Armchair BEA – Day 4 – Beyond The Blog

Book Expo America happens each year. It is is the largest annual book trade fair in the United States. BEA is almost always held in a major city over four days in late May and/or early June. Nearly all significant book publishers in the United States, and many from abroad, have booths and exhibits at BEA, and use the fair as an opportunity to showcase upcoming titles, sell current books, socialize with colleagues from other publishing houses, and sell and buy subsidiary rights and international rights. Authors, librarians, and buyers for book retailers also attend the event.

BEA Book Blogger Conference runs concurrently.

Some tech savvy bloggers have created Armchair BEA for those of us that can’t attend in person.

Armchair BEA

“A Conference for Book Bloggers
in the comfort of our favorite chair”

Today’s topic is Beyond the Blog. Would you like to be involved elsewhere on the interwebs or possibly start writing for your local paper? Perhaps you’d simply like to start drawing an income from your blog?

I blog because it is my connection to the world of books. I love to read and share my thoughts. I have looked into drawing an income from my blog. We could all use a little extra cash in our pockets to buy more books or to cover postage for the books we give away. With the exception of Amazon Associates that pays me a small commission if you make a purchase from Amazon from one of my links I have decided to keep blogging just for fun. The commission that I do earn is then turned around to purchase more books for giveaways.

As for writing for other venues I am keeping that door open. One of my happiest blogging days was when one of my reviews was reprinted in a newspaper is Red Wing Minnesota. The review was for The 19th Element: A James Becker Nuclear Thriller. The author is from Minnesota.

Tied with this happy time was when I opened my review copy of Sketch a Falling Star (A Portrait of Crime Mystery) by Sharon Pape on saw a quote from my review of her previous book To Sketch a Thief on the Praise Page.  Both had me chair dancing for days!!

My biggest task these days is to write reviews and other posts people like to read. Making a connection with my readers, bringing more followers to my blog, which makes me look more appealing to publishers and that means I will have more books to share. The friendships I make with my readers are a delightful bonus and better than any income I could generate.