Colette from ABG Reads Book Tours

Blog tours are a great way to discover new authors! I have a passion for books in all genres. I started the blog A Buckeye Girl Reads 3 years ago, and through that blog have worked with many authors. I discovered much to my surprise, that I loved helping them get their book noticed by as many people as possible.

Blog tours are a lot like matchmaking-it’s hard to find the perfect blog for the tour you are organizing. One of the most fun tours I did was for Lauren Clark with her book Stardust Summer. It was a month long tour, and did themed top ten lists that went along with setting in her book. My favorite top ten list she did was top ten list of drinks that all had summer/beach themes at Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books.

The great thing about organizing tours are the bloggers I’ve been able to meet. Two that have been instrumental in helping me out are Forget The Housework I’m Reading and Amys Booket List. Both have become friends and it’s been fun to watch their blogs grow. 

ABG Reads book tours specializes in Urban Fantasy, Romance, Chick Lit, and Young Adult genres. Authors I’ve been able to work with include Lauren Clark, author of Dancing Naked In Dixie, (Chick Lit) Amber Polo, author of The Shapeshifters Library Series, (Urban Fantasy) Dina Rae, author of Halo Of The Damned, (Horror) and Ellis Drake author of Tweet The Police. (Mystery) Blog tours are just a fun way to connect with new authors and new blogs! 

If you're interested in taking part in a blog tour, we're organizing a tour for The Letter by Sandra Owens, a Regency Romance about a betrayal that wasn’t that tore two lovers a part for eleven years.  We are looking for bloggers to host reviews, guest posts, author q/a, and excerpts. The tour is from July 29-August 15th. To join,  please go here.

Links: 

Website: ABG Reads Book Tours  | Twitter | Facebook|

REMINDER: Armchair BEA is NOW!!

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

Last month, I shared a little bit about Armchair BEA with you, but I am back today to tell you that it is happening right NOW!!!  (Disclaimer:  I come to you as a co-founder and organizer of this event, so I may be a bit biased on the awesomeness of this online convention!)

Over at Armchair BEA Central, you will find a large number of discussions going on, both on blogging and on books!  Twitter parties are starting tomorrow and going through Saturday night. We have guest articles from professionals in the field.  We have sneak peeks from Book Expo America courtesy of our on-site correspondents.  We even have a new feature of an Instagram Challenge.  And, I cannot forget to mention the more than 300 giveaways thanks to our amazing sponsors!!

It may all seem a bit overwhelming!  The exponential growth of this event, even from a planner's eyes is beyond believable at times!  Therefore, I leave you with a few pieces of advice . . .

1. Participate in as much or as little as you would like!  Maybe a Twitter party is all that you have time for.  Or, you would rather just connect on the bookish chatter via the genre daily topics.  Do what you can.  It is simply impossible to do it ALL! (Just remember that you must be a registered participant to be eligible for the giveaways!)
2. Remember, this is an online convention.  All the information, the discussions, and the links will still be there in the future.  We want you to use this as a resource all year long; not just during the week of the event.
3. HAVE FUN!  If it begins feeling like a chore, take a day to breath, and come back for more later! (See #2)

Now, head on over to Armchair BEA Central and check out all the excitement.  If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to share them in the comments or contact me directly at tiftalksbooks (at) gmail (dot) com.

Andi from Estella's Revenge

Andi from Estella's Revenge here! If we haven't met, it's a pleasure. If we have, "Hi, y'all!"

Please note: I am not really a pirate. Swearsies.  

I've been blogging for a little over eight years at my current location. While the blog started out as a catch-all of emotion and angst in graduate school, it eventually evolved to mostly books and reading with a hefty dose of other stuff I like: cooking, decor and home improvement, and anything else that strikes my fancy. Oh, and lots of pics of my child. 

I snagged my blog's name from one of my favorite novels, which I read at a formative age, Great Expectations. I tend to be a little on the sassy side, and Estella seemed like a good fit. As she mellowed over the years in the novel, I have, too. 

When it comes to books, my choices tend to vary. Contemporary fiction? Sure! Memoir? Why not! Pop science? Yes, please!

