Earlier this month when the FTC announced new guidelines that affected bloggers requiring them to disclose whether or not they have received payment to endorse a particular product, I didn’t think much about it or how it might affect my little book blog. I figured the FTC was just trying to crack down on the fake blogs created for no other reason than to advertise a product and not legit personal blogs.
But Susan’s BEAST clued me in that there might be a little more going on than I had thought.
Not long after that I found the Slate article via Arts & Letters Daily that outlines just how far-ranging the FTC guidelines are. The Slate article links to Edward Champion’s interview with the FTC Chairman himself on just how the guidelines will affect book blogging.
Basically what it comes down to for book bloggers is that if you receive a book for free from a publisher you have to disclose that fact because, even if you rip the book to shreds with a negative review, the FTC considers that free book as compensation and your blog post about it a paid endorsement. If you are expecting that these rules will also be covering the likes of the New York Times Review of Books or the Washington Post’s Book Pages, you are sadly mistaken. For some reason even though they get even more free books than bloggers do, they do not have to say the books they read were free because they are paid journalists and their free books somehow don’t count as compensation.
If that’s not bad enough, it also sounds like (according to Overlawyered) if you have ever received a book from a publisher and six months from now you write about an entirely different book you paid for, you are still obligated to disclose that you at one time received a free book from Random House, of Knopf or whoever. Ridiculous? Completely.
Of course, The New York Times is rather calm about the whole thing, and an editorial even has them saying it’s a good thing, completely missing the fact that the guidelines go far beyond advertising blogs. It doesn’t take much to understand why they aren’t very concerned. Newspapers like the NY Times are losing out on advertising dollars because companies are focusing their efforts on bloggers and other social media communications. Why would the NY Times complain about FTC guidelines that might force companies to return to traditional advertising venues? It’s all about money. But it has nothing to do with a blogger being “compensated” with an ARC that could be sold to a secondhand bookstore for a few dollars.
A CBS News blog has a good post rounding up different opinions and questions about the guidelines from around the web.
The guidelines are to go into effect December 1st. Hopefully by then there will be some revisions so they make more sense.
Boy, it’s almost enough to discourage book blogging, isn’t it? Which could almost make a conspiracy theorist wonder if the big journalists are behind all this. When are print journalism and print book publishing going to realize they are a. both in the same boat and should not be doing things to harm each other, and b. that they need to get more serious than ever about living in a digital world?
My guess is that most book bloggers don’t pay much attention to who is publishing the books they read (we publishing/library geeks do, but most don’t. I didn’t pay ANY attention to publishers until I joined the library world, and even then, I didn’t pay THAT much attention until I joined the publishing industry. I mean, we readers read authors, not publishers). I happen to know which publisher has been sending me free books, and I am extremely happy to promote that publisher. However, if I were someone who received ARCs on a regular basis from many different publishers, I would find it very, very hard to keep track of who sent me what (even who published what), and if I happened to review other books from that publisher I probably wouldn’t remember at all that they were from the same publisher — how unfair to put the onus on the blogger. Hmmm…all the more reason to read and blog about books published by dead publishers written pre-1950, huh? (Something the print media doesn’t do. Well, with a few very fine and rare exceptions like Slightly Foxed.)
However, here is another side of the coin: smart publishers would look at this, weigh how much it costs to advertise in The NY Times or The Washington Post or Time Magazine versus how much they could pay a well-known book blogger. My guess is that they might be able to get several popular book bloggers to post on any given book for what they might spend on advertising elsewhere. Maybe book bloggers will finally get their due for being viable (reliable) sources for readers.
Interesting. A book blogger that I follow had posted some sort of disclaimer on her site; I was wondering if I needed to do the same (although I never get free books — the one time someone asked me to review a book, they never sent the book!). I’ll be watching this with interest!
By that logic it would be OK for a member of Congress to receive “compensation” from the newspaper lobby for this bill because they are already being paid a salary by the government!
Glad I live outside the FTC’s jurisdiction. Go ahead, Oxford, send me your ARCs!
This strikes me as so very sad… I purposely read blogs which do not feel corporate, who do not have big advertising, written by people who have other lives than “the industry” (by which I mean publishing). How is the personal touch to survive if all these normative rules are applied indiscriminately to personal and professional sites?
The invasion of law and marketing in our lives is just terrifying, and I’m not even talking about this vague fear that you might do wrong at any point out of ignorance of some byzantine rule, or about how it has to affect unpaid bloggers’ motivations. Just as a reader of these blogs, I don’t want them to start feeling so clinical. Can I not decide for myself where to put my trust?
I’ve also heard there’s a move afoot at the FTC to attempt to “neutralize” the internet. I have no idea what that means, but there’s only one syllable between neuter and neutralize. Maybe the next move will be making bloggers claim the free books as income on their tax returns! I find book blogs a more reliable source for the quality of a book than I do my newspaper.
Stefanie,
When I first heard about this a week ago I figure that it would be something that the FCC wouldn’t really regulate (its hard to do for the small reviewers) but the big-time people who make a living doing this would have the methods in place to state what they’ve receive.
BUT – I stumbled upon the simplest of solutions to this problem. Have a simple blog page (like an about page) that just lists the books and publishers that you’ve received free books from. As you get one, just put it there. That way you’ve always disclosed what books you’ve received. Should you really make money off these reviews, come tax time, you have the list of books you’ve received all nice and neat.
Hope this helps all the book bloggers out there.
-Nick
If I blog about a book, does that make me a book blogger? Or is there some stricter standard? Am I under this umbrella as an American citizen? Or am I safe as a resident of Japan?
We are indeed living in a brave new world.
