Book Blogging 101: Premise Deception

At least, you know that this is probably a sex-laden book!

Premise Deception
(When books about vampires, elves, and mermaids are really one big literary sex romp/cheesy love story)






   Why do I commonly feel like the only blogger facing this woeful dilemma of premise duplicity? How many of you have signed up for book reviews, based on the enticing premise and cover alone, only to discover the book was utter crap? Then, you are expected to write honest, constructive reviews, which aren't entirely negative or snarky. I've written my slew of snarky review before because some books are very worthy of snarky reviews. I think bloggers often view the field of pre-published books in a largely exaggerated, glorified form. We are only given the terse excerpts, fleshed out merely for the purposes of insuring a purchase from a prospective buyer. We are given that same faulty deception, which quickly transforms to deep regret upon finding that we really do not like the book we are reading. Wait... Didn't we just promise the author in an email that we were willing to review their book??


        How can a blogger safely disentangle themselves respectfully from this mess?


     I'd suggest relying on NetGalley or authors that you normally feel very safe with. I always hear fellow readers bemoan those who never step outside their safe haven of "approved authors." As a blogger and even a reader, I definitely have my safe structure of writers that I feel aren't going to write drivel. In the past, I once was given an offer to review a "vampire book" with a premise that sounded very magnetic. Of course, it was devoid of any suggestive details that the book might be "smut." I didn't discover that until ten pages into the book, the main couple was already tearing their clothing off without any development. The worst is when every cosmetic detail of these characters are glittered with adjectives of sheer perfection (well-shaped lips, finely formed torso, blue eyes, blonde hair....Arayan porn). Yes, these books usually go the way of becoming Nazi love stories by relying on the whole underlying message that  "blue eyes and blonde hair" are inherently perfect....

    Have you noticed that these books are becoming much more expertly disguised as your standard fantasy/scifi novel? It is only twenty pages into the book, and fifty references to bedroom eyes, that you are then forced to read agonizing sex scenes, that hardly are sexy since the characters are normally cardboard thin. In real life, who really just jumps into the proverbial sex bed ten minutes after meeting someone. Where is the wrongly placed, unflattering pimple. Seriously... why are there not some behavioral problems/ a shred of some form of imperfection??? These books are just too unrealistic for me, and I think publishers love to disguise them as normal fantasy&scifi books for the naive public. We didn't know we were subjected to a whole different kind of fantasy; something that creates body heat.

Why Netgalley/the publisher is much more trustworthy than other sources?
 
Anyways, I just find myself reading through so many mediocre books as a blogger that I'm becoming a bit more of a solid NetGalley user. NetGalley lets you view something before committing to a review. At the Random House Breakfast, one of the representatives from the company even mentioned that this was a great asset to this site for both the publisher and the blogger. As bloggers, we are assailed with requests for books that sound very promising, but often aren't. Also, subject matter is hardly a good judge. I think the label of being a "science fiction/ fantasy" blogger sometimes garners some of the same badly written books that any blogger, with or without certain genre preferences, are given. Premises, genres, and covers are very inept judges for evaluating a book, but they have become the standard trio used by prospective writers looking for bloggers.

    In an ideal world, we shouldn't have to "commit" before receiving the full text of the book, or partial text. If you do commit and happen to honestly hate the book, you should be given the right to negatively review it. Lying is not something I think should be promoted, but I often think book bloggers find themselves in an uncomfortable situation,where they feel they must write a "positive" review. Some blog tours will even require you to write only "positive" reviews. Does "positive" allow room for constructive critcism? How much nuance can we have in our reviews, or are bloggers only expendable bots? Reviewers are criticized all the time by the public for writing negative reviews of popular films. As someone who reviews things, you are bound to detest something. There really are a fair number of bad books that sadly are very readable. Many of the books that I read are in the "unreadable," "blaughh" category. They are ones that are tedious. The same thing happens with "Blaughhhh.." tv shows, where you closely watch the clock more-so than the tv-show. Its really hard to write coherent, honest reviews of something that you feel nothing but apathy for. I've yet to see someone write a book blog review that says, "Honestly, this book was pure drudgery.." I've felt like writing that so many times as a book blogger.