In general, I find that deadlines suck my soul away, so I've sloughed off most reading-related obligations in the last few years. I don't accept ARCs except in rare circumstances, I don't do blog tours, I don't set deadlines. However, I do wholeheartedly believe in and relish the blogging community. My buddy Heather and I founded the Estella Society, which has existed in multiple formats for nearly eight years. We also host Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon in April and October. 

And now that you're thoroughly asleep-falling...some offbeat questions. 

1. My earliest memory of reading...

When I was growing up, I stayed with my grandparents during the day while my mom was at work. My grandmother read to me before nap time every day, and I will be forever indebted to her for introducing me to a love of books and for never complaining (too much) about reading She-Ra books over and over and over and over again. 

2. My bookshelves are...

Full of unread books!!! I recently culled quite a bit. I have three bookcases in my house. One for books I would keep, re-read, or teach. And the other two are full of unread books. The ratio is not promising!

3. A book I like that no one else seems to...

This is one of those instances when others don't seem to dislike the book, they've just never heard of it!!! 

The Golems of Gotham, by Thane Rosenbaum, is offbeat and beautifully written. 

This is the story of Oliver Levin, a mainstream mystery writer who suddenly finds himself navigating a massive case of writer's block. His concerned 14-year-old daughter takes it upon herself to summon her grandparents back from the dead. They were Holocaust survivors who committed suicide, and Ariel's experiment calling forth the "Golems" unwittingly produces 8 ghosts--her grandparents, along with some of the most famous atrocity writers of all time....Primo Levi, Jean Amery, Paul Celan, Piotr Rawicz, Jerzy Kosinski, andTadeusz Borowski. What results is the chronicle of Oliver's attempt at navigating life as an inheritor of the Holocaust experience via his parents and his crippling fear of loss as a result of their suicide (and some other stuff that would ruin the book for you, so I'll stop there).

Thanks for having me here at Book Bloggers International! I hope to see you soon!

Shannon from River City Reading

Please welcome Shannon N., who blogs at River City Reading. Shannon's blog is know for literary fiction and non-fiction reviews.

Questions:

1.      NAME OF MY BOOK BLOG(S): River City Reading

2.      I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING SINCE: February, 2013 - I'm just a wee babe.

3.      GENRES COVERED MOST ON MY BLOG: I tend to focus on contemporary literary fiction, with the occasional bit of non-fiction. 

4.      FIRST BOOK I READ OVER AND OVER: Other than endlessly reading the Berenstain Bears books with my parents, the first book I remember really falling in love with was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Looking back, it's also one of the first books I can recall recommending to friends, likely with the same geeky fervor I sometimes have today.

5.      MY FAVORITE PLACE TO READ: My husband and I bought a great old house a few summers ago and have been working on getting it back to it's 1914 glory. The best part of it is the big front porch that looks out on the neighborhood; it's absolutely perfect for putting your feet up on the railing and spending time with a book.

6.      MY BOOKSHELVES ARE: Sad. This great old house did not come with great old built in bookshelves and does not lend itself well to configuration with modern bookcases. We're pretty limited to the two we have and they are overflowing, especially since I started the blog. Taking a peek at the top half of one shelf should give you a pretty accurate view of this sorry situation.

7.   A BOOK I LIKE THAT NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO: I know that not everyone disliked it, but after a while it started to feel like I was the only person who enjoyed Herman Koch's The DInner. I can definitely see why it divided readers, though, it needs a very specific audience.

8.   A BOOK I DON’T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE: I had a very hard time with Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I sobbed along with the best of us, but felt a bit manipulated by the novel in a way I haven't been able to properly put into words. 

9.   A BOOK THAT INTIMIDATES ME: Though I'm not sure if it's intimidation or not, I hate the fact that I have started Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall four times and never made it more than a third of the way through. Everything about the book points to me being head over heels in love with it and the fact that I can't finish it, when I very rarely leave books unfinished, drives me absolutely insane. 

