Casey’s Literary Rants

In which I rant about the deadly cause of the librarians vs. bloggers smack down

First and foremost, I did the bare minimum of research for this rant. As in, I read two blog posts (one from Booksmugglers and the other Ilona Andrews) because somehow I totally missed the smack down on Twitter. (Hence the reason why I’m ranting about it now and not a month ago.) Secondly, I am BOTH a librarian and a blogger. Yep. If I had jumped into the brawl, half of me would have thrown the first punch then, just on principle, the other half of me would have to punch back and eventually I would have beaten myself up. That would not have been pleasant, I can assure you. Because I’m on both sides, this rant isn’t going to be about who is right and who is wrong. Nope, I’m going to talk about ARCs – the ultimate pleasure givers and the deadliest drug to all book lovers.

One of my librarian co-workers went to ALA and she brought back a butt load of ARCs. However the powers that be at our library REFUSED to have anything to do with the ARCs. They told her to get rid of them. So she left the giant pile in the break room with a sign saying anyone could take them. Now, my former supervisor probably would have kept them for herself, read them all and talked to patrons about what she liked about each book. Bonus for me, my former supervisor was not the co-worker who went to ALA, so I got a few ARCs, my other co-workers got some ARCs, and chances are highly likely that I’m going to be the only one who tells someone else to read/buy these books. That’s because I am a reviewer for Literary Escapism (if you haven’t heard of that site, you should check it out. It’s a great place to find out about new books, old books and every other type of book in-between.)

Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. Some of my co-workers DO talk about books with patrons. But we only get approximately 500 people in the library on an average day, and of that 500, maybe half the people stop to talk about books. Even then, they’re more likely to talk to me because I’m walking around the library, not stuck behind the desk.

I didn’t even know what an ARC was before I started working for Literary Escapism. Yeah, I had been at the library for awhile, but I was never in a position where I was offered ARCs. (Not to mention the fact that the powers that be REFUSE to deal with ARCs.) Though, I must admit, once I discovered ARCs, they became my heroin. Sometimes I crave ARCs more than oxygen. I’m deadly serious when I say I would give up breathing for the next five minutes if it meant I could get an ARC of The Essence by Kimberly Derting. It is SO worth the risk of brain damage!

Anyway, apparently the big smack down went down because some bloggers got a bunch of ARCs from ALA and a librarian did not get the one she wanted.  Um…really? I mean, I can kind of understand where they’re both coming from but WHAT IN HOLY HELL IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE?! As I keep saying, I’m both a librarian and a blogger. Technically, that means I should get every single ARC that I want. Right? If only librarians and bloggers have access to ARCs, doesn’t that mean I get double the amount of access?

N.O.

If anything, I get less than half of the ARCs that I ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY want. I beg Jackie for ARCs; I stalk NetGalley constantly; I watch the authors’ blogs for contests; but I never get all the ARCs I want.

What is comes down to is EVERYONE wants to read an ARC but there are a LIMITED SUPPLY. As in, NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO GET AN ARC. But guess what! THE BOOK COMES OUT JUST A FEW MONTHS LATER! That means, every time I don’t get an ARC I want, I wait until the release day, go BUY the book, devour it that night then write a very fangirly review before running through the library screaming about my love for that particular book. The best part of that plan is other people (people who have no way to gain access to an ARC) can go out and share in my love immediately! They don’t have to make a mental note about the book and hope to remember it four months later when the book finally comes out.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with my plan. I don’t even agree with my plan 100% of the time. (Willing to risking brain damage for The Essence proves that.) So what decides who will get an ARC? Fate. Luck. Knowing the right people. Being in the right place at the right time. If everyone got an ARC then there would be no point in authors having a Release Day because, hello, everyone has already read the book! Both librarians AND bloggers deserve to get ARCs. Librarians need the time before the release date to familiarize themselves with the book. Bloggers need ARCs so they can spread the word far and wide about the book before it even comes out. (And remind everyone about it on release day.) See? When we all deserve ARCs but not everyone will always get what they want. When you don’t get what you want, DO NOT complain online. You will just start a giant bloody online fight. (Plus, it makes you look like a whiny person and that will make other people want to punch you just on principle.) If you do get what you want, DO NOT make a very long video or vlog or rant or whatever about it. You will start a giant bloody online fight. (Plus, it makes you look like a self-absorbed person and that will make other people want to punch you just on principle.)