Conclusion to my "Rant"
                      You're so "facetious, and unfair.." Yes, some people might claim that I'm one of those two things by writing this. I sometimes need space to rant  as a blogger. I quite love this little "profession" of mine, but some things just don't sit well with me. Part of any job involves frustrations, and the important element is to learn from them. From now on, I'm trying to be much more judicious when planning to "commit" to reviews because a lot of my book review commitments turn out to be books that I really dislike. Some of them are well-written, but the writing itself is laced with so much contrived sexual content that I can't help but "roll my eyes." I have no problem with reading books with romantic elements, but I find that there are a bevy of these books that are far too unrealistic. If I see one more of these romances with  "blue eye, blonde hair" women or men with well-shaped lips/ well-constructed torso; I will literally stab my eyes out! Also, I must repeat it again: "Any book with a sex scene with these dull characters in the first five pages are worthy of going to the incinerator." *Metaphoric Flames only*

                      Anyways, I do happen to get some very good books once in a while and for those requests, I am a very happy person!! Moreover, I hope that I learn my lesson to carefully research a book before committing to it on the basis of premise/cover duplicity.


         

   

Magical June: Magic Month

Before Harry Potter, there was Prospero from Shakespeare's infamous magic play:The Tempest

   Introduction to "Magic Month"
    "Magic" is a word that conjures many images in our minds of a fancifully dressed wizard,brandishing a wand, who is set on casting some kind of enchantment upon us. Within the dictionary, the term "magic" interestingly relates to any performing arts that creates illusions of supernatural acts or anything that defies the boundaries of what we safely term as "natural." That means the art of storytelling, stage-play (particuliarly Shakespearean stageplays), and films laden with CGI effects are all magic. We've all heard people describe the transcendent effects of movies as "movie-magic," thus we know that the word magic does not restrictively relate to the arcane subject of "magic" that allows people endued with special senses or psychic abilities to bend reality. Within the natural world, magic really means "illusions" that make us temporary believers within what we might term the "supernatural." During the Middle Ages for example, many people were illiterate and had no knowledge about Latin;therefore, a priest giving a sermon in Latin held awe-inspiring power over them because those foreign Latin words seemed magical in a sense. None of these people really understood the meaning of the sermon without the aid of visual guides through elaborate stain-glassed windows or the church plays that occurred during special occasions during the year. They were pushed beyond the prison of simply thinking these stories were factual.

      In Harry Potter, JK Rowling wisely chose to have her magical spells be derived from Latin because Latin was the vernacular of people who had a special connection with the supernatural realm. While it might sound insulting to some Christians, many of the Peasants had no Google, Wikipedia, or other resources that have suspended our belief in "magic." Really, atheism and agnosticism are the natural result of the age of empirical proof being required for new advances in our knowledge. Since we are much more literate, religion has vied to pretend to be empirically proven.  The congregants are no longer mystified by the "magic" of the many Biblical myths. We no longer understand that though the mythic boundaries will be too unreal to stoically believe them to be factual, the underlying moral message has the magical property of  moral transfiguration. This is a transformation much deeper  and more powerful than the arid, literal  notion of Genesis being nothing but a "scientific idea." The creationists are the same types of people that sought to ban Harry Potter and The Golden Compass. During the Inquisition, they literally believed in witches more than others;therefore, they ruthlessly killed people with the Dark Magic of misusing religious for pernicious purposes.

   Sadly, our scientific age has demanded religious knowledge to become a species of  abstruse fact. It has been this way for some literate people for ages. It was the peasants who readily believed within the stunning mythic fabric of these stories. These stories enhanced people's lives, in much the same way that many people are enchanted and edified by superhero stories, Harry Potter, Star Wars; these are the new magical myths that with "film magic" suspend our empirical senses, and allow us to temporarily believe in the illusion of impossible things. The Biblical myths, Greek myths, and the Roman myths have the same ability to dispel our reason and transport us to a deeper psychic reality.  The "magic" of these stories grant us solace in a brutally harsh reality, where nihilistic ideas are at bay. In "Lord of the Rings," good magic provides us with substantive ideas of reality that enthuses our senses, while "dark magic" is a reductionist form of magic, much like fundamentalist, literal forms of religions, that makes us believe doubtlessly and unimaginatively in a hopeless idea of the world. The Rapture believers are no different than the types of rigid atheists that insist that our anomalous universe has no underlying purpose. Why should we bother making extrapolations about mystery? The whole fabric of this universe supposedly has a terminable beginning and end. Beyond that, there is the unfathomable nothingness, where all the lofty ideas of purpose and compassion become insubstantial and useless.

