Armchair BEA: Wrap Up!

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting this week on Armchair BEA! It was great to visit new blogs and make connections with other bloggers who are passionate about books! I have to say, this is one of the best blog hops I've been a part of. The quality of blogs included were impressive. A lot of you have great sites. I'm looking forward to reading book reviews on all the upcoming releases showcased at the Book Expo in NYC.

Check out the final post on the host blog including an event survey.

As for me, I'm taking advantage of networking with real live book enthusiasts in downtown Chicago at Printer's Row Lit Fest. It's a free event featuring author talks and I'm sure tons of opportunity to buy stuff. This is my first time attending, so stay tuned for a follow up post next week.

I have my free ticket to see John Green, and planning to get there early to make sure I get in. He will receive an award from the Chicago Tribune for his work in Young Adult fiction.

Armchair BEA: The Future of Book Blogging

Day Five of Armchair BEA. The couch dweller's answer to participating in world domination.

The host blog features a post on the future of blogging (it's like blogging now, but in the future! And in space!)

Book Blogging: 101

I am certainly no expert on book blogging; so I'll turn this over to my readers and any bloggers stopping by for Armchair BEA. I started posting reviews of books I read as a way to keep consistency in my blog. All books are those I've paid for or checked out from the library. I've received a few promo copies of books from different events I've attended. I post reviews for almost everything I read on Goodreads and sometimes cross post to B&N.com and Amazon.com.

I'd love to hear from those of you who receive ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) or who work with NetGalley to review books that aren't out in the market yet.

1. How did you get involved in book blogging?
2. How do you handle a book that you don't care for -- do you post a negative review, or do you stick with only featuring books you've enjoyed?
3. Any advice for those who wish to become a book blogger?

Armchair BEA: Beyond the Blog

Day Four of Armchair BEA: When you wish you had access to a private jet and unlimited cash ... so you could attend a Book Expo America! Then you could quit your job and read books all day. Ahhh, the life.

Make sure to check out the twitter hashtag #ArmchairBEA today. They will help you sort through the massive amounts of promo info being dumped into the twitter-verse from the biggest publishing expo around. It's almost better than waiting in line for three hours to see Stephen Colbert talk about his not-quite-for-children kids book I Am a Pole. Ok, maybe not. It would be awesome to see him.

Reaching Beyond the Blog

Have you ever wanted to reach beyond your little Blogger or Wordpress world with your writing? The host blog has some great tips today. Also, check out the other participating blogs.

As for me, I have a few stories to share as well:

Use Twitter To Your Advantage:
As wannabe published writers, we're frequently told to use twitter for networking. Following great advice from the prolific Kristen Lamb (check out her very active blog and the #MyWANA hashtag on twitter, which stands for: My We-Are-Not-Alone (as writers)) she suggests -- can you believe this  -- to have fun with twitter by following interests outside of publishing. It's smart because the more you use twitter, the more fun and worthwhile it is, and when it comes to promoting your own work, you'll have a wider audience to promote to (as long as you keep it genuine and don't spam everyone).

One day saw a tweet about a blogger looking for writers for her pop culture website. This led to a 9 month gig writing TV feature articles. I connected with other writers and loads of people read my posts, commented, and followed me back. Writing for deadlines strengthened me as a writer, and I pushed myself to create opinionated articles.

Use Those Outside Interests In Your Blog:
I delved deeper by following TV blogs and review sites on twitter, just having fun with it. I did a TV theme on my blog for the A to Z Blogging Challenge in April and connected with a wider audience of bloggers that way. Watching TV is often an escape for people, and it's easy to talk about. The A to Z hosts asked for contributors to their blog for the remainder of the year. Another great opportunity!

Network With People Already In Your Life:
I have an acquaintance from another corner of life who I met online 12 years ago (back when people thought you were weird for chatting online with strangers). I wrote one little article for his site, and it turns out, he sold his site to a company with significant resources. I have that foot in the door, which may lead to more writing opportunities, given they want me and it works out with my schedule. Who knew?! Sometimes the people in your life already have opportunities. Ask if you can write a blog post for another blogger and start there. Find something that has nothing to do with books and offer to write a blog post or an article for a site devoted to what you already like.

Professional Groups Can Connect You Further:
From local writing groups to SCBWI and RWA chapters, finding people already devoted to writing can connect you to larger resources. Some SCBWI folk I know also publish articles in children's magazines or freelance for newspapers. You can actually get paid for these!

Have you written for sources other than your blog? How did you find them?

Armchair BEA: Networking in Real Life

In the spirit of SNL's Stefon*:

Day Three of Armchair BEA: you know, it's that thing, where a giant glob of people all flock to New York, but you can't go. It has everything: cratefulls of bookmarks, hosted giveaways, bloggers connecting with other bloggers...

So, blogs are cool and everything, but have you taken the social networking experience to the next level?

Let me tell you how easy it is!

I started going to book signings at the incredibly amazing local bookstore Anderson's Bookshop about five or six years ago (check out their events page). I've seen Jodi Picoult, Stephenie Meyer (pre-movie franchise - it was still nuts), Libba Bray and Meg Cabot. Oh yeah, they bring in the big names. When I started fanatically reading every YA I could manage giving I still worked a day job, I realized that Anderson's brought in all the top children's and YA authors early on, meaning I could see them before they sold out events. I've seen tons of other great authors that are buzzed about, almost all are willing to chat with fans during the signing. I've gotten writing advice from Simone Elkeles and Carrie Ryan just for showing up to free events like these. (Free, but buy the book and support the store and author!)

I noticed the same folks showed up to many of these events. Going solo, I would have loved if someone said hi and introduced themselves. Why not be that person? Exert all your extrovert abilities, and say hi to someone next to you. I've done it. I met a well known book blogger who happened to drive in from another state. Who knew? I already followed her blog!

