Armchair BEA: Day 5 - Ask the Experts.

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

It's the last day of Armchair BEA, and today the suggested topic is "Ask the Expert" (click the link to go to aBEA's linky post).

Here's what aBEA had to say for today's prompt:

It's the final day of Armchair BEA and we want you to keep your passion for books and blogging about them going long after we've closed the event. Today we'll be sharing tips on keeping book blogging exciting and unique to your vision for your blog. Our suggested post for today is "Ask the Experts". If you have any burning questions for your fellow participants about book blogging now is the time to ask and if you don't we'd love for you to share your own personal tips about book blogging! Again, we'll have a link-up post for you on the day of the event. What else do we have in store for you, take a look:

• A guest post from Pam at Bookalicious about the future of blogging.
• Some interesting statistics you'll love!

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 Well, I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I'm sure I can think of a few tips at least. :)

1. Don't be afraid to break from a schedule or to miss a day or two during the week. I think one of the biggest problems I've had with blogging is feeling like I need to post every single day, and you really don't. It's okay to have a week where you don't post daily. Posting once a week might be too infrequent, but definitely don't feel obliged to post daily, and you don't have to have a schedule. It's okay to post whatever you want on whatever day you want. The only posts I generally keep on the same day are memes, and that's usually because it helps me keep track of them or because the day of the week is in the name...having my "It's Monday, What Are You Reading?" posts on a different day would be kind of silly, don't you think? :-P

2. Drafting and scheduling things within blogger is always a good thing! I don't know about you guys, but I can be forgetful, so scheduling or even making a draft of the posts that I need to post for blog tours, or even for memes help me remember that I need to get something finished. They also help me keep track of what I'm posting and when so I don't end up scheduling multiple posts on one day.

3. Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you're unsure of something when you're starting out, don't be afraid to ask other blogger's for help. If you know a blogger who uses Netgalley a lot and you want to know more, ask them? If you're writing your review policy and want some advice, ask other bloggers? -- I asked someone about their review policy when I was starting out and they were incredibly helpful, so don't be intimidated by a high follower count or by a blogger who's been blogging for a long time. Most bloggers would love to help you, don't be afraid to ask. Also, the same goes for making friends. If you follow a blogger and think they seem like an awesome person, get in touch. I'm sure you'd make their day by telling them you think they're awesome. :)


And I also have a few questions/things I'd like to discuss. :)

1. Features. I've been toying around with ideas for features, but can't think of any that I want to actually do. How did you come up with features for your blog? And what kind of research did you do before you started doing it? Did you scour the web to see if it'd been done? Anything else?

2. Original Content. I never know what to post about when I'm not already posting reviews. How do you come up with topics for posts like discussions and such? And do you think it would be a good idea to try and see what kind of posts your followers would be interested in first?

3. Review Requests. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I get quite a few review requests, and since my review queue is already pretty full, I don't accept many. So, what's your advice on replying to review requests that you don't want to accept? Do you just ignore? Do you reply and say you're not interested? And if you do the latter and the requester keeps emailing about additional things like guest posts, interviews, or giveaways, what do you do? I usually just ignore them because I have replied and then received additional requests, but when you ignore them sometimes people continue to email thinking it wasn't received, so I'm just curious about what other people do.

 Okay, so those are some tips and some questions that I have. 

Feel free to leave your own questions in the comments, or the links for your own aBEA posts.

I'd also love some answers or comments to my own questions if you have them. :)

Thanks for stopping by! I've really enjoyed spending this week with your all through aBEA! I'll definitely be attending next year (if I can't make it to BEA---which may or may not happen :P). 

Armchair BEA: Day 4 - Beyond the Blog

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

Today on Armchair BEA it's time to talk about "Beyond the Blog". 

You can find the Linky list to everybody's posts here at Armchair BEA's Beyond Your Blog.