*This is an extraordinary lecture from Madeleine L'Engle about finding ethical "truth" in fantasy*
   We need fantasy stories infused with magic to help us remember the wild mystery of the world. It certainly helped the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the early medieval Christians to survive a hostile world. Religion is not inherently evil (I quite love religion, but the dark fundamentalist wizards have ruined its magic); it is the malicious dark magicians that reduce religion to fact or really everything to "fact" without an ounce of imagination and wonder that destroy our ability to love and to acknowledge the vast mystery of the universe.In one of my favorite Charles Dicken's novels, Hard Times,  the same fleet of dark magicians (there's no wizards in the story, its my symbolic way of representing fictitious "dark magic" as being reductionist)  try to cruelly sever the children's connection with the imaginative layers of life, and force children to unquestionably believe within the literal scientific ideas without wonder or emotion. This has become a model for other English orphan stories, where the antagonist malevolently seeks to destroy any imaginative grasp on hope that these kids depend on for survival.  Sadly, the people who criticized Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials  missed out the critique on a form of organized, domineering religion that has no wit of levity, magic, or artistry. The great ethical message of those books was to teach us to respect the mystery of nature and the universe. Philip Pullman followed the tradition of the British Romanticists, who reminded of the deep purposeful, edifying effects of nature and the profoundly mysterious universe. Its a real pity that some people dismissed these series because they believed in the nominal label of "atheist," thus these people really lost their capacity to understand the richness of art and magic. Imagine, how many people do the same with JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis? How many people refuse to read Narnia because its labeled as "Christian?" Its ridiculous how there are so many superficial barriers that keep many people from being deeply moved and transformed by the magic of these stories. Maybe, these people need to be reminded of the important message of Shakespeare's The Tempest.


        Progressively, Fantasy and Science Fiction have become a hybrid, the boundaries separating these mutually exclusive terms have become muddled. Within Anne Rice's recent series,The Mayfair Witches, the magic of the witches is something that is based in genetics. Anne Rice has always been very knowledgeable about history, so instead of reverting magic to its traditional definitions; she has allowed magic to become melded with "science." In science, there are many inscrutable elements that appear like magic to us, such as the elusive concept of quantum particles, these particles might not fully exist in our reality. They can flit from one dimensional space to another unknowable one. They are not quantifiable; they are the new form of "magic." Doctor Who is a modern magician, a combination of both a scientist and a magician. He can travel through dimensional space, which would be scientific if we knew more verifiable facts about quantum physics. Since quantum physics, parallel universe, and other new concepts of space are still new; these things are in the realm of "magic" for now. Meaning, storytellers or artists can manipulate this science to cast our minds to believe temporarily in things that are the substance of illusions. Within Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," one of these modern magicians, curiously named Ms. Which, has the power to bend reality in a way that seems  scientific, as she permits Meg to travel across dimensions long before Doctor Who. In many ways, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time inspired the creation of Doctor Who, Ms. Which was the "iconic Dupin," Poe's detective that inspired the creation of the more famous detective: Sherlock Holmes.


    There are numerous other concepts of magic that I wish to touch upon in later posts. For now, I'll give you some magic-related books that I hope to review that will hopefully imbue your mind with images of things of a fantastical nature. Is "modern magic" in contemporary stories more scientific? Or are there some that are a bit nostalgic about magic that completely defies the order of natural, scientific laws?


Books for "Magical June"











 

Adventures at BEA in a Small Nutshell

Is it possible to cram this huge experience into a nutshell?



Highlights of Book Expo America

    Whether you want to admit it or not, words are inherently limited compared to the full emotional capacity of your thoughts. Then again, the best writers have the ability to deceive you into thinking otherwise. For example, Shakespeare causes you to have what many call a "numinous" experiences, which literally means that transcendent moment when your mind departs from its superficial hold on reality, and goes beyond it. BEA was a celebration of the accomplished league of writers who write books that have this devastating ability to leave us speechless or transport us somewhere beyond the words on the page. Its hard for me to take what was such a rich experience, and grind it down to something simpler. How can I do what these writers did when trying to convey the stellar awesomeness that pervaded the air of BookExpo America? (Yes, that sounds very absurd to people who aren't bibliophiles). What is the secret behind the intoxicating sensation of being in BEA? Its akin to that same rich experience of reading an engrossing novel. Once you're done, and you're left staring at the walls of your bare white walls of your boring mundane life; you wish that you had another wonderful novel to lead you on another wild adventure once again. Much like a novel, BookExpo America was fleeting For the two rather successful days I was there though, it was very mesmerizing, and very educational. I might not be able to completely articulate my experience, but I'll try nonetheless.

