October 20, 2009
Tyndale's Take on the FTC Blogger Guidelines
Some of you have been wondering what our PR team decided last week about the new FTC Blogger Guidelines. We saw an article today from Publishers Weekly which actually clarifies the guidelines quite a bit. The guidelines are just that--guidelines. They're not laws or regulations that can lead to civil penalties if violated.
So fear not, dear bloggers! The FTC is not going to come after you for not disclosing that you received a free product in exchange for a review. However, at the end of the PW article, Pam Coughlan, a blogger, says the blogging community wants "to know how to do things correctly and with transparency."
Here at Tyndale, we agree that transparency is important. That is why we are including the following statement on all ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) and with all review copies of books we send out:
To comply with new guidelines introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, please mention as part of every Web or Amazon review that Tyndale House Publishers has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book or ARC.
Many of you already thank Tyndale for sending you a complimentary copy of a book for review in your blog postings, so thank you for doing that! For those of you who don't already mention that you received a review copy of the book from Tyndale for review purposes, we simply ask that you please do mention that in your blog reviews from now on. It only seems right to be transparent in disclosing that information, and it shouldn't take up too much of your time to add a simple statement to your blog entry. If you want to see examples of how others have done this, visit some of the blogs listed below:
So fear not, dear bloggers! The FTC is not going to come after you for not disclosing that you received a free product in exchange for a review. However, at the end of the PW article, Pam Coughlan, a blogger, says the blogging community wants "to know how to do things correctly and with transparency."
Here at Tyndale, we agree that transparency is important. That is why we are including the following statement on all ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) and with all review copies of books we send out:
To comply with new guidelines introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, please mention as part of every Web or Amazon review that Tyndale House Publishers has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book or ARC.
Many of you already thank Tyndale for sending you a complimentary copy of a book for review in your blog postings, so thank you for doing that! For those of you who don't already mention that you received a review copy of the book from Tyndale for review purposes, we simply ask that you please do mention that in your blog reviews from now on. It only seems right to be transparent in disclosing that information, and it shouldn't take up too much of your time to add a simple statement to your blog entry. If you want to see examples of how others have done this, visit some of the blogs listed below:
Please read the Publishers Weekly article if you haven't already and let us know how you feel about our take on this issue or any other thoughts.
Labels: bloggers, free product, FTC, Tyndale Blog Network
