Hey all, I have failed yet again but it's been a busy week, so no time to record a vlog. I also have a new romantic prospect. :)
Anyway, please leave your Fragment Friday links in the Mr. Linky below. I will do my best to do one next week. I really appreciate everyone taking part in this meme!!
Before I do the Mr Linky though, here's information on an awesome festival that's happening this month that I'm so excited to be attending!
PAYA: Bringing YA to PA is an organization started by blogger Harmony of Harmony Book Reviews. It's dedicated to raising money and collecting books for libraries across the state of Pennsylvania. Since its beginning in October of 2009, PAYA has raised over $1,000 and collected hundreds of books for libraries across the state of Pennsylvania.
PAYA's main fundraiser is an annual one-day festival. This year it will be held in West Chester, Pennsylvania on August 21st. It will feature over 15 authors, including Amy Brecount White, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jeri Smith-Ready, Josh Berk, Jon Skovron, Jennifer Hubbard, Shannon Delany, and more. The signing will run from 1pm-3pm. Books will be sold by Children's Book World from Haverford, PA. The festival will also feature two writing workshops, one aimed directly at teens and another at any aspiring writer. Fundraisers such as a basket raffle and used book sale will be held during the signing as well. More information about the festival can be found here (http://www.bringya2pa.com/2010/07/paya-2010-festival-all-details.html).
PAYA is currently accepting monetary and book donations, both of which will be used to support Pennsylvania libraries. Librarians interested in receiving funds or books from PAYA and authors interested in attending the festival should email bringya2pa[at]yahoo[dot]com.
PAYA website
PAYA fanpage
PAYA Facebook Group
PAYA Event Page
Listen & Critique Workshop - Authors Josh Berk, Amy Brecount White, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jeri Smith-Ready, Jon Skovron, Meg Medina, and Shannon Delany will each be speaking on an aspect of writing they feel is most important. Attendees will then be split into groups of 3-5, each with an author, based on genre of writing. Each members of the group will read the first three pages of a WIP from another members and critique it as a group. The author will lead the discussion and answer any specific questions about writing by the members of the group.
This workshop will run from 10am-noon and will cost $40 for those signing up before August 7th and $45 after August 7th.
Teens on Writing Workshop - Published teens Chelsea Swiggett and Kieryn Nicolas will speak for one hour on writing as a teenager. They will cover a variety of topics. This workshop is aimed at teens 13-18 and will be from 1pm-2pm. It will cost $10 before August 7th and $15 after August 7th.
If you're interested in either workshop, please send an email to bringya2pa[at]yahoo[dot]com to receive sign up info.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
What's Your Status? by Katie Finn
What's Your Status? by Katie Finn
"Madison MacDonald thinks things are finally working out!
Followers: 300
Status Updates:
mad_mac Nate and I have been together for two months, and it’s wonderful! Life is good!
mad_mac Well, except for the fact that I still might be failing history.
mad_mac And I no longer have a BFF.
mad_mac But aside from those things!
mad_mac Okay. So, um, apparently I’ve just been put in charge of the school’s priceless heirloom.
mad_mac And the assistant headmaster has a vendetta against me.
mad_mac And it seems I’m being blackmailed.
mad_mac Gathering together a crew. I’m going to try and pull off a heist. Without getting caught. Or expelled. Or arrested.
mad_mac Also, I think I may have just accidentally wrecked my relationship. . . .
Madison MacDonald is trying not to panic."- summary from back of book
OK, so before I start on What's Your Status, I completely forgot to mention something awesome that happened in Top 8. Most likely only Gail and I noticed this (as we are huge nerds), but there were a couple references to the totally awesome, everybody-should-watch-this movie Clue! Seeing that made me so happy. You know why? Because I'm a huge nerd.
Anyway, on to What's Your Status! Madison and her friends are back with new problems, a new mystery adventure, and a new social networking site. Status Q is essentially like Twitter and I loved its inclusion in this novel. The way it was used to pull off the heist mentioned in the summary was fantastic. There were also even some twists and turns toward the end of the book that surprised me.
Once again though, one of the great parts was Madison's conversations with her friends. They just flow so naturally and are laugh-out-loud funny. Those were some of my favorite sections. We also get to see more of her friends too as they get their own subplots and get fleshed out some more.