10.   MY FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION: Though it's TV and not a movie, I'm so impressed by how well the Song of Ice and Fire series has been adapted to Game of Thrones so far. It's such a huge undertaking and could have gone so horribly wrong. Luckily, it's one of those cases where most of the changes have actually improved, or at least been necessary for, the TV series.

11.   MY BOOK BLOG STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD BECAUSE: Though I claim literary fiction as my main genre, I have pretty eclectic reading tastes and I'm most happy when I'm exploring as much as I can of what's being published. I think my blog offers a good mix, whether it's gushing about Game of Thrones or being upset no one told me about James Salter until I was 28.

Thank you for joining us today, Shannon! Remember to check out Shannon's blog and leave a comment or question.

Writing a Review Policy

A review policy is something you should consider having whether you accept review copies of books or not; but if you do accept them, a review policy is MANDATORY, especially in light of the FTC's new policies regarding online reviews and disclosure.

First of all, what is a review policy? It's simply a statement of where and how you get the books—or other items, if applicable—you review on your blog, and how you treat them. It can also include a statement for publicists on what you're accepting or not. Like giveaway policies, once this is posted you're legally obligated to follow it; but it's really easy to change, so just make sure your review policy is always up to date.

What should your review policy include? It must state whether or not you accept copies of books for review, how you disclose if a copy was provided, and what you do with the copies once you're finished with them (common opinion is that selling ARCs or even keeping them after you've reviewed them isn't kosher—you don't want to give the impression you're accepting payment for reviews). 

What else might a review policy include? Any additional information is more for the benefit of publicists, blog tour organizers, etc., who might be looking to send you a copy of a book. Some things you might want to mention: 

• What format of books will you accept? Only print or also eBooks? And if eBooks, what file types?
• What genres do you like to read? Anything you rabidly dislike?
• Can the person pitching their book 100% expect to see a review on your blog if you accept their book? If yes, in what time period?
• Are you going to be nice in your review if you dislike the book? If not, better say so. You should also mention if you don't review books you don't like.
• What's the best way to contact you?
• Do you respond to every review request, even if you're not interested?
• If you schedule reviews for specific dates, how much time do you need from when you receive the book to the time of the review? If you don't get the book in time, will you reschedule?
• Are you going to write about the book anywhere else? GoodReads, Amazon, another blog?

This really helps establish the tone of your relationship with people pitching books as well as their expectations, so you want to make sure you can do what you say you will in the review policy.

This may seem like a lot to think about it (and it is), but you can write short and sweet review policies that cover everything in one or two paragraphs. Here are some sample review policies if you want to see how other book bloggers approach them:

• My full disclosure page at Truth Beauty Freedom and Books: http://heidenkind.blogspot.com/p/full-disclosure.html
• Smart Bitches' FTC disclosure is short and sweet: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/disclaimer Meanwhile, their FAQ is really long: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/faq
• My Friend Amy's review policy is more inclusive: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/05/book-review-policy.html (I like where she says, "My blog is not your advertising space," I might steal that.)

And that's it! Pretty simple, right? Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

John Mutford from Book Mine Set

Please welcome John, who blogs at Book Mine Set. John's blog is know for Canadian literature!

Questions:

1.      NAME OF MY BOOK BLOG(S): The Book Mine Set

2.      I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING SINCE: Dec 2005

3.      GENRES COVERED MOST ON MY BLOG: I cover every genre close to equally I would say, but I tend to read mostly Canadian books.

4.      MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF READING: A local grocery store offered a weekly edition of the Charlie Brown's 'Cylopedias. Peanuts comics and science and social studies facts. What wasn't to love? I couldn't wait for the next week to come. I think they might still be somewhere in my parents' house.

5.      FIRST BOOK I READ OVER AND OVER: Charlotte's Web

6.      THE BOOK I HAVE RE-READ THE MOST TIMES: Bunnicula (as a child, parent and teacher)

7.      MY FAVORITE PLACE TO READ: It changes, but right now is my recliner in front of the book shelf (before anyone else wakes up).

8.      MY MUST-HAVE READING ACCESSORIES: Does a Kobo count as an accessory? It's a must have for traveling and for reading on the elliptical. Otherwise I just read real books, no accessories.

