Thanks for having me on your blog, Megan! Last year I participated in this, under the name The YA Book Nook, but since then I've been known as the Literature Lion! I'm a 15-year-old young adult book blogger and I'm here today with a pretty cool post! I had the opportunity to interview some bloggers: both new and old! I asked them similar questions and here are some of their responses!
Bloggers Being Interviewed:
1. What is your blog called, and why?
Lea: LC's Adventures in Libraryland-- First of all, I'm a librarian and
second of all, I love Alice in Wonderland! My initials are "LC" for Lea
Christine, so... I just put all of that together, and that's how I got
my blog name!
Ashley: I
always feel so unoriginal with my blog title, Ashley Loves Books - it's
pretty self-explanatory! But I'm an incredibly indecisive person and
have some major commitment issues with my online presence, so I figured
going with the barest, bluntest truth would be best. I'm Ashley, and I
absolutely love books :)
And I've never actually told anyone this, but when I first started
setting up my book blog, I wasn't sure if I was going to be only YA or
try to do all sorts of age-levels and genres; so I needed a neutral one
that could alter with my ultimate decision.
Momo: My
blog is called Books Over Boys because it sorta represents me and my
non-existence social life, therefore I choose books which sorta
represents education over boys which represents...the social part such
as parties, hanging out with friends, etc.
Rachel: My blog is called Unforgettable Books. I really wanted to have a
unique blog name that described my love for books. So I decided to use my
favorite adjective for recommending anything I love- Unforgettable. I always
enjoy remember books I love.
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2. How long have you been blogging?
Lea: Since March 2011, so just over a year.
Ashley: As of June 1, I've been a book blogger for 6 months.
Momo: I have been blogging since October of 2010, so about a year or so...something like that.
Rachel: I have been blogging for about four months.
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3. What's your favorite part about blogging?
Lea: Being a part of an awesome online community that shares the same love for books as I do!
Ashley: Probably the
relationships I've started through blogging - reading is a solitary
activity, but the community is wholly rewarding! I've been able to meet
so many wonderful people and authors, online and in real life, who love
reading just as much as I do, and it's so much fun to talk about people
who get the adoration we have for books and words.
I also really enjoy
getting pushed out of my comfort level. There are a few books I would
never have picked up if I hadn't seen positive reviews or Waiting on
Wednesdays with synopses, and they turn into my favourites! (Under the
Never Sky by Veronica Rossi is one - LOVE that book!)
Momo: My
favorite part about blogging would definitely be the relationships that
are able to prosper between you and your most favorite authors. And in
addition to those relationships, you get to meet some of the most
amazing bookworms out there that are just like yourself.
Rachel: (1st part of question) The community. I always enjoy reading the amazing comments
fellow bloggers leave me and creating comments for posts I enjoyed.
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4. Have you had a chance to make any author/publisher relationships yet?/What's the best part about making author/publisher relationships? How did you make these relationships?
Lea: (2nd part of question) Getting ARCs and getting to participate in fun events like cover reveals
and interviews-- these connections are made over time and though a lot
of hard work, since authors and publishers really only consider making
contacts with bloggers who have very professional and well-kept blogs,
updated on a regular basis. I would say, feel free to contact publishers
and authors but be professional and never pushy. Also, be patient! I
still don't always get my requests fulfilled, but getting ARCs isn't my
main reason for blogging-- I just stay busy with my library books in the
meantime :)
Ashley: (1st part of question) Not really with
publishers, as I'm still "young" and trying to figure out my blog, so I
haven't reached out to them - there are a few I've talked to since I had
review books sent to me through sign-ups or online giveaways, but
nothing solid where they know who I am. Authors, however, were probably
my biggest surprise when I started bogging - they're all so wonderful
and nice! Before my blog, it never occurred to me to reach out to them
on Twitter or find their online presences, and it's been AMAZING.
Authors are so nice and supportive. There are definitely a handful I
hold close to me because they've been extra kind and responsive to me.
I'm wary of contacting authors for much else other than a 'thank you for
writing this amazing book!' since it feels like a nuisance and I know
they're busy, but so far, I've never had anything other than positive
responses and fun conversations with them.
Momo: (2nd part of question) The best part about making these relationships
is getting exclusive looks at titles, covers, and ARCs. But most
importantly, just getting to fangirl with the authors and letting them
know how much you absolutely adored their book(s). I made these
relationships simply by just loving the books and then fangirling the
heck out of them which I guess helped promote the book(s).