One thing I forgot to mention in the review for Top 8 was the romance. OMG I love this romance and the male lead Nate (even more so as he's the one who made the Clue references); he is so swoon-worthy and he's just so hot. The two of them run into some relationship and communication issues like any couple, but they work through them.
The heist part was just perfection and Finn really knows how to create some good suspension and write some great climactic action scenes.
Overall, I just really loved this book and I hope there's more to come!
FTC: Received book as a surprise from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Ask Book Chic (7)
So this one question (which by the way, thank you BookMac for the first blogging/reviewing question!) has a LOOONG answer, and figured it deserved its own post. Usually, I like to do three questions for each edition but this one would have eclipsed all others, so they'll be in next week's edition. By the way, I'm running out of questions (only one edition left and then I'm out!), so please leave a comment with your questions or email me (bookchicclub-at-gmail-dot-com)!
Bookmac asks "How did you build strong contacts with the publicicts and authors that send you review copies?"
The short answer is just by asking them and being reliable, honest and consistent with reviews as well as being professional when contacting them.
For those wanting a long answer for how it worked for me, read on.
I started off on Myspace and had no idea about advance copies or even that bloggers could get free books. Book blogging was in its infancy (and it still sort of is), so there wasn't a whole lot to go on when I started. And I started with a bang, lol. One of the first authors I contacted was the Queen of YA Meg Cabot for an interview; like seriously, I had only been blogging for a few days when I asked. She offered up a copy of her then-upcoming book Jinx for review, and she's been very helpful with ARCs of her books. Since then, I've done three additional interviews with her, quite a few reviews of her books (pretty much everything from Jinx to present, aside from the Allie Finkle series, though I do read those), gotten lots of swag and other things for giveaway purposes, and essentially had a wonderful relationship with her. Meg is a very sweet person who loves bloggers and supports them. It's so great that, as someone who reads all her books and generally looks up to her as an inspiration, I am able to chat with her every so often online through emails.
I don't want to make it sound like I'm bragging because I'm not. What I want to get across with that story is to not be afraid to send out that email to your favorite author, no matter how big or small they are. Most of the time, you'll be pleasantly surprised and will find an email back from them within a few days (sometimes even within hours!). Keeping in touch with that author is helpful too, and not just when a book of theirs is coming out. But don't force anything; if the connection is there, it'll flourish naturally.
But almost all authors have EXTREMELY limited ARCs (and sometimes even final copies) of their books. So you gotta move on to the publishers. There are two ways for this to come about. The first is when emailing an author, ask for their publicist's email address or for the general review copy email address. Some publishers have a contact page but it can be hard to find sometimes, if it even exists. When you do email a publicist requesting a book, be sure to include your mailing address. That way, they know where to send a copy right away rather than having to wait for your response. I know it sounds rude to include it, but it's actually good. They'll need your address anyway at some point, so just give it to them in your initial request.
The second is the one that's out of your control, at least in a way, and that is for the publisher to come to you. That is pretty much how I got almost all of my contacts. Usually they will email you about a certain book they would like you to review and it all just goes from there.
Once they have your mailing address, you're in their system and will therefore be included in future book mailings of ARCs and final copies. When I went on the Penguin offices tour two months ago, each reviewer in their system usually has what sorts of things they like to review and so the books that are sent cater to your interests. Now, it doesn't ALWAYS work this way (I have gotten children's books quite a few times), but that's how it usually goes.
But obviously, just getting the books isn't enough. You're receiving them so that they can be reviewed on your blog, which is why you started a book blog in the first place (I hope): to share your thoughts on books. So, you read the book, and you write the review, and it goes up on your blog. Send the link to the publicist who sent the book to you, or to the general email address if no one actually responded to you (which can happen, believe me).
If the review though is extremely negative and you hated it, I would not send it. But if your review goes through the pros and cons of the book and is generally favorable, send it. If there's some redeeming quality in the book that you mention, send it, even if it's a 2 star review. Thank the publicist for sending a copy your way even though you may have ended up not loving it. Above all, be professional; I would imagine that a publicist would be happy to be getting an honest review, even if it's not completely positive. You still took the time to read the book and post your thoughts, which is what they sent it to you for.
From there, you'll just keep reviewing books and sending links to various publicists. As that goes on, strong connections will establish through your consistency, reliability, and professionalism and soon enough, you'll have bajillions of books to review. Yay!
