Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Three Year Blogoversary- Courtney Summers Interview


I'd like to welcome Courtney Summers, author of the sparkly made-of-awesome books Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are, to my three year blogoversary! She's here to answer a few questions.

1) How do you handle bad reviews?

As long as I'm writing and being published, there will be people out there who hate my stuff. That's just the way it goes. It's important to remember a bad review is not a personal attack. When I see a bad review of my work, I remind myself that fiction is incredibly subjective and that bad reviews are usually strongly felt reviews. It's always a good thing to inspire a strong response from readers, in my opinion. It's the indifferent reviews that worry me!


2) What are your criteria for finding bloggers to send review copies to?

That the blogger--whether they're just starting out or have been long established--takes books seriously. That they're passionate about YA lit. In my experience, those types of book bloggers are definitely the majority, so that's lucky. But it makes it a bit painful to choose who to send books to when I have a very limited amount of ARCs. :)


3) How did you find my blog, as well as any others you frequent?

When I realized I wanted to write YA, I lurked about the YA book blogosphere. I was shy! Little Willow and Bookshelves of Doom were my very first book blogs and I read--and still read them--faithfully. When Cracked Up to Be was acquired by St. Martin's Press, more and more book blogs came on my radar. Sometimes I found them, sometimes they found me--which was the coolest thing. I discovered your blog in the later months of 2008, if memory serves me correctly, before Cracked Up to Be came out. I was also familiar with the He Said/She Said feature you do with Little Willow. I loved reading those! You guys dissect books in very fun and interesting ways and that quality extends into how you run your solo blog as well, which I also find fun and interesting to read. Your enthusiasm for YA definitely defines your blog. Also, this seems like a good time to say: happy anniversary! Here's to many more! It just wouldn't be the same without Book Chic!


4) Do you have any advice for bloggers writing reviews?

Oh, gosh. Not really. Every book blogger has their own approach and their own voice, and these are the things that keep me reading their blogs time after time. Just keep doing what you're all doing and thanks for doing it!


5) Have you had a particularly memorable/meaningful review sent your way? What was it, and how did it make you feel?

Hmm. I have to be honest with you: every review that gets sent my way means a lot to me. As an author, it's very gratifying when people take the time to not only read your work, but to blog about it as well. I've been fortunate that many of the reviews I've gotten for both Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are have been so thoughtful and careful and constructive. It's really hard to describe how it feels to have a book you've written being on the receiving end of that kind of thing. It's amazing and not something I'll soon forget.


Thanks so much for stopping by, Courtney!! I'm glad you enjoyed those He Said, She Said posts; LW and I need to work on doing more of those! Now, on to the contest, I've got a signed copy of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. To enter, leave a comment on this post with your thoughts on any of Courtney's answers or what's got you excited for Before I Fall. The contest will be open until June 30th at 11:59 PM and is for North American residents only.

14 comments:

  1. congrats on reaching three years! :)

    i really love this interview you did. i love it when authors talk about their books, but i like that you went a different direction with this one and instead talked about book blogs. her answers were wonderful, and i think it's really sweet that she reads book blogs, too, and is incredibly passionate about YA lit.

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  2. Great interview. I love Courtney's books they're so raw and so gripping. I can't put them down.

    I'll have to check out your he said/she said sounds fun.

    No need to enter me I have Before I fall just wanted to leave a comment :-)

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  3. Happy blogoversary, Book Chic! Let me know when you want to prep another He Said, She Said discussion.

    Hola, Courtney Summers! The feeling is mutual. :) Thank you for following Bildungsroman.

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  4. Great interview. Courtney has a great attitude about bad reviews.

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  5. Happy blogoversary. I like Courtney's attitudes towards bad reviews.

    I'd love to enter!

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  6. Great interview. It is nice to hear that authors are reading book blogs and that they appreciate the reviews!

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  7. Great interview! I loved the answer Courtney gave to all reviews people send to her meaning a lot :) I also love her take on bad reviews.

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  8. I like how she explained her criteria for book bloggers. How she said it isn't really how long the blog has been up; it is really about the quality of the blogger and how they love books. :)

    And I've heard so many great things about Before I Fall I'm just dying to read it. Enter me pretty please.

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  9. I'm glad to hear authors really care about the actual content of book blogs! Great interview!

    I would love to be entered to win Before I fall!

    bookmac13@gmail.com

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  10. Courtney sounds really down to earth. I can totally agree with how to deal with negative reviews. But I mean really, as long as they're reading your book, right? Sure it's better someone likes it, but not everyone is going to like everything you write. It really is important to keep a level head.

    -Lisa B.

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  11. You and Little Willow do need to do more He Said/She Said. I don't think I commented on many of those posts, but I alwasy enjoyed them.

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  12. Great interview. I think if I was an author I would try to take bad reviews the same way as Courtney. I mean really, it's not like a bad review is a personal attack on you as a writer. Everyone has their own opinion.

    And about starting out reading book review blogs, I remember how crazy it was! There are so many out there I can barely keep track. It took a while for me to actually dive in myself.

    I'd like to be entered in the contest :)

    -Breanna
    breanna20f@gmail.com

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  13. wow, courtney is such a cool author, i still need to read some girls are, she is so creative and down to earth. Thanks so much for this contest, and for the fun interview with courtney! CONGRATS book chic on your success of three years, thats cool!

    Lasha
    arudd908 @ gmail dot com

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