Labor Day Read-Along and Blog Hop

September 1, 2014

2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour

4/1/2012 - 4/30/2012

National Poetry Month 2012 is in April and I’m looking for guest posts from poetry readers and tour hosts for these guest posts. I want to fill out all of April early and be able to direct readers across the blogosphere for some great poetry discussion and celebration.
Not only will you be part of a tour involving poetry collections, poet interviews, guest posts from poetry readers, and maybe even just some great poems and discussion, you also get my new snazzy button — and I can’t believe I made it myself from a photo my hubby took at the National Arboretum.   OK, that’s a lame reason to join the blog tour.
I’m hoping to put together some great giveaways for everyone who participates either as a commenter or as a blog tour host/guest blogger.
I hope that even if you don’t want to participate you’ll spread the word.  I want to fill up every day in April.  Dates will be a first come, first serve basis, and I’ll be posting the participating blogs on the schedule below as I hear from people.
Won’t you join me in celebrating poetry?
Sunday, April 1 — Savvy Verse & Wit’s Kickoff of the blog tour
Monday, April 2 — Sara from Wordy Evidence of the Fact
Tuesday, April 3 — Jill from Rhapsody in Books will talk about Cole Porter
Wednesday, April 4 — Anna from Diary of an Eccentric, WWI Poetry Anthology
Thursday, April 5 — Audra from Unabridged Chick
Friday, April 6 — Michael Meyerhofer from Trouble With Hammers
and My Friend Amy hosts Sweta Vikram’s Guest Post
Saturday, April 7 — Dar from Peeking Between the Pages
Sunday, April 8 — Patty from Books, Thoughts and A Few Adventures…
Monday, April 9 — Naida from the Bookworm
Tuesday, April 10 — Kathy from Bermudaonion, tentatively THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT by Allan Wolf
Wednesday, April 11 — Jeanne from Necromancy Never Pays, who will discuss litany poems and then show and discuss Richard Siken’s “Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out”
Thursday, April 12 — Julie from Read Handed will talk about 2010 Cider Press Book Award winning collection Play Button by Liz Robbins
Friday, April 13 – Melanie from The Indextrious Reader on superstitions and poetry
Saturday, April 14 — Cecelia from Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia
Sunday, April 15 — Ana from Things Mean a Lot
Monday, April 16 — Cassandra from Indie Reader Houston
Tuesday, April 17 — Ti from Book Chatter
Wednesday, April 18 — The Girl from Diary of an Eccentric will focus on Robert Frost
Thursday, April 19 — Pam from Bookalicious
Friday, April 20 — Tabatha of Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference
Saturday, April 21 — Megan from Solid Quarter
Sunday, April 22 — Nicole Luongo from Bare Your Naked Truth
Monday, April 23 –  Adrienne Odasso from Seer of Ghosts and Weaver of Stories
Tuesday, April 24 — Arisa White from Arisa White
Wednesday, April 25 — Craig from Mr. Watson
Thursday, April 26 — Wallace from Unputdownables will focus on Edna St. Vincent Millay and Dorothy Parker
Friday, April 27 — Wendy from Caribousmom will host Poet Michael Meyerhofer and his guest post on self-publishing
Saturday, April 28 — David from Wordcoaster who will showcase bird poetry.
Sunday, April 29 — Sidne from Sidne, The Reading Socialite who will discuss Love and/or Life
Monday, April 30 — Travis Laurence Naught on how Jack Kerouac and Jim Morrison (maybe even Allen Ginsberg) formed his writing style
The blog tour has already started, but anyone can jump in and blog about poetry this month, grab the tour button, and drop their permanent post URL in the Mr. Linky here: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/04/welcome-to-the-2012-national-poetry-month-blog-tour.html
If anyone wants to donate prizes or poetry books for participants and commenters, feel free to contact savvyverseandwit at gmail dot com
Anyone interested in providing a poem for showcasing during the NPM tour at the Virtual Poetry Circle, also email me.
For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

Project Downton

Project Downton is a Downton Abbey Inspired Book Scavenger Hunt! Come help us find more awesome Downton inspired books!

I am on a Downton Abbey scavenger hunt and I need your help!
If you want to see what prompted this concept see my original post. 

Project Downton Begins! 

