armchair BEA - book blog relationships

as with so many things in life, blogging is all about the relationships. the relationship you have with your readers comes through in the tone you use, the comments you give on others blogs, and the way you respond to comments on your own posts. this is going to sound super cheese, but i also think a blog is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. (i TOLD you). your confidence and your comfort with who you are is evident in the type of posts and overall feel of your blog. 


armchair BEA poses an interesting challenge today. they ask about relationships we've formed with a particular publisher, author, blogger, or bookstore as well as working with publishers and asking for ARCs etc. 


relationships i've grown to really appreciate are those with publishers. below are three publishers that hold a special place in my bookish heart. 


Eric of Quirk Publishing: i think that my true adoration for Eric stems from his total and unabashed nerdiness. however, he's also really great with contacting bloggers, promoting titles from Quirk, and utilizing the blog scene as a means of publicity and interaction. Quirk is known for being tongue-in-cheek, and while a legitimate publisher, their playfulness lends itself well to the interwebs. 


Heather of Candlewick Publishing. i kid you not when i say that my first email to Heather was a blend of fangirling over the Chaos Walking Trilogy (shock to NO ONE) and expressing excitement over their upcoming releases i heard about in a webinar. she responded within moments. i was blown away and have since fallen in love with Candlewick. i've read some seriously great books from this publisher and their variety of titles never fails to impress. 


Harrison from Bancroft Press. this kid went the extra mile and did a publisher perspective post for me. seriously, what a cool guy. but also he works for Bancroft Publishing which is a smaller publisher with some really great titles. i can't imagine the challenges of trying to swim upstream against the big publishers and big authors and big titles, but Harrison is getting the titles out there and getting readers interested. i read and adored a Bancroft book this year, and am looking forward to many more of their titles. the best place to get an ARC for a Bancroft title is Netgalley - which is hugely convenient.


[a brief aside on how to get Advance Review Copies. in my opinion, email publishers with your blog and what it's about. include your hits per month, what makes your blog unique, and your review policy. i'd also recommend asking for specific titles, and being gracious if they say no. in the meantime, read books that are already published and start building your reputation and your base of followers. discover your voice. take your time. books aren't going anywhere.] 


if you spend enough time reading book blogs, you find people who have your taste exactly. then you'll find people who have your personality or reflect parts of yourself that make you think 'if we knew each other in real life, we'd TOTALLY be friends'. for me, these are those bloggers.

Jennifer of Little Shelf. i know our relationship is still totally fresh and in the beginning stages, but this girl is sweet as saccharin and writes some seriously thoughtful reviews. i think she's just fabulous and i can't wait to continue to keep chatting her up!

Katie Walthall is one of my newest twitter friends who has no shame in chatting about Sookie Stackhouse, paranormal ya romance, and other such books with me. also, she's hilarious and totally encourages my slacking off. i appreciate that and thing she's totally fabulous!

The Reading Housewives of Indiana. having recently brought Jacinda into the fold of Game of Thrones, we've been chatting about that quite a bit as well as all other things worth chatting about. and Jasmine and i just might be soul mates - what with our love of breakfast, tea, Iron & Wine, sleeping in, and other such vitally important things in life. originally i found them because of their fabulous blog where they always have reviews that balance summary with insight, and i stay with them because they are hilarious, adorable, and the BEST.

Ginger of GReads! so i discovered Ginger's blog and loved her reviews and design. seriously, her blog is all sorts of elegant and gorgeous. and the content is pretty fabulous too. you know i mean it because i participate with her TGIF meme on the weekly and her Tune in Tuesdays when the mood strikes me. i adore Ginger because we both grew up in H-town, because she's an unabashed fangirl for certain music groups, and she knows the glorious value of scotchies. she makes me laugh, she introduces me to new music and great books. what more could i ask for?


this doesn't happen very often, but when it does, i kind of geek out over it. there is one author i've bonded with as of late that i think bears a brief mention here.


Jennifer Kogler. you guys, she might be me...but instead of being an accomplished author i just read books. maybe we're living in parallel universes? anyway the point is she was super sweet about sharing a copy of her newest book with me (The Death Catchers) and THEN was super sweet about giving our twitter friendship a try. it was thanks to twitter that i discovered our mutual adoration for arthurian legend, gummy vitamins, euro board games, Girl Talk, sandwiches...SERIOUSLY this is all real. i can't even handle how incredible it is to have bonded with an author and i promise i'm not going all creeptastic here - just excited! 


i'd love to read about the blogging relationships you hold dear to your little bookish heart, so link it up down below in the comments!