Pincus, who spoke at the lecture, “Avoiding the Echo,” encouraged bloggers to explore other passions outside of children’s and YA literature. He mentioned Susan Taylor Brown, who blogs about poetry, but who’s also attracted a larger following by sharing her love of photography on her Facebook page. He also suggested that bloggers visit seemingly unrelated sites, explaining that once he stumbled upon a crafting site that drove traffic to his blog by linking to one of his posts. Although Pincus’s own blog isn’t craft-related, he spent time posting on the site and recommends doing the same because new fans can turn up in unlikely places.

Pincus advised bloggers to turn into trustworthy experts in their fields by publishing high-quality content and establishing a reliable online presence. Pincus brought up Lee Wind, whose blog I’m Here, I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read, which examines books with LGBTQ themes geared toward young people. Wind often moderates comments for hateful speech and provides a safe space for teens. Since his site is often used as a resource for young adults questioning their sexuality, Pincus also cited him as a blogger who’s succeeded in reaching audiences far beyond fans of children’s literature.

Pincus also advocates blogging about niche topics, rather than just writing about children’s books in general. For example, the popular blog, The Children’s War, also explores historical fiction and nonfiction set during World War II.

Above all, Pincus urged bloggers to share their love of children’s literature with others.

“Bring your love of the world of children’s literature to the rest of the world because they do want to hear it. They just don’t know it yet.”

Moderator Jen Hubert-Swan, a blogger at ReadingRants and middle school librarian at New York’s Little Red School House, began the conversation by bringing up a recent Slate.com article, “Against Enthusiasm: The Epidemic of Niceness in Online Book Culture, ” which took aim at online book culture for creating an atmosphere in which “retweets, likes, favorites…make any critique stick out sorely” and which has resulted in bloggers who are reluctant to negatively review novels.

Although the panelists agreed that reviewers should honestly critique novels, Betsy Bird, a youth materials specialist at New York Public Library, pointed to a few who would rather limit themselves to writing about titles they enjoyed. Bird, who blogs for SLJ at Fuse #8, says she considers them cheerleaders rather than reviewers. However, Bird cautioned against writing nasty or mean-spirited reviews.

Similarly, Liz Burns, a librarian at New Jersey’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and who blogs for SLJ at A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy, advised that a critical review should be supported by quotes or references to the text. She also stated that a reviewer can apply critical analysis to books they appreciate as well as to those they dislike.

Monica Edinger, fourth grade teacher at the Dalton School, a private school in New York, and who blogs at Educating Alice, put the conversation into historical context. She brought up past authors and literary critics, such as E.B. White and Dorothy Parker, who regularly reviewed each other’s work—and often resulted in feuds and arguments. Edinger believes that the world of social media is simply making the relationships between authors and reviewers more public.

Hubert-Swan questioned whether a blogger can have a friendship with a writer and still review their work. Freelance writer Marjorie Ingall, who also writes at her self-titled blog, doesn’t “friend” or follow any authors because her journalism background makes her more sensitive to potential conflicts of interest.

On the other hand, Burns distinguished between knowing an author personally and following them on Twitter, stressing that a relationship based only on social media wouldn’t affect reviews. Above all, she emphasized the importance of transparency and stated that if she’s reviewing a book written by a friend, she always discloses their relationship in the blog-post.

Bird said she often receives responses from authors or editors who take issue with her negative reviews of their work. Similarly, Hubert-Swan talked about her experience writing critical commentary of books on Goodreads. She said she removes her negative comments if contacted by authors because she would rather not start a debate in a public forum.

The panelists concluded that many authors dealing with Internet commentary need more guidance from publishers. Sheila Barry, blogger at Making Books for Children and co-publisher of Groundwood, said that as an editor, she’s often had to reassure authors who were unhappy at receiving negative reviews. As both a blogger and a young adult author, Maureen Johnson finds herself in a unique position. She drew upon her personal experience, stating that confronting the world of online reviews is incredibly daunting for a first-time author. However, she emphasized that authors must refrain from replying to negative responses to their work to ensure that reviewers feel comfortable voicing their opinions.