Sunday, June 2, 2013

Armchair BEA Day 5: Young Adult & Keeping It Real

Womp womp.  I failed and forgot to post because I went straight to bed after work today.  I really need to start scheduling my posts... Anyways, welcome back!  Are you sad that Armchair BEA is almost over?  I've enjoyed posting everyday, and I definitely plan to participate each year that I don't make it to BEA in NYC!


Today...err...yesterday the topics were Young Adult and Keeping It Real, so instead of choosing one, I decided that I wanted to share my thoughts on both!

Young Adult

As you can see, a majority of my blog is dedicated to the Young Adult genre.  I do read and review New Adult and even Adult Fiction, but for the most part, I'm more drawn to YA.  I'm not technically considered a "young adult" anymore, but I still feel like one and connect to the characters more.  I think over the past few years, YA has grown into a genre that most people can relate to, no matter their age, which is why it's become much popular than it used to be.  Occasionally, when someone asks me to explain the book I'm reading, I get embarrassed, because I feel as though I should be reading something more profound, but then I realize that it doesn't matter, because I read books that I enjoy.  I don't do them to look more intelligent or to fit in with others, I read them because they hold the type of stories I want to read about.

Keeping It Real

After blogging for so long, the question, "How do you keep things fresh?" actually stuns me.  I don't have an answer to that.  For the most part, I blog because it's what makes me happy.  I share what I want to share and when I post on my blog, I know that it's with people I want to share it with.  For the first half of my blog, I spent too much time worrying about what I thought other people wanted to see.  I wanted to get my hands on books that people wanted to read reviews about.  I wanted people to look up to me like I looked up to my favorite bloggers.  I then realized that blogging isn't about popularity.  Reading what I wanted to read, when I wanted to read it, really changed the way I blog.  That was step 1.  Step 2 was creating content that wasn't only helpful to my readers, but helpful to me as well.  Why do I post recaps/tbr piles, discussion posts, or new releases?  They're surely not original, but they all help me out, and I share them because I know that it could help out someone else, as well.  My only advice to keep an audience coming back for more is to be yourself.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know if you're participating in Armchair BEA this week so I can check out your posts!

1 comment:

  1. What you say here:

    I think over the past few years, YA has grown into a genre that most people can relate to, no matter their age, which is why it's become much popular than it used to be.

    Is bang on. I've seen it at the library and at the bookstore and I LOVE that this is happening. Young Adult authors have some serious writing chops and it's good to see the appreciated by such a wide audience.

    Hear ya on the keeping it fresh!

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