GIVING AWAY BOOKS!

Adopt an ARC! Check out this list! (PH Only)
  • ARC Review: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
  • ARC Review: The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver
  • Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  • Review: Karmic Hearts by Jhing Bautista
  • Review: The Conspiration of the Universe by Kenneth Olanday

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Recap: Book Blogging 101 panel + Giveaway!

How long has been it since I last posted in this blog? Hi, dearest readers! *waves* Christmas is just around the corner, I hope you're all ready for the holidays!

Photo from Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs!

Fellow book bloggers and friends Precious of Fragments of Life and Sab of Sab The Book Eater had a talk the previous week and it was our turn on November 28th. Together with Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs, Hazel of Stay Bookish and Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm we were invited to be in a panel to discuss book blogging at Fully Booked Town Alabang.

We had some time to burn and there was a sale, so imagine us running around the place looking for books we'll most likely end up buying, bringing them to the table for the talk.


I was surprised and impressed upon seeing a row of YA books placed on the table, all titles familiar and most I've read, that got me fired up and nervous at the same time. This isn't my first panel, but I'm not really a public speaker, so I never get used to having people look at me while I speak.

Photo from SISC Monarchs' Twitter page!


I don't remember much of what I said, we introduced ourselves, why we blog and why YA and it was a blur from then on. The panel is for those who are interested in setting up their own blogs, so we discussed these:

- What's in a name? (Thinking of a name for your blog)
- Your genre (other genres aside from YA, and it's not just YA blogs that are popular)
- The lifelong debate: Wordpress or Blogger?
- The importance of blog design (and establishing your own "brand")
- Writing good reviews (Review style, short or long reviews, DNF's and of course, SPOILERS.)
- Establishing your social media presence (Which one do we use? Instagram? Twitter? Why? How? For what?)
- How to manage your time (School/work and book blogging)
 - Lastly, connecting with publishers

If you're interested, here's the PDF version of the slides we used in the panel.

Some tweet worthy points from the talk (note that I don't have any, so I might not have said anything particularly helpful ^^, and yes I am kidding!):






The best part of the whole thing and what really made me happy was when it was time for the attendees to ask questions. I was pretty sure we spent an hour answering questions about Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, what we put in a review to make it interesting, how many books we have, if we donate books and asking for book recommendations!

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on

Jesselle recommends The Start of Me and You
Kate recommended The Last Time We Say Goodbye (and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series!)
Hazel recommends Throne of Glass
I recommended The Raven Boys, The Beginning of Everything and We Were Liars!

I cannot thank Southville International School and Colleges enough for creating this event! We honestly need more of this, and I will definitely attend anytime not just to spread the word but to help encourage not just the younger generation but more people in general to not just blog but also read. A lot of teens can learn from this kind of talks and reading as well as blogging are really good ways to spend your time. To everyone who attended, thank you for spending your precious time with us and for asking great questions! I hope we were able to help you know more about book blogging and books in general!

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on

And I have a giveaway! Just because.

WIN 2 BOOKS + CARRY ON SWAG!
(PH ONLY)


I was supposed to give a book away during the talk but I completely forgot about it and the book ended up locked inside the car, which I didn't notice until I got home after the talk.

Just leave a comment and let me know what kind of bookish related panel you'd like to attend in the near future. (Who knows, maybe we can make it happen!) Not required to tweet but it'll be greatly appreciated if you can spread the word about this post and the giveaway!


Rules:
PH Only
Must be at least 13 years old
Ends December 15

GOOD LUCK!

17 comments:

  1. Oh my, I feel a bit horrible for missing this. I'm new in book blogging myself and I still need all the help I can get. This seemed very helpful but I had an early appointment that day and the venue was a little far. Thank you for the recap and for sharing your presentation (I requested access from your google drive). I can't seem to wrack my brains to suggest any topic for future panel discussions because this one is already perfection. Anyways, I hope there's a repeat or a part 2. Thanks again.

    Jennilyn @ Rurouni Jenni Reads

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jennilyn,

      I've already approved your access! But I changed the link on this post to something you can just click and it will take you to the file, no request access needed. Hope the presentation helps!

      We'll try for a part 2 next year! Hopefully we'll include more bloggers and have a bigger audience because this is something we'd like more people to attend to. Thanks for the comment!

