Armchair BEA: Beyond the Blog

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win one of two copies of The Letter Q AND an “It Gets Better” t-shirt! 

Has blogging opened up opportunities for you beyond getting free, advance copies of new books? Has it helped you get offers to write or review elsewhere (maybe even for pay)? Have you gotten invites to special events or places you might not have been to otherwise? Today, we’d like you to talk about those opportunities[...]

Here’s a list of perks I’ve enjoyed as a book blogger (I love lists, what can I say):

1. Last year at BEA I got to shake hands with my platonic boyfriend Jimmy Fallon and he was all Jimmy Fallon about it (that is to say, adorable);
2. I have been able to dream about discussing my book blog with my high school English teacher and have her give me a pat on the back;
3. Sometimes Amy and I have real-life BOOK BLOGGING ADVENTURES ranging from fun to ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING AND NO YOU DO NOT GET ANY FURTHER DETAILS;
4. By reading the blogs other other book lovers I’ve been reassured that I am not the only person in the world who is made completely content by the smell of new books;
5. It’s super easy to keep up with Book World News and discuss such things with relatives and friends who work in bookstores;
6. On a related note, being able to discuss books I haven’t read but have heard about is incredibly easy and makes small talk at parties that much easier;
7. The folks who read my blog tend to have an encouraging overlap of love for books and cats, so sometimes I can post pictures of cats without writing about books and everyone is happy;
8. Librarians are consistently confounded by the number of books I a) check out of the library and b) manage to read;
9. Rick Perlstein and I once carried on a Twitter conversation about Nixon, a conversation of such nerdy proportion that it makes me smile just thinking about it;
10. THIS ONE TIME I PARTICIPATED IN A BLOG TOUR AND THEN THE AUTHOR OF MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME/PERSONAL HERO EMAILED ME ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND IT WAS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER THE END

As a side note, to anyone who has never attending BEA in New York: you think your feet won’t hurt as much as everyone else says their’s do, but I assure you THEY WILL HURT FOUR THOUSAND TIMES WORSE.