Armchair BEA: Blog About Blogging--Pressure & Relaxing

There seems to be a lot of pressure in the book blogging world. A lot of people want to have a massive amount of traffic and followers to attract publishers, authors and online marketing firms. I am here to attest that you don't have to do that.

I have under 200 followers.

I have no clue how many visitors I have (I have tried to follow that but got confused about what each thing meant, so I stopped paying attention).

I still get ARCs, some as a surprise and some that I request. I have been asked to host giveaways and been offered books for giveaways. (And for the record, I will not require people to be a follower or to link things to enter my giveaways, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I also no longer enter giveaways where following is required, unless I already follow that blog).

The most important thing that I feel you can do as a blogger is to be comfortable with how you blog.

I write at least two reviews a week (normally on Mondays and I try and always go Tween Tuesdays), sometimes 3. My other posts are normally about something book related. Sometimes I do a Food For Fiction feature, or a quick poll on sometime related to reading and books. I only post during the weekdays and I always set my post to go around 7:30 am my time (mountain).

I finally found a format for my reviews that works for me and I always send links of my reviews to publishers. If I am requesting an ARC from a new publisher I always add a few links in from other books I have reviewed. And I never assume a publicist remembers me (I kind of always re-introduce myself unless we've been emailing a lot in a month).

I also have more books lined up than I could read in a year (ARCs, eGalleys, public library, my school library and personal library books) so I don't request many ARCs at all anymore.

I finally found my footing as a book blogger and I enjoy it immensely. I don't feel any pressure to be more than I am or to get more followers than I have.

And feeling this way is really freeing. It makes blogging fun and I can see myself doing it for a lot more years!

I hope you can find a way to feel this way someday too!

Armchair BEA: Nurturing Relationships

I am a loner by nature. When I tell people I am not social they laugh at me because I seem like a social person. I can pull it out when I need to it's just not my favorite. I am not actually sure I could attend BEA because of the crowds.

This is why I love the internet because I can participate but not be seen. (And I can do it from the comfort of my own home). But I will admit that commenting on blogs is not very easy for me. I read a lot of blogs, I just don't often add my thoughts.

So building relationships in the blogging community has been slow for me. But, I am okay with that. I started blogging in 2006, but not real actively.

In the fall of 2009 I discovered the book blogging community and started being a more active blogger. I was kind of obsessed with comments and followers. So I did a few linkys and memes and gained a few more followers and followed a few more blogs. But, it is not natural for me to put myself out there so I decided to stop caring about those things.

I still request ARCs and I still get some even though my follower number is low.

I have a few "friends" in the publishing world that I can beg from if I really want a certain book (I think being a librarian helps). One thing I make sure to do is that when I am working with a new publicist/contact I read that book and review it ASAP. I want to make sure they know that I will be a blogger they can count on. Likewise, if I request a book I make sure to get that one read likety-split! If I get sent a surprise book I am not as concerned with getting it reviewed right away (sometimes they don't even have a note so I am not sure who to send my reviews to!).

I think the hardest part for me is when an independent author contacts me. I just don't have time to read everything and I read so much for my library that I normally don't accept independent books. sometimes I will and have one of my students read and review it. However, I try and respond to those requests because today they might be an independent author and tomorrow they might publish the next big thing. You want to be in good standing with them!

These are just a few of my thoughts about nurturing relationships (or not I guess). Have a great Thursday with Armchair BEA!

Armchair BEA: Work the Network (or Blogs & Things Online I Love)

Today was Interview day on Armchair BE. I had serious doubts about getting any posting done for Armchair BEA and was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting an interview prepared so I opted out of that. However, I am going to spotlight some blogs and other fun things online that I love!

*I love this quote & post by Rick Riordan. Somethings never change!

*This is another great article on the appeal of YA literature (even for adults).

*And another written by an "old" reader who loves YA.

*I follow a lot of blogs, I don't comment on near enough of them, but there are a few that I find myself wanting to comment on the most. Here they are:

Small Review: I just love her posts. She has only been blogging since last October, but I always find something interesting on her blog!

The O.W.L: I love Jill's reviews and she normally has a few real students review things on her blog. A must for middle grade books!

Book Dreaming: If you want inspiration for writing check out Shannon's blog. She always posts food for thought and has a great dialogue in her comments section.

Adult 4 Teen: This is a blog on School Library Journal where the author spotlights adult books that appeal to teenagers. I love reading about these books so I can recommend them to more mature readers at my school.

Forever Young Adult: These ladies are hysterical. I love that their reviews are book reports and that they play MASH with the authors they interview (not to mention their drinking games and Vampire Diaries recaps).

Screwy Decimal: my very favorite NY city librarian. She is hysterical on her blog and her tweets.

There you have it, some of my favorites.
What are yours?

Armchair BEA: Best of 2011

I had two books that I was looking most forward to when 2011 started:



Due to an amazing person at Random House and another equally amazing person at Simon & Schuster I was lucky enough to ARCs of both of them. I read, finished and reviewed The Penderwicks (sigh), but have been holding off Dust & Decay till summer (because when it's over it's over and I want don't want it to be over).

However, this being the publishing world I must say that I have discovered a few other books I am super excited for...

*Bridge to Neverland by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson: I love these books and was thrilled to find the egalley available on NetGalley!

*Forever by Maggie Steifvater: can't wait to see how this series ends!

*Shelter by Harlan Coben: I love this kind of book and I read the first chapter on line. Looks pretty good!

*Everything on It by Shel Silverstein: I am counting the days for this one!

There are so many amazing books coming out this year that it is hard to narrow it down to just a few. These are the ones that stick most out in my mind and ones I will be buying for my personal and my school library!

I can't wait to see what your 2011 picks are as well!

Armchair BEA: Who Am I?

Welcome all to my blog this week. I am hoping that I get to get out and find some new blogs and that some new people find their way to me!

I am a MG/YA blogger, any genre (except animal stories, for some reason I can never get into those!). I do both MG and YA because I am a middle school librarian, pretty much the greatest job ever. I have sixth graders coming in still wanting young books and then I have eighth graders just about ready for high school who totally want older books. I get to buy lots of them and find the time to read most of them. Sometimes I even have a hard time letting kids check them out (I kid, I kid).

Someday, some year I will get to BEA (or ALA) but this year I saved all my personal days so I could go with my son on his Montana history trip. Should be lots of fun. I am not sure I need anymore Montana history (I was born and raised here). But for now I get to Armchair BEA, which is fine with me. I think my favorite part about Armchair BEA is the fact that each day I have a topic to blog about!

I that everyone has a great week, whether it is at the actual BEA or if you are Armchairing it! Meet you soon!