Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
Not much to say about this week. We’re settling into our school routine, which is good. Other than that … yeah, I got nothing.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I’ve noticed the issue with people getting sent to SPAM on WordPress blogs again. If you have a WP blog, make sure you check your SPAM because I’ve found quite a few real comments in there (and I’ve been sent to SPAM on other people’s blogs too!)
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog:
- The Sin Eater’s Daughter and The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury – Bite-Sized Reviews
- The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen – Middle Grade Review
- September Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
- August Recap & Best of the Bunch
- The Graces by Laure Eve – Review of a Witchy YA Read (this is a review from my mom!)
- A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Me Before You: Book and Movie
Next week on FYFA:
- Blogging 101: What Do You Wish You’d Known When You Started Blogging? – I need you guys to help me come up with topics to cover in my Blogging 101 class. Pretty please?
- Keep Her by Leora Krygier – Review & Fall Favorites Blog Tour
- Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron – Review (& maybe giveaway? Not sure if this tour has one)
- Bite-sized audiobook reviews of Jellicoe Road, Forgotten, Spin and Zac & Mia
- August Wrap-up Round-Up Giveaway
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Only one birthday this week, so you should all have no problem taking the time to go wish her well on her blog or via Twitter! Yeah, I know, I’m bordering on nagging here, but I’d love to see everyone getting more birthday and blogoversary love on their special days. If you’re like me, and you have trouble remembering to dole out the well-wishes on the exact day, feel free to do it right now. There’s nothing wrong with offering encouraging words a few days early (or late!).
Also, check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up. (If you want to be added to the calendar, you can always fill out the birthday/blogoversary form!)
- September 7th – Lory @ The Emerald City Book Review‘s Birthday
For Review:
Thank you to SparkPoint Studio and Random House Children’s Books!!
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed above)
- August Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway! – Last chance to enter to win! (You didn’t have to participate in the wrap-up round-up to enter the giveaway.)
Pre-Order Deals:
There are a TON of these right now!!!
- Pre-order HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer to get a Heartless branded magnetic bookmark.
- Pre-order HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS ILLUSTRATED EDITION and get a wall sticker and 20% off. Order the deluxe edition to get a tote and 20% off. Or order both to get both the sticker and the tote and 30% off. (UK/AU/NZ residents only)
- Pre-order POPPY MAYBERRY, THE MONDAY by Jennie K. Brown and enter to win fun (and very cute!) swag!
- Pre-order LABYRINTH LOST by Zoraida Cordova and the first 100 pre-orders will get a full color poster of the book’s map!
- Pre-order THE READER by Traci Chee and receive a free limited edition art print.
- Pre-order LITTLE BOT AND SPARROW by Jake Parker and enter to receive a signed print (while supplies last) by Jake Parker. All entrants are also automatically entered for a chance to win one of five custom prints by Jake!
- Pre-order CROOKED KINGDOM by Leigh Bardugo or the SIX OF CROWS DUOLOGY Boxed Set and you’ll get a fancy dice set in a branded pouch and a signed bookplate.
- Pre-order METALTOWN by Kristen Simmons and you can enter to win one of four fabulous prize packs!
- Pre-order AS I DESCENDED by Robin Talley to receive bookmarks and stickers featuring the book’s beautiful cover, plus a signed bookplate!
- Pre-order STEALING SNOW by Danielle Paige to receive a compact mirror!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
Again, lots of giveaways going on around the blogosphere this week!!!
- Lauren @ Shooting Stars Mag is celebrating her blogoversary with giveaways! Enter to win a cute Pineapple prize pack and a reader’s tote bag.
- Head over to Where Are You Going to win a print of a gorgeous lettering project from Six of Crows!
- Sourcebooks is running a giveaway to celebrate the fact that This Is Where It Ends has been a #1 bestseller! You can enter to win a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card + book bundle!
- Head over to Lilybloombooks for a chance to win a signed copy of all eight Middle Grade books featured on her Back to School Bookshelf Tour!
- Head over to Stuck in Books for a chance to win The Epidemic by Suzanne Young
- A Writer’s Tales has a blogoversary giveaway going on. You can enter to win any art print, mug, or totebag from Pam’s Society6 shop in November.