I am calling on all my fellow historical fiction and Downton Abbey fans….help me with Project Downton! I am hoping to compile a book list of Edwardian era inspired fiction books, not just for my own TBR list, but for everyone enjoyment.
Edwardian era lit seems to be a rather obscure time period for most literary buffs….for me personally I love the Edwardian era historically but sadly I know little of the literature in this period save classics like A Room with a View and Mrs Dalloway….I feel fairly certain I am NOT the only one out there dying for more Downton Abbey and Edwardian inspired books. Since I couldn’t find a good list, I decided to take matters into my own hands
Heres how you can help…I will create a page and Linky so you can link book titles and reviews. They can be any genre: YA, sci-fi, romance, mystery, fantasy, historic fiction, classics…anything. It would be great to see as many fiction books as possible but non-fiction will do was well–give us a variety at least .
This is NOT a ‘reading challenge’ by any means….we are simply scavenging to find Downton-inspired books. If you don’t know what to look for here are some suggested criteria:

• Book must be set in the Edwardian era.
• Edwardian era  usually  begins with the reign of King Edward VII (1901 to 1910)  but for the purposes of this Project we will extend the end of the period through the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, that way it includes the Titanic sinking etc.
• What books can you think of that were previously published or are new that serve as good companion pieces to the popular show?

This is a very casual and fun Project…..if you see interesting articles, video clips, discussions, or news about Downton you please post them in the comments field…we want to save the Linky for book recommendations only.

Book Nooks

November 11- December 31, 2011
Weekly

Book Nooks How-To:
Feel free to join in whenever you like. The hop goes up every weekend.

1. Posts each weekend - Posts every weekend - you can post anywhere from Friday through Sunday, your pick. Even a very early Monday post would be okay, would just count it as a long weekend.
2. Header image and info - Grab main image and info. You don't necessarily have to link to both author name and title, please just give due credit by including founder name at minimum. A link would be appreciated and a nice courtesy, but it's totally up to you.  You can include any tagline you want, if you don't necessarily want to use, 'Show us something pretty!' It's your post, so say whatever you like. The idea is just to give new visitors some idea what the post will be about.
3. Pick your book nook - Pick a pretty place that looks like it would be a comfy and cool place to read. It doesn't have to necessarily be a library or book shop - if you think it's a place that looks like a perfect place for a good read, then it qualifies.  You can pick photos or paintings, the image can be a living room or bedroom or just a picnic spot, it's up to you. It just has to someplace that looks like a wonderful spot to read a few books.
4. Share your thoughts on the book nook - (Commentary) Share why you think this makes a wonderful book nook - the colors, the comfortable accessories, the light, the peace and quiet, the general feeling of the place, and so on.
   

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

Book Blogger Scavenger Hunt

Monthly Event starting on January 11, 2011

Reading With Tequila is hosting a Book Blogger Scavenger Hunt.  She writes:

The Book Blogger Scavenger Hunt is Reading with Tequila's year long contest for 2011. This contest will be based on the 2010 Book Blogger Recommendation List. The list was compiled from the data acquired through a survey of 54 book bloggers favorite books in November of 2010.

Each month I will post the name and description of a book that was recommended by only one book blogger during that survey. Throughout the month, participants will leave links in the comments section of that post of reviews they've found of that month's book. It can be your own review, it can be a friend's review, or it can be a review you found through Googling (as long as it's posted on a book blog). You'll be learning more about the book, finding new to you bloggers and gaining points towards the grand prize!

Another way to gain points is to visit and comment on the links others have left. After you visit and comment, come back to that month's contest post and leave me a comment telling me which links you've visited. Once the next month's book is posted, the previous month's post is closed to new comments.

Points:
Review links: 5 points
Comments: 1 point

A review can only be posted once, so if someone posts the same review link before you, only they get the points. Even if they linked to your review. Participants will only get a point for one comment left on each review.

Prizes:
The person with the highest total points at the end of 2011 will get a $40 credit to the Book Depository. Chose as many books as you want, totaling $40 or less and I'll order them for you. The person with the 2nd highest total points will receive 3 books of their choosing from the Prize Bin (which will be updated many times between now and then).

Some Rules:
We want to find new bloggers, not harass them with spam. Please try to leave meaningful comments about their review. "I was here" or anything else that you wouldn't want to receive as a comment should not be left.

This contest is international and anyone, book blogger or not, is welcome to join. You do not have to be participating in the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge to play.

The first Book Blogger Scavenger Hunt post will be up January 11, 2011. Hope to see you there.

To participate, see the origional post with rules, here.  Then go to Reading With Tequila on January 11, 2011.

Blogmania

April 30, 2010

Lynda is hosting this one day event called Blogmania.  It doesn't appear that she is hosting this on a blog, but here is how it will work:

BLOGMANIA is a one day event on April 30. The idea is to promote your blog and in the process find some new to you blogs and maybe get a few more followers.

