BBAW: Blogging Tools & Tips

It's the last day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week and I hope you've enjoyed the posts and hopefully found some new blogs to follow!

Today’s Topic:The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things you are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.

Out of all the topics this week, I find this one to be the hardest because I think that different tools and tips work differently for each blog and each book niche. I'll share what works for me and you can give it a try to see if it works for you too!

3 Essential Tried & True Practices:

1. Post Regularly - Yes, I'm horrible at this! BUT, when I do post regularly I see my traffic go up and my readers engage with my posts more.

2. Leave Em With A Question To Answer - Give readers a reason to respond to your post or review. Reviews get some of the lowest comments and it's usually because readers haven't read the book yet to comment on! Instead, come up with questions about the trope, what they like about X storyline or plot point, etc. Give them something that they can actually engage with.

3. Respond to Comments - Again, I'm not always the best with this and we are all busy bloggers, but when I do respond to comments I find that those readers are the ones who typically stop by more often and comment again.

My 3 Tips All Have 1 Thing In Common: ENGAGE YOUR READERS!

Now, for the 3 tools or trends I've found recently:

1. Klout - I'm still learning how to use this little bad boy, and it certainly give me credit for knowing about things I've never discussed, but so far I've been impressed with it's twitter tracking stats. What your true reach is with a tweet, how much you engage others on Twitter, etc.

2. TweetChat - I've known about this one for quite some time, but it's seriously awesome for following a #hashtag  on twitter during an event or conversation. Plus, you'll see everyone in real time who's using that hashtag so you can connect with more people who are into the same topics as you are. Likewise, follow certain hashtags on twitter! I can't tell you how much I learn and how many readers and authors I connect with by doing this.

3. Good Old Fashioned Excel - Seriously, recently creating an organizational system for logging print books, ebooks and audiobooks is completely changing my blogging experience. It always me to not only keep track of what I have and haven't read, but what I've posted, if I've emailed the author/publicist, have I asked for an interview/guest post, etc. I'm still getting this all situated, but I can't stress enough how having a system that treats this like a real business is going to do wonders for your sanity.

Again, my best advice - ENGAGE, ENGAGE, ENGAGE.

What's yours? If you're a reader, what things do you think are most effective for bloggers to do to engage with you and keep you coming back and commenting?

BBAW: Book Blogging Community: Tips & Concerns

Welcome to day 3 of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Today's topic is a continuation of talking about the blogging community:

The world of book blogging has grown enormously and sometimes it can be hard to find a place. Share your tips for finding and keeping community in book blogging despite the hectic demands made on your time and the overwhelming number of blogs out there. If you’re struggling with finding a community, share your concerns and explain what you’re looking for–this is the week to connect!

My best tips (and they aren't earth-shattering and are sometimes hard for me to follow!) are:

Twitter - Seriously get thee to Twitter and you will be amazed at how much goes on there and how easily it is to chat with other book bloggers in your book niche.

Follow & Comment On Other Blogs - This one is hard when we are all so busy. So, my tip is to pick your top ten that you check out and comment on maybe 1x a week or so. Then, check out new to you blogs say 1x a month and revise your top ten occassionally.

Start A Meme or Host A Blogger Event - This is something I haven't done yet, but I've seen how well it seems to work for other bloggers on creating a sense of personalization and community. I'm brainstorming ideas now!

Mind Your Manners - Seriously the book blogging community itself might be large, but your blogging niche is a place where if you act like an ass on twitter or constantly complain, etc about blogging, not getting books, etc. other bloggers take notice. And won't be as open to helping you or welcoming you to the community. This is a personal one for me - we should be here to help each other in the name of the love of books, not get catty and create drama. I've unfollowed some blogs and on twitter for feeling like everything that happened was something to rage about. Make sure if you do have a legitimate complaint that you are balancing those posts and tweets with other positive things. No one wants to sit next to negative Nancy.

Now for a few concerns (even those that last tip was also a disguised concern):

Not Every Review Needs To Feature The BIG Releases - Yes, I know this gets more traffic but if you are in it for the love of books then sing the praises of that unknown author or mid-list author who really could use the push. Stretch your reading out to more than just the best-seller list. Otherwise, all the blogs seem to be cookie cutter ads for the same books.

Don't Compete, Be Unique - There are so many books out there that there really is room for all of us and we should showcase each other year-round! I'd love to see bloggers hosting guest posts from other bloggers and Q&A's more than just 1x per year.

