3 Year Blogiversary Q&A: Part 2! (2 Months Late but the Show Must Go On)

Welcome back to May attempts to organize her life while a pandemic goes on!!

Aka I’m finally doing Part 2 of the Q&A that was meant to be in celebration of my 3-year blogiversary all the way back in January. I debated not doing it because it’s Embarrassing how late I am… however, 1) I would feel weird leaving it hanging, and 2) being this much of a mess is my brand!!

(This post is very long so I will cut the intro short just for you. I’m a saint. Even if the more saintly thing to do is to shut up and stop talking so much so I don’t have to bore you in the first place.)

if you could only scream about one book, what would it be?

Right now I just really really love The Poppy War, so I’ll say that!

your biggest blogging and non-blogging goals?

Blogging:

• Be satisfied with myself, my content, and how much I’m active/interacting.
• Support other bloggers as much as possible!

Non-blogging;

• Be happy! With myself, my life, and everything else.
• Make a difference, no matter how big or small, for someone.

favorite blog posts you’ve ever written?

 

Two come to mind immediately! I was pleasantly surprised by how well-received my Hypocrisy about “Realistic” Teens in YA discussion was, and I was honestly proud of it. And I also just had a LOT of fun writing my Responding to the SJMess Stans that Attacked Me post!

what is the most important lesson you’ve learned as a book blogger?

There are so many kind people who will support you unconditionally, and that makes terrible things so much more bearable.

Someone arrest me for the amount of sap in this, PLEASE.

do you think that the book blogging community is dying?

I don’t believe it’s dying in the sense that there aren’t people blogging anymore, but I do think it’s dying in the sense that the audience is slowly trickling towards other platforms! (You all know I believe that bloggers sorely deserve more appreciation for their work.)

And I really do think that bookstagram, booktube, and book twitter are all becoming more popular than blogs. I wasn’t here when bookstagram and booktube were smaller, but I know that blogging basically paved the way for those two platforms, so it makes me really sad to see, for example, a publisher not even recognizing a blog as a platform but including bookstagram/booktube.

(I’m not shaming bookstagrammers/booktubers, people who enjoy content from them, or book bloggers who’ve taken on bookstagram/booktube! I just really hate how book blogs aren’t as recognized as other, more popular platforms.)

would you rather be a famous (and paid) author or a famous (and paid) book reviewer?

My long-time dream has been to be an author, so based on that, I would say author. However, being a book reviewer would require less labor (and I’m technically being paid to read), so, being as lazy and anti-capitalist as I am, I’d have to say a famous and paid book reviewer!

 

the types of reviews I’d write <33

how do you come up with WIP ideas?

I don’t. :o)

In all seriousness*, I don’t actively try to think of any premises and just let ideas come to me! (Which really isn’t working out for me so don’t do it.) If I want to come up with something on my own, I think of a few random words and use them to create a premise—it’s a great guided way to think of ideas but still use creativity!!

(I also like to take the things I personally like to read in books and put them in my own!)

*Which is honestly none.

do you have any study tips?

I really suck at studying, so uh….. no. The only ones I really have are like, don’t study the night right before and take breaks. But I do want to start writing summaries of each concept I learn, because those are really helpful for me to review material and be able to remember it, if that’s something that interests you!

why/how are you so wonderful and amazing???

It’s very hard for me to accept kindnesses like this because it makes my brain completely short circuit, but THANK YOU!!! I am a mess disguised as a human but THANK YOU!!!

what inspired your love for mangoes?

I’m very Asian.

if you could go back and change ONE thing about starting up your blog, what would it be and why?

Better graphics exclamation point times infinity!!

(If I HAVE to be serious, I wish I could change how OBSESSIVE I was, because it was really unhealthy.)

if you could trade blogs with anyone for a day, who would it be?

I love this question! I think every blog is unique, and there would be interesting things about trading with all of them. And there are so many amazing blogs to choose from, so I’m gonna have to be disappointing and simply say I have no idea!!

do you have any tips for starting a blog?

