Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
Started working on another proofread for Booktrope this week. Got halfway through and then found out that the company’s going out of business! If I’m being honest, I’m not that sad – I had recently marked myself as unavailable with them anyway because I just wasn’t making any money from the books I’ve worked on for them. They had an interesting publishing model, where everyone who works on the book makes a percentage based on how much the books sells, but it didn’t really pan out. I’m considering my work with them a failed experiment. Luckily, I have the luxury of failing without costing my family too much (besides my time, which is definitely precious). Oh well, live and learn.
Other than that, not much going around here in the Hewitt household. Went on a field trip with my kiddos to the Art Institute in Chicago and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I like art, but I don’t really get it a lot of the time. Still, it was fun to share that experience with my kids now that they’re old enough to care. And we giggled together about some of the art that my daughter insisted she could have done herself. (Yep, she probably could have – like I said, it’s way over my head.)
Here’s what you may have missed this past week:
- Bite-Sized Reviews – Ready Player One, Burning Glass and A Daring Sacrifice
- April Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – Link up your April wrap-up posts here!
- Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn – Review
- Do Author Bios Ever Make You Want to Read a Book? – Let’s Discuss!
- Hex Hall Series by Rachel Hawkins – Audiobook Series Review
- May Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your May discussion posts and enter to win!
And, while this wasn’t technically on my blog, my guest post about hosting a successful meme or challenge was featured over at 125 Pages! Head over there to read it and to enter the giveaway too (it’s part of Laura’s blogoversary celebration)!
Next week on FYFA:
- April Recap
- Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry – Review, Author Top Ten Lists and Interview!
- Let’s Discuss – Something bookish!
ARC April Update:
I ended up reading six books for ARC April: The Mirror King, Revenge and the Wild, Salt to the Sea, A Daring Sacrifice, Burning Glass, and Down with the Shine. All of these have reviews on the blog except Salt to the Sea (that one will come next month, but there’s a quickie review on Goodreads for now). I also started The Cage, but didn’t end up finishing it in time!
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Lots of things to celebrate next week! I hope you’ll stop by these blogs and send the bloggers some cheer in honor of their special days! (And check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up.)
- May 1 – Bunnita @ Worth Reading It?‘s Birthday
- May 3 – Cynthia @ Bingeing On Books‘ Birthday
- May 4 – Kaitlin Michelle @ Vivacious Hobo‘s Birthday
- May 5 – Latte Nights Reviews‘ Blogoversary
- May 5 – Of Dragons and Hearts‘ Blogoversary
Purchased:
For Review:
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
- Charlie @ Girl of 1000 Wonders is spreading the word about the free YA Audiobooks that you can get via SYNC starting next week!
- Val @ The Innocent Smiley asks Are We Allowed to Criticize Characters with a Mental Illness?
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed above)
- April Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Last chance to link up your April discussion posts and enter to win a book of your choice!
Pre-Order Deals:
- Pre-order THE DARKEST TORMENT by Gena Showalter and get an e-copy of The Darkest Day, a short Lords of the Underworld scene, or an e-copy of Kat in Zombieland, an AiZ short story. Plus, you’ll be entered to win more prizes!
- Pre-order IVORY & BONE by Julie Eshbaugh and get a swag pack – you’ll also be entered to win other prizes!
- Pre-order RUINED by Amy Tintera and get a swag pack!
- Pre-order THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER by Jennifer L. Armentrout and get immediate access to an extended excerpt from the book and a swag pack.
- Pre-order GIRL AGAINST THE UNIVERSE by Paula Stokes and receive a swag pack, plus you’ll be entered to win a bigger prize!
- Pre-order Evelyn Skye’s THE CROWN’S GAME and receive some special goodies! So far, it’s a bookmark, a sticker and three trading cards, but as more books are pre-ordered, more swag will be unlocked!
- Pre-order A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, to receive a series tote bag!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
There are tons of giveaways going on around the blogosphere!
- Tonyalee over at Lilybloombooks has created a Middle Grade Madness link-up. Link-up your reviews of middle grade books and enter to win one!
- Head over to Star-Crossed Book Blog for a chance to win a paperback of THE WRATH & THE DAWN, a hardcover of THE ROSE & THE DAGGER, and a His Calipha candle from The Melting Library’s Etsy Store, US Only.
- Head over to Love at First Page for a chance to win one of 3 Finished Copies of TRAITOR ANGELS (US Only)
- Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts is celebrating her birthday and blogoversary with a giveaway!
- Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books is running the Meet the Newbies event where you can win 1 Pre-Order or Finished Copy of Any Debut Novel Featured on Meet the Newbies (INT) – Several of the tour stops also have individual giveaways as well!
- Head over to Lisa Loves Literature for a chance to win Signed Paperback Copy of One of Michelle Madow’s Titles
- Head over to It Starts at Midnight for a chance to win A Paperback Copy & 2 ebook copies of Water’s Wrath (INT)
- Lauren over at Shooting Stars Mag is giving away a signed, personalized copy of Illuminae and a Signed ARC of The Raven Boys OR A Signed HC of The Raven King!
- Cilla over at Paved With Books is celebrating her first blogoversary by giving away a book of your choice!
- Laura at 125 Pages is also celebrating her first blogoversary and she has a few giveaways including a $50 Amazon gift card going on to celebrate it! Check them all out! (Plus, make sure you head over to her blog on the 29th to read my guest post.)
- Head over to Second Run reviews for a chance to win a Kindle copy of The Undays of Aralias Lyons. I proofread this book, and really enjoyed it, so I was very excited to see that Terri loved it too!
