Author: forthesakeofreadingya

#ArmchairBEA: Blog Aesthetics

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya1 Comment

Today’s topic(s) cover aesthetics – both for books and for the blog. Much like my Diversity in Publishing post yesterday I’m going to apply the IRAC method to this so I don’t go too far off point.

Issue:

As a book blogger, in whatever form that takes, branding is important. Your colors, your fonts, your style of review, all of these things come together to make the “brand” of your blog – something that makes your reviews and posts and websites, all your various content, immediately recognizable to the people looking for you. What do you do to create a brand on your site? Do you think about these things?

Continue reading “#ArmchairBEA: Blog Aesthetics” →

#ArmchairBEA: Book Aesthetics

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya2 Comments

Today’s topic(s) cover aesthetics – both for books and for the blog. Much like my Diversity in Publishing post yesterday I’m going to apply the IRAC method to this so I don’t go too far off point.

Issue:

How often do you judge a book by its cover? How often are you surprised by what you find? Do you strategize and make sure every book in your series has the same cover design (as far as you are able to) and type? How important is it for the visual art on the outside of the book to match or coordinate with the literature art on the inside?

Continue reading “#ArmchairBEA: Book Aesthetics” →

#ArmchairBEA: Diversity in Publishing

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya2 Comments

When I started writing this piece it became this three page long…something which I realized wasn’t helpful. It was rambly and verbose and had no real direction. So we’re gonna do what I did in school and that’s the IRAC method:

I – Issue, what am I trying to answer?
R* – Response, my answer to the question.
A – Application, this would be where I back up my response.
C – Conclusion, summing things up

(I adjusted the R. It normally should be “Rule”, but this isn’t a legal case. Yet.)

Continue reading “#ArmchairBEA: Diversity in Publishing” →

#ArmchairBEA: My Introduction

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya11 Comments

Armchair BEAWell hello folks 😀 As this is my first time in…gosh 9 years of blogging not attending BEA I found myself feeling the anxiousness of not being around my blogging buddies. Armchair BEA is here to fill that hole!

Firstly let me introduce myself shall I? Note I co-blog with my friend Tasch, but its just little old me hanging around with ABEA 🙂

Continue reading “#ArmchairBEA: My Introduction” →

IBD 2016 Highlight: The Doylestown Bookshop

Published on by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

ibd

Yesterday I discussed the books I got at Farley’s Bookshop (New Hope, PA) and today I wanted to discuss the books I got at Doylestown as well as the YA presentation from their RHKids rep Bobbie.

What’s Independent Bookstore Day? It was a day for book lovers to unite and visit their local (or not so local!) indie bookstores for activities, exclusive merchandise and best of all BOOKS. Since my particular area didn’t have any participating I traveled outside my normal sphere to a couple of shops I was interested in. Along with my friend Mel and her almost six year old daughter Aeryn we made a morning of it!

Continue reading “IBD 2016 Highlight: The Doylestown Bookshop” →

IBD 2016 Highlight: Farley’s Bookshop

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya1 Comment

ibd

Did you participate in Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) this year? Held on April 30, 2016 across the United States it was a call to booklovers to unite and visit their local (or not so local!) indie bookstores for a variety of bookish fun.

My particular area didn’t have any stores closer then 40 minutes away, so I took to the road to visit a couple stores I haven’t been to before. I’ve broken this up into two parts because the second store had an event I wanted to discuss as well.

First this is what I was sporting:

BEA attendees might recognize that shirt – it was one of the Sourcebook giveaway shirts from a couple years ago. The bag was a birthday gift from a few years ago from my friend Jia and the pins…well. Who doesn’t love pin collecting?

Continue reading “IBD 2016 Highlight: Farley’s Bookshop” →

Author Chat: #AskCTP Twitter Chat

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya10 Comments

ask CTP

Last night was the Clean Teen Publishing #AskCTP author chat and it was fun (well I had fun, hopefully everyone else did as well). The following authors took part:

Amanda Strong (@aewstrong)
Shannon A. Thompson (@AuthorSAT)
Jennifer Derrick (@BluEyedReindeer)
Sherry D. Ficklin (@AuthorSherry)
Jon Messenger (@JonMessenger)
Kristin Smith (@SwordsStilettos)
Kasi Blake (@KasiBlake)
June S. Westerfield (@damselwriter)
Sandy Goldsworthy (@sgoldsworthy)
Kendra L. Saunders (@kendrybird)
Susan Harris (@SuzHarrisWrites)
Julie Wetzel (@JulieKWetzel)
Tamara Grantham (@TamaraGrantham)

And readers a plenty! Want to see some of the highlights from my questions? Let’s get cracking!

Continue reading “Author Chat: #AskCTP Twitter Chat” →

Guest Post: Leanna Renee Hieber!

Published on by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

StrangeBeaut-hires

Hello darling readers, I’m very thrilled to be here with Lexie today, someone very dear who has been with me since my debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Gothic, Victorian Strangely Beautiful series, burst onto the scene in 2009. I am so blessed by the support I received from bloggers and readers here, I really owe my career to all of you.

Some of you may know, the Strangely Beautiful series went out of print when the first publisher folded and it’s been a very difficult few years for me, trying to overcome that financial blow and the emotional struggle as these are the books of my heart. But the amazing Melissa Singer at Tor Books, who launched my new ETERNA FILES series (Think Victorian X-Files!), rescued Miss Percy and her series and it is back in a gorgeous new edition, revised, re-edited with new scenes and new content! Two books in one volume, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (my review) and The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (my review) are united in this author’s preferred edition! (The prequel, Perilous Prophecy will release in 2017, and the finale, Miss Violet and the Great War, will finally release in 2018!)

If you pre-order Strangely Beautiful before 4/26, be sure to keep your confirmation # and visit: http://leannareneebooks.blogspot.com to enter to win a $75 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble, every entrant receives a beautiful Strangely Beautiful set of postcards!

Continue reading “Guest Post: Leanna Renee Hieber!” →

Book Review: A Girl’s Guide to Landing a Greek God

Published on by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

greek 2

When Angie’s big fat Greek wedding goes bust, her grandmother sends her on a trip to Greece with the instruction to set sail on a mysterious fishing boat that will take her to an uncharted island. Waiting for her at the dock is Milos, who’s charming and handsome and confesses he’s been crushing on her for years, even though he’s never met her. He also tells her he’s a descendant of the original Gods of Olympus, who are plotting their return to power.
girl's guide
Before she can say “Oh my God,” Angie is flying a winged horse alongside Milos and finding love in his arms. But there’s one little hitch: Milos’s elders are forcing him to marry a malevolent goddess named Electra to fulfill their plan. If Angie is to have any hope of hanging onto Milos, she’ll have to battle monsters, both reptilian and lipsticked; uncover secrets about her past; and go toe-to-toe with Zeus himself, whose recipe for world domination doesn’t call for a sassy girl from the outer boroughs.

Pros – Who wouldn’t want to land a Greek God?*, breezy, sweet

Cons – Clearly a set up for other books, not much seems to happen, bland

Spoiler – There’s a spoiler beneath in my review. If you’d prefer to read the review minus the spoiler I suggest you check out my GR review, as the spoiler is hidden there.

Continue reading “Book Review: A Girl’s Guide to Landing a Greek God” →

Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway

Published on by forthesakeofreadingya3 Comments

every heart

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Pros – Jack, the school, Kade

Cons – I’ll be honest, as much as I like this book I now rather desperately want books about Kade, Jack, Nancy, and Sumi and the adventures behind their doors…

Continue reading “Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway” →