I really hope that all made sense. It's a long, rambly post to sift through but I do hope I got my point across. This is JUST my opinion though. I am not the be-all-end-all of blogging (even though I sometimes wish I were) so do whatever feels comfortable for you and your blog. There are of course some universal points in what I wrote (like, be professional) but the nitty-gritty varies person to person. If other bloggers want to chime in, please do so. I love hearing these sorts of stories and behind-the-scenes stuff.
If anything was confusing, please leave a question in the comments and I'll either answer it in the comments or put it in an upcoming Ask Book Chic.
Bookmac asks "How did you build strong contacts with the publicicts and authors that send you review copies?"
The short answer is just by asking them and being reliable, honest and consistent with reviews as well as being professional when contacting them.
For those wanting a long answer for how it worked for me, read on.
I started off on Myspace and had no idea about advance copies or even that bloggers could get free books. Book blogging was in its infancy (and it still sort of is), so there wasn't a whole lot to go on when I started. And I started with a bang, lol. One of the first authors I contacted was the Queen of YA Meg Cabot for an interview; like seriously, I had only been blogging for a few days when I asked. She offered up a copy of her then-upcoming book Jinx for review, and she's been very helpful with ARCs of her books. Since then, I've done three additional interviews with her, quite a few reviews of her books (pretty much everything from Jinx to present, aside from the Allie Finkle series, though I do read those), gotten lots of swag and other things for giveaway purposes, and essentially had a wonderful relationship with her. Meg is a very sweet person who loves bloggers and supports them. It's so great that, as someone who reads all her books and generally looks up to her as an inspiration, I am able to chat with her every so often online through emails.
I don't want to make it sound like I'm bragging because I'm not. What I want to get across with that story is to not be afraid to send out that email to your favorite author, no matter how big or small they are. Most of the time, you'll be pleasantly surprised and will find an email back from them within a few days (sometimes even within hours!). Keeping in touch with that author is helpful too, and not just when a book of theirs is coming out. But don't force anything; if the connection is there, it'll flourish naturally.
But almost all authors have EXTREMELY limited ARCs (and sometimes even final copies) of their books. So you gotta move on to the publishers. There are two ways for this to come about. The first is when emailing an author, ask for their publicist's email address or for the general review copy email address. Some publishers have a contact page but it can be hard to find sometimes, if it even exists. When you do email a publicist requesting a book, be sure to include your mailing address. That way, they know where to send a copy right away rather than having to wait for your response. I know it sounds rude to include it, but it's actually good. They'll need your address anyway at some point, so just give it to them in your initial request.
The second is the one that's out of your control, at least in a way, and that is for the publisher to come to you. That is pretty much how I got almost all of my contacts. Usually they will email you about a certain book they would like you to review and it all just goes from there.
Once they have your mailing address, you're in their system and will therefore be included in future book mailings of ARCs and final copies. When I went on the Penguin offices tour two months ago, each reviewer in their system usually has what sorts of things they like to review and so the books that are sent cater to your interests. Now, it doesn't ALWAYS work this way (I have gotten children's books quite a few times), but that's how it usually goes.
But obviously, just getting the books isn't enough. You're receiving them so that they can be reviewed on your blog, which is why you started a book blog in the first place (I hope): to share your thoughts on books. So, you read the book, and you write the review, and it goes up on your blog. Send the link to the publicist who sent the book to you, or to the general email address if no one actually responded to you (which can happen, believe me).
If the review though is extremely negative and you hated it, I would not send it. But if your review goes through the pros and cons of the book and is generally favorable, send it. If there's some redeeming quality in the book that you mention, send it, even if it's a 2 star review. Thank the publicist for sending a copy your way even though you may have ended up not loving it. Above all, be professional; I would imagine that a publicist would be happy to be getting an honest review, even if it's not completely positive. You still took the time to read the book and post your thoughts, which is what they sent it to you for.
From there, you'll just keep reviewing books and sending links to various publicists. As that goes on, strong connections will establish through your consistency, reliability, and professionalism and soon enough, you'll have bajillions of books to review. Yay!
I really hope that all made sense. It's a long, rambly post to sift through but I do hope I got my point across. This is JUST my opinion though. I am not the be-all-end-all of blogging (even though I sometimes wish I were) so do whatever feels comfortable for you and your blog. There are of course some universal points in what I wrote (like, be professional) but the nitty-gritty varies person to person. If other bloggers want to chime in, please do so. I love hearing these sorts of stories and behind-the-scenes stuff.
