I never really connected to the whole blogging phenomena, not until I recently attended a Blogger Conference in conjunction with Book Expo America (BEA).  Following a full day of hanging out with the bloggers at the Javits Convention Center in NYC, I left impressed with the community, impressed at their passion for books and need to talk about them.  I found people who are actually more interested in promoting literacy than making money.  What?!!!

Lori Hettler is one of the bloggers I met.  She’s a fellow Say Anything obsessive who also likes Nick Hornby and talks of French-cuffed Z. Cavaricci’s.  Remember those?  I had a purple pair about the time I graduated from high school.

It was Lori’s use of the words retro and indie that caught my attention and so I asked her if she’d be willing to talk to me about her little niche of the blogosphere.  She agreed and I plan to share our conversation over several posts.  First, I asked Lori to give an overview of the bookblogging world, to tell us what we might be missing out on if we don’t participate.  Here’s what she said:

There are so many levels to book blogging. As a blogger, you can choose to participate at any or all levels. For starters, it’s your own personal space to dish about books in any way, shape, or form you wish. There are no rules, no parameters, no boundaries – only those that you set for yourself. It’s also a community. There are bloggers out there for every genre and niche you can imagine. They are welcoming and supportive. They share ideas and join forces. Nothing makes me happier than seeing bloggers come together to support a cause. Twitter hashtags, book tours, you name it, and they can and will do it!

As a blogger, you can also begin to build relationships with authors and publishers. You can host giveaways, develop features or meme’s, conduct interviews, gain access to ARC’s (advance reading copies) for reviews. It’s all out there, and it’s all what you make of it. I think, most importantly, book bloggers spread literacy. They get the world talking about books!

Link to The Next Best Book Blog Here

Look for more conversation with Lori in future posts.  If you’ve got questions or thoughts connected to book blogging, I’d love to hear from you.