The BEA 2011 is over, so we will go back to normal programming of book reviews next week. This post is not completely thought out, I am running on empty and need a triple espresso to wake up.. but here goes.



Today, the Armchair BEA Panel asks us to Blog about Blogging! There is a Book Blogger Convention today in NYC (come to Dallas!!) so the theme seems right.
There were lots of writing prompts, like how to social network, how to balance reality from your online life, tips on technique, etc.

One of those prompts was "a rule list":

Create a "rule list" of things you should and shouldn't be doing on a book blog.


That stuck out for me.. because we blog for us. We blog because we want to. We do not get paid to blog. We do not have to cater to one particular genre if we do not want to. We do not have to post if we don't want to. Lots of people have their own niche's and their own set of general do's and will not do's for their own life. You should set your own as you see fit, and never let anyone else set boundaries for you. Barring explicit and offensive/prejudicial content, you should aim high! Or aim just as you see fit. Your blog is your creation and you should let it be a reflection of yourself, if you want it to.

My personal set of rules:
Be happy.
Enjoy the experience.
Only accept review books that I am extremely interested in.
Converse with other bloggers as time permits.
Cultivate relationships with favorite publishers.
Make my reviews informative and interesting, while using spell-check.
*Stay away from reviewing the same books that every one is reviewing. *

That last one is a toughie and I'm trying to move in that direction as the summer comes along. Even though blog tours can be fun for the authors, I have to wonder how many times we really want to see the same book over and over and over again. The plus is most of the time there are giveaways that go along with the tours, so I would think that those who do want to win that book would follow along on the tour to enter for the chances to win. So, I'm still on the fence on this one. As a blogger yourself, what do you think are the pro's and cons of Blog Tours? Are they redundant to you?

Back to my "rules list".. there are a lot of technical tips that I could go into such as twitter and facebook pages to help promote your blog, but all that should be a personal preference. It depends on how far you want to take your blog, and how much time you have to devote to it. Build it, and they will come.. but you can't just let it sit there and expect people to show up. You will have to market yourself. You will have to comment on other blogs. You will have to get out there and insert yourself into that niche that you want to be in. You need to want it, you need to have a passion for it, and you need to not expect greatness if you are not. And no, I am not greatness, but someday I will get to where I want to be, though I am still working out what that is. We shall see. There was a point when I felt like I didn't want to write one more review.. so it just depends on which way real life is blowing at any particular time.

When I started branding my blog, it became important to have a specific graphic, something identifiable as your blog, to represent you. So, @BurtonReview is my twitter handle. I signed up with Gravatar so the same image comes up when I comment on wordpress blogs. Certain little things like that go a long way.
If you are a newbie, I would definitely say to watch for the bloggiesta events that come up, as they suggest things you may have forgotten to work on which helps clean up and focus your blog in the right direction. I did participate once and got a lot of work done on my blog one weekend.

Today at Armchair BEA, it is all about Relationships. The request is that we write about our experiences with building relationships online with other bloggers, authors, and publicists. I tend to go off on tangents, so bear with me.

I was one of those bloggers that participated in a survey that resulted in the Best Practices of Pitching Book Bloggers. This focused on relationships between Bloggers and Publicists and Authors. Don't you love it when you see "Dear Blogger"? When you get pitched several times from the same person about the same book, doesn't this get annoying?

When publicists contact us for review, and then we get asked for our webpage stats, does that annoy you? Doesn't it peeve you that the person has clearly not read your review policy? These and other pitching pitfalls are covered in this handy pdf, which is free to book bloggers.

It's a strange world out there for those authors who are new to self-promotion. They don't realize the netiquette that has developed along with the bookish blogosphere. If you know one of these newbies, point them to the Best Practices. Help build that relationship of trust between you and author instead of ignoring them. I know of several authors that remember me as one of their first bloggers that helped them through the book blog quagmire. It's a great feeling to be able to help them.

Over the past few years, I have seen the blogosphere quadruple in size. It normally starts as a reader who was looking for a particular genre of books, looking for ideas on what to buy next, and they stumble across a book blog. How neat, they think! A regular person talking about books! And then they discover the blogroll. And then they find more blogs in their preferred genre, as most blogs tend to link to blogs of the same interest. Then the reader realizes you can comment on all these posts too! Which brings reader to realize, how hard can it be to open a blogger account? And a blogger is born.

