Musings about the writing life.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Barnes and Noble Book Haul

Last night I was in Barnes and Noble innocently standing by the new Young Adult books table when two girls came up to me like I worked there and asked me where Gone Girl was.

"It's under Flynn, in fiction--F--L--Y--N--N," I said without thinking.

I have not read this, so how did I know this?  I was pretty proud of myself.  Not only did I look like a smart bookseller even in my sparkly red sweater but I also knew the answer.

And I have to say, I know the answer from watching so many Booktube videos.  Thank you, Booktubers!




I also walked out of Barnes and Noble with the following YA books that I hope to read one day soon:
  • Every Day by David Levithan (A soul wakes up every day in a different body.)
  • Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver--A girl wakes up reliving the last day of her life until she figures out why she died, I think.) This book is this month's YA-MA club's book read: (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/51118-rated-ya-ma)
  • Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt (A girl gives up all social media after being dumped on Facebook and pretends she's living in the sixties.)
And Booktubers had a lot to do with those decisions too.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Last Day of Books a Million

Tear.  Last Day of Books a Million.

Books a Million in Charlotte, NC, closed on March 16, 2013.

"But you didn't go in there that much."--husband
"Yes, I did.  And anyway knowing it was there was a comfort."--me

Books were 20% off on that day and I got the following:



  • John Green boxset
  • a beautiful Penguin edition of Bridget Jones Diary (I've read this and probably have it but damn Booktubers are making me notice and want beautiful books more)
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (the Booktubers have been going on and on about this one...something about a video game and great 80s references)

The biggest point is---I will miss the hours of browsing.  (Husband is very patient as long as he has his iPhone.) There were so many more that I picked up and put back trying to keep a limit to how much I spent.

Bookstores to me are like museums.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

One of a writer's best days...

https://twitter.com/benjisays/status/310474301079973888

...occurs when you find out this has happened:

Quotation from Nellcott is My Darling:
He wrote on her placemat, "There is only one of us now, you know."
         He wanted her soul from the beginning.



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Grazing Pages Reviews Nellcott

Katie at Grazing Pages on YouTube reviews Nellcott is My Darling!


You can watch the review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4CYKI_aPoGw#t=382s


"It's not your usual writing style and I love that about it." --Katie about Nellcott is My Darling

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

My First BookTuber Mention!

Today, my book Nellcott is My Darling was mentioned by a Booktuber on a YouTube video for the first time ever and that Booktuber was Bookables, one of my favorites in a recent Book Haul. (Eeeeee!)

Bookables on YouTube

You can watch it here: http://youtu.be/JpgIZVbbz7s


In Booktuber land, a "book haul" is a video done to show what books have been acquired recently.  (There are also book reviews and book tags, where the Booktuber has to answer a set of given questions when they are "tagged" by another Booktuber).  It's so much fun in Booktuber land.

In the video, she asks if I pronounce my last name like "fried" or like "freed." Well, I pronounce it like "freed" like the German pronunciation of all words "fried."

My first name isn't so easy for people either.  I have such a fear about giving my name out at Starbucks that it took me years not to lie about it.  Mostly, I get called Frieda or Olga or Gloria.

How did it feel seeing my book in one of Bookables' videos?  Surreal and dreamy.  Thank you, Bookables!

She also mentioned that I'm the first person to send her a review copy.  That's just crazy.  She should be getting Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) from every publisher around.  Maybe publishers have not got around to learning about Booktubers yet, but I would think they will.

Here's a blog on this topic: http://smallreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-get-arcs-step-by-step-guide.html that mentions NetGalley and Edelweiss for e-galleys and some imprints for print books.

Otherwise, I see Booktubers sending each other books they get like a shared pair of jeans in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but that's expensive too...

Sunday, March 3, 2013

My First Goodreads Giveaway

February 2013 was also the time I had my first Goodreads Giveaway!

This was loads of fun!!  It lasted over a period of month, and in the end I had 1014 people enter!  Ten lucky people won!  Honestly, I wish I could give everyone my book...

I definitely want to do another Giveaway and soon.

I think it was good karma too because when it was over, I found out I had won a book: an advanced copy of Lauren Graham's young adult novel Someday, Someday, Maybe.



I'm over the moon about this!  I'm a HUGE Gilmore Girls and Parenthood fan and I love you Lauren Graham.

BookTubers

February was the month I discovered BookTubers.  I can't remember how exactly, but I subscribed to many and fell in love with some and even asked some if I could send some my book. And some even said yes!

(These are people who do book reviews and stuff book related on YouTube.)

I even tried my own Friday Reads which you can watch at http://youtu.be/yxdreyjATmw:

This is very scary stuff.  I don't know if I can do this as a regular thing like most BookTubers do.  And I had to google how to do everything. (I used my WebCam and iMovie).

BookTubers I recommend include: Danny Marks, JustKissMyFrog, Grazing Pages, Mothereffingbooks, Books with Bree/ Bree Taylor, Bookables, Bunny Cates (the initiator of Friday Reads on YouTube), and Books and Quills.  There are loads more that I'll let you discover on your own.

Happy BookTubing!