Armchair Book Expo: Day 2 - Wants & Collaborations!

Hello and Welcome to Cover2CoverBlog! 

It is another year and that means another round of Armchair Book Expo.

While some lucky bloggers and bookish people are playing in NYC at the Book Expo IRL - we are here, at home/work/etc, but still what to play -- so we do it online with Armchair Book Expo!

Here is the Agenda for the week. Feel free to join in if you are not in NYC at the Expo [or if you are, that is fine too :)], there are lots of fun prompts, twitter parties and giveaways!

 

Day 2

What 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? How does diversity representation fit into all of this? "

These are great discussion questions! Feel free to link me us and discuss in the comments!

• Personally, the first make/break point is the cover. SORRY, I KNOW we aren't supposed to judge that way but we DO and so authors/publishers/ indies all need to know that and see what is selling and really question why. Gorgeous covers are my downfall - I need them, I want them.... poorly done covers make me a little sad and even if I loved the book, as a blogger I know that they might not get love if the cover isn't pretty/inviting/seductive enough.
• I rate books mostly on my feelings and how easy the book was to read. I rate on a 1-5 star scale. Sometimes I use half stars but it is pretty rare. When I review I normally ask myself these things: how much I wanted to read the book, did it live up to my expectations and its hype, did I get through it easily? Then I think about the plot and characters and my overall connection with the book and go from there. Most of the books I read fall in the 4-5 star ratings because honestly I am requesting/ reading things I know I will enjoy. However sometimes a book is not what I am expecting and it ends up with a 3 or below. 3 is I liked it but 'eh'. A lot of what I read is in the "good story" category because it is YA and MG, then again how are we classifying "literature"...?
• Sadly, I don't go to a lot of author events. I live in VT and the closest places they have them to me are an hour + away normally.
• Oh diversity! It has been a big thing over the last few years. I personally think it is great to get strong characters - regardless of gender or race but I know that the masses want more than stereotypes and  what we have 9 times out of 10. I don't actively seek out diverse books, but I enjoy when I am pleasantly surprised by them.

 

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 (i.e., libraries, bookstores, authors, publishers, etc.)?"

Another fun question, especially because the blogging community, which I lump myself into, has changed SO MUCH. I have been blogging for a little over 5 year (oy!) and I picked it up as a hobby. It was never intended to be a $$ job or anything just a way to share my love of books and reading. When I started it was before Evie had her baby and started her shop on Redbubble/ Society6, it was before Xpresso Reads had a touring company, and before Jenni stopped blogging (that was a sad day), it was a big time for bloggers and there was a lot of online fighting (or at least it felt like there was). 

Since then things have seemed to calm down but it also seems like our blogging veterans are done/ over it etc. I am hanging in, my blog isn't pretty, but it has what I want it to have - reviews, bookish things. I have readers that check in almost daily that keep me going... (Thank you Tyler!!!!). I do it for my love of books. So while I might not be ALL IN the community bits, I am around if you need me. 

This year has been my first year of what I consider 'slumming it' - I have almost missed Bloggiestas, I haven't participated in a readathon yet (you know of one this summer?! share in the comments) and I almost even forgot to write up my posts for this event (AND I AM PART OF THE PLANNING OF IT ! :/). So I need to comment on more blogs and get with it and participate in more things, that is a big part of the blogging community and I am a slacker lately.  

(Juggling work/home/ blogging can be rough... but I am sticking with it!)

 Happy Day 2 of Armchair Book Expo!

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