FOR PETE'S SAKE DON'T SELL ARCS - Seriously book lover. This is a no. Never. Give these away if you don't want to keep them, but respect what they are: a very special gift you shouldn't try to profit from.

So, if you're a blogger what are your favorite tips or concerns? Readers, what do you wish you saw more of on blogs and in the book blog community?

BBAW: Why I Adore Other Romance Book Bloggers

Hi there and welcome to Cheeky Reads if this is your first time stopping by! It's kick-off day for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW)! Cheeky Reads is a book blog that focuses on all romance genres with a few cozy mysteries thrown in for good measure. But I have to say, Cheeky Reads wouldn't exist if it wasn't for other book blogs.

A few years ago I stumbled across an awesome blog called Smart Bitches Trashy Books and I fell in love. Here was a community of people talking about romance! Romance, the genre that the world likes to ignore and pretend it's helping to keep book publishers in business.

None of my friends were reading romance and I'd finally found *someone* to talk to about the books I loved. It helped that the reviews were written with such a fun and distinctive voice. :)

The only thing that Smart Bitches was missing was well...the books I was reading around that time. To be honest, I wasn't reading the latest releases or the same authors. So I would search for other blogs that had read and reviewed those books. I found some, but no where near the number of romance blogs that are out there today.

You can guess what happened right? I started Cheeky Reads so that I could talk about the books I was reading. Like my own personal community of friends to tell "Holy cow you will love this hero!" or "That heroine got on my last nerve."

After creating Cheeky Reads I was amazed at how welcoming all the other bloggers were, especially on Twitter. I follow and frequently RT other romance book bloggers that I admire all the time. They are a fantastic group and it's always so interesting to see if we agree/disagree on a book.

So, I thought I would share some of their Twitter names with you so you can follow them and check them out for yourself! In no particular order here are some awesome book bloggers on Twitter I highly recommend:

@SmartBitches

@Jane_L

@SmexyBooks

@FictionVxn

@Leotine1976

@Season4Romance

@Janga724

@booksmugglers

@JoyfullyReviewed

@BooksandWine

@Lynette2Cents

@booksilove

I hope you find some amazing new book blogs to follow and will stop back by again to talk romance books with me!

BBAW Giveaway Winners!

So I decided that Book Blogger Appreciation Week was so good, that I should giveaway two prize packs! Using Random.org, the winners of 4+ books in their selected genres are posts:

#9 Kaye and #37 Bella

Kaye and Bella - I'll email you about your prize! Congrats and Happy Reading!

Welcome to our new followers and I hope you join in the discussion here at Cheeky Reads!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Cheeky Reads Goals For The Future

As Book Blogger Appreciation Week draws to a close, today's blog topic is to discuss what we like most about our blogs currently and the goals we want to set for the future.

Cheeky Reads is only about half a year old, and I'm been so happy to see how its evolving. Although I know I'm still finding my voice, I'm proud that the reviews I post are getting stronger and I'm sticking to my idea of writing them like a conversation with friends.

I'm happy to be the book blogger who doesn't give away plot points and spoilers. I don't want to be the serious critical reviewer - I think there are so many high profile bloggers out there who already do this exceptionally well. What I wanted was a place to discuss the books I read and to give others the chance to join in. So far, I think Cheeky Reads is living up to my hopes.

For the future, I would really like to see the blog move forward technically. I'm basically teaching myself html as I go, but I would LOVE to see real sections and pages to Cheeky Reads. I'd love to spiff up the entire blog with sharper graphics.

I think I'm doing a much better job of posting regularly, but my goal is to post at least one review a day because at the end of day after all the fun freebies and downloads, this is a romance book review blog. That's not to say I don't love the giveaways! They are the best part!

Beyond more book reviews, better navigation and graphics and finding my voice, my goal is to grow my followers and traffic to the site. Because it's much more fun to write a blog if you have people that will comment! I don't write Cheeky Reads just to review what I thought, I write to create a discussion with my fellow Cheeky Readers!

Help me out - let me know what you like about Cheeky Reads, and what you think about my goals for the blog in the future! Feel free to let me know if you don't like something too. Thanks for reading!

In Honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week: A GIVEAWAY!

This has been my first Book Blogger Appreciation Week and I've had a fantastic time! So, what better way to celebrate than to do a giveaway!

What can you win? How about at least 4 books from my prize shelf based on the genres you prefer! Leave me a comment letting me know what romance genres and authors you like best, and you're entered to win!

