Saturday Chaturday: ARC’s, Indie Authors, and the end of 2017

Hey there lovelies!

Time flies when you are having fun! Can you believe 2018 is right around the corner?! It has been a crazy year! Are you excited for 2018?

It’s been a while since I posted a Saturday Chaturday post, so today I wanted to talk about ARC’s, their importance, how we feel about them, and how they affect us as bloggers. I also wanted to discuss Indie, and lesser known authors in the book world, and recap my year. Buckle up, it will be a long one! Let’s chat about it in the comments!

ARC’s:

So, let’s talk about Advanced Reading Copies of books.

Do you request them?

Personally, I enjoy receiving ARC’s. I try to only request ARC’s of books I am already interested in, or think I will enjoy. Physical ARC’s are great, and I feel honored when I receive them, but rejection is definitely a big thing when it comes to requesting those pretties! And, that isn’t always a bad thing. I know it sucks to not receive that highly coveted ARC of an anticipated read, but I realize the publisher has to do what they feel is best as far as promotion and audience reach goes.

Did you request any physical ARC’s this year?

This past year I was lucky enough to receive two physical ARC’s that I personally requested from the publisher: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco and Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely. I absolutely loved them (GG is STILL my favorite book) and I made sure to do my absolute best to promote them!

How do you feel about ARC’s?

I personally feel that ARC’s are meant for us to read and review with the goal of helping to promote them. Obviously, if we truly did not enjoy them, we should say so, but that is why I don’t request anything I know I won’t enjoy. I feel like its a privilege to be able to receive ARC’s and that we should do our best to help spread the word about them.

Do you think they help authors, and how do you think they affect us as bloggers and reviewers?

As bloggers and reviewers, I feel like ARC’s give us anticipation. They give us hope for future reads, and they entice our TBR’s. I enjoy having ARC’s in the world, even if I don’t always get them, because I love reading the review of a fellow blogger who was lucky enough to receive an ARC of one of my anticipated reads. They help form connections between us and stir excitement for new books and authors!

Do you request e-galleys?

As of now, there are three places I utilize for E-ARC’s. NetGalley, First to Read, and Edelweiss. I enjoy requesting e-ARC’s and helping promote those that I loved. Edelweiss isn’t as friendly as NetGalley, but I have had a couple great reads come from there. I feel like e-galleys are a great way to not only help promote anticipated reads, but to read the books you are excited about ahead of time without wasting too much of a publisher’s time and resources. My sole purpose for requesting ARC’s is to help promote, but I know a lot of bloggers request when they don’t want to wait for a book to come out, or when they can’t afford to pay for a book. E-galleys are great for this.

Current e-ARC:
Book Title: Our Dark Stars

Book Author: Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade

Page Count: 316

Publishing Date: January 2nd, 2018

Publisher: Macmillan

Part of the Wrath and Ruin Box Set.

ARC from author as part of her street team!

                                         

Indie/Lesser Known Authors:

Another important issue to bring up in our book world is the importance of reading books from Indie and lesser known authors. I know we are all dying to get our hands on the latest big names, but just because an author is published by a big publisher, like Macmillan or Penguin, doesn’t mean they are the best, hardest working author out there.

Indie, and lesser known, authors work hard to get their voices heard. It takes guts in general to publish, or seek publishing for, your work, and anyone brave enough to do so definitely deserves a second look. I started my blog wanting to read all the big names in YA, and slowly began to realize that my voice could have a purpose in spreading the love for the not so big names. This is why I started accepting review requests, and I fight to promote books and authors that need more love.

Here is a list of some of my favorite Indie authors:

K.M. Shea

M.C. Frank

Harley Zed Mona

J.P. Harker

Didi Oviatt

Jessica Florence

Scott Burn

Brian K. Henry

James Morris

Jessica Hernandez

Natasha Sapienza

And a list of some authors that deserve more love:

Annie Woods

J.D. Netto

Tiffany Daune

Audrey Grey

Danielle Rose

Alison Goodman

Betsy Cornwell

T.D. Shields

Sean Patrick Traver

James J. Cudney

Ellyn Oaksmith

Claressa Swensen

Angelina Kerner

Who would you feature on these lists?

I also want to talk about reading for fellow bloggers. As readers and bloggers, we see and read a lot of books. I think it is a privilege to be able to help out fellow bloggers aspiring to get their writing out in the world. It is something important that we should try to do at least once. I am proud to say that I have a rough draft manuscript to read from my friend Caitlin at Find Me In Fairytales, and a manuscript posted on Swoon Reads by my good friend Melanie at MNBernard Books!

What is Swoon Reads?

Swoon Reads is a fantastic place where bloggers and authors can unite to share and review manuscripts. It is an opportunity to read the latest from up and coming authors and vote for them to have a chance to be picked by Swoon Reads and published by Macmillan. This means that it is really important to read and review these works. The manuscripts with the best reviews and most votes have a good chance at being picked and published!

So, as a favor to me, to Melanie, and to other amazing, undiscovered authors, make yourself a Swoon Reads account and start reading! It is so important for us to give support to those who need it! Here is the link to Melanie’s manuscript, Submerged, which I am very excited to read, and I hope a lot of you will read and review it as well!

Submerged

Here are a few titles that made it on Swoon:

On To a New Year:

I have thoroughly enjoyed my year of reading and blogging! I have had the opportunity to connect with tons of amazing bloggers and authors! I have read 152 books this year (52 past my Good Reads goal) and I have several in my top list!

Here are some of my top reads of 2017:

Plus every single book I have read by K.M. Shea!!

Favorite Book Published in 2017:

Favorite Book Read in 2017:

Gunslinger Girl is out in 3 days!!! January 2nd book birthday!

What’s in your top list?

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              Darque Dreamer

        Blogger/ Punk Rocker / Quirky Housewife

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