I’ll take this seriously when I hear about bloggers actually getting in trouble for not disclosing something. Well, okay, it is a serious issue, but I just can’t see the FTC trying to enforce this — can you imagine how much work that would be? I already say when I review a book that I got it from a publisher if I did, but I just don’t see myself disclosing that a publisher sent me something when I’m reviewing something I paid for. Take THAT, FTC!
You tell em Dorothy!
Reasonably, its a CYA law. Similar to that of J-Walking. Its illegal so that if you do it and get hit by a car, they can place some of the fault on you – or so that NYC can use it to fine window-cleaners.
Keep on reading and keep on reviewing!
-Nick
This is outrageous!!!!!!
Everyone seems to be very calm about this – am I the only one who is completely horrified? No one has yet suggested this happen in the UK, but I’d be building a few barricades and standing on them if it did. Well, no, I’d be encouraging mass subversion on the part of bloggers and suggesting no one break rank and declare books. The work the government body would have to do to discover who had what would be just too overwhelming.
Talk about a low trick to hobble individual enterprise and locate authority for reviewing in the mass media.
Thank you for summarizing this! I’ve been frightened away from actually reading the article since it looks all jargony, but now I am better informed.
And congrats on the grade you got on that paper!
Having a book blog is a Hobby for me. This isn’t my job, I don’t get paid for it, this is something I do in my spare time because I like reading and chatting about books with like minded people. I know these guidelines are ultimately meant to protect the consumer (the guidelines apparently aren’t just about books), but it seems readers who leave comments on my blog are savvy enough to decide for themselves whether they want to read a book I’ve written about (and liked or didn’t like) or not. I had no idea that they also count books purchased that happen to be from a publisher who also once sent a freebie had to be disclosed. That’s just insane. If they want me to declare the few AREs I get, fine, but I’ll be treating them the same otherwise as I always have.
…And (personally speaking anyway) I think most book bloggers do this simply because they love reading and want to talk about books–not because they want to sell books for publishers.
If you don’t want the book, don’t accept it. You can demand that they donate a library copy of the book to the library you use, and then check it out like anyone else in the general public.
Then your library benefits, the public benefits, they get their review when you have time, and you don’t have any tax liability.
“If that’s not bad enough, . . . “?
If you’re referring to the fact that professional writers need not comply with FTC disclosure guidelines, while nonprofessional bloggers must, I certainly agree.
But if you’re referring to the fact that you must disclose that you’re reviewing a publisher’s free-gift book, why would it be so bad to disclose that? In fact, I would think that FTC guidelines would require you to disclose that you are occasionally given free books from a publisher, even if you are reviewing one of that publisher’s books that you’d purchased yourself.
Again, it does seem to me that these guidelines should apply to professional writers also.
Emily, it does make one think about whether accepting ARCs at all is a good idea. But it would be a shame to not be able to sample the republication of classics in lovely editions like One World Classics is doing. As far as publishers actually paying book bloggers to write about their books, I wouldn’t do it but I wouldn’t have a problem if others did as long as they still had the freedom to say the book was crap.
Daphne, if you don’t get any free books you are golden but the day you accept one you are caught in the FTC web. Even though I don’t take very many ARCS in the grand scheme of things so I’m not sure what I will do.
Sylvia, you are marvelous! The logic of the FTC is quite skewed. I understand what they are trying to do but they have done it in such a blanket way that it makes no sense.
Charlotte, I think you said it well when you ask whether it isn’t up to you to decide who to trust. This is kind of like the warnings on fast food coffee cups that say “content is hot.” There are companies that set up blogs and pretend to be real people, but it seems to me if all the “person” writes about is a particular product people wouldn’t be fooled. But then people still fall for the Nigerian email spam.
Grad, well you know the internet is a dangerous place and our government has to watch out for us and keep us safe. Gak. I think there is a point where personal responsibility has to come into play.
Nick, thank you for your suggestions. Ed Champion, who interviewed the FTC Chairman already has a page on his blog with his FTC statement. I might do something like that just to be safe even thought the FTC says they aren’t going to go after blogs but the companies. I’m small fry and probably don’t have to worry. But then I might not do anything differently. I haven’t decided yet.
Bikkuri, I think you are safe in Japan. The ruling isn’t just about books, but about any product that a blogger might receive free from a company.
Dorothy, you are right about the FTC not being able to enforce the guidelines because there are too many blogs. And if they do go after any blogs it will be the ones that gets thousand/millions of hits a day. I’ll continue to say when I got a book for free but I’m with you, if I paid for the book I shouldn’t have to say anything.
Litlove, oh I think we are all horrified and angry but at the same time we are disbelieving. I think people are waiting to see what happens and what the FTC is actually going to do before they start to worry about it too much. I also think in book blog world we might all be inclined to a little civil disobedience. Thoreau would be proud
Alayne, I’m glad you found it helpful and thanks!
Danielle, I think you are right, book blog readers are pretty savvy people so it seems silly that books are included too. I imagine there won’t be many book bloggers that do anything differently. We recognize the absurd when we see it!
Em, I think most book bloggers don’t accept books they don’t want, but sometimes you end up on lists then and books just show up. Most of the time those books are ones I have no interest in and I give them to friends and family.
Jack, I have no problems with saying I got a book for free, I always do anyway. What I have a problem with is that the rules are not applied fairly and that an ARC that is pretty much worthless is considered compensation. I also disagree that if purchase a book or borrow one from the library that I should have to say that the publisher sent me a free book once. If I received an ARC from say Random House five years ago and never another since, how much time would have to pass before I don’t have to say, oh yeah, I got a free book from them once?