Tools of the Trade Day 7: How to make your blog more well known

How to Make Your Blog More Well Known:

1. Find blogs that you like and leave a comment on the post. The owner of the blog might go and comment back and possibly follow you.

2. Make blogger friends. That will obviously make you get more followers and you might be able to do fun features with them on your blogs.

3. Let yourself be known to the blogging world. There's a group on Goodreads called Blogger Lift where all bloggers can join and get more followers, learn more about blogging, and can meet more bloggers.

4. In Goodreads, there is about at least 1 thread about blogs in each group. You could post updates on your blog and links to your posts and maybe some people will check out your blog.

5. Follow a lot of blogs. There's about a 1 out of 10 chance that someone that you follow will follow you back or at least check out your blog too.

Clarissa is the fabulous blogger behind the book blog Books Equal Awesomeness. She's fairly new to the game but definitely knows what she's talking about so check out her blog here and read some of her reviews!

Tools of The Trade Week Day 6: Battling Blogger Burnout

Blogger Burnout

To begin the wind down part of  Tools of The Trade week I'm going to talk about the dreaded blogger burnout with you guys!

Every blogger has at least heard of the phenomenon and many bloggers have experienced it, myself included. It's horrible. (For those of you who don't know what it is, blogger burnout is when bloggers are overwhelmed and extremely stressed causing fatigue, frustration, and apathy from all that blogging requires. This all can often cause them to stop blogging all together for a prolonged amount of time.)

For me burnouts begin when posting and writing reviews begins to feel like work that I don't want to do rather than something fun to do in my spare time. This usually occurs when I have a long list of posts and reviews I need to complete and don't know where to begin. So I'm going to list some ways to prevent it and some things that can cause it.

Cause: making a list.

I love lists. I make tons of lists on sticky notes and plaster them everywhere when I am attempting to be productive or am starting to get overwhelmed. This often backfires, because when I am so stressed that I start making lists it is usually because I have so many things I want to get done. When I have a lot of things to get done then my list is really long and it overwhelms me even more just looking at it! Here is the thing, when I make lists I have to finish that list the day I make it so when I have a massive list of detailed posts to write there is no way that I can do it all in one day and it is crazy to feel like I have to finish them all, but that's how I feel when I write them all out. It gets so overwhelming that I procrastinate until I avoid posting all together, and thus the burnout begins.

Prevention: make a list

I know crazy right! I just said that making lists can cause burnouts and now I'm telling you to make a list to avoid a burnout! What? Allow me to elucidate (yay big words, I love big words!), so if you read what I said above then you should have noticed that what overwhelms me about the lists is the self pressure and mindset of them as well as the sheer size. I actually find lists quite helpful for trying to get things done. Here is how to make lists helpful rather than harmful.

-Make lists shorter and more achievable by organizing them by date, priority, subject, or other method.
Example: Today's Posts 
               -Feature A
               -Review X?
-Remind yourself that you don't have to do everything on your list today. If you do choose to make one big list (I really don't recommend that method, but hey, it's your life), you may decide to scribble a note reminding yourself of this at the bottom or deadlines by each individual item on your list (prioritize).

Prevention: make a calendar.

This is a great and more visual alternative to making a list. For a really long time I thought all those bloggers that actually planned out posts were certifiably insane. (Sorry guys, I was wrong. I loved you guys anyways though.) It helps me because I can put posts where I want them and see what things I have to do by what date and it keeps me from feeling like I have to get them all in one day, but I can still see all that I want to do and have it recorded so that I don't feel like I'll forget about a post idea.

Cause: all work and no play. 

As I mentioned above, burnout frequently happens when blogging begins to feel more like work than something that I enjoy and becomes a hassle. I think to hard about what posts I need to be doing and all the reviews that I should do, but maybe I'm not that excited to do. If I'm not excited about the things I need to do and I have a lot of things I need to do but don't want to do, then I get into this "Eww, this is not fun and it feels like work and it's just such a pain!" funk/mood. That usually ends up with me choosing to not post because I have no desire to do seemingly unnecessary gross work.

Prevention: do something fun!

If it begins to feel like work and your not excited about any of your posts then take a step back and really look at the posts you are planning on and ask yourself if you really need to do them. If you actually have to do them, that's fine, but sometimes you'll find that you are only posting them because you feel obligated to when there is actually no reason that you should have to. If the latter is the case then toss those gross work-ish posts and brainstorm some fun ones that you can get really excited about. If you really do have to do the work posts, realize that there is no reason you can't sprinkle in some fun discussions or games, or something else you're excited about in between! (If you want. If additional posts stress you out even more then don't even go there, just leave it be, push through and change some other things and try other methods!)

