Welcome to day 2 of the Armchair BEA!! I love this and can’t wait to keep on keeping on each year they have it. Today we are going to talk about two topics. I’m not sure how long my responses will be, but I’ll try to keep them fairly short so you can move on and enjoy the other participants’ responses!
- What Do Readers Want?: What makes or breaks a book? How do we rate the books, or determine if it is good literature or a good story? What do we want from an author event?
Well, as a reader, I know what I want. I want an author to think of themselves as the reader while they write the book. I want a book to be filled with not only great writing, but characters that speak to me, that steal not just my heart, but my entire soul, too. The plot lines need to be written in a way that won’t leave me turning back the pages to try and keep up. It needs to flow smoothly and captivate me. I rate books like that with a 4, or a 5 star rating and really sing it’s praises.If there is an author event, I love to see authors take a few minutes with each of their fans and really interact, not just sign a book or two. I want to see them laughing and asking us questions like we ask them. Or, even see them “fangirl” over their fans. That makes it super fun!
- Let’s Collaborate & Listen: The online book community has changed so much over the years. How do we keep up within our own book-sphere as well as within the community as a whole?
How do I keep up? I follow my fellow bloggers! I love to see new bloggers making debuts in the blogosphere! I stop by their blogs and look around and make a list of what I want to read, then I go to those author websites and look around for even more books I want to read. It’s super fun for me. I’m a Christian fiction book review, so I have noticed that there aren’t as many of them around as there were in 2009 when I started my blog, but I still find loads of new books to read via the web! I love to go to libraries and bookstores and interact with the librarians and owners of the stores. They always have lots of great recommendations on reads. That’s how I personally keep up with the fun of books and learning about them. But, in all that, one thing I would love to see more of is commenting! I have lots of followers and only a handful comment!! How about y’all. What do you do to keep up with the book world, or what are you wanting as a reader in general? Tell me below!
I would love for the authors to post the review links on their social media sites. I would really like other bloggers to post other than their own links other bloggers links on their social media. The more that do this the more traffic we would all have. The more books we would learn about as well.
Hi Mary.
I think that’s an excellent suggestion – having authors posts their reviews on social media sites. Word of mouth still goes a long way and I myself read people’s reviews of books before I purchase them. Any suggestions on how I can gain more reviews for my book?
Lisa, do you have a street team??? That helps!
Amen! That is what my goal is for the future! I want it to be like it was when I started blogging in August of 2009. It can happen with perseverance!
Hi Molly! This is Sassy here, from the comment challenge. Looking forward to getting to know you, throughout June and beyond!
I just discovered this armchair book expo, and was going to join, but missed it lol – maybe next year…
I love being part of the online book community. I agree, authors interacting, making life fun, often makes the effort worthwhile. Not so much for recognition in itself, but when you rave about a book, it’s nice for the author to acknowledge you’ve taken the time to read it, and you appreciate his or her work.
There, this is my non-official entry. Sorry about the essay. Take care, see you soon x
P.S. I’m following you now 🙂
Hi, Sassy! So nice to “meet” you! I, too, look forward to getting to know you!
If you wanted to partake in Armchair BEA, I think you still can! It should be on the main sign up page on BEA.
Thanks for following! I will be stopping by your site as well and following you 🙂
I hope you enjoy my blog and have a fabulous day!
It always makes my day when an author shares a review I’ve written of their book. I’ve recently had other authors retweet my review for another author’s book so there are authors that do. I would love to see more bloggers sharing other bloggers reviews as well because it helps to get the word out. Thanks for sharing!
I love that too! I get a little too excited and squeal sometimes and then my husband looks at me like I’ve read one too many books.
I love to visit other books and help them out so we are on the same thinking there.
Glad you came by, Rebecca!
Wonderful post!! To keep up with the book world I follow and engage with a number of bloggers and booktubers. I also listen to a lot of bookish podcasts and subscribe to many bookish newsletters.
