Newsletter 1- part 3

Author Visits

Although posted before this was sent, Ashley had an author visit.
On 2/6 http://myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com/ had author/agent Lucienne Diver about her book, VAMPED that will be released in May 2009.
Blogger: Adele of Persnickety Snark Site: http://persnicketysnark.blogspot.comAuthor: Simmone Howell (Everything Beautiful and Notes from the Teenage Underground) Week long visit
"11th" Blogger: Stephanie of Juiciliciousss Reviews Site: juiciliciousssreviews.blogspot.com Author: Mary Hogan
"between Feb. 8 – 13" Blogger: Krista of Tower of Books Site: towerofbooks.wordpress.com Author: Lisa Schroeder (I Heart You, You Haunt Me, Far From You)
Lexi of anotherpageisused.blogspot.com has Lisa, author of Wake.

Reviews:

Booksaremylove.blogspot.com will have a review for A Girl like Me.
Booksaremylove.blogspot.com will post a review of a Poetry Book.
Booksaremylove.blogspot.com will have a review of Confessions of a Shopaholic.
http://myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com/ has a review of GLASS HOUSES by Rachel Caine

The UK Book:

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd.
Pub. date: 5th Feb
Format: Hardcover
On Amazon UK: here.
Memories of Mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blonde locks she feels transformed. She's not Holly any more, she's Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She's older, more confident - the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head on. So begins a bittersweet, and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self, and unlocking the secrets of her past. "Solace of the Road" is a wonderful novel from one of the UK's most talented new writers for teenagers. Holly's story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.
This is the fourth book from UK author Siobhan Dowd, who sadly passed away in 2007. It was left written but un-published, and has garnered excellent press reviews in the UK so far. The cover was enough to peak my interest, and I look forward to reading the last remaining work of a much respected author

The read Carpet:

In the past month, several bloggers have been grappling with audio recording programs to create a segment for The Read Carpet Podcast. The intent was to provide a bi-weekly podcast that encompasses everything YA related from a range of people really passionate about the genre. Eventually we would like to host round table discussions, contests and author interviews.
It's a collaborative project where contributors speak about a certain area of the YA world. We are building a rotating roster of contributors that will have a monthly segment on anything from debut authors, well known texts, the relationship between music and YA, Australian authors and comics.
We are really excited about the possibilities for this podcast. Individuals already involved were people that I knew of from my newbie YA blogging experience. So if you would like to be involved, please contact me asap.
Episodes are available at http://thereadcarpet.podbean.com and you can reach Adele at Persnickety Snark or thereadpodcast@gmail.com
On the 30th of January, The Read Podcast was ready to share.

Blogger Spotlights:

· Katie will be spotlighted at booksaremylove.blogspot.com
· Amanda will be spotlighted at booksaremylove.blogspot.com
Right here in the newsletter we have an amazing Blogger! Everyone who is anyone has visited the Story Siren’s Blog! Stephanie W. interviewed her. Here is what she has to say:
I sort of fell into the whole reviewing thing. I saw some book blogs online (The Page Flipper and Teen Book Review) and I thought.... "hmmm I should/could do that." Like most reviewers, I love to read, obviously. I was always asked "what are you reading now," "what do you think about (insert title here)," "have you read (insert title here)" so I just decided to put my thoughts down, and so my blog was born.
Now when I started reviewing, I had no idea there was something called an ARC, I would have never thought to email an author, and the whole free books thing, who knew?! I started reviewing books I had bought and books I checked out at the library and my blog just sort of grew from there. I never expected to have people besides my friends and family visit. I'm actually a little intimidated about my friends and family knowing about it, so only a few do, I feel more comfortable with people I don't know!!
I just LOVE YA! I think maybe it might have something to do with the fact that there really wasn't many YA novels like there are now, when I was a teen. By the time I was the age to read YA, I was reading adult novels. To further explain my love of YA you can check out this post: http://www.thestorysiren.com/2009/01/truth-about-me-why-i-read-ya.html
My favorite thing about blogging is meeting authors and other book lovers! It fun to find people as enthusiastic as you are about books. I know I drive my family crazy talking about them all the time, they think I'm nuts at this point. And with my blog I've met so many people I know I wouldn't have otherwise, from all over the world. It is such a phenomenal thing!
Really traffic is all about networking and content. When I first started I made a MySpace page for my site. There are a lot of authors you can network with and a lot of readers! I also was active on bookish sites like RandomBuzzers forums, BookDivas forums, it's also a good idea to visit other bloggers and leave relevant comments on their posts. I almost always {visit?} a commenter's site. Try to update regularly too, obviously people aren't going to keep coming back if you haven't updated your content in a month.
I have a lot of blogging tips. Not that I'm an expert but I've picked up a few things along the way. Here is a quote from a guest post I did about tips for book bloggers:
An important aspect is the design of your site. Pick a color scheme that fits your voice! Make sure that your color scheme is easy to read and easy on the eyes. Don't make your font to small either. People won't bother reading your reviews if they can't see them! Try to make a header that portrays your site. It doesn't have to be fancy.
Music or not to music. I know there are a lot of bloggers out there that have music on their site and if you want it I'm all for it. I know that personally I get distracted by music when I try to read so I end up finding the music player right away and turning it off. So, maybe if you have a music player, make it an option to turn it on, instead of turning it off.
Don't Make commenting hard on your readers. There isn't anything more frustrating than having to jump through hoops when you want to leave a comment. I have a lot of comments and I've never had excessive trouble with spammers. Maybe once or twice every 8 months
or so. So, please give us a break and turn that verification crap off!
Get ideas from your neighbors. I know that I was one of the first if not the first blogger to have the "What I'm Reading Now" element with a picture of the book I'm currently reading, and also the "In My Reading Pile" slideshow. And personally I think it's cool that other bloggers started doing it! When I started having my theme element icons in my reviews, I had another fellow blogger ask me if she could use the idea as well, needless to say I was flattered that she liked the idea that much. So, why not ask your blogger neighbor if you can use their cool idea, what have you got to lose!
Try to make your blog stand out! Offer something that no one else has. My stand out element is my weekly Author Tales. Yes, it is a lot of working sometimes tracking down authors, asking if they would be willing and then of course actually getting the author post, but it is also a very critical component to my site!
Having a contest is always a sure way to draw visitors. Most of the time I supply the prizes in my contest, but every once in a while if you are lucky you can get an author to donate a book for a prize!
On writing reviews: There isn't a wrong or right way to write a review. You can try to be professional if you want or you can be more laid back. You just need to find the style that is right for you and not necessarily worry about what other people think. Write something that you would want to read, most of the time that's what your readers would want to read too. You don't have to write an essay to get your point across either, unless of course it takes you an adequate length to get your point across. Write the length that you are comfortable writing. Maybe you'll start out writing short reviews and then once you are more comfortable with your writing, your reviews can grow.
I'm going to stop there before I go overboard. Thanks for having me!
I’d really like to thank the Story Siren for taking the time to be interviewed.