YOUNG READER blog is now 2 years old!
And
THAT
calls for a celebration!
Don't forget to check out the previous posts
Today I have Rachel from Fiktshun over at the blog!
Rachel is an inspiration for me. I stalk her blog and she's been one of the most helpful and nicest people I've ever interacted with virtually. I will literally stalk any site she decides to start up!
So without furthur ado I present to you one of the most awesome bloggers ever.....
What advice would you give to shy book bloggers for
improving their networking skills?
I'm not the greatest person to
give advice about this as I'm really shy with people I don't know. But I would
say get involved in community events online like Armchair BEA or the BBTC that
Parajunkee and The Bookish Brunette just put on. Jump into conversations on
Twitter with other bloggers. Most of us don't bite. Or join a super social meme
that involves getting to know other bloggers.
Just keep putting yourself out
there. While it might not always be easy, and the fear of rejection will likely
always be there, if you don't do it blogging will be a lonely endeavor. I
couldn't have made it through without the friends I've made in this community.
Your tips for blogging success are
Be honest and speak in your
own voice. People visit your blog to hear what you think. If you spend all your
time trying to emulate someone else, you'll end up failing because you're not
being honest with your readers. It will be too hard pretending day after day.
Just be yourself.
Don't fall victim to "the
rules." There are no rules. Etiquette, yes. But if you try to follow all
the "rules" that are thrown out there, you'll end up feeling so
stifled and unhappy you won't want to do this. Remember that it's your blog and
there's no right or wrong way to do it.
Don't over-promise. It will
just stress you out. Big time. You're doing this because you love it,
hopefully. Try not to worry about passing on an opportunity or saying
"no." Believe it or not there will be other opportunities. It's much
better to say that you aren't able to, than to say you can do something and
then fail to deliver. Being stress-free and having a reputation as being a
reliable blogger that can be counted on are two things that will help in the
long run.
Oh and these are just my
"tips" for success that seem to have worked for me and not
"rules." I've defined success as being able to blog as long as I've
been blogging not in terms of how many followers, how many pageviews or how
many publishing contacts I have. If you're looking for tips on how to get
those... well, I haven't a clue.
Movie/TV show you are obsessed with?
If you asked me a couple of
months ago I would have said The Vampire Diaries. Now, though, it's
Supernatural. Hands down. I am majorly obsessed.
Books you would recommend to complete strangers?
Ugh... I'm terrible about book
recommendations. Books are such individual things that I'd never recommend
anything to a stranger. I'd have to know a little something about their reading
preferences.
Even within a sub-genre I'd
never offer up a suggestion unless I knew more. Such as if they like
contemporaries to have drama and heartache or if they like them fun or flirty.
In paranormal - which supernatural beings do they prefer, and do they like their
stories dark and gritty or with less of an edge. So, yeah, way too hard to make
recommendations.
Some adult novels that you think are definitely worth a
gander?
While I love a lot of the
classics I don't recommend them, because most people will have read them in
school and it just makes me feel pompous to do so.
And while I don't do
recommendations, I think Stephen King's THE LONG WALK - a dystopian with
characters who are teens - is definitely worth a read. Even with the younger
characters, it's not YA. Perhaps due to the time period it was released or the
rather bleak/violent subject matter. I'm also quite fond of his Dark
Tower series. (And by "quite fond" I mean hugely obsessed.
Favorite series of all time and there will be nothing written in my lifetime
that will take its place.)
Janet Fitch is one of my
favorite authors and while I love PAINT IT BLACK, I think WHITE OLEANDER is
also a great read.
Emma McLaughlin and Nicola
Kraus have some amazing contemporary books. And they also do YA. THE NANNY
DIARIES was hugely popular. But my favorite book of theirs is DEDICATION. It's
one of my all-time favorite contemporary books, actually.
For those into PNR/UF,
anything by Rachel Vincent and Chloe Neill. For those who like things with a
bit more heat, Kresley Cole or Jeaniene Frost.
Rapid Fire ( the first thing that comes to your mind when
you see the following words...)
Twilight – Sparkly Vamps.
Black - Black Flag. (The punk group, not a bunch of dark
flags.) Though Sirius Black comes a close second but that could be because your
next question is Harry Potter, LOL.
Harry Potter - Quidditch. (Dunno why that popped into mind.)
Hot - Vampires. (As if I could have answered in any
other way.)
Wings - Aprilynne Pike.
Coffee - Essential.
T.V. - Favorite time suck.
Love - Eternal.
Merlin - WIZARD AND GLASS. (Stephen King novel, of course.)
Rachel has been AWESOME enough to offer up something for giveaway (SEE... I told you it's tough to even be jealous of her she's so nice...)
So in honor of Rachel this giveaway is going to be the simplest of all the giveaways I have had so far...
GIVEAWAY
ONE book of their choice not to exceed USD $20 from Amazon or The Book Depository depending upon location
PSST: Extra brownie points for whoever tweets @fiktshun to thank her for this awesome giveaway use #YRAHbday please. (She didn't let me make this an entry for the giveaway but you'd have my gratitude if you did :)
Don't forget to check out Rachel's website Fiktshun.
I believe she's celebrating 2.5 years of blogging as well!