Here's the prompt that the lovely folks at aBEA gave us and some additional info on what's going on today:

So, you enjoy writing do you? Would you like to be involved elsewhere on the interwebs or possibly start writing for your local paper? Perhaps you'd simply like to start drawing an income from your blog? Today we will be sharing tips that will help you move your blog forward or perhaps your own personal goals of writing and making an income from what you love to do. Today we'd love you to share your top tips for getting beyond your blog! Have you done any freelance writing? Are you monetizing your blog and how so? How do you make connections outside the book blog community on the internet? If none of these apply we'd love for you to share a fun aspect about your blog or life that may be completely separate from books! We'll have another link-up this day as well. You can also look forward to this as well:

• Twitter Party number three!
• Guest post on freelance writing and how to find it from Florinda at The 3 R's Blog.

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 I don't really have any advice for monetizing your blog. I tried the one that Google has right in blogger, and it just wasn't for me. The ads were so random and so it just wasn't really worth it. Mostly because I wasn't a big fan of what was being advertized and neither were my readers. I've been emailed about advertizing on my blog, but I'm not sure I really want to do it. I already feel like my sidebar can get cluttered, and that's with things I actually want to have on there. Although I'm sure someone could probably convince me to advertize...who knows maybe after reading some people's posts today I'll change my mind. :P

The only other real connections I make outside of the book blog community pertain to fanfiction (edit: in case you're curious here's my profile on Fanfiction.net). I've been into fanfiction since before I started blogging, and I've made a few really good friends on there, so I definitely connect with that. I'm not much of a writer. Mostly because I just never really sit down and write, but I have written a few fanfics, and I like to think they're not totally terrible. :P lol

I've never really tried to make goals for my blog beyond the whole catch up on reviews that are saved as drafts. :P lol But, I would love to use my blog to connect in even more ways. I have considered doing stuff for my University newspaper, so perhaps I should actually try it one day. :) Today for me is about learning. I don't really have any tips of my own to share, but I would love to learn some, and hopefully I'll have some tips for you all once I try some stuff out on my own. :)

What about you? 

Do you do anything beyond your blog, like writing or even in relation to your blog with monetizing? 

Have any tips that you'd like to share?

Armchair BEA: Day 3 - Networking...In Real Life?

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

Armchair BEA is all about Networking today!

You can get to Armchair BEA's post with the links for Networking: here.

Here's the prompt that aBEA had on their agenda for today:

Have you ever wondered how bloggers get so involved outside the nuts and bolts community of book blogging? Well, now's your chance to learn from the experts! From partnering with their local indie bookstores to coordinating events at their local libraries, we've got tips to share with you to help you become more involved with your local bookish community. Today's suggested writing topic...we'd love for you to share a positive "real life" experience with books! Either by way of your own partnerships in your community, a book signing you went to or possibly even a get together with fellow book bloggers. Tell us all about it! Also today we'll have the following:

• Twitter Party number two!

• Guest post from top bloggers (Emily from Emily's Reading Room, Tif from Tif Talks Books and Pam from Bookalicious) about how they were able to work together with their local bookish community to benefit everyone involved.

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I've never really done any real life Networking, but I'm starting to think that I should try to. It would be so fun to get involved with local bookstores and libraries. :D I've thought about trying to do something with the elementary school I went to, but I'm not in my hometown as often as I used to be so that one would be tougher. I think I'm going to try and figure something out with them one of these days though because I'd love to share a love of reading with kids in my community...especially since I have young cousins still at that school. :)

I'm definitely going to have to check out these tips because real life networking sounds intimidating...but so fun! :D 

I do always have fun talking about books when I go to Chapters though! :D I love meeting people who love books too, and talking about them! I've also met people through my classes that love books, too, which is always fun! It's definitely one of the perks of being an English major...generally everyone loves to read! ;D haha 

What about you? 

Have you done any real life networking? 

Any tips you'd like to share? :)

And if you're like me and you haven't done any, what's holding you back?

Personally, I'm kind of intimidated by real life networking. I'm also not sure where to begin and how to start up a new real life connection. So, I can't wait to check out everyone's real life tips. I'm sure they'll be really helpful. :)

Armchair BEA: Day 2 - Giveaway!

