(This little guy is totally going to grow up to be a Brooding YA Hero. Just look at him—he’s already got that piercing heartthrob stare going on!)
In my four years of blogging, I’ve only joined a few street teams. I kind of have to feel obsessed with the author to feel like I want to be a part of that author’s promotion. I’m a part of Evelyn Skye’s Tsar’s Guard because I’ve been a huge fan of Evelyn ever since she wrote an amazingly powerful short story in an anthology I reviewed, back way before The Crown’s Game was even a thing. The only other street team I can think of that I’ve joined is Australian author C.J. Duggan because I adored her Summer Series and I wanted to have the opportunity to review all of her books (since she’s an Australian author, ARCs are a little harder to get my hands on and I didn’t want to miss out!).
Well, now I’ve joined a new street team for an author I’ve never read before (in fact, I’ll confess, I had to go look up her name): Carrie Ann DiRisio. Why am I promoting an author whose name I don’t even know? Well, that’s the thing, I may not know Carrie, but I feel like I know her main character very well, and I want you to know him too!
Meet Brooding YA Hero
He’s dreamy, he’s snarky, he’s swoonworthy, he’s oh-so-cool. He’s Brooding YA Hero, and you’re gonna fall in love!
I “met” Brooding YA Hero on Twitter. The very first Tweet I ever saw from Mr. Broody was this one:
I LOVED this tweet because this has always been one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to YA tropes. It makes me crazy when the only real obstacle that the main couple in a book has to overcome is their refusal to actually talk to each other. I took a look around and found that the YA Brooding Hero Twitter feed was full of these little gems, and I immediately followed.
Well, it soon became apparent that YA Brooding Hero wasn’t just a cute joke. Whoever was behind it had something special going on. His tweets are full of amazingly social satire and some incredibly astute observations. Some of the things I love about the feed:
- The star of the show: All the tweets are written from the POV of Brooding YA Hero, everyone’s favorite swoony teenage heartthrob. Of course, he’s perfect in every way: Washboard abs, bravery, sparkling wit, model good looks, an uncanny ability to save the day … you know, all of the features the average teenage guy might exhibit. Oh, wait … no? Well, I guess he might be a bit above average when it comes to a few of those things. And, of course, his amazing qualities are equally matched with his ability to brood. Check out the tweets and you’ll see that Brooding YA Hero is (of course) a bad boy with a heart of gold. Sure he seems mysterious and possibly a little dangerous—that’s all part of his charm!
- Spot-on observations and social commentary: All of those YA tropes that have been driving you batty? You can count on Brooding YA Hero to endorse them. Sure, his worldview might be a little skewed, but that’s what makes him so much fun! I found that good old Broody had a lot to say about the world (and it doesn’t take a genius to read the social commentary behind many of his tweets).
- Champion for diversity and equality: The Brooding YA Hero feed champions diversity and speaks out against misogyny. Just remember not to take anything he says too seriously (it’s satire, after all!)
I was intrigued when I saw a contest to help choose the “New Face of Brooding YA Hero” and I was excited to see that my favorite broody guy was getting a book of his own! Of course, I voted (I think the best man won, don’t you?) and I headed over to Goodreads to immediately add Brooding Young Adult Hero’s Guide to Achieving Main Character Status to my TBR. Then, when I saw a call for street team members, I didn’t hesitate—I was already hooked and I was excited to help spread the word! I applied and was very excited to find out that I was accepted to be a #BroodyBFF. I’m guessing I’ll be mentioning him now and again around here and on my social media accounts.
For now, I’ll leave you with just a few of my favorite Brooding YA Hero tweets:
Have you ever been part of an author street team? What drew you in and made you decide to join? Any authors you wish you could be on a street team for? I want to know!
I’ve never been on a street team, but I love the Brooding YA Hero. So much awesome.
Isn’t it the best Twitter feed? I just fell in love and I was super excited to help get the word out about the book because I can’t wait to read it!
Bwhahah I LOVE Brooding YA Hero! Makes me laugh every time. Because come on, it’s just so TRUE! I am excited for you being part of the street team, it sounds fun 😀 I have been on a couple street teams- and basically it was just for authors whose books I loved and wanted to spread the word about. But now, I find them hard to keep up with, mostly because a lot of them seem to use Facebook and I HATE Facebook so I miss out on a lot!
I’m not on Facebook much either, but I leave notifications on for the street team groups that I’m a part of (since there’s only two, it’s not overwhelming). I just got an email from this group saying they’re using something called Slack, which I have literally never heard of. I feel like an old lady wondering about all these “newfangled social media accounts.” 🙂
I’ve also joined BroodyBFF 🙂 but since I haven’t been blogging for long, I’m still not sure what a street team is at all 😀 so I am just taking it all as a fun experiment, which so far it is! Also, great post 🙂 I’ve decided not to post on the first challenges yet, cause I’m not sure what I would post 😀 but it’s good to see others do it, maybe I will sometime soon too 🙂
Checking out other people’s posts is always a great way to feel things out. Most street teams allow you to participate as much or as little as you want, so it’s no pressure.
LOL, I actually had to follow Brooding YA Hero myself, you are absolutely right, he’s amazing 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad to introduce you! 🙂
Lololol. OMG this is the funniest thing ever! I’m never on Twitter so I’ve never seen this before, but the whole thing is hilarious and so so true. Totally going to follow.
I’m so glad I could win someone over to the Broody side. The Twitter thread is always hilarious and spot-on.
Love that Twitter account! The posts never fail to make me laugh. 🙂
YES! Glad I’m not the only one who appreciates good old Broody! 🙂
I didn’t know what a street team was until reading your post. I haven’t been a part of official launch teams, except for one author whose book I didn’t enjoy after joining. I have drummed up excitement among my friends for Zac Brewer’s books, the Maximum Ride series, Stephenie Meyer, and L.J. Smith. I haven’t done that in a few years, though. Now I just get excited about books online. I would love to be on a street team for Anne Rice, Cassandra Clare and Neil Gaiman.
I will have to check out Brooding YA Hero.
It would be disappointing to be on a street team and then not end up liking the book. Hopefully that won’t happen with this! I think I have a good enough impression of the book just from the tweets. I have confidence it’s gonna be good!