The Kari AnnAlysis

Posts Tagged ‘book blogger appreciation week’

Last year, I experienced Book Blogger Appreciation Week from the outside. I checked the website, learned about new blogs and hoped that the ones that I already read kicked some major book blogging butt.

This year, I decided to take part. I read through the instructions, looked through my posts and picked the ones I thought made me look the best. I chose 5 reviews that I thought showed that I was decent at what I do. I was semi-pleased with the posts I chose, but quickly realized before I even sent it in, that I had some work to do.

So here are some things I am going to work on for the next year:

*Don’t only post book reviews.I love reading blogs where people just write. I have seen some awesome topics that are still bookish, but are just so much more than blogs. We are writers. That’s what we do. And I was actually checking through a #bblog chat on Twitter recently and someone said something along the lines of “if I wanted to read only reviews, I’d go through a Barnes and Noble.” I never thought of it like that, but I think I worry too much about reviews and not just writing. I know there are many times that I think of a good post, but I forget about it and it never happens. I am changing that. I have already started posting ideas. I’ll start a post with just an idea or two so that I don’t forget them and every time I log on, I see the looming post. Plus, all I really had to turn in this year were reviews and I saw that a lot of the posts I liked the most that others turned in were just posts about books in general, or authors.

*Interview some authors.When I first started blogging, I never thought this would be possible. But now, through Twitter especially, I talk to authors on a daily basis. It’s still crazy to me. I have recently found that most of the authors that I have been reading are on Twitter and will usually write me back or retweet my posts that involve them. Plus, in most of the books I get from publishers, they tell me this could be available if I wanted. I guess I am just now feeling comfortable enough to do this. Maybe….

*Don’t do all memes.I love memes because I love the traffic it brings to my blog. I write these reviews for me. I started writing so I would remember, if I ever needed to, what I liked and didn’t like about a book. But, I still like seeing that other people are at least coming by to see what I am writing about. I am going to stick with a couple of memes though. I still love Teaser Tuesday and will always check Musing Monday and Booking Through Thursday and judge those based on the topic and how much I can discuss it. But this goes back up to the first bullet point of just doing reviews. This helps me do a little more writing, but sometimes it feels like just a cop out and something easy for me to do to get a post up. I think I need to push myself to come up with unconventional topics, rather than wait for someone else to think of them. Now there is one meme type that I really want to work on. I have seen a couple of bloggers do posts with book covers that are similar. I have started making folders and putting similar book covers together. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will be able to get at least one post out of this! I think it’s cute and creative.

*Post more. There are times in the past year that I went a week or two without posts. There are days when I check other blogs every day or so. If they don’t have new posts for me, I’ll stay away for a while. I don’t want people doing that to me. On the other hand though, I do want these to be stellar posts that I may need to spend a day or two working on.

*Schedule posts. I started doing this already. This week, for instance, I posted a review on Tuesday and had posts scheduled for every other day during the week. Now, I don’t have to worry about my posts for at least 5 more days,  unless something comes up that I want to get out there. I have already felt like this has taken a bit of pressure off of me to get posts done. I finished 3 books in the past week and have scheduled their reviews to be posted over a 5 day period. I used to just post them as soon as I got them done, meaning some days I had 2 or 3, then I would go another week without a review.

*Keep my theme awesome. I am a big fan of the theme I have now. It allows me to be creative and change it all the time. I am very phase-y, so I like change. Changing my picture allows me to do that. Speaking of, it’s about time. I think I’m about done at the pool for the year. One thing I do need to work on is spacing. The post I published earlier this week about cupcakes looked great before I saved it, but after I saved, no matter what I did, it didn’t post the way I wanted it to. And no matter how many times I changed and saved, it stayed the same. Simplicity is best

I feel like I am doing a lot of rambling, but I am trying to keep my head clear and let you guys know what is going on in there. New year, new leaf.

What did you learn from other blogs this year?

Last year, my first year of blogging, I sat on the edges and watched Book Blogger Appreciation Week unfold. This year, I am jumping in head first.

This year, BBAW is September 13-17 and this year, you can nominate yourself! I have heard that there are many unhappy campers about nominating yourself. I personally don’t feel like it’s a pat on the back. To me, it’s more of a “I didn’t get a nomination last year and don’t want to miss out again this year.” I think that’s reasonable.

There are a number of categories this year. I am entering into two of them.

The first is Best Young Adult Book Blog. The posts I am entering are my reviews on:
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Invitation Only by Kate Brian
The Naughty List by Suzanne Young
Tangled by Carolyn Mackler
Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

I am not going to lie, while adding those posts, in my head I was an announcer at an awards show. I need a life!

Before this year, I had an eclectic reading life. I would read Chick Lit, YA, Murder Mystery etc. This year, 23 of 43 books I have read have been YA. Because of that, I consider it to be a semi-YA book blog, and that’s the reason I entered it into the BBAW awards.

However, the very first book I ever reviewed and the book that sparked by love of reading back up was Jane Eyre. I guess that in itself makes my tastes eclectic, going from books that revolve around high school cheerleaders/spies to one of the most classic books in history.

Good thing there is also a Best Eclectic Book Blog section. I’ll let the judges determine what suits me best For this section, I am adding:
sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Death by Sudoku by Kaye Morgan
Season of Water and Ice by Donald Lystra
Mania by Craig Larsen

The Eclectic selection was much tougher than the YA selection. I have read such a hodge-podge of books this year, I wanted to get a little of everything in. I think I did a clean sweep across the board.

Check out the link to the BBAW website, enter yourself, get involved! I have met so many awesome people through book blogging and can’t wait to see who is standing out this year.

Are you entering? Send me the link to your post! I only have one shelf of TBR books and definitely need to start stockpiling!

So this week is Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Since I am still a freshman in the book blogging world, I’m still learning about these festivities. I’ve tried to follow along and keep an eye on the site. Today I found a Reading Habits Meme in honor of the week and it will be my first participation in BBAW. It was slated for Tuesday, but better late than never right?

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
*I normally don’t because I don’t want to get my book dirty. But M&Ms are always a clean option!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
*If I see mistakes in books, I’ll mark them. Otherwise … NO WAY!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
*I have a book mark my dad got me. It had a magnet in it so it doesn’t fall out and you can mark which paragraph you were on.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
*I’m more of fiction, but I like autobiographies.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
*I haven’t gotten into audiobooks yet. Since I drive so much, it would take me no time. But I like to hold them,

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
*I like to read to the end of the chapter, but normally I pick it up whenever I have a second, so I may only be able to read a paragraph or two.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
*I normally make a list in my Blackberry and look them all up at once.

What are you currently reading?
*One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

What is the last book you bought?
*Wicked: Witch and Curse

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
*One at a time

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? 
*I get most of my reading done in bed before I go to sleep

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
* I get attached to characters, so I love series books

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
*Jane Eyre, The Historian, The Stephanie Plum Series

How do you organize your books?
*Read books are organized by author. Unread are not organized so it’s a random choice every time.