Free to join in and make this event even bigger!

Want to know how to join BLOGMANIA? Sure you do!!!

1. Register to participate in the BLOGMANIA by sending an email to btlblog@lyndacoker.com
(Give the name of your blog, its URL address, your full name, and email address.)

2. Post the BLOGMANIA post on April 30th. (You may use the one provided or design one of your own. )

Include the blog links that will be provided to you. (These will be links to blogs that have registered to take part in this blog extravaganza. The number of links to be posted will depend on the number of registered blogs we have. ) You will be sent the blog links to be included in your post at least 3-7 days in advance.

3. Prepare a really special BLOGMANIA Giveaway that will be valid for one day only, April 30th, and be sure to post it early on that day for best results. State your giveaway requirements clearly and BE SURE TO FOLLOW THROUGH). Of course, in addition to the special giveaway, you will probably receive many more entries in your existing giveaways, so be sure they are clearly positioned for easy access.

4. Promote the event on your blog, social sites, groups, etc. The more we get the word out, the more drive-bys will have. Be sure to make it clear that they must visit on April 30th to qualify for the BLOGMANIA Giveaway.

5. Try to make the qualifications for your BLOGMANIA GIVEAWAY as simple as possible. If visitors don’t have to do a zillion things to qualify, this will encourage them to keep progressing through to other blogs. Perhaps becoming a blog follower and leaving a comment is sufficient. You decide, but please keep it simple.

Lynda has opened a BLOGMANIA group at Ning's Book Blogsso that it will be easy for participating bloggers to communicate with each other and answer questions, etc. She will be posting a jpg file and html code for the BLOGMANIA BADGE for anyone who wishes to use it.

The next scheduled BLOGMANIA will be September 15, 2010. It’s not too early to register or to start thinking about your special giveaway for that event. Be sure to register by emailing Lynda Coker

2010 Book Blogger Convention - EVENT

May 28, 2010

Thanks to some motivated and energetic bloggers (Trish, Amy, Natasha, Rebecca, Michelle, Nicole, and Pam) the Book Blogger Convention is a go. Scheduled to coordinate with the Book Expo of America in New York City (May 25, 26, and 27) this is an event you really don’t want to miss if you can help it. Some information about the event:

What is it?

• A one day event intended to provide support, instruction, and social time for people who blog about books.

Where is it?

NEW LOCATION as of January 30th:

NYC Seminar & Conference Center (map)
71 West 23rd Street
Suite 515/Lower Level
(northeast corner of 23rd Street & 6th Avenue)
New York, NY 10010

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
635 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

**Same place as the BEA!

When is it?

• Registration begins at 7:30 am on May 28, 2010, and conference sessions will begin promptly at 9AM and conclude at 5pm.

What are the topics?

• Professionalism/Ethics
• Marketing
• Author/Blogger Relationships
• Building Community
• Writing/Building Content

How do you register?

• Visit this page on the dedicated blog. Register by February 14, 2010 you can even save $25 of the registration fee of $115. Your registration will automatically get you a pass to the BEA!
  

For answers to more Frequently Asked Questions, visit this page.

Hope to see you there!!!

2nd Edition of Bloggiesta - EVENT

Hosted by Natasha at Maw Books

January 8-10, 2010

Natasha at Mawbooks is once again hosting the popular Bloggiesta - an event designed to help bloggers...

...cross those nagging items off of your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two!

Natasha describes Bloggiesta as a blogging marathon and lists some ideas of what bloggers can do over the three day event:

• Write reviews.
• Write backup posts for a rainy day.
• Write that great post idea from three months back.
• Work on series posts.
• Write guest posts.
• Put out invitations for guest posts.
• Conduct and edit author interviews.
• Create template posts for your future reads (ie: title, images, linking, tags, etc,) so you can open up, write review and post without being bogged down with technicalities
• Clean up your tags, archives, books reviewed list, etc.
• Create a text file (or Google Doc) of cheat sheets (html codes, post url’s, etc)
• Improve your blog template, clean up sidebars, add a favicon, install those plugins that you’ve been meaning to do.
• Add or edit your about me page, review policy, disclosure policy, privacy policy, create landing pages (for example – an about me for Twitter readers page) or any other pages you might have.
• Any bloggy type housekeeping that you’ve been neglecting.
• Clean up and update your challenge lists. Link up your posts with hosts.
• Make sure all of your social network profiles are up to date. Brand yourself through those profiles with color scheme, images, etc.
• Go get a gravatar.
• Visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning and find ways to improve your blog.
• Work on any specialized projects that you may have going.
• Clean out and organize your feed reader and blog subscriptions.
• Create an elevator pitch.
• Make business cards.
• Find a blogging buddy.
• The sky’s the limit!