- Entangled has some giveaways going on: Enter to win a signed copy of Monica Murphy’s YA debut, Daring the Bad Boy + a $20 Amazon gift card! or a $25 Amazon Gift Card during the blog tour for The Summer Before Forever.
- Insane About Books is celebrating its fifth blogoversary by giving away a Mystery Box of Books (US) and $20 for TBD (INT)
- Head over to Crafty Dreams for a chance to win a fun handmade book box!
- Canada residents can enter to win an exclusive ARC box of The Diabolic over at A Cupcake and a Latte.
- Author Kimberly Derting is giving away an ARC of Kami Garcia’s THE LOVELY RECKLESS
- Head over to Confessions of a Book Geek for a chance to win a copy of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover and a chance to win The Double Life of Mistress Kit Kavanagh (the second one is for UK/Ireland residents only).
- Head over to It Starts at Midnight for the Shattering Stigmas giveaway!
- Scholastic is sponsoring a Back-to-School Giveaway with lots of prizes!
- Star-Crossed Book blog has giveaways going for their blogoversary. Some have ended, but there’s still a chance to win The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, Angelfall by Susan Ee, The Unearthly Trilogy by Cynthia Hand and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton, The Artists Trilogy (Sins & Needles, Shooting Scars and Bold Tricks) by Karina Halle (ebook), and Anew by Chelsea Fine (ebook)
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
For Blogging 101, someone needs to tell me how to make graphics that look good and don’t take 1000 hours to create. It’s the same with bookish photos. Mine take forever to set up and then look too awful to post. A few people have asked me how to get blog followers, so I know people are curious about that. Oh, and tips for hosting successful giveaways/challenges/link-ups.
Thanks for your input! I wish I knew how to take pictures that look beautiful and don’t take forever. I honestly just don’t think I have the artistic eye for it. It’s the sort of thing you can kind of learn, but not really. But I figure I’ll share some wisdom from others who are much better at it than I am!!
Time Traveling with a Hamster looks like fun. 🙂
Happy reading, Nicole!
Super cute, right? I really want to try and get a pic or two with my daughter’s hamster – we shall see how that works out. 🙂
Ah blogging 101! This wont surprise you, but FTC and Legal. It bugs me to no end that people STILL DON’T GET IT. (or ignore it, take your pick!) lol
thanks for sharing the giveaway! 🙂 Have a great week
Oooh! That’s really good! I’ll have to go to your blog to get my info for that week of class since I know you have it all straight!!
We’ll be settling into our new school routine this coming week. I can’t wait! 🙂
Glad you’re looking forward to it! I both love it and dread it. 🙂
When I first started, I didn’t understand a lot of things. I still don’t understand how to properly use categories vs. tags. I also didn’t understand how to balance different types of posts, especially tours. New bloggers think they can never say no. Even now I would be interested in good tips on creating graphics and fabulous bookstagram photos.
You have some great ideas here! Categories vs. tags is one of those things I’ll never fully understand either. Balancing different types of posts is a great idea for a topic that I hadn’t really thought of.
OOoh nice! Those are new to me reads! Hope you enjoy them!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Thanks, Jessica!
I just read an article today from another blogger who is experiencing the spam problems. You might want to check it out to see if her solution works for you.
http://www.becausereading.com/trust-commenting-back-really/
Thanks! These seem like slightly different problems, I think, but I’m definitely going to check it out anyway.
The #1 thing I wish I new before I got started blogging was how much time it takes. I really wish that I had built at least a small stockpile of reviews & posts BEFORE starting.
This is great advice!
Like a River Glorious! Loved the first one, can’t wait to get to it! I’ve noticed the same issue with WordPress, in that some of the blogs I follow and comment on often haven’t been showing my comments. 🙁 Makes me sad. Hopefully others will notice! HOpe you have a great week coming up. You can check out my Sunday Post in the link below.
Seems like lots of us are having the commenting issue, so hopefully people are figuring out that they need to check their SPAM folders. Such a pain!
I can’t wait to see what you thought of Jellicoe Road! I was more on the this book was not for me rating. But here’s hoping you were able to find enjoyment where I didn’t.
Like they say, no news is good news, right?!
Thanks so much for sharing my giveaways. 🙂
Thanks for the heads-up about non-spam going to the spam folder on WP. I just pulled about 15 comments out of there that weren’t spam.