Cause: the "have to" feeling.

I mentioned this when I talked about work posts, feeling or thinking that you have to review everything you read or every book you mention on Goodreads, your blog, Google+, or other media can end badly. Let's face it there reviews we just don't want to write. Whether it is because we don't feel like we have enough to say about a book, we felt too neutral about it, or while it may have been a very entertaining book, we can't think of how to analyze it in any amount of detail, there will always be reviews that we just don't want to do.

Prevention: realize that you DON'T have to review every book.

For a long time I felt like I had to review every single book, I touched and I would be so upset with myself if I missed a review or couldn't write a good one for a book. I've learned, and I've gotten over that. Sure there are some books that we need to review because we were given it in exchange for  a review, but there are lots more books that we got on our own time that we have no obligation to review if we don't want to or don't have time to. Just because you mention it doesn't mean that you have to review it.

Prevention: mini reviews.

You guys have read my Short and Sweet reviews and lots of other bloggers have their own similar version of the same thing. These mini, paragraph long reviews, are one way I deal with having a huge list of books that I want and need to review. They are fast and easy and I can check several reviews off my list at once by doing them this way, since it takes so much less time than a full review.

Prevention: fall in love again.

It's easy to get so caught up in blogging and life that we forget to do the little things that we really love and what got us blogging in the first place. Sometimes it all takes over and we don't get time to read or do whatever else. Schedule in time to read, take a break for a few days a week, or set aside some time just for reading or doing those little things. (You can (should try to) do this without completely stopping blogging!) Fall in love with your favorite activities all over again!

Prevention: ask for help! Reach out!

I absolutely cannot stress this one enough. The other things I listed are all pretty basic and are things many people already do. This one though is something I have trouble with remembering to do and that I think most people don't think about. For a lot of bloggers one of their favorite parts of blogging is the community, how close-knit, helpful, loving, welcoming, and accepting other bloggers are (followers too! I love you guys!). No one minds if you reach out to them and ask for help, or request a guest post or invite them to co-host, or do something else on your blog, or for you. Catherine @ Stray Imaginations has been a life saver for me this year. When I go on trips she is always happy to thrown the occasional post up on my blog so that my followers don't get bored, I can relax, and my blog continues to show up regularly in all my followers feeds. Whether you ask a fellow blogger to do a guest post, help you host and organize a feature or event, or basic maintenance  like how to format something, work a program, or use HTML, every blogger I've ever met has been happy to help with whatever I need if they can! It is amazing and it can really help take some stress off! I don't know a single blogger that would be upset or weirded-out that someone asked for their help (it is actually pretty exciting to most bloggers that you respected them enough to think that they could help you! It means a lot to them too!). Don't be scared to contact other bloggers for help (or just for fun)! It is a big part of keeping the blogging world spinning and spinning happily at that. I am always happy to help in anyway I can and you can always reach me on Goodreads, Facebook, or e-mail.

Briana is a high school student obsessed with reading and writing. She started this blog a few years ago and enjoys the fact that there is always more to learn. She is working on accepting her mistakes and the fact that she'll never know everything and is currently drafting a plan for world domination. If you have any suggestions on how she could accomplish this, or just want to chat about books and other things, go ahead and hit her up! She'd love nothing more than to talk with you...except maybe ruling the world. In the meantime you can email her or message her on Goodreads, Twitter, or Facebook!

Tools of The Trade Day 5: All About ARCs

What are ARCs? 
ARC stands for Advance Readers Copy. ARCs are copies of books that aren't yet released. Publishers typically use them as marketing tools.

What do you need to get ARCs?
Each publishing company has their own specific guidelines as to who they allow to get ARCs, but, in the blogging world, most publishers use the following as guidelines:
• The blog has been up and running for 6+ months
• The blog has a decent amount of followers and page views (500+ is preferred by most publishers, but remember that every publishing house has their own guidelines)
• Reviews are honest and informative
• There are comments on your posts

So, if you fulfill those requirements, how do you get ARCs? 
Netgalley and Edelweiss are two of the most common ways to get ARCs. You can browse through a catalog of books available on these sites, and request whichever interest you. If you're approved, you will be given a digital copy of the ARC to read and review.

If you want a physical copy of an ARC, typically you email the publishers with your request. Make sure to state your name, your shipping address, the ARC you're requesting, your blog statistics, and why you're interested in that particular book.

