Armchair BEA: Giveaway (Day 4) #ArmchairBea

Armchair BEA: Giveaway (Day 4)

How wonderful has it been meeting and visiting other bloggers through Armchair BEA these past few days!

 Who doesn’t love a giveaway! Today I am giving someone the opportunity to win a book of your choice to $15aud from The Book Depository. 

Giveaway:: A book of your choice (pre-orders accepted) from The Book Depository to the value of $15aud. ** Giveaway is open internationally as long as TBD ships to you (you can check here. ** Contest runs from Thursday 29th May to Sunday 1st June 2014 AEST. ** The book will be shipped by the Book Depository - no responsibility will be taken for misplaced/lost items. ** Not all options are mandatory, my only requirement is you follow Obsession with Books in some way.

Good luck! 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Armchair BEA Day 2: Author Interaction

Armchair BEA Day 2: Author Interaction

Author Interaction: Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger.

Unfortunately, after three years of blogging I am yet to attend an author event and signing; we don’t get a lot of the YA authors that I usually read visiting Australia but I am hoping to eventually get to a few bookish events in the not too distant future. 

A majority of the interactions I have with authors is through social media - I’ll tweet a review if I’ve loved their book or have a conversation via email when they request I review a book but as I’m quite shy I’d really prefer to stalk from afar although admittedly I do get a real kick out of seeing an author I adore favourite, retweet a tweet or mention me in one of theirs. 

 I’ve also in the past and as part of blog tours had the opportunity to interview some of my fave authors – Julie Kagawa, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Wendy Higgins and Katie McGarry to name a few. I still get super excited with even the smallest interaction or comment, it never gets old. 

 What interactions have you had with authors?

Armchair BEA Day 1: Introduction

Armchair BEA Day 1: Introduction

I’m a bit late with my first BEA post! Work and illness has kept me away from the blog but I hope to be caught up soon and back to commenting and posting regularly.

My biggest dream is to one day make the trip to BEA but for the time being I am happy to participate in Armchair BEA.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?

Hi everyone {waves} my name is Sharon, I am a married mum with two children and I live in Sydney, Australia.

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember so I decided to start my blog in March of 2011 as a way to interact with other book lovers and as I was already reviewing on GoodReads thought it would be great to have my own place to draft my thoughts as well – I certainly didn’t think I’d last this long!

2. What genre do you read the most?

Young adult, most subgenres but it MUST have romance; I am a big sucker for a HEA. I am really into contemporaries, paranormal and scifi at the moment.

3. What book would you love to see as a movie? 

I’d cheat and choose a whole series and it would definitely be Fever by Karen Marie Moning; my all-time fave but casting it would be virtually impossible.

4. Spread the love by naming your favorite blogs/bloggers (doesn’t necessarily have to be book blogs/bloggers). 

I am hoping I don’t miss out one of my favourite bloggers here! {Huge apologies if I do} but there are a few I do visit often.

Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Rabid Reads

Always YA at Heart

Mostly YA Book Obsessed

Nick’s Book Blog

Rainy Day Ramblings

   

   

5.       What does your favourite/ideal reading space look like?

It would have to be somewhere quiet and cosy surrounded by all of my books!

 

Armchair BEA: Day Five: The Future of Book Blogging

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

Armchair BEA: Day Five: The Future of Book Blogging

I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in Armchair BEA this week; I have met some wonderful new bloggers and have learnt a few new things as well.

Today's topic is Ask The Experts. In your post, ask the visitors to your blog for blogging advice. What did you always want to know about blogging but were afraid to ask? Now is the time!

I have listed just a few of my tips, although I am by no means an expert.

1. Be visible & utilize social media – Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook etc. follow your blogging friends, favorite authors, publishers - It’s not only a great way to learn about new releases but also new authors and our fellow bloggers.

2. To gain more followers and to learn about other blogs, host giveaways or participate in a few memes, it doesn’t have to be a regular thing but I think it really helps. A few memes I love are Waiting on Wednesday hosted by Breaking the Spine & Feature & Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. I am a Reader Not a Writer hosts some wonderful themed giveaway hops.

3. If you are keen to receive ARC’s, contact publishers to put your name on their ARC list, Netgalley is also fantastic as are blog tours!

4. Blog because you love blogging, be consistent and inviting and write from your heart.

My question – I seem to get the traffic flow based on my blog stats but the comments are few – does anyone else find this? How do you encourage your readers to post comments, do you try to engage them in any way through discussion?

Armchair BEA – Day 4 – Beyond the Blog

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

Armchair BEA – Day 4 – Beyond the Blog

Has blogging opened up opportunities for you beyond getting free, advance copies of new books? Has it helped you get offers to write or review elsewhere (maybe even for pay)? Have you gotten invites to special events or places you might not have been to otherwise? Today, we'd like you to talk about those opportunities in you own posts, and later this morning, we'll have a guest post from one of our own Armchair BEA team members, about her freelancing experiences.