• It’s cliche, but INTERACT! Comment on blogs, reply to your comments, make conversation!!
• Be genuine and be yourself. Your voice is your own, so be proud of it!
• Use other blogs as inspiration, but not to the point of copying.
• Create a nice design so your blog looks appealing and draws viewers in.
• Set up some sort of routine or schedule! Plan ahead for posting dates! Post consistently!

(Feel free to hit me up for advice!! I love to help all my newbies!!!)

what are your favorite webcomics?

       

I have a whole post dedicated to webcomic recommendations! But my top favorites would definitely be On a Sunbeam, Lore Olympus, Castle Swimmer, Heartstopper, and Heir’s Game!!

who are your favorite book characters?

This is so hard for me to answer, and I don’t know why!! But here’s my list, I guess: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa, Evelyn Hugo, and Fang Runin (STEP ON ME).

Ignore how most of these are couples.

how do you get ARCs? do you reach out to publishers, or do you go on other websites, or what?

To start off, you essentially have to request ARCs and put yourself out there. You can get digital ARCs (ebooks) on NetGalley, Edelweiss, and other websites. You can also get physical ARCs, most often by emailing the publicity contact of the book’s publishing house.

When emailing publicists, be nice and professional with them. Include an intro of yourself and your blog, your stats for all your platforms (followers, views, visitors), and explain why you want the ARC. INCLUDE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS!!!

(For a more detailed post about this and other things, read this post by Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink!)

Once you’ve established yourself, both in the community and with publishers (as being a reliable reviewer), the publisher might reach out to you to ask if you’d like to review one of their books!

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get any ARCs or responses at first. Publicists are busy, and publishing is an industry no matter what: They look for high stats because they want you to promote the book to a wide audience! Keep blogging—and if you’re not blogging, find your own platform to grow on—and working at it. <33

what are your top 3 favorite books right now?

   

I’m gonna assume that “right now” means current favorites rather than all-time, so I’ll say The Poppy War (!!!!! FANG RUNIN STEP ON ME !!!!!).

Is it possible to just say The Poppy War? I really want to leave it at that because it’s superior. But I feel bad so I’ll cheat and say The Song of Achilles and Aristotle and Dante, which are favorites of mine that I reread recently.

how do you make your graphics, where do you get them, and what website(s) do you use?

I’ve talked about this in a post before, so I’ll just link it right here so you can read it! In general though, I feel like it’s hard to explain how to make graphics: It’s something I had to learn on my own. You honestly just play around with things a LOT!

(Kat @ Novels and Waffles is an AMAZING designer and has loads of tips on her blog so check her out!!)

what is the book you remember most from your childhood?

The holy trinity: Junie B Jones, Cam Jansen, and the Rainbow Magic Fairy series!

what book were you sure you would hate but ended up loving, or vice versa?

I thought I was going to HATE We Hunt the Flame, because I was so bored that I almost ended up DNFing it, but it made a complete 180 and I ended up enjoying it enough to the point to 4-star it. So thank god I kept reading because it was GOOD!!

how often do you reread?

It’s like the person asking this just knows how much I reread… Last year almost a fifth of my books were rereads; I have plans to reread at least 10 books this year and have already reread 3. So REALLY often!!!

how has blogging changed you as a reader and a person?

As a reader: I’ve come to know my own personal book tastes really well, and I’ve found favorite books that I’m not sure I would’ve found had I not been a book blogger. There are also bloggers whose book opinions I trust a lot and look to for recs!

As a person: The kindness of people in this community is overwhelming at times. For example, your responses for my feedback survey? My heart swelled, and I felt so very undeserving. Everyone’s kindness definitely makes me feel so humble and grateful.

(Less sappy things include time management, creativity/originality, and responsibility!!)

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if you read the whole thing, do you want to kill me? i do too. let it be known that i valiantly tried to cut it down and this was the best i could do. but now YOU answer these q’s! important lessons as a blogger? biggest (non-)blogging goals? top 3 favorite books rn??