For your convince, I've compiled a list of some of the more popular publishers with the email you should contact them at for ARC requests.

• HarperCollins
• Macmillan -> Contact information is listed - by imprint - here.
• Simon & Shuster
• Scholastic 
• Bloomsbury 

If your book is published by a publisher not on this list, you can find the person you need to email your request to by going to that publisher's website, finding the "Contact Us" page, and looking for the "publicity contact."

What happens now? 
After you've sent a request to a publisher via email or requested a digital title via Netgalley / Edelweiss, one of three things will happen:
1). You'll get a reply saying your copy is on it's way. (Or, if you requested it digitally, you'll be approved.)
2). You'll get a reply saying you can't get a copy because there aren't any left / you don't have enough followers / etc. (Or, if you requested it digitally, you'll be declined).
3). You don't get any response at all.

If you get declined, don't give up! Work on making your blog better and keep trying. ARCs - both digital and physical - are not free to make, so publishers have to be relatively limited with who they allow to get them :)

Zoe is a talented young blogger who blogs on both The Infinite to-read Shelf and Deadly Darlings Death-Defying Reviews. She is passionate about reading and loves YA books and reading thought provoking books. Her favorite part about blogging is meeting other bloggers and people that share her love for reading so feel free to leave a link to your blog below!

Tools of The Trade Day 4: 9 Things You Need to Know About Interacting with Authors

9 Things You Need to Know When Interacting With Authors

Before I was a blogger, I was an awkward fangirl. I would kind of freak out when I met my favorite authors. One time, I even cried. Yeah, that’s me. I was a freshman in college and I ended up crying at Francine Rivers’ book signing (not like sobbing, but I got choked up and teary-eyed) just because her books meant so much to me.
Telling an author how much their books have impacted you is NOT a bad thing, far from it. They need to know how much their work has affected their readers, but you also need to make sure that you don’t make them feel weird or awkward as well, because no one likes being that guy.
So I’m going to give you a few reminders when you meet authors. I know, I know, you’re probably saying, “Who does this chick think she is? An expert on meeting authors?” Well, not really. I’m just a girl who interacts with a lot of authors. Most of the times it’s through social media like Twitter, Goodreads, and email, but I do have some experience with author signings and meeting authors personally.
Over the last six months, Addison and I have become really good friends with two authors: Julie Murphy, author of Side Effects May Vary. She lives in North Texas and attends Irving Public Library events all the time, so we became friends through those events and doing various promotional posts for her book. She’s a super person! Addison and I both adore her spunk and witty personality and overall hilarity. We also became friends with Martina Boone, author of Compulsion (which will be released in October). I became friends with her after reading her ARC. I told Martina that I absolutely loved the story, and through that, I became part of her Street Team and other promotional groups. Obviously, as a blogger it is what we can do for the authors, but through that, you become friends with these people. Yes, they create the most astounding worlds and heart racing characters, but they are still people, and they love getting to know fellow book-lovers.

So here are my reminders to people who interact with authors:

1. Shake their hand. 
Instead of overflowing with fangirl words and begging for your book to be signed, shake their hand. That goes a lot further than a signed book in my opinion. Also, authors aren’t used to shaking hands with every one of their readers because they are busy writing signatures, but when you make a point to actual shake their hand, that takes the author out of the normal monotony of a signing.

2. Don’t completely go all fangirl crazy. 
I can’t imagine how many John Green fans have gone up to him and just started sobbing uncontrollably. Yes, sometimes that’s just the way your body reacts, but if you can’t express to him in words what you think about his books, write it down in a letter and give it to him at the signing so he can read it later. That will last much longer than his memory of a sobbing teenager. That doesn’t only go for John Green but any other author that might make you react in such a way.

3. Congratulate them. 
If they are an award winning author, congratulate them on their hard work. Because yes, it was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into the writing of their book, and those who are talented enough to win awards like the Michael Printz, William C. Morris, Newberry, etc., should be congratulated for a job well done.

4. Recommend a book you think they would like. 
They read too! Obviously say that you enjoyed their book, but make sure to tell them another book you enjoyed after reading theirs.

5. Whatever you do, do not threaten them. 
We know the stories of people who faux threaten authors about hunting them down if they decide to kill a certain character. At almost every panel I’ve attended, at least one of them has a story like that. It makes them feel uncomfortable, so for Christ’s sake, don’t threaten them.

