA novel readers with publishing establishment

I agree with the closing thoughts

“Whose book is it anyway? The hardest thing a writer has to learn is that once you publish a book, it’s no longer truly yours – even though it’s got your name on the front and it lives inside you. It belongs to the readers now. All you can do is steel yourself as you push it out into the world, stay gracious, and get busy with the next one.

And if you can’t stand the heat of the blogosphere – don’t Google yourself.”

Now onto my view of this as a reviewer…

I am lucky enough to be one of several consistent reviewers for www.burnbright.com.au . We also do a monthly book club which gives our readers multiple points of view on the one book. I guess Bloggers and reviewers who aren’t lucky enough to have a team helping with the content either end up having to put lousy reviews on their sites, or risk having no content.

Marianne has a no bad review policy, which we all follow. Basically, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Since getting to know Marianne a little over the years; I have learned how difficult it can be to get a book noticed. There are, after all, thousands published in Australia alone, so how are you going to get people to pick up yours, when the shelves are packed?

There is the argument of publishers being so stretched they can’t create the massive hype for every book they will put on the shelves, hence the need for review copies. Your friends, family, and the publicity team do their damnedest to get your book noticed, but having people read your books and using word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools you will have at your disposal.

 How people react to the review copies is entirely up to the individual reviewer. Followers of reviewers are generally following them because they have found similarities between the reviewer’s point of view and their own experiences.

Now with all that in the back of your mind, have you ever seen a book that EVERYONE loved? No. The old adage ‘you can’t please everyone’ is true. Bad reviews are a fact of life for anyone putting a product out there. Whether it is a book or a brand of perfume, there will always be people who oppose what you believe to be brilliant.

The only thing you can control is how YOU react to their opinion. Starting a public stand off resulting in pissing off reviewers is not helping anyone.

I’ll leave you with my uncle’s quote, which I agree with and it applies here.

“Opinions are like assholes; everyone’s got one.”