Armchair BEA: Networking

Up until I started blogging, I thought authors were as inaccessible as rock gods or Hollywood actors. Man, was I wrong. The first author event I went to was to see Jen Lancaster do a reading at Barnes & Nobel in Union Square, NYC. I sat in a chair towards the front and was amazed. There she was, this woman who made me laugh from the gut, was standing at a podium about 20 feet in front of me. She was as genuine in person as she was in her memoirs. She shared bits of her life and made the audience shake with laughter. Afterwards, I went up and asked her to sign her book, I swear I couldn’t say more than two words to her, I was tongue tied, awed. It was awesome. The second time I went to see her, I actually worked up the courage to say more than “hi.” When it was my turn for autograph, I asked for a photograph and smiled proudly next to her. I also mentioned that I was part of the Girls Just Reading blog. After a couple of seconds of staring at me like a deer in headlights, I saw realization pass across her features. “Oh,” she said. “I’ve read the blog.” I remember breaking out into this big cheesy grin because she knew who we were.

And how did she know? I’m pretty sure we owe it all to the social network sites of Facebook and Twitter. They have helped our following immensely. Not only are we discovering new blogs and authors, but they are discovering us as well. It will never get old when an author sends us a direct message or retweets our reviews to their followers. It’s such a great feeling to hear an author say they enjoyed your review. It’s inspiring to know an author even reads our reviews.

Two other avenues that are excellent for networking are Goodreads and LibraryThing. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, Goodreads and LibraryThing are dedicated to books, authors, readers and anyone else who loves books. It’s pretty fantastic to go to one site (or two as it were) to read reviews, see what’s coming up next for a favorite author, read an author’s blog, and try to win a free book. (And who doesn’t love free books?) These two sites are a great way to meet new people, find other bloggers, and communicate with authors. If you haven’t done so already, check them out. They are worth it.

This fine post brought to you by Alice.