- Terri is also celebrating the one year anniversary of her In the Spotlight feature with a giveaway! There are several prizes, including copies of books she’s spotlighted, swag, and a $25 Amazon gift card!
- Lots of blogs participating in the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop.
- Clean Teen Publishing has a new giveaway with $120 worth of audiobook prizes!
- Zeee at I Heart Romance and YA is celebrating her birthday by giving away a Box of Books!
- Chapter Break is celebrating its two year blogoversary with a GIANT giveaway!
- Lori over at Writing My Own Fairy Tale does a Friday Grab Bag where she gives away an ARC from her ARC list.
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
I don’t get art, either. Or, maybe I just have a strange taste in art. Most of the stuff in museums doesn’t impress me like it’s supposed to.
I like the Impressionists, but lots of more modern art just kind of baffles me. There were seriously some art pieces that looked like they were done by a three-year-old. My dad always raves about this self-portrait my daughter did in the third grade. He says it looks really avante garde. Of course, he’s mostly joking (kind of – my dad can have some strange ideas!), but after walking through the museum I think he’s really onto something! 🙂
I am not the best with art either. I can appreciate some if it and others I totally don’t get. I need to get The Rose and The Dagger too. Hope you love it – Have a great week!
Yep – some of it has obvious amazing skill and artistry, and then there’s some that I just kind of have to laugh at!
I get SOME art. I am one of those that likes the most abstract things out there LOL my husband complains all the time about the childs play art I like 😀 😀
Also, THE MEMORY BOOK! I am excited for that one!
I actually thought some of the art was kind of cool, even if I didn’t get it. But there were some pieces that really did look like a three-year-old could have done it, and that sort of thing leaves me scratching my head a little.
So happy you actually finished a lot of ARCs for ARC April… I’m saying this as someone who read 1 out of 4 ARCs that I was planning for. So epic fail on that challenge! But I already k ew that I wouldn’t be able to follow through because I do not follow a set TBR pile..
I like going to museums! Especiay themed ones. One of my faves is The Getty Villa in California because it is modeled after a villa in Pompeii..and I love ancient stuff!
Yeah, I definitely think one must be older to truly appreciate art! I think it was in high school for me when we started learning about the things we’d be seeing in Greece and Italy and now I do have a greater appreciation for it. I might not always understand it or remember the specific era or type of art it is, but I definitely like seeing things more!
Great haul! I’m looking forward to TR&TD whenever I get around to reading it! LOL! Want to read the short stories that come before it all too. Of course, they come before the first book, but oh well! Want to prolong this series as long as I can!
Hope you enjoy all the reads!! Looking forward to seeing you (again!) in two weeks!! 😀
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Sorry that working with that company didn’t work out. It sounds like the business model was nicer in theory anyway!
-Lauren
I am in the same boat with you about artwork. Sometimes I just don’t get it. That sucks about the company you’ve been working with. Although, it sounds like you’d already made up your mind, so better to move on now than later when you’re really invested.
I think I looked at the BookTrope site once out of curiosity and didn’t really understand it :-/
I’m with you about the art thing. I’ve always liked art, took classes in elementary, middle, and high school even, but I never actually “got” it at museums and whatnot. And at modern art museums, some of the stuff is seriously like just a white canvas with a dot on it and stuff like that that we could all totally do ourselves lol. So if this book blogging thing doesn’t pan out… 😉
Oooh! Now you’re thinking, Kristen! I can just start a career as an artist. There were a bunch of paintings that I could easily manage – and a few really lumpy statues. I’m great at making lumpy stuff!
Ugh. The BookTrope stuff really bothers me. I know so many authors that used them, and then on the back-end I feel like everyone else got burned in the process. I didn’t know you edited for them! 🙁 Hopefully now you can just do editing for real pay.
I love art but museums make me sleepy. Every time I go to one, I start to yawn. EVERY TIME.
Yeah, I was trying Booktrope out as a sort of experiment, but it really wasn’t working for me. I’m sad to see it go in some ways, but I didn’t see how anyone was making any money from it.(I made pretty much none, which was frustrating.) I was a bit confused by how the marketing was working – or not working at all – one book literally sold four copies the month it was released (and then proceeded to sell four more over the next eight months). I was thinking, even if the author only convinced her friends to buy the book, she’d have more sales than that, right? Obviously, the marketing team didn’t have the right tools to do the job!
I like art but it’s usually genre art, illustrations. I don’t get the high brow art either! Neat that you guys went to see it though, it’s fun to go to those palces and see things. I love the Field Museum but haven’t been there in years.
I want to read Down With The Shine and Ruined looks good too.
It depends on the art, some is out there..LOL Sometimes a quiet uneventful week is nice Nicole. Hope the week ahead is filled with good read and smiles 🙂
When we use to live back there years ago, we went to the museums in Chicago (Field and Science & Industry were always my favs) except the Art Institute. After taking an art class in college, I still don’t get it, sigh lol. You’re not alone! Oh, thanks for mentioning us in your giveaway section!! And I can’t wait to see what you think of Ruined, it sounds fabulous!
Oh wow… Booktrope going out of business. I can see why, because it doesn’t sound like it was run right. I love the cover the The Memory Book. Enjoy!!
Thank you for sharing my links, Nicole! 🙂 I like your birthday/blog anniversary feature a lot.
I’m sorry that proofreading job didn’t pan out. That DOES sound like an interesting publishing model! I wonder if there are more successful examples of it…