Winners...and an Update

 
Can I just humbly admit that I have been the biggest slacker this week?  Please?  Confession is good for the soul, or so I've been told. :o)

I should've announced the winners from last week's Birthday Bash a whole...three...days...ago.  But I've sorta kinda taken an internet break this week, spent some time evaluating my blog goals (more on that later), and choosing the winners was the last thing on my mind.

But I know you're anxious to see if you won something, so here we go!  :o)

The winner of Vickie McDonough's latest book, Long Trail Home is...Julie W!

The winner of Pack One of books from the Giveaways Galore post is...Kathy C!

The winner of Pack Two of books from the Giveaways Galore post is...Melanie D!

The winner of Pack Three of books from the Giveaways Galore post is...Beth M!

The winner of Ginger Garrett's latest book, Desired, is...Julie L!

The winner of Lori Copeland's latest book, Lost Melody is...Carol W!

And last, but not least, the winner of any one of Julie Lessman's books is...Sandy A!

All of the winners have been notified, and have 48 hours to respond with their mailing addresses.  Congrats to all you ladies!  You're in for some real good reading!  :o)

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Oh, right...I promised you an update here, too, didn't I?  Well, here goes.

I'm in a rut.  An all-encompassing rut.  

I still love reading, but I don't know how much I love blogging about reading.  There is so much time and effort that is required when there's a deadline to review a particular book.  I know I'm not alone here, but I feel enormous guilt when I haven't gotten something read by a tour date, or when I promised someone, or close to a release date, etc.  Don't get me wrong...I love the camaraderie of blogging, meeting new people, comparing what we love and don't love, the occasional recommendation from a friend, and so on. 

But is that enough to continue, considering the dedication it takes to keep it going?

I read a blog post this week from my dear friend Casey about how after she finished with one week jam-packed with blog posts, she was simply exhausted.  And she's right...being on "go" all the time will wear you out quicker than you can blink.  Last week was like that for me.  Don't get me wrong...I had so much fun, I could hardly stand it, but by the end of the week, I was flat exhausted.  I was spending an hour or more every night gearing up for the next day's post. 

So, all that leads me back to whether or not it's worth the effort.  How much of an impact is being made with the content on this blog?  A little?  A lot?  None at all?  Do the reviews here convince anyone to go out and buy a book?  Do people really enjoy meeting Christian fiction authors through the weekly interviews on Southern-Style Meet & Greet?  Did you enjoy this post when I did a little twist on an author interview?  Do people think I'm crazy because I'm a Southern girl who sounds like she's from the sticks once in awhile?  Or do people just come because of the book giveaways?

These are the things that have been running through my head all week long.  At this point, I just don't know which direction I want to go.  I know this much...I don't want this blog to become stagnant.  But on the flipside, I know I don't have as much time as I use to for promoting, tweeting, facebooking, etc.  Does a happy medium really exist?

What are your thoughts?  Have you gotten in a rut before, and if so, how did you get out of it? 

To Tag or Not To Tag...That is the Question.

Be forewarned...this post is a mix between "woe is me" with some frustration on the side while trying to remain positive throughout.  It is not my intention to offend anyone with my words, but I just needed an outlet today to get some things in the book reviewing world off my chest.
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As a book blogger and reviewer, I love to share my love of reading Christian fiction.  Until 2008, my only outlet for sharing about books was word of mouth because I didn't have a blog, I wasn't on Facebook yet, and I didn't know the first thing about writing reviews.  Now, 3 years later, I have met a whole slew of new friends and authors, and books are such a treasure for me to experience now!

Lately, I've been wanting to take it to the next level.  I want to direct readers to authors.  I want people to realize that Christian fiction is an evolving genre, and there really is something for everyone now.  For so long now, some readers have had the misconception that all Christian novels are tame, sweet sappy love stories with characters that are oh-so-perfect.  Sure, there are still a handful of books like that still being published, but things are moving forward...and the boundaries are being pushed...and the future looks so bright for more than just gushy romance (which I do like in small doses...a la Julie Lessman)! 

In an effort to maximize the exposure for some of these great books, I do my very best to promote Christian books on different websites including Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and many others. My goal in this has been two-fold--1) to direct readers to the authors and 2) to let the authors know that people are out there actually reading and reviewing their books, and have positive things to say!  So, to make this work, I've been employing the tag technique:  putting an @ with the author's name on FB and Twitter every time I have a weekly promo/interview for an author or a positive review of a book on this blog.
 
And you know what...it's free publicity!  Who would not want that?  :o)

But seriously, I wonder if there are some authors who don't care.  Some authors are hugely popular, and there really is no question at all that their books will sell simply because of their name (ex. Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis, Ted Dekker, etc.).  Those authors I don't focus on very much.  Instead, I want to help newer authors, as well as authors that don't have as much of a presence as someone like Karen Kingsbury, get more exposure for themselves and their books through this blog.