The following reminders are for bloggers:

6. DON’T shove your blog down their throats. 
I’ve seen a few people do this, and it makes me cringe. The authors are always gracious, but you can see the small grimace on their face when this happens. We are there to help them, not help ourselves. Obviously, it should be an equal partnership, but make sure you are professional. Whenever I meet an author, I give them my card, but I wait until after they’ve signed my book and we’ve chatted a bit. I normally tell them that I would be willing to promote their book if they find they need extra promotional events, and that’s it! I don’t say anything else (unless I received an ARC from the publisher). But don’t make them want to throw your card away after meeting you.

7. When emailing authors, be professional. 
Tell them who you are and a short description of your blog or at the event you met them at, then tell them what you can do for them. If you want an interview with an author, ask and add the questions as an attachment so that they can do it quickly and not have to email you back a dozen times. It’s not impertinent, it’s preemptive. However, give them a way out, such as saying that you understand they are very busy because they may not have time to actually answer questions. Be kind, be gracious, and be professional. This also goes for requesting ARCs from publishers (though that would create an even longer list of dos and don’ts).

8. When authors give you promotional items, give them out! 
If you get an ARC of a book, don’t hoard it, allow people to borrow it freely. It was given to you freely, and you should freely allow others to take part in the joy of the ARC (unless they are eARCs -that’s something completely different). If they give you bookmarks or bookplates, give them out in your giveaway boxes, or maybe give a few to the local library if you really have a bunch. Any publicity is good publicity.

9. Overall, be kind, be courteous, and be generous.
No one likes a self-entitled person.

Don’t overthink this list, because no one wants to be a stick-in-the-mud, but these are valid points that you should think about before attending events. Be true to yourself when you meet authors. They are just people after all who just happen to write stories that you love. Treat them like you would a normal person and everything will turn out all right.

My name is Amanda. I run a blog called Of Spectacles and Books along with my co-blogger Addison. Both of us are in grad school getting our Masters in Creative Writing, but between crazy classes and studying and living out our adventures, we devour YA books. We sip them in the mornings along with a big cup of coffee and other times we gobble them up in the kitchen right next to our salads. But mostly we just love reading and discussing books with other book-lovers.

Tools of The Trade Week Day 3: The Art of Starting a Review (Part Two

The Art of Starting a Review (Part Two)

First sentences are always the hardest. Whether you are saying hello to a stranger or writing a novel, finding the right words to get everything rolling is the most difficult part of the entire project. Writing a book review is no different.

This is why, a few months ago, I wrote a post entitled "The Art of Starting a Review," sharing a few ideas for review starters that I tend to use. When Briana contacted me about taking part in a blog tips-and-tricks feature, I decided to make another post offering more ideas. If you are battling your brain to develop a fantastic first sentence, here are some ideas that could help.

1. Put it in someone else's words. If you're having trouble thinking of a catchy opener, why not borrow from someone else? You can quote an important line from the book and then explain its significance (in a non-spoilery way, of course). Or you can repeat a popular idea or saying that the story centers on and analyze the story's success in dealing with the topic. Example reviews from me: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody, Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown

2. What you see's not what you get. If a book turns out to be dramatically different than its cover or synopsis would indicate, I often start out my review by pointing out the misleading element and discussing the way it skewed my expectations. It is often easier to talk about what a book is NOT rather than what it is, and describing your preconceptions provides the perfect segue into your thoughts on the book itself. Example review from me: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

3. All tied up. What did you love more than anything else about the book you are reviewing? Write an opening paragraph about that element, followed by paragraphs about how your favorite thing affected other aspects of the story. Ask yourself, "How does X affect Y?" and find a way to tie each point back to that first paragraph. Example review from me: Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Good luck with your next book review. I am sure it will be fantastic.

Emily is a teenager who, feeling that her fellow high school students could not adequately understand her passion for books, turned to book blogging as a way to discuss literature with other YA readers. She fills her spare time by being a choir kid and an amateur journalist, organizing everything in sight, running on the treadmill, talking like a Londoner, eating weird health foods that no one else likes, wearing shirts made of lace, and spending time with family and friends. Emily tries to avoid encounters with bugs, but she loves to meet humans (this means you) and would therefore be ecstatic if you visited her book blog or talked to her on Twitter.

Tools of The Trade Day 2: How to Make a Header (for Blogger)

How to Make a Header (for Blogger)

I LOVE making headers for my blog (and blog buttons but that’s another post for another day ;)). It’s just a really fun way of using creativity and artistic-ness and bringing what I imagine for my blog to something that actually exists. Or sometimes it ends up looking like I used the crayon tool on Paint and didn't spend two hours on it.  At this point, no. No, it isn't fun. But the rest of the time it is. *grins*

I know a lot of people are at a loss as to how they can make a header that looks good for their blog. So I’m going to teach you a few steps and tips, and pretty soon you’ll be making your own gorgeous headers. Easy peazy lemon squeazy!