Sorry, this contest is open to the U.S. only but check back soon because I hope to open all of my contests to worldwide shipping soon.

Good Luck and Happy Reading!

BBAW Reading Meme

For our third day celebrating Book Blogger Appreciation Week, we are supposed to participate in a Reading Meme. I'm supposed to answer the following questions as succinctly as possible. So here goes!

Do you snack while you read? Nope.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? Skin crawls thinking about it!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?Laying the book flat open? Past = Dog-ears. Present = Bookmark. Future = flat (eReader)

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Both.

Hard copy or audiobooks? Both - Love Audiobooks.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? Any Point.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Nope.

What are you currently reading? Sweet Seduction by Maya Banks

What is the last book you bought? Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? One at a time please.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? Anytime, Anywhere, Anyhow.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? No preference - just good writing!

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Victoria Dahl = pitch perfect for me.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) Review books by month reviews to post. Keeper books by author.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: 10 Questions with Blogger Swapna from S. Krishna's Books

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is in full swing and one of the wonderful events this year is a book blogger interview swap. Today, I'm hosting an interview with Swapna from S. Krishna's Books and she is featuring an interview with yours truly.

Swapna was up for two BBAW awards - Best Cultural Review Blog and Best Reviews! Welcome Swapna!

1) If you had to pick just one favorite book, what would it be and why?

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I got out of the habit of reading while I was in college, but my last year I happened to pick up The Shadow of the Wind and went ahead and read it. It's the book that got me back into reading, and I still think it's an amazing read.

2) What character do you most identify with?

Emily in The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum. I understood her fears and absolutely loved the novel as a whole.

3) If someone wrote a biography of you, what would the title be?

A Life Lived in Books

4) Book covers: illustrated or photo?

Photo, definitely. While I don't mind illustrated covers, I find that the ones that attract me most are photo covers.

5) If you were a book, what genre would you be?

Gothic mystery, with a dash of romance thrown in! I'd love to think that I'd be like a book from Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey series - mysterious and fun!

6) Hardcover, trade paperback or mass market paperback?

Trade paperback.

7) A book you recommend to anyone and everyone, and they always love it?

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. That's one that I literally force on people. Not every single person has liked it, but the vast majority that I recommend it to do!

8) If you could have dinner with one living author, which author would it be? Why?

Neil deGrasse Tyson - I have a bit of a nerd crush on him.

9) Why did you decide to start your blog?

I read so much that I found I was forgetting what I had read previously. I'd pick up a book at the bookstore or the library, get it home and start reading it and discover that it was very familiar - because I had read it before! I was already reading and loving book blogs at that point, so I decided I'd start my own in order to keep track of the books I read.

10) What book did you read as a kid that stayed with you or made you really love reading?

The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I absolutely love these books, I still re-read them now. Even as an adult, every time I read them, I discover something new. Though they are a bit dated, they really are timeless - I can't recommend these highly enough. The mix of fantasy and King Arthur mythology is excellent.

Be sure to visit Swapna's blog!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Blogs That Inspire Me

I'm so excited to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week this year because there are some truly fabulous bloggers out there sharing their experiences with reading books so I don't have to go out and spend money on a stinker of a read! What's more, many of these bloggers give freely of their time and do this service just for the fun and community of it. That's why I decided to start Cheeky Reads, to have a place to talk to other book lovers about the books that I read.

Today I wanted to mention a few of the book blogs that I love to visit and hope that you'll take the time to check them out!

My two biggies are the heavy hitters of the book blogging world. If you aren't reading Smart Bitches Trashy Books or Dear Author then you are seriously missing out! Each with a distinctive voice and a knowledge of the industry unmatched by other bloggers, they set the standard for book bloggers.

I'm a huge fan of author Heather Long's Book Blog about Fantasy & Romance called The Daily Dose. Every post is intriguing and easily pulls you in for discussion. If you're a Fantasy & Romance fan you should check it out.

Book Junkie is also a great book review site. I like that she tends to focus on small press books and her reviews are heartfelt and read like a friend talking to a friend - exactly what I try to do with my reviews.

I adore Royal Reviews! The ladies there know how to do great spotlight weeks and giveaways. Plus, their reviews are detailed and spot on.

There are so many other book blogs I want to rave about, but I could go on forever so I'll just say make sure you also check out Heather's Reading Romance and Leontine's Book Realm.