So, you know what's frustrating?  To have those tags and mentions go unnoticed.  To not get a single "thank you" or acknowledgement.  To have a tag for a positive review removed by the author.  Now, I realize that my blog isn't the fanciest or the most well-spoken, but it's like my home.  A lot of time and effort has gone into it.  I enjoy taking the time to read, staying up past midnight to get to end of the story, and finding out if boy got the girl...or if the bad guy was caught or if he got away...or if a family was reunited.  :o)  Then, I can't wait to write up a review to let others know just how much that book entertained me, made me laugh, or sent me on the good kind of crying jag.

And after all that...getting a personal thank you from the author is like the icing on the cake.  But I am so surprised at how many don't give one.  (Don't get me wrong...there are TONS of authors that so appreciate the extra publicity and word-of-mouth mentions of their books to all of our friends.  That's not who this is directed at.)  I realize it takes authors loads and loads of time, sweat, and tears for every single book, but it also takes time as a book blogger and reviewer to read these books and promote them.  I (and lots of other bloggers, too) could just close up shop, go home, and keep our thoughts to ourselves.  Instead, so many of us are passionate about reading that we can't help but talk about and recommend the latest book!

So, what's my final point after this rant?  Authors, we just want a thank you.  A thank you that our work as book reviewers has not gone unnoticed.  It doesn't take that much time, and it lets us know that we're appreciated.  It doesn't even have to be on our blogs; it can be in response to a post on Twitter or Facebook.  Something is better than nothing at all.  And I bet for most of us...we'll just be giddy from the excitement that an author took notice!  I know that's how I always feel.  :o)

For any authors out there that have taken the time to read all that, here's what I'm trying to find out--

1)  Do you liked to be tagged by readers/reviewers on social networks?
2)  Do you try to send a response to a reader after they've read/commented/reviewed one of your books?
3)  Do you avoid posting comments directly to a book blog for a certain reason?  (I've heard that some do.)
4)  Are there just not enough hours in the day to interact with readers/reviewers?

Can I Get Your Opinion, Please?

I've been stewing on a couple of ideas of late, and would love to get y'all's opinion on the matter.  :o)

Next year, I'm thinking of having a couple of new features.  Nothing crazy...still bookish, so no worries.  :o)  I'm thinking about having at least one Southern book pick/review and/or one Oldies book pick/review per month.  The Southern book pick is self-explanatory - just give me something with a Southern setting.  *wink*  Historical Southern books would be all the better!

However, the Oldies book pick is a little different.

When I think of oldies when it comes to books, no, I don't think back to the classics.  (Sorry in advance to all the Jane Austen fans.)  No, this blog will still focus strictly on the Christian Fiction genre, but an Oldie book will be anything written from the year 2000 going back.  I've got a TON of books on my shelves, most of them from authors who have been writing for ages, but there never seems to be any time to read these older books because of all the newer ones that claw their way to the top.  No worries...new Christian Fiction will still be featured here on a regular basis just like it currently is.  The Oldies book pick would just be once a month (same for the Southern pick).

To give you an idea of some of the authors that would fit the Oldies category, here's a list:

• Tracie Peterson
• Gilbert Morris
• Davis Bunn
• Michael Phillips
• Judith Pella
• Brock & Bodie Thoene

What do y'all think about this?  Do you like one idea but not the other?  Do you like both?  Would either of these appeal to you as a reader?  Sound off in the comments section or feel free to answer the poll at the top of the page.  Thanks!  :o)

Southern and Sass

In an effort to better organize my blog, I am going to start adding a little ditty at the end of my reviews to help me further categorize my books:

Southern?
Sass?

I'm noticing lately that I'm coming across more books that are Southern in nature.  Mind you, I'm not complaining.  :o)  It seems that these books are very easy for me to relate to since I've lived here all my life.  It will also help me tie-in the name of my blog (which I've had for about 3 years now).  Hubby helped me come up with a snazzy profile name back then, and the blog name just morphed from that.  And now, it will further morph into a category for some of my book reviews - "Southern."  :o)

I also love a book with a good dose of sass to it.  I like it when I find an author who can really make me laugh, but at the same time, has characters that don't take any flak.  The "Sass" category will suit these books nicely, I think.

So, whad'ya think?  I've been stewing on this for a few weeks now, and just needed to finish getting all my thoughts together on it.  (It's not hard to find something to stew on when you're painting the house with all of your spare time.)  I'll slowly, but surely, begin to update my existing reviews with this new rating system, and I hope you'll feel free to browse around!