In My Mailbox

Check out all the books I recieved this week!! I am in book heaven!! If you click the pick it will take you to its Amazon page.

ARCs Recived:

Ways To Get ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies)

I've gotten a few emails from readers asking how to get ARCs, so I was thinking I should write up a blog post about it. There are probably different ways to obtain advanced novels, but this is a simple check list of how I got mine.

1. Read A LOT of novels in the genre you most enjoy. I'm a Young Adult writer, because I absolutely LOVE that genre. I've been pretty much a strict YA reader since 2008.

2. Blog about every book you read. This means start a blog if you don't already have one. You can do that free using Blogger, like me. Soon the number of your reviews will add up. Even if you don't get a ton of comments, they're getting read.

3. Touching a little on number one again, read all SUB GENRES in your genre. What I mean is, don't just read YA paranormal, add some contemporary in the mix. Publishers notice, believe me.

Now, I know what you're thinking: That's it? My answer is a simple yes. I started out just blogging about every book I read, which meant all these books were already out. After I got around fifty books under my belt, I joined ARC tours.

Dark Faerie Tales
Around The World ARC Tours
Star Book Tours
We Love YA Tours

Most of these require at least 30 reviews posted on your blog for acceptance. You also have to be able to read a novel in less than a week, because you have seven days before you have to mail it on to the next person. The danger here is signing up for a ton of tours and getting stuck with more than one book to read in a week, but it is doable. Also there is the mailing cost, which currently sits around three bucks plus 80 cents for a delivery conformation, per book.

Joining these tours increased my blog traffic though, and got me more invitations via email from publishers to read ARCs for them. I also get a lot of publicists contacting me now offering up books for reviews.

A lot of publishers are offering up digital ARCs now. Simon & Schuster (Galley Grab) is one I read for. I got an invitation to read for them and ran out and got an ereader just to download novels. LOL

Speaking of digital downloads, here are a couple of places that offer up ARCs. But you have to be approved here too:

NETGALLEY 
Early Reviewers/Library Thing

If all else fails and you don't get ARC offers after all this, contact the publishers directly. Here's a couple to get you started.

Penguin
Simon & Schuster

So now you have some ideas to get you started on a path of ARC readership. Go forth and conquer!

My Ereader Won't Let Me Cheat

About a month and a half ago I bought myself an early Christmas present. Yep, that's right I bought an ereader. To be honest, when I bought it I wasn't sure how much I'd actually use it. I figured I'd miss the physical book in my hand and didn't know if I was ready to jump on the whole ereader train. But, I was getting so many invitations to some big publishing companies to read digital ARCs I had to find a way to carry those digital books around with me.

The first book was a little rough getting through because I'm a book cheater. I had to learn to adjust. I know I'm not the only person in the world who flips through the book to know what I'm getting into. I like to know who the LI is, or if the book is dragging to see if it changes pace somewhere along the line. The ereader, however makes that kind of difficult. It forces me to read the entire novel without being able to flip through the remaining pages. Therefore, I can't cheat. I have to read the book page by page to discover all the answers, which also makes it hard for me to flip back and reread sections if I overlooked something.

So, I guess my point is, I love the convenience of being able to carry my digital downloads around with me, but I still miss the physical book. I'm interested to hear your guys thoughts on ereaders. Do you have one? Are you going to get one? What impact do you think these little gadgets will have on the publishing industry?

Shout out and share your opinions.

Hunger by Jackie Kessler--REVIEW

Title: Hunger
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Published: October 18, 2010
Special Note: ARC Review

"Come on, Lisabeth," Death said, not unkindly. "It’s time to do your job."




The words didn’t make any sense. "My job?" Lisa said as Death helped her to her feet. She was a seventeen-year-old high school junior in the suburbs; she didn’t have a job.



"Thou art Famine, yo," Death said. "Time to make with the starvation."



Lisabeth Lewis is no stranger to starvation. Her life revolves around counting calories, constant exercise, denying herself even the strongest cravings. Lisa is in a constant battle with hunger for control over her body. When, in a moment of desperation, she almost gives up that control completely, she is visited by a wisecracking messenger who turns out to be Death. He offers Lisa a rare opportunity: to become one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse—Famine. As Famine, Lisa travels the world on her black steed, visiting parts of the world where hunger is a painful part of everyday life. She’s horrified to see her own power destroy crops and turn food to dust. But when she finds a way to harness her power as Famine and use it for nourishment rather than deprivation, Lisa finally gains the courage to face her own problem.



A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, HUNGER is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.

My Thoughts:

This novel was not what I expected, at all. I was thinking this was going to be another exciting paranormal/urban fantasy story with tons of adventure, with a twist of one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, but I was wrong. The main focus of this story is a teenage girl with an eating disorder and less on the fantasy aspect. This novel is also written in 3rd person, which at times, I find hard to connect with the main character in young adult stories (totally just personal preference), and this was one of those times. It may have been because I'm not really into contemporary novels focused on this issue as well. The writing is lovely in this novel and there are some beautiful prose throughout, but it just wasn't my type of read. I have the feeling though fans of novels like WINTER GIRLS will really like this one.  

Trance by Linda Gerber--Review

Title: TRANCE
Author: Linda Gerber
Genre: YA
Paperback, 308 pages
Published October 14th 2010 by Speak (first published 2010)
Special Note: ARC review

It begins with a subtle vibration, a tingling.

There is time to take only one breath.

The trance begins.

When it is through, Ashlyn is certain of two things:

Someone she knows is about to die.

And she is powerless to stop it.

My Thoughts:

I'll admit first off I found myself partial to this novel from the beginning, mainly because the setting is in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, so by page one I was hooked. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I got into Ashlyn's story to discover she is a really complex character with tons of emotional turmoil, which always makes for a great read. Ashlyn has an overwhelming amount of guilt about her mother's death and a perceived addiction to presciption medications. There's also two boys in this book. One named Jake, my pick,  *sigh* rides a motorcycle and plays the guitar....I know, right!!! He's totally swoonable and Ms. Gerber has done a great job in creating realistic teen dialog, making Jake leap off the pages.

Also, I like how Ashyln's trances create a series of numbers, which she must learn to decode in order to gain power in stopping deaths. It's a nice spin in the Urban Fantasy Young Adult department.

So if you like MCs with lots of issues, hot-motorcycle-riding-guitar-playing boys, and mystery in UFs--this one's for you!!

HEY HEY! Wanna Win a Nightshade ARC???

My sister blog, GotYA, is giving away another highly sought after ARC this week, NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer, which doesn't hit the shelves until October 19, 2010. You can enter by going HERE! Just Comment and Tweet! Pretty simple, right? Scroll to the bottom of the post to enter and don't forget to enter my giveaways while you're here (Psssst they are on the sidebar). Good Luck!!

(Isn't this cover freaking AWESOME?!)

About to Review...

Hey Guys! I thought I'd share some ARCs and Novels that were sent or are on their way to me for review recently, so be on the look out for my reviews and more giveaways. Also, don't forget about Blogmania and Blogfest in September where I will give away huge Prize packs, including signed novels and swag!

What'd you get in the last week or two?