First of all, let me just say that for those of you who don’t really want to put that much time and effort into creating a design for your blog, there are two websites you need to know about:

~Hot Bliggity Blog (Free backgrounds in three sizes: standard, widened, and full-width.)

~Shabby Blogs (Free EVERYTHING. I’m serious. Backgrounds, headers, buttons, etc.)

And if you still want to dive into the scary world of header creation… welcome to the dark side. Mwahaha. Just kidding, but really, kudos to you and let’s get started. For the purpose of this tutorial, I’m going to use Ninja Reader as the blog name. If a book blog already has that name, sorry. It wasn't intentional. Because let’s face it, if I knew there was a blog called Ninja Reader, I’d be all over it. ;)

Step 1: Find your header size.

This is really important. While it doesn't matter how tall your header is (in theory), it has to be a certain width/length.

You find it by going to your Blogger homepage, clicking on your blog name, and going to LAYOUT.

Once you’re on the Layout page ( you've probably been there a lot already) you need to click Edit in the Header section which I have marked in red with extreme precision.

A smaller window will pop up that looks like this:

Underlined in red, is the width of the header area—920 pixels. In order to find this, you’ll have to remove your current header. Don’t worry though, once you've checked for the width of the header you can click CANCEL and everything is exactly the same as it was before you made the change.

Note: You probably notice the green rectangle around “Instead of titled and description.” This option needs to be selected when you’re using a header you've created for your blog.

Step 2: Brainstorm.

Now that we know that the header space is 920 pixels wide, we can leave headache-inducing parts of the header making process for a little while and have fun. Brainstorm! What kind of look do you want your blog to have? There is an amazing rainbow of possibilities—professional, artsy, cute, vintage, etc.

You need to decide what you want for your blog. In the case of my imaginary blog, Ninja Reader, I’m going to go with a slightly abstract look while also tying into the Asian aspects that the word “ninja” brings to mind. I also decide that I’m going make the background clear (I’ll explain that later) and just make the header pop with awesome font and color accents.

Obviously, you’re not going to get it exactly the way you want it on your first try. Maybe you won’t like the colors, maybe you’ll decide that you don’t want professional; you want artsy. It’s a given that you might have to make tweaks. Therefore, even though I put the brainstorming step here, brainstorming is going to happen all throughout the whole process.

Step 3: Start creating your masterpiece.

Now I know what I want, so…uh….what do I do now?
First, I go to a very handy website called PicMonkey.com because I need to make a blank to use as my canvas.
There will be four icons up front and center. Click on the Design one.

This brings up a page that’s possibly going to make you freak out. Don’t freak out. You've got this. *grins*

You’ll automatically be in the first section that kind of looks like a gray square (circles above in red) as soon as the page loads. Then click on Resize which is also circled in red. I like red.

As you can see from my awesome artwork, the number on the left is the width in pixels and the number on the right is the height in pixels. The option “Keep proportions” will also automatically be selected. We don’t want that since that makes our header square. So unselect that.

Remember the width we found near the beginning? Put 920 in the left square and, because I don’t want my header to be too tall or too skinny, I put 300 in the right square. I've chosen for my header to be 300 pixels tall but you can adjust this measurement to whatever you want. Don’t forget to hit Apply!

Now that you have your canvas the right size, we need to change the background to transparent like we talked about before.

As you can see, it will be in the same section as the Resize option. Instead, though, you’ll click on Canvas Color. 

Click the Transparent option and leave everything else alone.

The checkered grey and white background means that my header space is now transparent. It’s really important to remember that the same is true for images found through Google or any other search engine. If they have this background or a similar one like this:

Then only the image will show when used (not a white background). If possible, these are the images you want to find to use on your header. They will fit seamlessly into your header whether the background is transparent or orange or black or any other color.
Now that we’re ready for application of awesomeness to our header, we need to first choose a font for our blog title. You can find the fonts by clicking on this:

There are an amazing variety of fonts for you to choose from and most of them are completely free. For our example blog, I choose the font Nightbird.

Then I’m off to find images to incorporate into the design. When you do this, you’re going to have to save the image to your computer in order to load it onto PicMonkey.

