I’m going to re-post this. I recently received a series of emails from yet another ARC amalgamation site/processor who are charging authors to share their reviews. The emails are unprofessional (purple font and just poorly written) and the website is atrocious. I would not pay to have my book on their site. I will say they are honest in what they are trying to do, so not all of this applies, but seriously people come on.
Tag: Writing
2017 and January 2018 Recap
It has been a long time since my last recap and so much has happened.
I’m honestly surprised I’ve managed to keep this little blog going this year. I’m also incredibly proud I keep puttering along at my pace.
I’ve broken this post down into three parts, the first is my stats from 2017, the second is my January recap (seriously abbreviated) and the third is just some personal stuff to share why I haven’t blogged as frequently over the past few months and why there may be delays over the next few months.
Dear Authors and Book Bloggers
I had no plans to blog today, but after an email I received sometime in the last 48 hours I wanted to get on my soapbox and write a little PSA. I’ll get back to semi-regular blogging with Stephen King’s The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) on Monday.
I am not going to name and shame (Vlogger hotel scandal article Daily Mail link), but if you received the email you’ll know what I’m talking about. Please do not name and shame as that’s just more promotion for them. That is not the goal, this is just free advice for authors and bloggers so take it or leave it. I apologize for the length, click here for the TL;DR.
Dear Authors and Fellow Book Bloggers,
Authors, you want your books read, right? Bloggers we want our sites read, right? It’s natural—it’s why we do what we do.
Authors, you desperately want to write the next best-selling sensation and bloggers we all want to be the one to say: “I discovered that before it was big.” And we all want our names to be recognized, I get it. We’re all content creators, we’re all content consumers, we’re marketers through our books or our blogs, we’re all hustling to make an impact in the larger world. Why else would we be doing this so publicly?
Book 520: The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald
I did not realize this one was a Man Booker Award Short List nominee when I started it. I expected fluff and lightness but realized within a few chapters that this was a lot better written than I was mentally prepared for when I selected to read it because it was one of the shortest books left on my list.
I would say this book reminds me of Joanne Harris’ Chocolat, but I honestly think Chocolat (because it was published so much later) got a lot from this type of book. The idea of someone coming into a town (no matter how long you’ve been in the town you’re still not from there) and basically stirring up the locals is a tried-and-true trope. The difference between this and Chocolat is that Fitzgerald’s The Bookshop is written so subtly that the magic you see in this book isn’t actual magic. IT is emotions and growth and community.
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Book 516: Jane Austen: A Brief Life – Fiona Stafford
After being disappointed by the much hyped (by me internally at least) Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly I looked elsewhere to nurse my mental wounds and found this lovely brief biography by Fiona Stafford. I reached out to the publisher for a copy as the book was recently re-released as part of Austen’s 200th death anniversary.*
I’ve surprisingly steered clear of nonfiction works concerning Austen (not really though because I like that she’s a bit of a mystery even with what we know about her. That being said I do have a few on my shelf that I plan to make my way through eventually. I’m not sure many, if any, will top this delightful read.
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