      Delete
  2. This is the kind of event that I really wanted to be a part of unfortunately this event was held on the other side of where I am living (wc is in Quezon City) that's why I didn't get to attend. Awww. :(

    However, I would really like to attend the very same event as the one you have held previously because as I see on your recap all the book-blogging related topics are there, maybe we can add more to the blogging design part (coding and other stuffs) as well. Looking forward on the Part 2 of this event, hopefully on an events place quite near the north people. ;)♥

    PS. Thank you so much for the giveaway! Yay! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karla,

      Good suggestion! We are actually in the process of planning for other runs of the panel, and will probably organize other panels discussing different topics related to book blogging. I will keep you posted! The venue most probably will be in a place more accessible, but check out this blog regularly for updates! :D

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    2. Glad to hear about the other runs for panels like this one. Really looking forward in meeting and learning more about blogging stuffs with other filipino bloggers. :) ♥

      Delete
  3. I'd like to attend a panel exactly like this because as an avid reader myself, I'd want to get my thoughts out and make more friends and I've always wanted to make a blog myself but I just haven't had the inspiration and exactly how to make one, I sadly couldn't attend the event because I couldn't get out of the house but I would love to attend the next one. Thank you for the recap and will try to get some inspiration to start one for myself soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sam! We'll try our best to have a second run of this panel, hopefully in a more accessible place! I agree, it can also be a venue for you to know more bloggers and readers. Hope you can start your own blog soon and feel free to contact me if you have questions!

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  4. Hi Kai! I regret missing the workshop last nov 29 💔 Screw school sched . Huhu

    Anyway, thank you so much for this ooportunity! I would like to know something about writing next time. I know ther are other readers out there that would like to write their own stories. I know you could help with it! And of course, about blogging again and I'll make sure to attend hahaha. Thankyouuu! God bless ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! That's a great suggestion! Bloggers are writers too, and I know quite a few who are busy writing their own novels. ^^ We'll discuss your suggestion and hopefully we can set up a panel about writing as well too. And yes, hopefully we'll have a 2nd run of the book blogging 101 panel!

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  5. It was a pleasure meeting you Kai! Oh I don't know how to answer that question, but I would love to attend another panel because it was such a great experience and to meet other bookish people. Pero medyo nahiya ako to stay so I left after the photo op. LOL. See you next time! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice to meet you as well! Thanks for attending and I hope you learned something from the panel/talk. We're planning a second run of the panel, hope you can attend that one too. :)

      Delete
  6. Wish I got a chance to attend this :( but I'm already downloading the PDF file you've just put above so I wouldn't missed it. I hope you'll have a talk again with more bloggers and if it'd be possible to include some authors as well. And I think it'd be better if there'd be local authors inspiring readers to support them :) or it could be you guys discussing about our local novels :) And this time, based on the previous comments, they couldn't come because the venue was too far from the place they're in so I think it'd also be better if you'll set in the place where it's quite accessible to others :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kenny! This is definitely doable! I think we already had a panel about local authors during ReaderCon, but why not have one again? ^^ And yes, we're taking into account the location so more people can attend.

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  7. This looked so much fun! I was planning to go but I had classes then. :( I would like to attend a bookish photogtaphy panel in the future. I know it would be awesome! It's also my dream to give a talk in a panel even if I'm not a good speaker. Someday.. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Angel! Yes it was. Bookish photography sounds like a good idea! We have a friend who's an expert in this so we'll try our best to make it happen... she can definitely give out some pointers. Oh, you'll be fine! (I'm really just shy so, yeah... need to overcome that you'll do well.)

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  8. Hi Kai!

    I would like to attend your bookish related panel if you have Part 2 next year! Hopefully it is near Quezon City because I'm from Valenzuela. :(

    I started blogging about books this year and though I've been blogging for three years, I still want to learn to improve my blogging especially book reviews.

    I've been following you, Sab and Hazels' blogsite and your book reviews were great. They are informative and it keep me updated with the latest books.

    If given a chance to attend a bookish panel,I would love to learn more about reviewing books properly (like I should not give spoilers), writing stories, blog designing and hopefully you will also get to invite some Filipino writers to give their insights.

    Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pau,

      That is awesome! I'm glad we're able to help you out through our blogs and reviews. We will be discussing the suggestions and comment we've gotten through this blog post and hopefully we can make them happen this coming year!

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I love getting comments from my readers and fellow bookworms, and I try my best to respond to all of them. Feel free to give me a piece of your thoughts. Also, this is an award-free blog. I simply don't have the time to highlight them anymore, but thank you for thinking of my blog!

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