To load the picture, you have to click on the butterfly option from the menu of icons. When you’ve done that, click on the ‘Your Own’ button.

Find the image (you can only choose one at a time). Once you’ve selected it, it will appear on your header. You can adjust size, color, and rotate it.

Note: A problem that might come up is that your image is over your blog title and you want it to be behind it. If so, all you have to do is right click on the image and choose the Send to back option. Now you’re all set. 

Have fun with it! This is my favorite part of the whole process. Tweak this all you want.

On my personal blog I don’t have a tagline, but for this blog I decide, “Hmm, I think a tagline would look cool.” Of course, following the whole coolness of ninjas. ;)

I choose to make up my own instead of using a quote or something like that and come up with “Read, Review, Ninja Kick.” (It stinks I know. But it’s kick butt.)
This is what my header looks like now…

Push save. After you do that, this page will come up.

PicMonkey will automatically have the file named ‘Untitled’. In the part circled in red, you can change the name to whatever you want. Make sure you’ll be able to remember it easily though. Otherwise, you’ll NEVER be able to find it if you’re like me and have a gazillion downloaded files.

Now you have two options. Either you can choose Save to my computer which will place the file in your Pictures folder (most likely) or you can choose the Download it link (in blue) at the bottom left-hand corner. It’s completely up to you and personal preference.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CREATED YOUR OWN HEADER. *cheers* I knew you could do it.
Just for fun, and because I want to see the result of my work (hehe), I’m going to try it out on a nameless blog I keep to test out designs.

And there it is.

What do you think? Are there any other questions you have that I didn’t cover?

Skylar Finn is the pen name of a recent high school graduate (who never gets tired of saying she's graduated). Her real name is top secret because she's secretly a spy. That does spy stuff. Secretly. When she's not spying, she blogs about books, life, and chocolate at Life of a Random. Skylar loves talking with bookworms about everything so don't be shy. She's probably weirder than you anyways.

Tools of The Trade Week, Day 1: Five Things You Should Learn From Other Bloggers

Five Things You Should Learn From Other Bloggers

Hello, Reader, Writer, Critic subjects! You might remember me from my failed kingdom takeover from last spring, and your *cough* gracious leader was still kind enough to let me back so long as I stopped referring to you as peasants (she’s just that nice.) But if you don’t remember, my name is Catherine and I venture to you from the lands of Stray Imaginations, a prosperous blog from across the bay.

And I’m here to offer you five pieces of wisdom.

First, a disclaimer: I am a budding leader, still reeling from the transition of princess to queen. (read: I am a beginner and know almost nothing.) This became a problem when I promised Briana a guest post meant to teach her peas…I mean, subjects…how to thrive in blogging themselves—because, you know, it might be a bit more time until I’ve reached the status of ruling a thriving blog.

Then, a realization: Execution might be a vital aspect, but learning is important, too.

So, without further ado: Five Things You Should Learn From Other Bloggers:

1) What’s Interesting

When you begin reading blogs—namely, a lot of blogs, as it often happens—you usually don’t end up reading all the posts every day. That would be exhausting. Some posts just aren’t interesting to you. Some posts just aren’t interesting, period. If you find you’re skipping a certain kind of post, or style, or topic—and similarly important, other people aren’t responding, either—it’d probably be smart for you to shy away from writing those posts yourself.

2) What options are available

Blogger. Wordpress. Goodreads. Booklikes. Twitter. Pinterest. Top Ten Tuesday. Waiting on Wednesday. Stacking the Shelves. Netgalley. Edelweiss.  Hardcovers. Paperbacks, E-books. Basically, THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS. Even if you don’t do everything—which you shouldn’t, because again: exhausting—it’s important to know what’s out there and what will work for you.

3) What’s aesthetically pleasing

DESIGN! I love design, even if I have recently been struggling to get my own sorted out. If you head over to my blog anytime around the date this post is published, you’ll see it’s under some major construction (with scattered elements from my old and new design alike.) My new reveal probably won’t be perfect, but I do think it’ll be an improvement. With this go around, I paid more attention to other blogs and made sure to notice which aspects affected my first impressions. (Some Google research on design principles helped, too.) If, like me, you’re too proud or cheap or controlling to pay someone else to do your re-design, pay attention. What designs made you want to stick around, read more, and get to know a new blogger?

