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Nightlight
The Harvard Lampoon
Vintage Books
$13.95, trade paperback, 154 pages
Release date: Nov. 3, 2009
It seems everyone on the planet has some level of familiarity with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. Devoted fans eagerly awaited the next installment of the lengthy books. When the last book in Meyer’s series appeared in August 2008, the books’ fans switched their anticipation to movies based on the books.
Thanks to a parody from The Harvard Lampoon, Twilight devotees now have something new to read, although Nightlight’s humor may be better appreciated by Twilight’s detractors.
You may have heard the FTC issued guidelines for bloggers to disclose when they receive payments or free products to prevent unfair and/or deceptive practices. The guidelines take effect Dec. 1. Both the blogger and the company who sends him a free product could be subject to fines if the FTC decides the transaction leads to unfairness or deception.
While the likelihood of small blogs like Small Pond being noticed by the FTC are, um, small, I’m adding a statement to my “about me” page stating that all book reviews headlined “Review: [book title]” are a result of receiving a complimentary advance review copy (ARC) from the publisher.
Some bloggers I know are refusing all free stuff. That’s very noble. And i agree with the FTC’s guidelines in principle. Unfortunately, to post reviews before or on book release dates, I need to read the books before I can buy them. ARCs are necessary.
I don’t believe the content of my reviews have been affected by not having to pay for the book. Or by receiving vampire teeth or other PR goodies with the book. So I’m going to continue requesting ARCs.
Just wanted to put that out there.