9.      MY BOOKSHELVES ARE: Colour coded. Almost enough to make me want to stay in this home forever. The one physical thing I own that would be hardest to give up.

10.   MY TBR LIST/PILE IS: Impossible to finish in this lifetime. For every book crossed off, I can easily fill it with 2 more.

11.   A BOOK THAT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE IN SOME WAY: The Very Hungry Caterpillar turned me on to reading in the first place. Stephen King's Christine introduced me more mature reading in grade 7. 

12.   A BOOK I LIKE THAT NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO: Tough question. I enjoyed David Bergen's The Age of Hope recently. I'm sure many others have as well, but when it competed in CBC Radio's Canada Reads contest earlier this year, I seemed to be the odd man out amongst the shows fans in defending that title. 

13.   A BOOK I DON’T LIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE: Ami McKay's The Birth House. (Though I could list many others. This is a much easier question than the one before.)

14.   A BOOK THAT INTIMIDATES ME: Canterbury Tales.

15.   IF I COULD GO TO ANY LITERARY DESTINATION I WOULD CHOOSE: Russia. I went through a russian lit phase and it's intrigued me ever since. Though most of it was quite dated titles and I'm sure Russia today looks nothing like it was described in those books. Still, what a legacy!

16.   MY FAVORITE NON-BOOKISH ACTIVITY: Bike riding.

17.   MY FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION: Lord of the Rings. Wasn't a huge fan of the books, but what I didn't like Peter Jackson removed!

18.   MY BOOK BLOG STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD BECAUSE: It's somewhat Canadian obsessed. Very eclectic tastes. 

19.   MY MUST-READ BLOGS (PLEASE LIMIT TO 3): Chrisbookarama The Eye of Loni's Storm An Adventure in Reading 

20.   MY READING PERSONALITY (http://www.bookbrowse.com/quiz/) IS: Eclectic Reader! (Which is hilariously accurate— I answered question #18 before doing the quiz.

Thank you for joining us today, John! Remember to check out John's blog and leave a comment or question.

Net Galley: How to Best Utilize This Resource

Net Galley is a website whose purpose is to promote and publicize upcoming titles.  It does that by offering e-book galleys to those who love to read and recommend books, including book bloggers. 

Signing up and keeping an account are completely free.  The galleys are also completely free as long as you share feedback with publishers.  You request a book that interests you.  If the publisher selects you, you download the galley right from Net Galley’s website onto your Kindle or to your computer. Here is information on how to transfer a download onto your reading device if you don't use a Kindle.

I personally download adult and YA titles to my Kindle and children’s books to my computer.  My Kindle is a Paperwhite and I need to look at the color illustrations in the picture books.  Plus I kind of like keeping them separate.  A few books won’t have downloads straight to Kindle, especially the some of the smaller publishers, but I haven’t run into that very often.

THE TYPES OF BOOKS YOU CAN ENJOY

Net Galley offers a ton of books from all kinds of publishers.  Mysteries, romance, young adult, craft & hobbies, health & body, cooking & wine, politics, arts & photography, literary fiction, comics & graphic novels, history, travel, and more. 

This is the catalog on Net Galley.  I tried to do a screen shot but it didn't work
out so I just took a photo of my screen. :P

The publishers that utilize Net Galley range from the big six to small presses.  Examples:

Algonquin Books

Bloomsbury USA

Chicago Review Press

HarperCollins

PublishNext

Scholastic

Wisdom Publications

The bigger publishing houses have all of their imprints on there, too.  So no matter if you prefer to grab the latest & greatest from Random House or offer your review services to indie presses, Net Galley has a wide variety.  You can even search by publisher and see what each has to offer.

TIPS FOR GETTING PICKED

Net Galley simply offers the service.  Getting selected to review a galley is strictly up to the publishers themselves.  I have heard from several bloggers, including long-standing bloggers, that they don’t often get selected.  Here are my tips and tricks to better your chances:

1.  PROFILE: Take a look at your profile.  Do you have all the information filled out?  Do you have a way for publishers to contact you?  Now read your bio.  You need to include specific info in it:

·        Where you review

·        How long you’ve been reviewing

·        What types of books you review

·        How many people your blog reaches, so include your number of subscriptions/followers on your blog, as well as on Twitter, and your blog’s FB page, if you have one.