4) How to do certain things

Bloggers are awesome (obviously,) and some are even so awesome that they’ll tell the rest of us how certain aspects work, like commenting systems or blog buttons or basic html. I even follow a couple blogs that specifically post tips and tutorials, which is important if you’re a part of the category I described above. I’ve found this kind of information can be really useful. Plus, there are cool people like Briana who set up whole events to aide bloggers in their treacherous plights. I recommend starting a bookmark folder with important articles or tutorials for later use. (You might thank yourself later.)

5) What you like

Lastly, most importantly: Write what you enjoy. That’s how you have fun, and that’s how you connect with people similar to you. Sounds simple enough, right?

Like I said before, I’m nowhere near escaping beginner status. Learning is definitely a lengthy, on-going process, but it’ll hopefully be worth it in the long run. Either way, I’ll always have the blogosphere to thank.

(Speaking of which, thank you for having me, Briana!)

Lastly, some questions: How much do you pay attention to what other bloggers do? How does this influence your choices? What important lessons have you learned?

Happy August,

Catherine is a book nerd, word lover, and obsessive daydreamer. You could call her what she really is—a reader, a writer, and a blogger—or you could say she's a paranormal creature/tribute/wizard/alien/Divergent/revolutionary who will one day save the world, preferably while still a teenager (She did say she liked to dream, didn’t she?)

Tips for Authors

Now I am not necessarily the most qualified person ever to be giving advice to authors, but for some strange reason I found my self determined to give my two cents. So here is a list of a few tips for authors everywhere. (In no particular order.)




1) Put yourself and your book on Goodreads!


Most bloggers and book-lovers use Goodreads for everything book related. Goodreads recommends books, and puts out newsletters, and allows users to see what other people thought about a book and what their specific friends thought about various books. If your book is on there it will gets plenty of publicity and promotion, gaining you more readers! Personally, I go on Goodreads pretty much every day and when ever I get a new book or am looking for something to read that is the first place I go to tell friends what I am reading and what I think of it or to search for something new that I love. Goodreads provides so many opportunities for authors and readers and bloggers love it!

2) Bloggers. 

I know this may sound a little biased coming from a blogger, but hear me out. Bloggers are going to be your best friends. Or at least they should be. Bloggers will be your biggest fans and worst critics. What they think of your books is going to be put out there for the whole world to see and lots of readers love reading blogs to get a feel for the books that are out there. So, getting bloggers to read your books or interview you or connect with you in someway and put the word out about you and your books is going to be very helpful to you. Even if they review your book and they end up giving it one star and ranting about how much they disliked it, they got people to think about and discuss your book, and they usually explain why they didn't like it, telling you what you need to work on to make your future books better! Bloggers can be a bit of a double edged sword, but in the end if you find the good ones and befriend them you'll be better off.

3) Put yourself out there and be accessible! 

I love interviewing authors, learning about them, and keeping up on what is going on with their books and what new stuff they are coming up with! So, it is super frustrating to me when they don't really have a website or a blog or something similar separate from a Facebook, Twitter, or other social media account, and when it is hard to contact them or find the information to contact them. Your readers and fans want to follow what is happening. Giving them a way to do this is super important not just because they want to know but also because it makes it hard to forget about you between books or events. Not everyone has accounts on every social media site, even the big ones like Facebook and Twitter. A website or blog of your own in addition provides an open, easily accessible way to follow you, without requiring followers to have an account. Providing some way to contact you is a big thing. Readers, fans, bloggers, they are all going to want to ask you questions, ask to interview you, tell you how much they loved your book ect. Giving them some way to contact you is practically a necessity. It allows your fans to connect with you and vice versa. This connection will provide many opportunities for both sides and can be fun. Remember to be safe about what information you put out there and how you use it ect. though! The internet is fabulous but it also means that we have to remember to be safe!

4) Respond!

I know this one can be hard for any big name authors out there, but it is still super important that to at least try. Depending on how popular or famous you and your book are you will get varying amounts of feedback, questions, comments, ect. from readers and fans. This is wonderful, but I am sure it can be overwhelming and daunting as well when you already have a full and busy life. However, I can't stress enough how important it is to try to respond to as many of the comments, emails, letters, ect. you receive. It means SO much to the people that contacted you. I have contacted countless authors for interviews and some reply, while others don't. I have a lot more respect for those that do respond even if it is way after I contact them, or if it is just a pre-set email response to tell me thanks for contacting them and that they are very busy right now. I never forget how busy their lives are so I don't blame them when they don't respond. When authors do respond though it means a lot because I know that they took time out of their very very busy lives to do so! When someone contacts you try your hardest to get them some kind of response even if it is short because it will mean a lot to them. This is your opportunity to give something back to your fans and readers who have done so much for you!