“If none of these apply we'd love for you to share a fun aspect about your blog or life that may be completely separate from books!”

I am my harshest critic so don’t think I would want to pursue writing or reviewing outside of my blog – it is something I do purely as a hobby and not something I am keen on turning into a career or making money from. I am signed up to the Amazon affiliate program but to be completely honest, I am clueless with how it all works. The biggest perk for me already is receiving ARC’s of books I am eager to read, its payment enough in itself and something I truly appreciate (it saves me a fortune).

So, since this question doesn’t really pertain to me I get to share a fun aspect about my life – the most fun I have is with my husband and gorgeous children Damian who is 7 and Eva who turned 5 yesterday, they are the lights of my life and I am so thankful for them. I am also thankful they both share my passion and love of reading, my son is in 1^st class at school and I am pleased they place a lot of emphasis on literacy, he writes the most wonderfully creative stories that he reads with so much enthusiasm you can’t help but enjoy the absolute cuteness of them. Other than my love for my family, I am also completely obsessed with all aspects of photography and admit to always having my camera with me much to my family’s embarrassment, it is an outlet for me to express myself and also something I am interested in pursuing professionally (if ever I work up the courage).

 Thank-you for stopping by!!

Armchair BEA Day 3 – A Positive Experience With Books

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads 

For Day 3, we want you to share your positive experiences of using your blog to get involved in your community.  This can involve partnerships with the local literary scene, attending author events and signings, or getting together with bloggers in your area.

Unfortunately, I haven't had any real life experiences involving my local book blogging community, but I hope this changes in the not too distant future.

Being from Australia, we don’t have a lot of bookish events which showcase the books or authors I read so I haven’t had the opportunity to attend signings etc.

For me, the positive experiences of blogging have been meeting other people online with the same love of reading that I have. None of my ‘real life’ friends are as interested in my hobby so blogging was my way of not only keeping all my thoughts on the books I have read in one place but also a place where I could learn about new authors and books and a way of meeting other book bloggers – this was done through Goodreads and on Twitter as well.

Through blogging, I have also had the opportunity to interview some amazing authors! Most recently Julie Kagawa who I adore – my dream is to one day attend an event where I will get to not only meet many of my favorite authors but the many friends I have made online as well.

Armchair BEA - Day 2 - My Favourite Reads of 2012

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

 Today’s suggested posting topic is “Best of 2012”: 

Share some of your favorite books so far this year, and/or the the books being promoted at BEA that you hope will end up among your favorites for the year!

I have read 78 books so far this year & some have been quite amazing!

I have listed my top 5 books which I rated 5 stars!

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry – My Review

  

Author: Katie McGarry

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pre-order Amazon: Pushing the Limits

Release Date: 31st July 2012 

Storm (Elementals #1) by Brigid Kemmerer – My Review

  

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Elemental

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Kensington

Amazon: Storm

 Pure (Covenant #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout – My Review

 

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Covenant

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Genre: Young Adult

Amazon: Pure

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley – My Review

 

Author: Cath Crowley

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Amazon: Graffiti Moon

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa – My Review

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Blood of Eden

Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Armchair BEA - Introduction

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

Hi Everyone!

BEA is definitely an event I won’t be attending anytime soon unfortunately, although NYC is an absolute dream of mine; since I am from Australia I am participating in the next best thing, Armchair BEA.

This year's theme is all about community, and the main goal is to encourage visiting and getting to know the vast number of bloggers/participants.

Armchair BEA kicks-off with introductions!!

So without further ado, my answers to a few of the questions.

(A full list can be found HERE)

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

My name is Sharon; I am from Sydney Australia and a full-time mum to 2 gorgeous children. I absolutely LOVE to read and I have been blogging since March 2011.

What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

I am currently reading Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins! Finding the time over the past few days to fit in reading has been a tad frustrating especially since this is a book I am really really enjoying.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

Easy peasy! It would definitely be my all time favorite author Karen Marie Moning, never before have I been so obsessed with a series than what I was with her Fever series – I loved it and am so anxious to read more.

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

When I first started blogging it was all Adult Paranormal/Urban Fantasy and Contemporary or Romantic Suspense, but since starting on Young Adult novels, I am completely converted (unless it is a series or author I absolutely love).

What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?

I contribute the number of followers I have today from participating in weekly memes, specifically Parajunkee/Alison Can Read, Feature & Follow Friday as well as Waiting on Wednesday hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Interviewing authors is also fun! I recently got to interview the amazingly awesome Julie Kagawa and her answers were wonderful.

Thank-you for stopping by!!