Today I am thrilled to welcome Donna from Donna’s Book Blog. Donna joins nearly every Joffe Blog Tour and we feel honoured to have her as part of Team Joffe Books (and I also feel blessed to have her as a friend). You can visit Donna’s Blog via this link
BLOGGER INTERVIEW
Hello. Could you tell us a little about yourself and what made you start blogging?
Hi everyone, I’m Donna Maguire and I blog at Donna’s Book Blog and I’m @dmmaguire391 on Twitter. I am currently on maternity leave after the birth of my daughter, Ava in July last year. I am back at work in the middle of June so have been cramming in as much reading as I can before that! I started a blog as I was reviewing an awful lot of books and only sharing my reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. A few people had suggested I start a blog and it went from there!
How long have you been blogging (when you first set up your blog)
I started my blog on the 19th May 2015 so I have just had my three year blog anniversary and I have just published my 950th post! I didn’t do many posts when I first started the blog and I only really started doing them properly in May 2017 when I finished work before having Ava. I did around 10-15 posts a month before but it has really picked up over the last year!
When did you start joining Blog Tours and why?
I started joining blog tours as soon as I started my blog so I have been doing them for a while now! I wanted to share my reviews for the books I’d read and I found blog tours to be helpful to the authors too and to be honest if I am on a blog tour I am more likely to read the book before the publication date and not add it to my TBR pile to get to at a later date…
Do you join blog tours for a lot of publishers? About how many?
I join a lot of blog tours but I don’t just do reviews! I do author interviews, cover reveals, extracts, Q&A’s and giveaways as well as author features too! It is very rare to find a day when I am not on a blog tour at the moment but I have said when I go back to work on the 18th June I will reduce my posts down but we will see! I am doing 40-50 posts a month at the moment.
What do you think of the books Joffe publish are they usually good, average, bad?
I know this is an interview for the Joffe Books Rolling Blog but I honestly enjoy them a lot! And they publish books from Helen H. Durrant who is one of my favourite authors – I haven’t given her books anything other than a 5 star rating so that shows that they have quality books and quality authors!
How do Joffe Blog Tours compare to the ones run by other publishers?
I think all blog tours are generally the same, I like it when you have a publisher that thanks you for the post and shares it too (sadly they don’t always to this) – at the end of the day we aren’t being paid for reviews so a bit of recognition is nice! I love that Joffe has a summary of all the reviews from the tour which is shared at the end – this isn’t something done by the other blog tour organisers I work with. I also like that I have the promotional posters, cover, etc in advance so I can schedule my post as soon as it’s confirmed without having to rush around last minute. That is a massive help to me!
Joffe Books is run differently to other publishers is the short notice of book releases a problem given how much in demand bloggers are?
It can be a tad annoying at times but that’s the world of publishing and how they operate – they aren’t the only publishers who only send the books out to review late!
Some Bloggers leave room for Joffe Books are you one of those? If so why?
Yes this is me! I always leave a few spaces each month as I expect Jill to contact me with a book that is coming out in a couple of weeks (or less!!). A lot of the books they have are from authors I have read a few times already or are part of a series so I like to carry on with them where possible!
Joffe Books has a launch team that get together in a virtual party setting and many of the authors support each other and chat with the readers and bloggers. Do you think this is a good idea? If so why?
This is a great idea for the readers to be able to interact with the authors!
Have you ever gone to a Joffe Launch Party? What do you think of them?
Yes I have been to quite a few but at the moment they seem to coincide with Ava’s bedtime so I have missed a few of the most recent ones L I have won some lovely prizes in the past which I treasure and hope to be able to get involved again in them very soon! If you get a chance you should really consdier going to one, you can do it in the comfort of your own home via Facebook!
Do you think the Joffe Blog Tour experience could be improved? If so what would you recommend?
I don’t think it does need to be improved to be honest as the format seems to work! The tour organiser is very approachable, works with you to help you fit in the posts and if you need anything she sends it straight away. I love that she sends over the media packs as soon as she can too, I’m only human and I do get irritated when I am chasing people up for them and that is likely to put my off doing another with them! As I do have other commitments I schedule my posts so it makes it much easier for me!
Is there anything else you would like to say about Joffe Books, their authors or Social Media Promoter?
Only that I do really enjoy the books and hope that they continue to invite me and share my posts and to thank them for the invite to take part in this interview!
JOFFE BOOKS ROLLING BLOG
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 1 – T J Brearton
JOFFE BOOKS: What Their Authors Think. Day 2 – Ken Ogilvie
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 3: Helen Durrant
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 4 – Janice Frost
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 5 – Stewart Giles
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 6 – Derek Thompson
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 7 – Charlie Gallagher
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 8 – Joy Ellis
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 9 – Daisy White
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 10 – Faith Martin
JOFFE BOOKS – What their authors think. Day 11 – Anne Penketh
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 12: Gretta Mulrooney
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 13: Michael Hambling
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 15: Taylor Adams
JOFFE BOOKS: What their authors think. Day 16: Chris Collett
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 17: Black Books Blog.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 18: On The Shelf Reviews.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 19: Daisy White’s Wicked Words.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 20: Book Lovers Book Reviews.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 21: Sassy Redhead Book Reviews.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 22: Joanna Larum’s Reviews.
JOFFE BOOKS: What the Bloggers & Readers think. Day 23: Beverley Ann Hopper
Thanks for featuring me on your blog Jill x