A twitter buddy posted about going to see Beth Revis (Across the Universe) and I thought hey, if I go, we can meet! When we met up, I told her I was looking for a local writing group. She invited me to hers, which was part of the national organization SCBWI. I ended up joining which connected me with even more resources and local chapters - there are lots in the Chicago area. Sometimes one contact can open up even more connections.

The more active you are on blogs and on twitter, the more connections you make. Registering for a conference is a great way to meet fellow bloggers and writers. On some of my followed blogs, people were making plans to meet up at BEA. How cool is that! If you go solo, you can still meet up with a friend. All it takes is a little courage to reach out and make the connection. Sometimes it's scary if you're shy, but in my experience, most book bloggers and writers have been very friendly.

Check out the #ArmchairBEA hashtag on twitter for more giveaway opportunities. Here again is a link to participating blogs.

And because he's the best, here's Stefon:

 

Armchair BEA: Best of 2012 and Giveaways!

Day two of Armchair BEA: an event for those of us sitting at home/work/beach (ah, beach!) rather than making our way through the bustling crowds at NYC's Book Expo America. Starting today, BEA is Live Streamed on the host blog.

GIVEAWAY!

I'll choose one random commenter (U.S. only this time) with your choice of these 2 books:

YA: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert

Urban Fantasy: The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Just let me know which book is your preference along with a way to contact you. Don't forget to stop by the participating blogs for more giveaways!

My Favorite Books Read in 2012:

1. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green. Published in early 2012, this one is worth reading even if you've never touched a Young Adult book in your life (or if you're new to the genre and riding the Hunger Games wave). It's a story about real teens, no magic here, dealing with cancer. And it's funny. It's also heartbreaking, but I promise you'll laugh.
2. Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys. This actually came out last year but it's the paperback edition came out recently. With the buzz surrounding that other "grey" book, sales of Between Shades of Gray have picked up. Some clueless folks, or possibly dyslexic who knows, actually showed up to Ruta Sepetys' blog tour, surprised to hear about the surviving refugees of World War II occupation of the Baltic nations rather than a personality-free girl wanting naughty sex. Let's just hope they bought the book and learned a bit of history in the process.  
3. Black Heart - Curseworkers #3 - Holly Black. The author creates a truly original YA series about a contemporary world with a twist; people's unique magic-like abilities are exploited by the mob. Cassel is character who is tough and an underdog to root for. Listen to audiobook to hear Academy Award nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg narrate. 
4. Catching Jordan - Miranda Kenneally. How YA contemporary fiction should be done. This is a story about a female quarterback on the high school football team; they totally accept her, which is part of the issue. Is she just one of the guys, or can she manage a romantic relationship? What happens when she's recruited by her top college, will they take her seriously, or think she just wants to play cute girl and not play ball? This book is not cliche, and it's a fun journey.

What are your favorite reads from 2012? Are there books you're excited to see debut this year? Please share! Don't forget to check out the giveaway link, you might find some books from your wish list there!

Armchair BEA Week!

Do you wish you were in NYC this week for the book industry's biggest trade show? Did you even know there was a ComicCon-like event for books? It's called Book Expo America, and chances are if you're reading this, you're not actually at the Expo.

Sad. Neither am I.

But!

You can vicariously live through the attenders with Armchair BEA, which connects book bloggers all week with interviews, giveaways and info from the expo.

Keep an eye on the #ArmchairBEA hashtag on twitter for discussions where you can connect with other bloggers:

Tuesday, June 5, 2012:  11:00 pm-1:00 am EST (8:00-10:00 pm PST)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012:  12:00 Noon-2:00 pm EST (9:00-11:00 am PST)

Thursday, June 7, 2012:  8:00 - 10:00 pm EST (5:00-7:00 pm PST)

To kick-off, each participating blog answers a few questions about their own blog, then it's time to network.  Please check out the other participating blogs here! And stop by the host blog linked above for more information including upcoming giveaways.

Q: How did you get into blogging?

A: I've technically blogged for 10 years, going back to LiveJournal.com. But I've been networking with book bloggers and writers since early 2011. The network of writers, authors and fans of books is so welcoming and encouraging. I've learned a ton about publishing and have a To Read list a mile long. I love it!

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: I usually have a print book or ebook going along with an audio book in the car. I mostly read Young Adult since that's what I write, but I just finished Elmore Leonards' Raylan, which the FX cable show Justified is tied to (it began based on one of Leonard's stories featuring the same character). He is brilliant in his use of dialogue, which is what makes the TV show so worthwhile. He writes dialogue like it's spoken, with so much flavor. You feel like you know the characters, who by the way, are mostly criminals. In the car I've got Maggie Stiefvaters's The Scorpio Races. I've heard such great things, I'm looking forward to getting into it.

Q: What's one non-book related thing about you?

A: I love playing video games.

Q: What is your favorite part of the book blogging community?

A: I like the diversity. Some sites are straight book reviews, others do author and blogger interviews, while some feature tons of giveaways and host blog tours. Some blogs by librarians are the best I've found since they work directly with readers every day. I also follow blogs that discuss issues within the publishing industry, like examining why the YA market features so few characters of color, and why those characters frequently don't make it on the cover.

Q: Have your reading tastes changed since starting the blog?

A: I started a story I thought might be a Young Adult title, but I needed to do research on the genre. I'd read a handful over the years, but to write for that audience you have to know what's out there. I've become a bit obsessed! I've always had eclectic reading tastes, I'm willing to try out all sorts of books. My focus has actually narrowed, so it's more of an effort to read something outside of YA.

Tomorrow: I'll link to hosted giveaways you won't want to miss, and will blog about the best books I've read so far in 2012.