Picture with Erin Morgenstern, author of the recently released Night Circus.

Random House Booth&Power Reader Breakfast

        Over the course of two days, I repeatedly returned to Random House's stand because they hosted many great signings during BEA this year. Last year, I was able to meet Chuck Palaniuk at this same stand. The stand this year in particular seemed to be even better than last year; a few of the author among the litany of other well-known writers that appeared at this stand that I met were Erin Morgenstern (author of Night Circus), Chris Bojahlian (author of  the upcoming release:Sand Castle),  and Justin Cronin (author of The Passage  and  its upcoming sequel: The Twelve). While the longs were pretty long for both Erin Morgenstern and Justin Cronin,  the lines moved speedily, and I still was able to have some small coherent conversations with the writers when meeting either three of them. The most impressive thing about Justin Cronin's signing was that I got both the upcoming second book in his vampire horror series, along with the previous installment in the series. Since I had never read his books before but have seen them mentioned everywhere on horror fiction blogs and forums, I was really stoked about reading the novels because they looked like they were the alternative to the latest trend of romantic, brooding vampires. By the way, I love these sorts of vampires, but its also nice to be reminded of their other dimensions as well.

                     About the breakfast itself, I had a fantastic time there and I felt a little pampered. The event itself took place early in the morning and at the Random House publishing house itself. In the foyer of this building, I felt transported to another world, as I stared at the shelves of book fancifully displayed along both walls. On these shelves, I spotted an old hardcover edition of Interview with the Vampire,and copy of The Wolf Gift. Getting to the breakfast itself involved taking an elevator with all the other bloggers who had gathered for the breakfast. Entering the lavishly decorated room with weird spiked balls hanging on the far reaches of the room, I was stunned by the  exciting sight of  a little espresso bar in the middle and the table that featured an array of very good breakfast foods. During the whole of the event, I conversed with bloggers, people who worked for Random House, and several writers whose books were recently released by Random House. Everything was remarkably casual, and I think the other bloggers attending were just as overwhelmed in a very good way. Many of the writers in attendance wrote for The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and even The Daily Show.  There was also an inspiring speech about the power that bloggers have to encourage people to read. One of the writers,Charles Duhigg (writer of The Power of Habit), wrote a novel about the psychological components of habits and intriguingly spoke about the neuroscience of habits that are explored in more detail his novel. Of course, the event ended with a bag of complimentary books from the publisher, but the experience itself yesterday morning at the Power Reader Breakfast was the most rewarding part.









Shadow Mountain  Booth  at BEA

 


     Whenever the In-booth signings at the stands of the major publishing houses became too crowded, I always wandered back to the Shadow Mountain booth. In the past, I have read Brandon Mull's Fablehaven, which they are responsible for publishing. I always liked the colorful cover designs of those books. From the other books that I received from the Shadow Mountain stand, the covers were just as flashy, and detailed. While many readers scoff sometimes about their noble endeavor to "not judge a book on its cover," I think cover design has an unconscious effect on us. I certainly find myself paying more attention to books with appealing covers over those with uninteresting ones. Of course, some of my favorite books have very boring covers. Luckily, the quality of Brandon Mull's writing was just as excellent as the covers for his books.Another thing I like about this publisher was the fact that a lot of their novels were bursting with creativity, such a series of books about the under-appreciated Janitors. These books remind me of Brandon Sanderson's witty children's books about the villainous librarians (weirdly called Alcatraz). Anyways, I'm very excited to hopefully feature some of these books in the coming months on my blog.


     





Mountain of ARCS

         Instead of going through a detailed list of the books that I received, I'll just state here that I received many ARCs, and more of them this year are much more pertinent to the types of books I specifically review on this blog. I don't have enough energy to completely go through all the books and give them the attention that some of them deserve. In the coming months, I hopefully will review some of these books. I've been aspiring to involve several more reviews on here, and write more condensed reviews. I think that might be great improvement, compared with some of the lengthy, rather verbose reviews that normally are  featured here. In June, I am going to strive to experiment with different forms of reviews and try to find a much more effective way of writing them.






