A million thank you's to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I'm excited to help add a little boost to our economy, as well as offer support to local booksellers.
A great advantage to being in the book blogging industry is the free books we're able to score, but as we move towards the holiday shopping season, I want to encourage you to give the gift of books and become familiar with your local book retailer. I really do fear the loss of these local treasures.
Alright. I've probably beleaguered that point long enough now. ;-)
I took all of the entries, plugged them into Random.org's True Random Number Generator and was given #36, which makes Elizabeth of As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves the winner! Congratulations, Elizabeth!
Send me a confirmation email to onlinepublicist [AT] gmail [COM] by September 30 to claim your prize! If I do not hear from Elizabeth by then, I will choose another winner on October 1.
Thanks again and keep an eye on my blog for future giveaways, project announcements, and bookish queries!
**THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!**
As book lovers, I often feel that we are part of a larger group of concerned citizens. We love our local independent book shops and do all we can to support them. I was blown away with how many people commented about the closing of Schwartz Book Shop, a family owned bookshop in my city, after 82 years in business. People from all over the world lamented the loss on Twitter. It was very touching. With that said, in addition to the four books in this giveaway, I will also be giving away a $25 gift certificate to a bookshop in your area! (Because of this, I will only be offering this giveaway to US residents. BUT, I also have an international giveaway that will be posting at the BBAW site. I will post the link once it is offered over there.)
Books in the bundle are:
German for Travelers: A Novel in 95 Lessons by Norah LabinerTanker War: America's First Conflict With Iran, 1987-1988 by Lee Allen ZatarainInvisible Lines by Mary Amato (ARC)Sammy & Sue Go Green Too! by Suzanne Corso
All you have to do is...subscribe to my feed, then post a comment that you did it. That's it! If you are currently a follower, just leave a comment that you would like to be entered in this giveaway.
Contest ends Friday, September 25 at 12am, Central time. I will use Random.org to choose the winner and will announce it on Monday, September 28. Winner must contact me (onlinepublicist [AT] gmail [DOT] com) by September 30, or the prize will go to the next person on the list. Once we make contact, we will choose a bookshop in your area and I will organize the purchase of the gift certificate for you there. **Please note that I extended the dates of this giveaway from what they were originally.**
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful BBAW!
I signed up to trade an interview with a fellow blogger and was thrilled when I was paired up with someone who was new-to-me! So I scoped out her blog, nosed through some posts and came up with some questions. She was a real sport about it and came up with great responses.
I now give you, Kate, from The Neverending Shelf:
1. You haven’t been blogging for very long. Were you a book blog follower before a blog writer? What was the first book blog you remember coming across?
Actually, I was not much of a blog follower before deciding to become a blog writer. I have been a reader for a long time, and so when I started to discover the blogging community it was like a light bulb went off. I just kept thinking-- this would be so much fun to do and I can do this. I did however, do a lot of research before I started my blog. I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into, and what was expected of me. I think that has helped me be a better blogger.
I think the first book blog I came across was The Story Siren's. I am not really sure how I ended up there, but I was just fascinated by her site. It is filled with a lot of information for the new blogger, as well as great links to other fabulous blogs.
2. Why do you not read non-fiction or memoirs/biographies?
While those types of books can be interesting, they are just not my cup of tea. I have tried to read this genre in the past, and I usually lose interest. But this is actually kind of strange since I love historical fiction so much.3. If you were a character in a book, would you rather be a memorable bad girl, or an unremarkable good girl? I would definitely want to be a memorable bad girl. This would be something that is a bit out of the norm for me. So if I am going to be a character, I would love for it to be possibly my antithesis.
4. From your first Branching Out post: “My reading obsession began when I was about 10 with my mother's old romance novels.” I, too, began reading adult material at a young age (VC Andrews) and feel it was vital to my growth as a reader. Do you think your reading tastes would be different had you not been introduced to adult material at a young age? Would you prevent your children from reading outside of their age range?Absolutely. I think that opportunity has helped fuel my passion for reading. It also set me up for advancements in reading and English courses. For example, I remember in about the 6th grade, we had to take reading level tests. When the results came, my parents and teachers were amazed that at my young age I was reading at college level. All in all, I honestly think that if I had not began actively reading at such a young age that I may not be the book lover I am today.
I would never stop my children from reading outside their age range as long as I believe that they are mature enough to read it. I was a very mature child which helped me handle reading about sexual interactions at such a young age. But I think that it is important for each parent to take into consideration their child's maturity in regards to what they read.