Keeping up can sure be exhausting because I am consuming so much content. So to keep things fresh, I make sure to unfollow/unsubscribe for channels that no longer interest me.
As a reader in general, I want to read more books that I can give 5-star ratings to. That rating is saved for books that I can read again and again, so I am incredibly picky.
Hi Erica!
I understand being picky! I am, too, in most ways!
As for podcasts, don’t shoot me but I’ve never done one/listened to one. Are they easy to follow/enjoy? Tell me more, please!
Thanks for visiting 🙂
This is a wonderful post. I love that I can feel your emotions in the wants list 🙂
As for staying involved – I try to pop in and read posts and comment when I can. I think it helps me and I love establishing those connections.
https://cover2coverblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/armchair-book-expo-day-2-wants.html
Aw thanks!
I love meeting new bloggers so I’m like you. It helps me to pop in and comment, even if it’s just a quick Hi and love your post!
Thanks for stopping by, Steph!
Commenting on the blog would be lovely. It’s nice to know what other people thought and part of blogging is making connections. I do see some authors that share the love for fellow authors by retweets and mentions. My Day#2 Armchair BEA
I love making new connections and the best way is to comment! Thanks for visiting 🙂
Great points about the plot line needing to flow smoothly and not confuse the reader! I’ve had to turn back and reread sections before because I couldn’t keep things straight and that’s really frustrating.
Exactly! Definitely no fun.
Very good points!
Thank you!
I love your point about not wanting to turn back and re-read in order to follow the plot. If that happens a lot in the first couple of chapters, those are the books I usually DNF.
Yea. It’s really no fun if you have to keep figuring out what you just read or didn’t read. It’s very hard to like a book like that. Thanks for stopping by!
To keep up with the book world, I, like Erica, listen to podcasts and read (too) many bookish enews letters and review blogs. I haven’t found a Christian fiction podcast but would love to listen to one!
More podcasts! I think I need to venture in the podcast world. Tell me more?
Great post, Molly!
I love what you say about not wanting to be forced to turn back the pages. Stories that flow easily are my favorites – especially as I’m 100% a turtle reader. 😉
Also characters that steal my heart are always the best.
Thanks for visiting Finding Wonderland!
Hi Rissi!
Thanks for visiting back. I’m glad you liked my post. This Armchair BEA is fun!
Great post! I totally agree about taking time with fans rather than just rushing things. Thank you for sharing!
It makes me feel like they truly value their fans 🙂 Thanks for visiting 🙂
Great post! I totally agree about taking time with fans rather than just rushing things. It feels more personal even if it’s just a minute or two.
Well, looks like at least you got lots of comments for this post, wonderful!
You know, I’m very involved in my Christian church, and I always have one Christian nonfiction book (right now an Orthodox book on icons, in French) on my list of #amreading, I even wrote one (Medieval spirituality) and am in the process of writing another one (a text from an Orthodox writer for each day of the year), but I have never read any modern Christian fiction, apart from the classics by CS Lewis for instance. What would you recommend? NB: I can’t stand romance nor chicklit. I enjoy thrillers and historical novels
I love that, an author who writes like a reader would want to read is exactly right! And yes, librarians and bookstore owners are wonderful for suggestions.
“I want an author to think of themselves as the reader while they write the book.” – This is a great point! I imagine sometimes it is hard for authors to remember to do this, to get out of their heads and see how a new reader will engage with a story. For me, I like different things from my books at different times, but I think what I want most often is a story that makes me think. Hope you’re having a great Armchair Book Expo so far 🙂
I love how you have the cans for your followers! That is so cool! I also love to find new bloggers to follow. It’s so much fun to me when they comment on my blog and then I follow back to return the comment and find a great new blog to follow. Great post! Thanks for stopping by my post earlier!
Visiting other bloggers is how I most often find out about new or favourite books! I am always adding books to my Wishlist based on other bloggers’ reviews.