Fellow Bloggers


    Sadly, I lost my ID badge with several business cards from other bloggers that I met over the last two days. Its a shame because I really want to acknowledge the existence of these people's blogs on here. I think my greatest lesson from this year's BookExpo America was that blogging is not a private activity, and other bloggers should not be viewed as competitors. I think a lot of bloggers, including myself, forget that book blogging is not inherently a competitive activity. We are not going to be rewarded the Book Blogging equivalent of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. We're here to share our love of books over the internet, and I think this year was the year that I acknowledged that my blog has been failing to mention other bloggers or trying to reach out to other book bloggers in the blogging community. In June, I have made it my goal to do just that: connect with other bloggers. I'm thinking of doing a post to show off blogs that I really like, which are not necessarily just scifi/fantasy blogs, because just focusing on those blogs is just another way of building another wall around my blog. 



Pigeons at the Train Station
 
  


       It sounds unexpected, and even could be  the premise of lunacy, but there was a pigeon fluttering around the Amtrak Lounge at Penn Station yesterday. If anything, this pigeon might have been a pathetically hilarious sight, but it also reminded me to not take everything so seriously. Doesn't the word levity suggest lightness? Well, the bird was certainly metaphorically lightening my mood after a very tiring day. I wasn't miserable, or simpering by any means. I had a highly memorable experience, but your weary body is going to force yourself to feel rather cranky. That is the body's way of alerting you to its exhaustion. I thank the pigeon trapped in the Amtrak Lounge for reminding me that life inevitably has its frustrations and growing pains. We might very well feel trapped just like the pigeon, aimlessly gliding around the Amtrak lounge. Sometimes my blog work feels a bit trapped and sterile, but at the same time I need to write in a way that isn't always exceedingly serious, but something that has an ounce of humor. Thank you once again to this pigeon for making me smile and laugh, while my sore body waited for my train home!
      








Be on the Lookout for more updates tomorrow!

BEA Day 1 Update

BEA is "fun-tastic" Yes, I'm using the Buffy the Vampire Slayer vernacular to express how much I love the tiring affair that is called BEA. Its still a bundle of fun, and I can't wait to write more updates once every muscle tendon in my body does not hurt.


Right about now, I'm snoozing and planning for another activity-packed day on Day 2 of BEA.
Watch out on either Thursday and Friday for more flashy, explicit details about my BEA journey. Its arduous, but very rewarding thus far!

(Click on the zombie-like woman below to head to my Twitter page for the latest BEA-related updates. Keep abreast of all the latest tantalizing (not) details!)

Relflections before venturing to BEA Tomorrow

Preemptive BEA Reflections 

 Tomorrow, I depart for BEA, and hopefully I'll continue seeking out new methods of improving this blog. By talking with other bloggers sometimes, I learn that a lot of the stressful elements of blogging are pretty universal feelings. Having books that are so mediocre that one can't possibly express their feelings about it is very difficult. How do you go about writing a review for a book that you get to "page 10," and suddenly find yourself feel uninterested in the author's prose? Yes, the premise might be so irresistible that it makes you offer to review it, but the writing itself makes all the difference for me in the end. Maybe, the premise is truly not enough to judge a book by.

   As I scan through the authors appearing tomorrow, I am positively overwhelmed. This is my third year at Book Expo America, and the experience still feels largely frustrating. Planning for it can be the most unexciting bit. I've seen some very helpful blog posts about "What to pack?" and "How to organize what places to go to?"
 I'm totally not good at that sorta of stuff. Once I enter the venue, the frenetic pace of the event itself makes me feel very overstimulated to the point of forgetting things quickly. My schedule and all my organizational pieces I put together are soon abandoned by the mad rush of morning people flitting from stand to stand in search of the most desirable Advance Reader Copy. It feels so terribly disorganized and serendipitous.