·        If you are wanting to review for more than one blog, you need to include stats for each of them.

·        Finally, if you are active in the blogging community, tell them that.  They want to know how much influence you have on others, so tell them exactly how influential you are.  It’s okay to brag a little. 

2. PHOTO: If you were Random House, would you give a galley to Blogger A who has the above information plus a recent photo of themselves, or would you give it to Blogger B who has barely any info and no photo?  If you answered Blogger A, ding ding ding! You win!  Publishers want to be able to connect with you as much as your readers do.  Let them see who is writing those amazing reviews on your blog.  Give them something to remember.  A photo of your blog name is better than no photo, but a personal picture of yourself is the best.  No one can see it but the publishers and Net Galley staff.  Other members of Net Galley don’t have access to your profile.  It’s not a social network. 

3. FEEDBACK: Publishers check and see if you are giving feedback for the galleys you receive.  If you have received 50 galleys and have given feedback on 8, they aren’t going to waste their time with you more than likely.  The better your galley to feedback ratio, the more you will be selected as a reviewer.  

  Now, feedback consists of two things ideally: 

  One, you review it on your blog, and two, you submit the link to your review and any other comments to the publisher via Net Galley’s feedback form, which they provide for you.  It’s easy to find.  There is a button linking to the form right beside the buttons to download the books.  It’s easy-peasy.  You’re already submitting your review to Goodreads and Amazon and wherever else, so it’s just one more place to copy and paste it.  Plus, this one gets you even more advanced copies of titles.  It’s a win-win, really.

4. TIME MANAGEMENT:  I’m as bad as anyone for requesting more books than I really have any business doing.  Look at the publishing dates.  Often that will give you some idea of when they want their book reviewed by.  Net Galley will archive books at some point.  If you download a book into, say, Adobe Reader, you have a certain number of days to read it.  I think it is 55 days.  Different books will archive at different times, depending on how long the publisher wants to offer the book to reviewers. 

  Some books don’t have an archive date set, which is good because you have more time to read it and get your feedback in to the publishers.  Don’t request more books than you can review within the next month or so.  Go with optimism just in case they all say yes you can review our book.  You don’t want to have gone over just in case they say no and then end up with way too many on your plate.  Better to lowball it.

5. COUNTRY AVAILABILITY: Some publishers and imprints are looking for readers in specific countries.  If this is the case, it will say so at the top of the request page for the book. I, myself, have not noticed this before and requested a book that was only for U.K. or Australian readers and of course my request was denied because I didn’t read the thing like I should have.  So check this and make sure you aren’t requesting books that are not available to you simply based on geographic location.

6. APPROVAL PREFERENCES: In addition, some publishers have other specific approval preferences.  You can check these preferences on their publisher’s page, which you can reach via Browse Publishers.  Click on the name and it will give you the info.  Then you can search their titles if you fit their criteria.  This is especially good to do if you find yourself getting turned down by the same publisher a couple of times.

7.  DON’T STRESS: At the time of writing this, I have downloaded 99 galleys and given feedback on 65.  I have between 15 and 25 galleys that have recently been approved, including children’s books, which is why it is kind of high.  So I have a good ratio.  I have a fairly good size readership and I’m big into the blogging community.  Yet, sometimes I get turned down for books, too.  It happens.  They’ve fulfilled their quota.  I didn’t realize the book was for U.K. residents only.  So don’t stress out.  Just do these things listed above and the galleys will soon come rolling in.

If this is all kind of overwhelming or you would like some additional tips and tricks, Net Galley is actually offering a new program called the Net Galley Wellness Challenge.  It’s a 9-week challenge that started May 13th that will help you improve the “wellness” of your Net Galley experience, including free webinars.  I’m considering taking it just because you’re eligible for prizes. :D  I don’t know what it will be like but hey, it couldn’t hurt.