If anything was confusing, please leave a question in the comments and I'll either answer it in the comments or put it in an upcoming Ask Book Chic.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Top 8 by Katie Finn
Top 8 by Katie Finn
"Madison MacDonald is seriously freaking out
Madison MacDonald
16
Putnam, CT
Status: Single?
About Me:
Everything in my life was working out. I had my three best friends, a brand-new boyfriend, and the lead in the school play. Aside from that history paper I hadn't started, things felt perfect.
Then I returned from spring break to find my Friendverse profile hacked. Someone clearly out to ruin me had spilled the most damaging secrets - AND posted the worst photos of me ever taken - online.
Now my boyfriend and I are broken up, half the school hates me, and I'm in deep trouble.
Goals:
Get my boyfriend back, figure out who could have done this, and clear my name!
Also, pass history."- summary from back of book
I had seen this book around in bookstores way back in late 2008 when it came out and thought it sounded interesting. I love books that play with format and utilize social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter as well as texts. Reasons for this are a)because it's just plain fun and b)because it really rings true to teens these days who spend their time on Facebook and Twitter (and, ok, the adults who use them a lot too, lol).
Finn's style is very breezy and easy to read, and Madison is a wonderfully flawed character. You can see her character changing throughout the book and since the book is in first person (for the most part; there's also the Myspace/Facebook profiles and wall comments from other characters), we see Madison's inner conflicts about telling secrets in the past she was supposed to be keeping when they're posted all over the world to see on her profile when it's hacked. At the end of the story, Madison has learned her lesson and changed her ways.
What I loved most about the story was Madison's interactions with her friends. Finn has a way with teen dialogue that just flowed and made sense and didn't seem forced at all. It felt, to me at least, like you were right there with them and included in their social circle.
The main plot point though is the mystery surrounding Madison's hacking and it had me guessing throughout the whole novel, though (and I was proud of myself for this because it never happens) I figured out who was part of it before Madison did. It wasn't too far ahead of the reveal because I'm not that good and because Finn did a great job of pointing the finger at many different characters.
Overall, a very fun read and one that can be enjoyed anywhere, but it's definitely a beach read, so take it with you in these last few weeks of summer!
On Thursday, I'll be posting my review of the sequel What's Your Status? so be sure to check that out. And if you entered the contest (linked below) for the Top 8 prize pack, you can get an extra entry for commenting here on this review!
FTC: Received from Chelsy at Big Honcho Media in correlation with the contest I'm running for a Top 8 prize pack!
Also, this has nothing to do with this book, but if you're interested in GLBT fiction, go here to the fabulous blog Naughty Book Kitties to win some signed GLBT books! Go now and enter!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tell Me A Secret Trailer Party- WOO!
Hey everyone! Holly Cupala just premiered the official book trailer for Tell Me A Secret. Here's a look at it:
Party Prizes! Here’s what people can win:
Signed TMAS books!
TMAS t-shirts!
Fan-made bracelets by Hannah S!
Music that inspired the book!
Sneak Previews!
Bookmarks and Handmade Magnets!
and...
A Tell Me a Secret handmade necklace!
HOW TO WIN? Share the Trailer Love!
Click here to go to YouTube, then click the Share button to send to your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or blog! 5 pts each
Click here to tell us where you posted and enter to win!
Plus Holly will be featured at readergirlz so join in on the discussions and mark your calendars for a LIVE #rgz twitter chat on Wednesday, July 18th at 6pm PST/9pm EST! Hope you enjoy the trailer, and thank you so much for being part of the virtual tour and party!
Party Prizes! Here’s what people can win:
Signed TMAS books!
TMAS t-shirts!
Fan-made bracelets by Hannah S!
Music that inspired the book!
Sneak Previews!
Bookmarks and Handmade Magnets!
and...
A Tell Me a Secret handmade necklace!
HOW TO WIN? Share the Trailer Love!
Click here to go to YouTube, then click the Share button to send to your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or blog! 5 pts each
Click here to tell us where you posted and enter to win!
Plus Holly will be featured at readergirlz so join in on the discussions and mark your calendars for a LIVE #rgz twitter chat on Wednesday, July 18th at 6pm PST/9pm EST! Hope you enjoy the trailer, and thank you so much for being part of the virtual tour and party!
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