   Thankfully, the BEA website is slightly more organized than previous years. It is still largely overwhelming because this information is void of any information about the actual books. I organize my list therefore by author, and eventually I learn from Facebook or other blogs that these authors are not necessarily giving away a book that I want. Therefore, I start from square one once again to figure everything out. Why is there no website with the actual books listed?? Its just so damn confusing. Then, there is the feral pack of book hunters that infiltrate the entrance at about 9:30am every morning. I still have not discerned their pattern and where they receive their intelligence about stands to go to. For this one year, I might migrate away from the morning pack of book hunters and slowly seek out books that I might actually want to read. Its a lot more relaxing that way. For the last two years, everything I received from the early morning rush for free items was mostly undesirable items that I impulsively picked up. I thinks its better to be a bit more judicious and actually seek out books that one would actually read.

   Anyways, the updates will continue sometime on Thursday. On the right side of my blog there is a link to my Twitter account. Hopefully, I'll be making updates about BEA throughout the day on both Tuesday (June 5th) and Wedneday (June 6th).

 

Important Blog Update

Blog Hiatus For this Week Only


    Right now, I am taking a much needed respite from blogging. Unfortunately,I will not be posting a review of Jonathan Maberry's "Rot and Ruin" anytime this week. It might appear sometime in July, unrelated to anything revolving around this month's blog theme. Since its the end of May, Zombie May ends today and I apologize for not having any final post of any kind  that wrap ups any  remaining thoughts about the genre as a whole. At this moment, I'm  researching ideas for a future novel that might not be the zombie novel that I had originally set out to write. It is something completely different.

    Thanks for your patience, and new posts will return sometime next Thursday or earlier!

"Road to BEA" Updated Version of Book Blogging 101

Click the now deceased Tootsie Pop Owl to get to the retro version of Book Blogging 101



Book Blogging "101" With  Fantastyfreak's stand-in: Muzzy (obvious copyright infringement..)

 


    In the past, I've commissioned the Tootsie Pop Owl until he got one too many licks in his perpetual game of trying to get to the core/essence of the Tootsie Pop. Also, I sorta had some legality issues, and in the name of copyright infringement, I decided to veer more towards a British spokesperson, who also is bilingual.If you don't know who Muzzy is, watch this fantastic commercial that is comprised of cheesy nineties hair styles, and outdated clothing! (Plus, the  spokes-lady, with the cheery voice, could totally pull off a David Bowie ala. Labyrinth look)

       Oftentimes, my blog posts are exceedingly long to the extent where they could easily pass as the endless stream of overwrought exposition text at the beginning of the Star War films.




   Since this particular blog contains some very important information for beginner bloggers, Muzzy will be interviewing me in English, not Spanish, French, Italian, or derivatives/dialects of these languages.

Blogging Advice for Beginners, Featuring Muzzy as the Interviewer.


Muzzy: So Fantastyfreak, you've been blogging for quite some time. How does one start a blog? We know you can't just have your blog posts featured as Facebook notes. One has to use either Blogger or Wordpress to first create a blog.
FF:Muzzy, I would advise beginner bloggers to use blogger because I find Wordpress to be overly complicated, and I think most beginner bloggers are hindered by the fear of the technical aspect of blog creation more-so than the writing the posts. There are many readers that would love to express their love for literature, and promote titles that they found to be worthwhile and worthy of being recommended to other readers that might find such a book just as captivating. Blogger has a great tutorial for creating the blog,and the various layout options are neatly organized and clearly labeled. I've tried WordPress before, and just got lost trying to create the layout and place banners on the side of the page afterwords. I'm not dissuading people from using Wordpress, but I personally find Blogger to overall be a much easier program for those who are not tech-savvy. I know, I'm not. I still have problems with setting hanging indents for Works Cited pages on college papers. If you don't know how to use Blogger, I suggest doing a Google search for "Tips on how to Start a Blog on Blogger." Right now, I don't feel like my technical instructions about how to start a blog would be very helpful, when there are other spaces on the internet dedicated to simpler, more effective instructions on such things.

Muzzy:A lot of bloggers are confused about the methods of attaining review copies for forthcoming releases from publishers. More importantly, they don't know whether you just rudely impose on the publisher, and write an email plea for an ARC, or are there easier ways?