Some more information you might need:

1. The date is Friday, January 8th, Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th. You can really start whenever you want within that time but official hours are 8am to 8am (wherever you are). That is a total of 76 hours, of which you should aim high for a total of 18-24 hours spent on the challenge. The hours spent on the challenge do NOT need to be in a row. Use the entire 76 hour time frame and see what you can do with it. (Natasha says aim for 24 hours but really if you can only do six, twelve or eighteen that’s fine too. I just like to have something to aim for.)
2. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge. So stay up all night or sleep and take care of kids when you need to.
3. When you start the challenge, go to Mawbooks and to the “starting line” post and link to your specific post about beginning the challenge which is posted on your blog.
   
4. How many updates (if any) you want to do is up to you. Make it work for you. There will be bloggers hosting mini-challenges as well. These are great to learn new information. To get an idea of the mini-challenges last time, check out the list.
5. If you are on Twitter, use the hashtag #bloggiesta to join the chatter.
6. Your final summary post needs to be posted no later than Monday, January 11th. Come back to the finish line and link to your specific summary post. Your summary should include the number of hours spent on the challenge, what you accomplished, links to mini-challenge hosts if you completed them and any other experiences you’d like to add.

Need more information or want to sign up? Visit the post about the event on Mawbooks.

Bloggiesta! - EVENT

Event sponsored by Maw Books
June 19-21, 2009

Natasha at Maw Books is hosting a brand new event. She writes:

Are you ready to party again?! So, we’ve had the 24 Hour Read-a-thon, 48 Hour Book Challenge and the Mystery Read-a-thon recently and if you’re like me then you still have piles of books laying around and blog posts to be written. My official count of unreviewed books is sitting at around 25. That’s not counting the 5+ author interviews and let’s not even mention that I haven’t done my weekly reader spotlight for almost two months now. What’s worse is that I’m writing my posts on a day to day basis when ideally I’d love to have a lot of posts finished as rainy day backups.

AND

The Bloggiesta will focus on blog content, improving/cleaning up your blog or working on your social network profiles. I’m pretty open on what you can do during the bloggiesta but reading actually won’t count!

How to play:

1. The date is Friday, June 19th beginning at 8am, Saturday the 20th and ending Sunday the 21st at 8am (8am your time, wherever you are). That is a total of 48 hours, of which you should aim high for a total of 18-24 hours spent on the challenge. The hours spent on the challenge do NOT need to be in a row. Use the entire 48 hour time frame and see what you can do with it. I say aim for 24 hours but really if you can only do six, twelve or eighteen that’s fine too. I just like to have something to aim for.
2. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge. So stay up all night or sleep and take care of kids when you need to.
3. When you start the challenge, come back to the “starting line” post and link to your specific post about beginning the challenge which is posted on your blog. That way Natasha will be able to track participants and know who’s really playing the game.
4. How many updates (if any) you want to do is up to you. Make it work for you.
   
5. If you are on Twitter, use the hashtag #bloggiesta to join the chatter.
6. Your final summary post needs to be posted no later than noon on Sunday, June 21st. Come back to the finish line and link to your specific summary post. Your summary should include the number of hours spent on the challenge, what you accomplished and any other experiences you’d like to add.

Who can play?

• Anybody! While obviously hosted by a book blogger, I’d love to welcome anybody who has a blog who would like to write content or improve their blog to join in. In addition to adult, kidlit, YA, romance, mystery, historical fiction, non-fiction, and publishing book blogs any other bloggers are welcome. Movie blog? TV blog? Mommy blog? Gardening blog? Photography blog? All are welcome!

Will there be prizes?

• I certainly hope so! I’ll see what I can come up with.

What can you do to help?

• Spread the word! I put this together so fast that I imagine many won’t know about it until it’s to late. The more we have join the challenge, the more moral support we’ll have during the challenge!

Want to play? Visit the post about the Event and sign up using Mr. Linky!!!

Book Bloggers Giveaway Carnival - EVENT

November 3- 8, 2009
Hosted by Bookroomreview's Weblog

Bookroomreview's Weblog is hosting a Book Bloggers Giveaway Carnival in November. Based on the popular Bloggy Giveaways Carnival, The Book Bloggers Giveaway Carnival is all about giving away books. Bookroomreviews will provide a Mr. Linky for participants to link to their giveaways.

They are looking for someone to make a button for this event.

To learn more and to sign up to be involved, visit the post about the event.