(That was my experience.) The relationships I developed in those early days of blogging still sit with me. I actually mentioned three of those historical fiction blogs that inspired me in yesterday's post. Two of these ladies I feel a kinship and bond with that I know will last a long time. If I don't get daily texts from one of them then I feel like my day is incomplete. And I know of other bloggers who get to meet up in NYC at conventions and more relationships are forged. It is quite powerful, actually, when I think of how much my life has changed since I became a book blogger. All these potential allies at my fingertips. And how amazing how many genres of book bloggers there are! General lit, feminism, young adult, graphic novel, romance, historical romance, classics, fiction...AMAZING!

It's been almost two and half years of reviewing books for me. It's a commitment. Sometimes it's a struggle as I look at the ARC Bookcase. You know, that ever present TBR pile that you should have conquered last year. So, it's a juggling act; especially for those of us who work full-time, have kids, a husband, animals and a house to take care of. Where does the blogging come in?

Better yet, where does the reading come in?

Somehow, I manage to do a little of everything. Which means I am not the best at anything. I can say I am a well-rounded individual, because I cannot spend too much on any one thing lest the next thing gets abandoned. I balance it out. Little by little. And with a little help from my friends. (Queue the music.) The support from the community of bloggers is there, if you ask for it. It's a big world out there. And book bloggers have really become a force to be reckoned with, even after all those professionally paid literary critics knocked us all down and said we were just a phase.

Go forth.. read.. review.. blog... communicate.. and kick butt. I am proud to be a book blogger. It has opened up my world to people and books I would never have otherwise come across. It's pretty awesome being a book blogger. We even have book blogger conventions! And if we can't go to the conventions, we can sit at our favorite chair for the Armchair BEA and still have a ton of fun! It's a great community, and I am happy to be here. Don't forget the amazing giveaways book bloggers host! (there's one going on right here!!) XXO

It's Armchair BEA Time!! As part of the event, there is a fabulous giveaway going on right here for some fantastic historical fiction titles, as well as one you can pick out for yourself from the Book Depository! Check out the giveaway link here to get the scoop on the required scavenger hunt!!

Today, Armchair BEA is all about Working the Network!! Visit Armchair BEA to see all the different interviews of bloggers going on. I won't be one of them, I was in la-la land when the signup was taking place. So, for those of us who are not doing the interviews, we get to participate today by writing a post highlighting some of your favorite book blogs and bloggers - and I think I have done this before, a few times probably.. but since you may be new here (hello and welcome!!).. let me tell you who I like to visit. The following blogs have been around for a few years (and even longer than my blog which is about 2.5 years old), so they have some major staying power. And these are the ones who inspired me on my path as a book blogger as well.

Historical-Fiction.com - Arleigh's site is a clean, concise book review site that features..you guessed it.. historical fiction. Her reviews are intelligent and not at all flowery and over the top like some tend to be. She is to the point, and always manages to intrigue me with her reflections of her books, even if I read the same book. And of course this is my favorite genre, so this is a great place to be. Giveaways too!

Another favorite blog is..
Enchanted By Josephine: Celebrates Women in History - Lucy writes compelling and passionate reviews and always offers me something a little different than the current books that are being promo'ed around the blogosphere. Lucy also has an artsy blog that is beautiful to explore. Giveaways too!

Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books - Daphne's is a one-stop shop for upcoming releases and reviews of Historical Fiction. I love her Weekly wishlist feature which gives me the heads up on books I might need to make room for. She also does a monthly bookmark giveaway that I had to give up entering because I've been disappointed.. but these bookmarks are handmade and beautiful. She is in the process of moving so her posting may be a bit tilted in the near future, but this is another blog you need to follow if you enjoy historical fiction. Warning: if you do LOVE Historical Fiction, please don't be mad at me for directing you to the place that will cause your wishlists to explode!!


There goes my top three HF blogs!
And just to add something a little different just in case you're not all that into Historical Fiction (gasp!!), I also like to peruse the following blogs which offer intelligent content and interesting posts that aren't always about historical fiction:
Chick With Books
Jenny Loves to Read
Unabridged Chick

 Hope you find some great blogs during your Armchair BEA Blog hopping! Dang, how many times can I type historical fiction in one blog post?? Eight times. Seems like more.