FF: I actually started my blogging career on a Blog Tour Alliance, and blog tour groups can easily be found using Google. Recently, I just joined Bewitching Blog Tours, and also joined another group dedicated to Young Adult Fiction through Book Bloggers, which is a wonderful social media tool for bloggers to have a space where they can share their blogging activity and also confer about questions and nagging frustrations with blogging. Also, I wholeheartedly recommend NetGalley, where you can easily sign up for different electronic advanced reader copies that can be read on Adobe Reader, or sent to either your Kindle or Nook. Its wonderful because you don't have to build up a stock of physical copies in your room. In the past few years, I've started to amass far too many unread books that I initially thought I might like, only to later learn they were lackluster and not in the confines of what I normally find entertaining and readable.

Beginner bloggers should be judicious about what books they commit to reviewing and also realistically ask themselves: "Will I really read this?" When your blog develops more of a presence online, you'll begin getting inquiries from publishers, and its easy to think to yourself gleefully "OHHH!! Free BOOKS!!" No, you must stamp those unrealistic impulses out, and try to only commit to reviewing books that you really believe you might like. Realistically, even a novel's premise may be unsatisfactory and is not a good judge on whether or not you'll actually enjoy the book because the writing itself might be riddled with errors. That is inevitable;therefore, its best to try to set achievable book review goals. You are bound to despise some books. I'm a very picky reader and can tell that I won't enjoy something by approximately ten pages. Remember, publishers and authors are depending on you to help promote a forthcoming release, thus its polite to try and review their books that you reply in return with absolution. At the beginning of blogging, I was far too disorganized and a bit trigger-happy. I tended to say "Yes" to everything. In the last year, I've striven to "politiely" say no, and bid the author good luck on their book release.  While everyone should have fun blogging, it still requires responsibility, and I've recently been trying to "atone" for my blogging related sins.

Muzzy: What about contests? Do you recommend them? I hear many beginning bloggers quizzically ask:"How can I have fancy graphics or contests?" How many contests should a book blog have, and just have flashy should the colors and graphics be?

FF: See, I've encountered this problem numerous times and reading other blogs can be a trial of envy. Every time, I look at another blog; I see higher numbers of followers and more comments. Feeling forlorn, I wonder to myself: "What am I doing wrong? Where are my readers?" First of all, all beginner bloggers should divest themselves of any motivations to shape their blog to conform to some blogging standard. I hate to see creative bloggers be crushed by the presence of so many flashy blogs. Its better to rely on the style that you feel most comfortable with. Of course you should have an area on the right side of your blog that shows publisher and possible writers an email address where all inquiries about possible reviews can be sent, and contests are fun, but I really don't like them. Conversely, contests are pure drudgery and I've always wanted a blog with substantive posts, and not just billboard-style reviews. I'm not here only to advertise books with insipid, uninteresting reviews, but write something I want to read. While, there are some aesthetically-pleasing blogs with great substance. I have been dismayed to see some book blogs crowded with flashy graphics, and pithy reviews with no substance. Don't cave into pressure and use other blogs not as something to covet, but to perhaps begin building relationships with other bloggers. Blogging does not need to be competitive, and it does not have to be something one does in alienation either.

      Recently, I feel like I don't do enough of the former, but I'm trying to reach out more. In the last two years, I've been sharing my Anne Rice-related blog posts with members of her Facebook page, and I've been indebted to Anne Rice's active presence with fans for keeping things here enlivened. My book blog, at one point, nearly went extinct, until I find myself remembering that blogging is not stringently attached to how many followers or comments one compiles. It is about stretching yourself creatively and having the opportunity to be able to autonomously maintain your own media space of sorts. Be yourself when blogging, and never succumb to outside pressure to have a blog that is uniform, and not unique! Also, do what you feel is most comfortable with your schedule. Oftentimes, I drastically slow things down during my college semester because I'm a writing tutor/full-time college student outside of blogging. Blogging might remain a summer activity for now. 

Muzzy: We are getting down to the metaphoric wire, Fantastyfreak. I have only two more questions, before that scary lady (my agent) with the frizzy blonde hair comes back to forcefully record more videos for the BBC. Anyways, How does want get to BEA, and should prospective BEA attendees make business cards for their blog?

FF:Signing up for Book Expo America is pretty simple. You just have to go their web page sometime in either January or February and sign up as part of the Media. I still haven't figured out the whole  difference between editorial/non-editorial option, so I can't really explicitly state which to choose. Either way, I would suggest contacting someone who represents BEA, and asking them for a specific answer.