5) Be creative! Avoid too many cliches.

This one is a bit subjective. Personally, cliches annoy me and from what I have heard from most of my book obsessed friends, cliches tend to drive them insane too. Some times it's ok to throw one or two in but be careful. Cliches annoy me because I have heard them a thousand times and I am reading your book to hear YOUR words and see how YOU describe things not hear someone else's words that I hear all the time. This is your chance to let your creativity shine! Break out of the box, stop using cliches and show readers what YOU can do with words!

6) "Love triangles" are the literary equivalent of the Bermuda triangle.

I know, I know, you've heard it before, but your love triangle is an exception, and every YA book has one. The Hunger Games has one and people everywhere still love it. Love triangles don't take away from the story or anything. Well, I beg to differ. This is another subjective one I know, and it also depends on the book. There have been exceptions and in some cases I have loved the addition of the love triangle, but it is tricky. It is rarely done right or well enough that I feel that way. Lots and lots of bloggers and readers rant about the awful love triangle in this book or that book or just how much they hate love triangles in general. So I have no idea why they are everywhere. I am not telling you to never write anything with a love triangle, I am simply telling you to write it carefully and make sure it actually helps the story or makes it better, because love triangles are like the Bermuda triangle.

7) Be careful when it comes to criticism and feedback. 

This seems like it should be a bit obvious, but I feel the need to address it anyways. Many authors will not read reviews of their books so that peoples's subjective opinions do not affect them. However, I don't know that this is necessarily the best way to go. Constructive criticism can be very helpful, not just to authors, but to everyone, but sometimes people don't always offer constructive criticism. Being able to take in criticism (constructive or otherwise) and feedback and then only listen to or only use the helpful and constructive information is a great life skill for everyone. It can be hard to listen to feedback and criticism when it is aimed at things we love and worked hard on but if we handle it carefully and well we can take a lot away from it and make things better. However, there are many times when the opinions and criticism people are offering are not helpful and aren't necessarily meant to be. Sometimes people can be rude and cruel and simply bash our work rather than offer ways to improve. In these cases we need to simply tune them out and move on.

8) Be unique! Write outside the box.

Yet again, this seems like it should be rather obvious, but for authors it can be hard. Pressure comes from every direction to write what you know, or write to what's popular right now, so that you sell lots of books, but I personally disagree with this line of thinking. I think it is time to "write outside the box" people like me that read all the time get tired of reading the same thing over and over again, so when we see something new that isn't like anything else on the shelves we are often eager to give it a try! As far as writing what you know, well I can see what they are saying and I can see how that may be beneficial in some cases, but if every author followed that rule there would be no fantasy! We wouldn't have these books that transport us to other worlds, that once only existed in an authors mind but now have been brought to life on the page! We wouldn't have stories about things like dragons or life  in galaxies with crazy names, or what life is like 100 years from now when the sun crashed into the earth! There wouldn't be much out there reading wise and it would all be the same. Writing and being creative is your chance to stand out, invent things, create, do what you want! If your book is unique it is sure to grab peoples attention, and pique their curiosity.

9) Sometimes one book is enough.

This sounds harsh, I know. I'm not telling you to stop writing all together after writing one book. Keep writing! Never stop! Stop and think before deciding if you need a sequel for your book, or a slew of books to fallow it making it a series or a trilogy. Sometimes one book is enough. Standalones are amazing! Don't get me wrong, I love trilogies, sagas, and series just as much as the next person, but sometimes the books that fallow the first book are a drag. Sometimes, all of the problems were solved in the first book and as much as I may love the characters, I don't really need another fallow up book. In fact, sometimes trying to add books to fallow a first book or make a series can take away from the first book. So just take a moment to think about whether or not your first book allows room for a fallow up book or books or if it would be better off on it's own.

10) T.M.I.

Sometimes your readers don't need to know every little detail. Describing things like the setting, characters, clothing, ect. is very important and makes stories more real, but sometimes you don't need to tell us everything. Give just enough of a description that people get the idea but not enough that they get bored. You can do a lot with a few strong adjectives, you don't need to go on and on for a paragraph of more describing something. Use things like strong word choice to make the imagery vivid rather than relying on the length and detail of your description.

Well that was my two cents. I hope you enjoyed, found it helpful, or thought provoking. Do you have any advice for readers? Or maybe you have some tips for bloggers or readers? I would love to here all your thoughts in the comments below!

On another note, the answers to the Valentines/Dooms day game have been posted on my Facebook  page. I will put the answers up here soon!