Rachel: (1st part of question) I have not made any publisher relationships yet but I have met
an author named Brigid Kemmerer at a signing once and we talk sometimes on
twitter. I completely love her Elemental series. I also made friends with an
author named Lynda Meyers who wrote an amazing and unique novel called Letters
From the Ledge. I am doing an interview with her this June.
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5. What's one blogging event you'd like to attend? (BEA, ALA, author signing)/Have you had a chance to go to any big blogger events? (BEA, ALA, author signings)
Lea: (2nd part of question) No, not yet! I really want to go to BEA this year but I just couldn't
budget it. And surprisingly, I haven't yet been to ALA even though I'm a
librarian! Some year soon though, I hope!
Ashley: (1st part of question) I've been really
lucky to attend several author signings since I live in a fairly large
city or within distance of some great tour stops (once I even got to
hang out with a bunch of authors after a signing! I nearly fainted from
excitement). While BEA is a dream I hope one day to realize, I'm going
to ALA in June and am SUPER excited! I've never been, but my mom is in
the library field (she's a technological assistant in data management
and cataloging for a university library in San Diego) and has attended
before and loved it. I've heard great things from past years and really
look forward to be around so many book lovers, authors and other
bloggers.
Momo: (2nd part of question) I haven't had the chance to go to BEA or ALA or
any of the bigger book events but I have attended a few book signings
and man, there's nothing that can explain how exciting those are! It's
one thing to be able to chit-chat with your favorite authors on twitter,
facebook, blogs, etc. but to actually get to meet them - omg,
just...it's amazing and really frickin' awesome!
Rachel: (1st part of question) After hearing about all the amazing times my blogging friends
had at BEA recently, I definitely want to experience BEA for myself.
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6. What's one thing you hope to accomplish with your blog in the future?
Lea: I think that my blog is pretty much where I want it to be-- meeting new
readers and reaching an even larger audience I guess would be my goals
at this point, but I'm definitely happy with my blog as it is now :)
Ashley: Truthfully, I'm really happy with what it is: I get to talk with book
lovers about wonderful literature - I hope to keep that up, to broaden
my reading horizons and connect with more people and authors. I would
love to connect with publishers and publishing houses in the future just
to learn about the production side of books, too.
Momo: One goal of mine that I hope to accomplish with
my blog, not just in the future, but just overall, is to spread the
love for the written word; to let others know that books are way more than just words after words after pages after pages.
Rachel: I really hope to create an exciting and creative event that many
bloggers participate in.
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7. What's one piece of advice you wish someone would have given you when you started blogging?
Lea: Hmm that's a tough one... I guess to utilize social media as much as
possible. At this point, I do have Twitter, a Facebook page, YouTube
channel, plus I use Goodreads, Pinterest, etc. but when I started it
took me awhile to figure out just how useful those other social media
tools are. My advice to most new bloggers is to use social media as much
as you can to become known and to meet new people!
Ashley: I wish someone had
told me not to take book blogging lightly. I love it and I think it's so
much fun - but it takes dedication to make it quality. I'm not sure I
realized how time consuming this would be! It's not a complaint, but I
had no idea how much of my day I would devote to it. The more I got
involved with the community, I just want to spend all day, every day
focusing on my blog! Between reading other blogs, commenting, doing
memes and challenges, writing, designing my blog and other things
related to it, going to book/author events, responding to emails and
comments and tweets, and actually reading (can't forget about that!), I
could probably spend literally all day, every day working on this and
still not be done.
Momo: One piece of advice that I wish I could have
gotten at the beginning of my blogging career is: blog because you love
to read. It might seem like a very simple piece of advice to those who
have never blogged before but after you enter the blogging world, you
become exposed to so many things that sometimes the whole idea of
reading because you love to read becomes lost. I just want newbie
bloggers to constantly remember to blog because they love to read and
for no other reason than that.
Rachel: How much time it would take and how fun writing reviews are.
Thank you so much everyone! This was such an awesome post!! :D
Everyone, if you liked this post, make sure you follow all the FoG
events on Twitter at #FortnightOfGuests
1 comment:
This is such an interesting interview! I had no idea how much time and work had to be put into blogging before I started, but now I know it consumes a takes up a lot of my time! Not that I mind :)
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