Anyways, my first year of Book Expo America was pretty overwhelming, and taxing. I literally dragged four bags of books home on the Amtrak train. Again, I had a little too much fervor about Book Expo America, and took one too many ARCs. You should always be judicious when choosing ARCs, and realistically think about how you'll transport them home.  Otherwise, the experience will be marred by the long trek from the Javitz Center to Penn station or elsewhere. 

About business cards, I never had them for the first two years. For the first time, I got about 400 for the convention and plan to interact more this year with representatives from publishers I normally recieve books from. I would also suggest giving business cards to other bloggers, when you are waiting in line with others. Your business cards are not only resigned to being for publishers, but also bloggers and even librarians or other attendees.  When engaging in conversation, be natural and don't feel forced to be false. Its better to express your blogging as an extension of yourself, rather than something you dread doing. 

Muzzy: A lot of bloggers feel discouraged after their third review. What are the best way of combating the feeling of being in the "blogger doldrums?

I just had this problem yesterday, and wondered "Why the hell do I keep blogging?" Rather than allow myself to sink into the morass of self-pity, I decided to re-strategize and plan theme months like "Zombie May" "Anti-hero June" to give me a theme to work with, thus making it easier to organize my reviews. May has been thus far my most successful blog month and normally a momentum like this could result in a dry spell. About compensation, I wouldn't do this for that. Its better to think that you are doing this mostly for yourself, and not to garner acclaim from others. Whenever, I write a review for an author's work and do a feature here, I make sure to share it with them through Facebook, Twitter, or even through email. Blogging requires connecting with writers and publishers. I've never really had any disenchanting encounters; the worst response you'll get is an apologetic email about being busy or just no answer at all. My connections with authors has been the reason this blog stays afloat, and many of these authors are really cool people. They are not formidable demons that seek your demise.

   When you're in the doldrums, don't keep burying yourself further in the pit, but find creative ways of getting yourself out! We all get discouraged sometimes, and therefore it is best to just keep pushing yourself and set achievable goals for yourself. If your blog is something that is not daunting, but is something that is individualized and creative, blogging will not become the drudgery that is can become if you don't constantly remind yourself that "the blog is your property, but its also somewhere where you share in the love and promotion of literature!"

Muzzy: Thanks Fantastyfreak for this stimulating interview, though it is still as lengthy as your other posts!

FF: Once I start talking, I can't stop! Anyways, I'll be sure to update my blog this Tuesday. For now, this blog will be on hiatus during Memorial Day Break. Enjoy your Memorial Day Break and feel free to email me any blog-related questions at narniafanatic(at)gmail(dot)com.

 

Requisite Blog Update (May 25th, 2012)

News for Upcoming Blog Features

   I apologize for the lack of a "BEA" related post that was supposed to appear yesterday, and the start today's Shakespeare feature is being moved to next week because I'm still trying to organize my planned features for next week. First off, I am going to start limiting my book reviews to one-two books per week. I happen to be the only writer for this blog, and its impossible to keep up with these book reviews because there is so many other things that I'd been doing this summer (my own novel project for example...).

      Zombie May Coming to An End Soon(Exciting news ahead):
     Yes, the feature that I greatly loved is  ending this Wednesday. I am well aware that Wednesday happens to be "Comic Wednesday," so I'm trying to find a zombie-related comic book that fits with the theme. Also, I plan on reviewing Jonathan Maberry's Rot and Ruin  that day.



Exciting News about BEA blog Feature (Hopefully exciting...)


      At this point, I'm very stoked about the upcoming features on BEA. In other years, I've glossed over Book Expo America, providing nothing substantive in the way of an Insider's peak at the expo itself. There are a lot of people that find Book Expo America to be an enviable destination. (How does one get into the elusive Book Expo American anyways?) For the first time, I'll be providing detailed updates from the expo itself,and continuous Tweets (with pictures hopefully..). I don't know the exact statistics of how many people actually follow my Twitter, but all the updates can be viewed on the right side of this blog. Anyways, I hope to have the BEA-related post about book blogging as a whole up later this morning. There will be two more reflections afterwords. I want to help people get into book blogging, and persuade them that the hard work, frustrations, and the feeling of futility  that accompanies the endless blog-related work.





Thanks everyone that still happens to read this blog, I'm working tirelessly on trying to revamp this very dusty, disorganized blog!!