So You Think You Can Blog?

First I want to say THANK YOU to YAreads for participating in my Blogoversary Tour! They were literally the first YA blog I saw and encouraged me to find out more about this genre called Young Adult.

 

So you think you can blog? You probably can, but here are some things you may not know, split into two categories: Perks and Non-perks.

 

Perks

So there are SO many perks to blogging.

• You can meet awesome people! Bloggers are some of the best friends you can make! I mean, they’re there when you need to rant about this awesome book (*cough* I may have done that. A few times.), and they won’t look at you weirdly. Some of my friends are readers, but I can never say how much I love a book without a weird stare. But other book bloggers? THEY LOVE CHATTING ABOUT BOOKS. And psh. What reader doesn’t? Not only that, they also know how hard blogging is and won’t roll their eyes. Best. Friends. Ever. But not only that, they’re there when you need them, book-related or else, and it’s just comforting to know that they’re there!
• AUTHORS. I’m not sure about y’all, but I was so shy around authors! I didn’t even know you could talk to them! I was so stunned and almost immediately jumped on the wagon.
• Ranting. Why yes, this is a perk. You can rant. About books. And people will read them and they can actually influence someone’s choices on whether or not they should buy this book. It’s thrilling when you find out you convinced someone to buy that favorite book of yours. It’s just….amazing.
• Getting books is another one, but you definitely shouldn’t be blogging just for the books. Blogging is supposed to be for spreading the book love! Blogging for the books is bound to result in epic failure. That’s all I can say. But getting books is definitely a perk! I’ve gotten some books that I never would’ve given a chance to if I hadn’t received it in the mail!
• You can admire a quality you wouldn’t have noticed before. Me? Before I started blogging, I didn’t really care if the world-building was logical, if it was slow paced, or if it was insta-love. But now I appreciate it if a romance is steady and not rushed and if the logic has no holes at all. You see books with completely new eyes! (Or at least, I did.)
• You can beta-read! I lovelovelove beta reading and helping aspiring authors fix up their books a bit. And WOW. They have some creative, awesome ideas and I love learning how the process rocks!

 

Non-Perks

• It’s very, very, very, hard to maintain a blog and get A’s in school or doing well during work. This is something you can’t really explain. I cannot stress how hard blogging is. Reading, annotating, reviewing, formatting, scheduling, making sure posts are on time, it’s very stressful. You can ask almost any blogger and we’ll pretty much all say the same thing: “It’s like a full time job!”
• We have a more critical eye for books. It’s a bit harder to enjoy books when we’re noticing these little things that otherwise wouldn’t have bothered us. Especially the little tiny things. “Oblivion is bliss” is basically the theme here.
• You never have time to read for pleasure! When you have so many review books stacking up, it’s hard to find some time when you can read for fun, not worrying about what to write in a review.

 

And while it doesn’t seem like much of a bad side, blogging is so much harder than it looks, but TRY! It’s super fun once you get into the mood of things, but it’s still pretty hard squeezing in time for it. 

 

THE NEXT HINT IS: M

Collect the hints along the Blogoversary tour at these stops, then unscramble to find when (yes, when!) to find my giveaway! My archive will be mighty important!

 

(11/19) Day 1: www.fiction-freak.blogspot.com (Kick off!)

(11/20) Day 2: www.sparkles-and-lightning.blogspot.com (How I Started and What I Learned.)

(11/21) Day 3: www.chocolatecoatedreviews.blogspot.com (Books, Books, Books!)

(11/22) Day 4: www.read-a-holicz.blogspot.com (Friends, Rants, and Help, Oh My!)

(11/23) Day 5: www.fionapaulbooks.blogspot.com (Author And Publisher Love!)

(11/24) Day 6: www.yareads.com (You Think You Can Blog?)

(11/25) Day 7: www.eileenlisblog.blogspot.com (Debating? Fun!)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

(make sure what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

 

Today’s teaser comes from Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Release Date: September 18th, 2012

Published by: Balzer + Bray

 

‘”You deserve”- T.J. took a step toward her-”better.” Meg loked up, straight into T.J.’s eyes. All she saw was sadness. T.J. felt sorry for her. The idea turned her stomach. It was so pathetic. She was so pathetic.’ (Pg 179.)

“Creeeeeeak. Meg froze, her eyes locked on the shadow. The heavy form, oblong and amorphous except for the dangling appendages……Legs. Holy crap, there were legs. Meg turned her head and came eye-to-eye with a face hanging in the stairwell. The noose around the neck. The purplish-blue hue to the skin. Meg opened her mouth and screamed.” (pg 68.)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

(make sure what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

 

Today’s teaser comes from Pantomime by Laura Lam
Release Date: February 5th, 2013
Published by: Strange Chemistry

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Currs and skags! Step into the world as you’ve never seen it! Discover the skills, the mystery, and the magic of R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic, the Best Circus in Ellada! There are fabled felines of Linde and their fearless trainers! Men and women eat fire, stand upon galloping horse, and contort into knots like rubber! Watch them fly through the air! This is the show you have always been waiting for, so step right up” (ARC)