Armchair BEA: Networking Tips?

The topic for today's Armchair BEA post is: using your blog to network in real life (not just online!)

I must admit I don't actually have much experience to bring to the table for this discussion. Earlier this year I went to the Marissa Meyer signing for Cinder (she was super nice and I had an awesome time!) and last fall I was lucky enough to be in the Toronto area when the book blogger meet-up took place (hosted by the Ontario Blog Squad, at which I met some of the Ontario bloggers I'd previously only communicated with online, which was so fabulous). Oh, and I attended Word on the Street in Toronto last fall, too.


I'm hoping to get to a few more author signings — Richelle Mead is coming to Vancouver this month and I'd definitely like to be there! But really, I'd love to get advice from my fellow bloggers on this topic. Have any of you used your blog to connect with your local libraries or bookstores? How do you promote yourself at signings or other events? (I've heard business cards are a good idea...advice on making those?) Any tips on organizing get-togethers for bloggers? 

Armchair BEA: Introductions

Armchair BEA is an event (put together by a team of bloggers) intended for people who won't be attending the physical BEA in New York. There's a different topic to write about every day this week, and today, to start things off, we're doing introductions. There are 10 questions to choose from, and we're encouraged to answer at least 5 of them.

So here goes:


1.) Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

To everyone who's new to my blog: welcome! I'm Danya, I hail from Vancouver, Canada and I've been blogging for about 2 years now. I got into book blogging because I'd seen some other book blogs while I was surfing the web looking for books to read. I love reading, and at that point I had lots of time on my hands so I figured, why not try it out? I'm kind of amazed that it's 2 years later now and my blog is still going strong!


2.) Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I spent a year teaching English in Japan. It was a dream of mine for many years, so I'm really happy I was able to fulfill it!

3.) What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)? 

Does an event count as a feature? I worked really hard on Psychtember last year (a blog event focused on YA books dealing with mental health issues) so I'm proud of that. And it will be back this September, so keep an eye out for it!

You tell me: what blog feature of mine do you guys like the most?


4.) What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

I would love to visit the Beast's castle in Robin McKinley's Beauty, complete with invisible, gossiping servants and books from the future. (Also, I probably wouldn't say no to Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Lothlorien, Rivendell, or Pemberley.)

5.) Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

I'd like to think they've expanded a little. I challenged myself last year to read books outside my comfort zone, and while I didn't get to as many as I'd aimed for, I did read a few that I might not have picked up otherwise. Sometimes I'll try a book due to rave reviews/recommendations from other bloggers — like Anna and the French Kiss and the Vampire Academy series, both of which pleasantly surprised me.

If you're participating in Armchair BEA, you can link up your introduction posts here!

Armchair BEA: Pitches from a Blogger's Perspective

Today's Armchair BEA topic is on nurturing book blogging relationships, and one of the aspects they mentioned was the ideal book pitch. A lot of my experience is with authors (often, but not always, self-published) pitching me a book for review, and from that experience I've come up with ten suggestions that will make a pitch more appealing to me:

1.) Be personal. I'm sure I'm not the only blogger who likes to be addressed by name. Let me know that you've visited my blog!

2.) That said, please get my name and my blog name right. Otherwise I can tell that you've been hard at work cutting-and-pasting.

3.) Don't act like my review is a done deal. You're trying to convince me here, not the other way around.

4.) Your book description should not have me reading for days. A paragraph is great, but I don't need an overview of the entire storyline.

5.) Links are good. Link me to your webpage, link me to sample chapters, etc. Just make sure all the links are clear and that they work.

6.) Let me know what format(s) your book is available for review in.

7.) Don't sound desperate...it doesn't come off well. If you're having trouble getting reviews, please, don't tell me that. It's like shooting yourself in the foot.

8.) Your e-mail should not contain lots of grammatical or spelling errors. I can overlook the odd typo — we're all human — but if it's riddled with mistakes, it does not give me confidence that the book will be any better.

9.) Don't give me the lengthy tale of how you came to write the book. Sure, a few lines are okay, but I don't need to know your life story.

10.) I know you're trying to pitch the book persuasively, but please don't go over the top and tell me it's the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games.

Bloggers, anything I missed? What will help/hurt a book pitch for you? :)

Armchair BEA: Best of 2011 (and those still to come)

Today's topic for Armchair BEA is the books we've most enjoyed so far this year, and those we're looking forward to.

So, my list of best books I've read so far this year (I haven't read a lot of 2011 releases yet so many of these were published previous to 2011):

 1.) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (my review)

2.) Mistwood by Leah Cypess (my review)

3.) Divergent by Veronica Roth (my review)

4.) Enclave by Ann Aguirre (my review)

5.) Jasmyn by Alex Bell (my review)

6.) The Host by Stephenie Meyer

7.) Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

And the 2011 releases I'm looking forward to the most:

1.) The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
2.) Supernaturally by Kiersten White
3.) The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
4.) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
5.) Crossed by Ally Condie
6.) A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
7.) Nightspell by Leah Cypess

What books have you enjoyed/are looking forward to this year?

Kicking Off Armchair BEA!

Hello fellow Armchair BEA participants! I totally wanted to go to BEA after hearing so much about it, but I'm still just a student right now and money is tight (plus I'm in Canada on the west coast, so it's quite the trip). So, I'm participating from afar through Armchair BEA!

Here's a little more info about me: I'm Danya, a self-proclaimed book and chocolate addict. I've been seriously book blogging since last July (just a couple more months until I celebrate my 1-year blogoversary!) and thoroughly enjoying it. I love reading YA in particular, and within that my tastes are pretty eclectic — I read fantasy, dystopian, historical, contemp and mystery (and even some paranormal from time to time). I have a BA in psychology so I particularly love books with fascinating characters and interpersonal relations.

Here are a few features on the blog: Forget-Me-Nots, where I periodically highlight a less well-known book from my childhood/teen years; Find the Gap (looking at gaps in YA fiction) and YA Through The Ages (an overview of YA from its earliest roots through to the present day) discussion series; and my Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Challenge (you can still join up!). And if you're a psych geek like me, you might enjoy the survey and related discussion I did recently involving favourite YA genres and connections to personality traits.

Anyway, if you're new to my blog, welcome! We can commiserate about missing BEA together :D