5. How do you deal with hissing cockroaches?
Very carefully. (Just kidding.) They are very easy to handle and care for. We basically got them as a food source for our centipedes, and sadly, before we knew it we probably had over 100 since they breed like crazy. Thankfully, we gave them to a local pet store since there were way too many.
6. If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
Wow, this is hard. I am really bad about picking names. Let's go with- Just Another Step. Life is a journey and one step at a time.
7. You speak a lot about covers and how they make you feel. What would the cover to question #6 look like? What images would you want represented on it?
Maybe some artsy with shoes. I am getting this picture of shoe prints going down a sidewalk from a shoe that stepped in wet paint.
8. You’re hosting the Alice in Wonderland week on October. You said that The Looking Glass Wars is your favorite series. How do you feel that series reflects the intentions of the original work?
I think that it upholds Carroll's message very well. It is a wonderful series regarding the use of the imagination. It challenges the reader to think outside of the box similarly to Alice in Wonderland, and gives the reader a chance to think about their own reality. Scientists often think there are other worlds out there that have yet to be discovered, and Beddor kinda builds on this theory. He wants his readers to imagine that Alice (or Alyss) is actually a real person with her own universe.
9. If you could go as a book for Halloween, what would it be and how would you pull it off?
If it was trying to be an actual book, I think would find one that has something on the cover like a fairy or something supernatural. I would dress up as that character and try to make something go around me to make it look like a book. So it would be kinda like a two in one costume. Hope that makes sense.
10. What would be your dream job once you finish school and earn your BA in English?
If I am going to just stay with my BA, then I would love to find a job in publishing. I am great organizer, so I think it would be lots of fun to be a book promoter or maybe an agent. I am right now considering my Masters in Literary Science, so maybe I will actually end up in a library somewhere which would suit me fine.
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Thanks again, Kate! Kate's blog, The Neverending Shelf is a pretty incredible book blog, so I highly suggest you check it out. Thanks to the BBAW organizers for pairing us up. :-)
Happy BBAW '09!
Without book bloggers, there would be no Online Publicist. I feel as though I send out general thank you's ad nauseam. I want every book blogger to individually feel loved and appreciated. I tend to steer clear of singling folks out because I truly could not do my work without every single one of you!
So, today's BBAW topic is 'What book blogs mean something to you?' My approach to this came about from some research I was doing last week. I pulled out an old file and thumbed through it, seeking inspiration for an unrelated project. As I dug through the file, I caught my breath. The materials date back to 2007. And there are folks on these lists that I still work with today! So, I would like to use this post to thank the people who took a chance on me back when I was a online book blogging publicist newbie. Back when I was throwing books at the virtual wall and waiting to see where they would stick. While they're not all book bloggers, they do include book reviews when the topic is right.Heather at Errant Thoughts has been kind enough to review for me since 2007. Some books haven't work for her. Some have. But she's always been fair and honest in her thoughts. Motherwise Cracks: hysterical posts on parenting and daily life by a great blogger who reviewed for me a long time ago, even though she's not a book blogger.
Julie Rains is one of my absolute favorite personal finance bloggers. She blogs at Wise Bread. If you're ever looking for a great personal finance book, you can't go wrong using one of her recommendations.
Back in '07, I approached Jason Alba because his career management blog, JibberJobber, was the perfect outlet for a business book I was working on. He was so impressed that I had read his posts before contacting him that he said he would speak of me at a conference he was putting together in order to help marketing and PR people understand the 'blogger.' His comment of, 'You're still the best PR person to work with,' still makes me feel warm and fuzzy. If you're ever looking for a book on career guidance, I highly recommend his titles. Do you know any blogs that are not book specific, but still utilize reviews to support their content?
The shortlists are up and voting has begun! Head on over and get your votes in for your favorite book blogs now: BBAW Voting Booth. Good luck to all who were shortlisted!
BBAW kicks off next week, so be sure to stop by and check out what I'm featuring that week. Giveaways, interviews, thank yous, and thoughts. Can't wait to see you here! :-)
It seems that I've been nominated for a BBAW Award in the category of Best Publishing/Industry Blog! As you can see by smiling kitty, this makes me SO happy:
I really can't thank you all enough for thinking of me and wish everyone the happiest of BBAW's! This one is really going to kick some super fun book butt.
And a huge thank you to the organizers who are managing what I'm sure is tons and tons of info with the nominations, giveaways, emails, judging panels...you guys rock!
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A million thank you's to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I'm excited to help add a little boost to our economy, as well as offer support to local booksellers.