So, as you know, I am forever continually stuck either in my work or home environment. It really isn't that bad.. but it means I don't get to go to the BEA in NYC. This week, there is the Armchair BEA event with meme style posts and giveaways for the poor folks like me. I don't know if I'll ever make it out of Texas again, but I sure wouldn't mind a mini-vacation.

Vegas calls..

AH!! Instead.. let's focus.


Speaking of.. Armchair BEA asks today (here comes the meme thing) What books have you read that are your Best of 2011?
So far on my "semi- finalist" list, for different entertainment value reasons, we have:

Elizabeth I: A Novel by Margaret George (click for my review)
Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona (click for my review)
The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham (click for my review)
The Tudor Secret: Book 1 Elizabeth I Spymaster by C.W. Gortner (click for my review)


These are listed in order of my most favorite of the year, yet I gave them all the best rating of 5 out of 5 stars. But, the year is not quite half over yet, so I cannot wait to see what will be next on my list! Will it be Karleen Koen? Elizabeth Chadwick? Sharon Kay Penman? Probably.


What do you think? Did you get a chance to read any of these picks? Would you agree?

And here is your chance to win the fabulous prize pack for the Nine Books we mentioned yesterday!
The BEA GIVEAWAY and Scavenger Hunt begins RIGHT NOW!



To see the details of the giveaway, please see yesterday's post.. which lists the eight advance copies of awesome historical fiction books PLUS the fact you will get to pick ANY book from The Book Depository..PLUS win a special gift from Tartx!

The blogs that are sponsoring this BEA Giveaway are:
Burton Book Review
Enchanted By Josephine
Historical-Fiction.com

Visit & enter at each of these blogs to increase your chances of winning. You can enter once here, or once there, or three times for all blogs.. but there will only be ONE Winner of the Nine Books.

 To enter here at Burton Book Review, go on a little scavenger hunt!

You must find and comment on two of the three blog posts that describe me meeting an author.

Comment on two out of those three posts that you are entering the BEA Giveaway, and also leave your email address.

That's all you've got to do!!

**Hints: Roses.. Elizabeth...**

Be aware there are actual posts about the specific event of meeting the author. There are 3 of the posts, one for each year. 2009, 2010, and 2011. Comment on 2 of these. Try the google search feature.

If you want to increase your chances.. go visit the other participating blogs! Good luck!
Giveaway ends Thursday night, open to the USA!

Book Bloggers everywhere will be hearing about the BEA Event that is held in NYC this week. Just like last year, and next year, and the year after, I will not be going to the BEA. Odds are, you aren't either. Instead of crying in our beer, we are CELEBRATING!!!!


WOO HOO!
Why is this so awesome you ask? Because if you are not going to the BEA, you have a chance to win some fantastic awesome fabulous prizes courtesy of The Burton Book Review, Enchanted By Josephine, and Historical-Fiction.com!!! We three bloggers have come up with a super-duper fantabulous giveaway that you will be so happy that you stayed in your home with your own comfy bed with your happy family... because this is not one book, not two books, not three books, not four books, not five books, not six books, nope, not even just seven books, and not eight books either.. but we three are offering you some pretty fantastic books.. how about NINE BOOKS!!!! And nope, these titles are really nothing to sneeze at. These are ones that I have READ AND LOVED!!! It's just like you got to go to the BEA to snag some ARC's, but you don't have to stand in line.. and you don't have to pay to get to NYC to get them, and you are going to love these books!!

For instance, at The Burton Book Review, I am offering up for grabs four ARC's on Awesome Queens!!

 Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock
To Be Queen by Christy English
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
The Captive Queen by Alison Weir
Click on the titles to read my reviews of these treasures. I have gently read two of these Advance Reader Copies, and the other two are extra copies that I read the original release copy instead of the ARC, so those will be new.

And Arleigh at Historical-Fiction.com is giving away these 4 ARC's:
King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes
The Princess of Nowhere by Prince Lorenzo Borghese
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner
Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin
Click on the titles to read Arleigh's reviews of these ARC's.
And last but not least, Lucy at Enchanted By Josephine is giving away a book of the winner's choice from The Book Depository (up to $15 value!).

This super-duper giveaway of all of the above is going out to one very lucky winner in the USA. Just one!! To enter... you'll have to go on a mini scavenger hunt. You can enter at one blog, or all the blogs to increase your chances...

Stay tuned, because this event starts TOMORROW and you have to enter by Thursday night in order to get your chance at the super-duper grand prize! =)

See you tomorrow!