Continuing with Armchair BEA, today's topic is nurturing relationships. How, as a blogger and book reviewer, do I do that? To be honest, I think that's an area where I could probably improve. I enjoy, mostly, the socialization part - chatting on twitter or via IM's, exchanging emails, but I'm not a social butterfly and sometimes drop the ball.
Twitter, which I initially resisted joining (Silly Bea!) has been a great medium for me - I've met and connected with other bloggers and reviewers, editors, authors and publishing houses. I've gotten chatty with Moira Rogers, who is really two people, Donna and Bree; it's mostly Bree that I chat with and she's wonderfully silly, plus very, very generous. I've also gotten chatty with authors Sierra Dean and Krista D Ball; we get silly but we also talk about book reviews, blind drunk monkeys, books, and authors who behave badly in public.
Twitter has also led me to read authors that I hadn't been before, and many authors will seek out reviewers by tweeting, which has led me to several ARC's. I follow many publishers on twitter, which I find to be an easy way to keep current on trends, hot topics, new books, etc.
I also chat with other bloggers on twitter, and those conversations are also a blend of book-related and personal. Has_bookpushers, of the Book Pushers site, was one of the people responsible not only for my joining twitter but also for becoming a revewer and blogger. She is, as I like to call her, the Lady of the Links; she has an almost supernatural knack for links. They range from links for wooden dildos to a TARDIS shaped murphy bed to articles about movie casting and hot new books. She has a wicked sense of humor and is knowledgable, and opinionated, about many things.
Other fun bloggers I chat with sometimes are @BookaliciousPam, one of Armchair BEA's organizers; @jacabur1 who has been supportive, and @Susi_Sunshine, who I work with on the Book Lovers Inc blog, she's just crazy. :D
Building relationships with publishers has been slow going for me but I'm getting there. I've made some contacts through the Book Lovers Inc site and through an awesome book blog collective site, Book Blogs. That is an area I need to focus on and one that will be a goal for me for the remainder of this year.