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

Well, I'm not in New York right now for BEA, but I can still get excited about all the amazing titles that are going to be available there right now! :D

Since I'm participating in Armchair BEA, I've decided to host a giveaway of my own and I'm going to be giving away a pre-order from the Book Depository of one of the books at BEA that I'm most anticipating. I picked these four books from the list of Children's Galleys to Grab: BEA 2012 on Publisher Weekly's website.You'll have the choice between one of four titles, and I'm going to pick two winners! It's International and will end on June 15th at 11:59 pm. That way you'll have a little over a week to enter. :)

Okay, and here are the titles I've picked:

Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Giveaway Details: 

- International 

- 2 Winners

- Each winner will pick 1 out of the 4 books and will receive a pre-order of it

- Ends June 15th at 11:59 pm

- Winner will be chosen using Rafflecopter and will have 48 hours to claim their prize

To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter widget: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone who enters and thanks for entering! :D

Armchair BEA: Day 1 - Introductions!

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

INTERVIEW DAY! :D

Hey everybody! :D 

Today's the first day of Armchair BEA. 

I'd love to be going to the actual BEA, but I'm not there, so instead I'm going to be doing this one from the comfort of my couch. :P haha So, as the first day of Armchair BEA, it's the day of the interview, too. We're each supposed to pick 5 out of the 10 questions provided and answer them. :) Then we can all comment on each others and get to know more about other Armchair BEA participants. :)

Without further ado, here are the five questions I've chosen to answer:

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
   
   Well, I'm sure you all know my name at least, but I'm still going to say it: I'm Ambur. :) I'm a 21-year-old University student. I'm an English major with a Linguistics minor. I have about a year and a half left on my  and I'm hoping to get into publishing one day. I love books, so I'd love to be able to spend my life having a career where I get to share my love of books with others. Sharing my love for books is the main reason I blog, so I'd love to be able to help others find passion in books for a living someday. :)


2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?
   
   Right now, I'm reading a bunch of books. I was in a bit of a slump for a while, so I've got a few books I've started and paused at for a while. So, I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (Almost done this one! :D), Glitch by Heather Anastasiu, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. And my favourite book for 2012 so far has been Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Loved it so much! :D I also really enjoyed City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, Black Heart by Holly Black, and The Calling by Kelley Armstrong! :D


3. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.
   
   Hmmm. Just one thing? :P Well you already know I like fanfiction, music, that I love dogs, and the colour orange, so I'm gonna have to tell you something really random. I love Sour Cherry Blasters. They are my absolute favourite candy, and if my tongue didn't get super raw I could just keep eating and eating them forever! haha I also love pickles. :)


4. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?
   
   Literary location?? Well if that means a location that's literary, like a library or book-related place, then I'd say BEA itself. I really hope to get the opportunity to go one year. It would be so amazing to get to meet so many other bloggers, and then of course there are all the amazing publishers, authors, and other people from the book industry that I'd love to meet. However, if this means like a location in a book, I'd have to say Hogwarts because well...come on, who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts?! haha :D But if the Hogwarts train were full I'd want to go to Idris from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. It sounds like such an amazing and beautiful place...plus I know Jace is taken, but maybe there would be a hot Shadowhunter guy for me there. ;)


5. Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
   
   I don't know. I don't think it really has. I still love YA, but I am more willing to try other genres, at least once. I'm also a lot more careful with which books I choose to read just because I have to so many to read now, or I guess, I have more awareness that there is so much for me to read. :P Before I started blogging and looking into upcoming releases and everything I was so unaware of what was out there! I pretty much just found books by going to book stores or by checking what was new at Wal-mart. So, now I guess my reading tastes have become more specific and they're pretty voracious...I have so much I want to read, even if I know I can't possibly get to everything. :P haha

So, that's a little bit about me.

Are you taking part in Armchair BEA, too?

Or are you actually at BEA in New York??

Either way, I'd love to hear from you. :)

If you want to participate in Armchair BEA, or want to go back to their Introductions Post, you can click this link: Armchair BEA Introductions.

I also signed up for Commenting Committee, so I'm sure you'll see me around on other blogs for Armchair BEA. :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog! :D