Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Announcements


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How to Boost Your Chances of Getting Your Review Request Accepted

Kimber here. Being all Beautiful and Brilliant. As usual. Her Grumpiness is also here today. Being all grumpy and geezerly. As usual. Seems today’s Grumpifying has to do with review requests. Cuz we’ve been getting a lot of stuff that’s straight out of Gag Me With Arugula. I guess we better clarify.

“Kimmi,” says The Big Grump. “We better clarify.”

Didn’t I just say that?

Listen Up

Well. If you’re wondering why your review request wound up in the Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky, listen up. It could be due to a metric meow’s worth of reasons. But if you want to increase your chances of getting your review request accepted (no promises and no guarantees), here’s what NOT to do. (Can you hear us in the back?)

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What Keeps Us Going?

You know it’s a lotta work doing a book thingy blog, right? Maybe not as much work as grilling up a nice, thick burger all juicy and sizzling and…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Book blogging.

Intrepid

Well. Some intrepid soul recently asked why we do book blogging? After all, it’s a ton of work. For free. (“Intrepid.” Isn’t that a great word? No idea what it means. But Her Momness likes it. So I do, too.)

So, Mom and Me? We put face and fur together on that one to round up a response. You know. Something other than, “Chocolate!” (For one of us.) Or, “We’re World Class Bibliophiles and can’t help it!” But really. The main reason we run this blog comes down to one word:

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Seriously PAWSome!

Hello Friends!

Happy New Year!

Kimber the Magnificent here to tell you something you probably already know (if you don’t, you should):

MOM IS SERIOUSLY PAWSOME!!

She not only cooks a mean T-bone steak that’s all luscious, delicious and flavorful, mouth-watering and juicy and…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Mom. Seriously PAWsome. As in, Bibliophile Extraordinaire and World Class Reader. Like this:

You read that right: Mom and I read 403 books in 2022. (Well, it was mostly me. But Mom chipped in. A little.)

It’s a New Personal Reading Record for most books in one year. And nope, we didn’t review every book. Cuz that’s just silly.

I’d let Mom tell ya more. ‘Cept she’s snoozing. For obvious reasons. I ‘spect she’ll wake up around spring. Or maybe later.

You gonna eat that? Askin’ for a friend.

What are your eating… I mean, reading goals for 2023?


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Look Who’s a “Top Reviewer”!

Merry Christmas, Friends!

Kimber here, being all Brilliant and Beautiful. Again. (It’s a tough job. But someone’s gotta do it!)

I’m letting you know that Her Momness  – aka: ‘Ole Bleary Eyes – would send Christmas greetings herself. But she’s just settled her brains for a long winter’s nap.

“Why is Mom napping during The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?!” you ask. Good question.

At The Top!

Short answer: Her Momness just scored Top Reviewer Honors at Reedsy/Discovery. She also bested her Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2022. By 170%. How does that Goodreads thing look? Well, like this:

341 of 200 books read in 2022

Mom’s reading goal for 2022 was 200 books. She just finished Book #341. In one year, January – today. And she’s still goin’ strong! I am not making this up. See?

A Crown

Then there’s this Reedsy/Discovery thingy. Her Momness wears the crown for a Top Reviewer in November. See again: Continue reading →


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Happy Birthday Mom!

Pssst! Kimber here. Being all magnificent and everything. Telling you that today, one of my favorite people turns 100 years old! What? Well, okay. Maybe not One. Hundred. Maybe just “older than dirt.”

Anyway, I thought I’d mark this auspicious occasion by sharing a post by Her Momness from 2014. You know. About 100 years ago. Wait. Where was I? Oh yeah. The post is called “Like Coming Home.” It’s about growing up as a voracious reader and book lover.

You don’t want to miss this. Cuz it’s really, really good. (Maybe not as a good as a nice, thick T-bone steak. Nobody’s perfect.)

Anyway, it goes like this:

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NOW HEAR THIS!

Attention Authors!

Kimber: Her Grumpiness is about to Make An Announcement. Something about reviews and author interviews. And how NOT to get on her grumpy side. So it’s all paws on deck, okay? 

Okay, Her Grumpiness. All present and accounted for. (I’d listen up ‘fize you.)

Mom: Thanks, Kimber. Let’s get right to it. Recent submissions indicate we need to provide additional clarification on two basics:

1.      How to Get a Negative Review in Three Easy Steps.

2. Author Interviews. Aka: What’ll get your interview a one-way ticket to the Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky. (So don’t go there, okay?)

So here goes:

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A Summer Reading Record?

Do you do Summer Reading Programs?  Mom used to. She’s been kinda straddlin’ the fence on SRPs since about 2018. Why? Cuz she set a personal record for books read that summer: 156 books. From June 1 to August 31. No. really. Click here for more.

She hasn’t jumped into an SRP full-bore since. “Cuz Kimmi, how in the world am I gonna top 156 books in three months?”

Well. You know Her Momness. I bribed her with chocolate.

A New Record?

So. Did Mom set a new personal record for Summer Reading? 

Well, not quite. We tried. Really. And we got close.

But there was so much other stuff goin’ on this summer, if ya know what I mean. (And yes, I totally aced that semi-annual check-up at the vet’s. Thanks for askin.’)

Including audio books and read-alouds, Mom read 139 books this summer. It’s not 156+. But not bad, eh?  (Apparently, some people will do almost anything for a Triple Chocolate Meltdown a la mode.)

You can find some of Mom’s summer favorites at 6 Best Reads of Summer. 

Honorable Mentions:

I’d let Mom tell you more herself. But she’s snoozing right now. Or “resting up.” Or something.

Psssst!

Mom hasn’t tackled a Goodreads Reading Challenge since shortly after the Ark made landfall. The last one she did was in 2018: 383 books. In one year. She says, “No way can I do that again, Kimster. Not even close.”

But I’m scouting up new supplies of chocolate. Just don’t tell Mom yet, okay?

You gonna eat that?

 


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13 Book Tour Dos & Don’ts

“What’s a “book tour”? you ask. Glad you asked.

A “book tour,” also known as a “book blog tour,” is when a book goes on a virtual tour across the internet, hosted on various book blogs. These tours allow a book to gain more exposure to potential readers. Tours can also be an effective way for authors to promote their books, especially if they’re indie or self-published authors. (Find out more here.) 

Stretching….

Mom and I get boatloads of book tour invitations. (Here a tour. There a tour. Everywhere a tour, tour.) We ignore most of them. We’re either not interested in the book being promoted or our schedule is already jammed.

But they can also be fun. A chance to meet new people. Explore new books. Find new authors. Make new friends. Sniff out a nice, thick, juicy steak…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Blog tours.

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Review Request Queue is Now OPEN!

Mom and I are pleased to announce that the review request queue officially re-opened on February 01, 2022. So we’re now open to new requests to review your pawsome new book.

First come, first served if you meet our submission guidelines. 

While we’re on the subject, sort of: Don’t be that author who telegraphs Lazy Rank Amateur from a mile away. Cuz when it comes to books we are and are not interested in, we’re like, really picky. Cuz we’re busy. So kindly don’t waste our time pitching a book that’s clearly outside our interests. And yeah, we always know who has and who hasn’t read the guidelines. Always.

So if you’ve read the guidelines and think your magnum opus is a good fit for Pages and Paws, give us a holler at kikero@juno.com. Put “Review Request” in the subject line so we don’t miss it.  (No guarantees, but dog lovers often move to the head of the pack. We’re just funny that way.)

Please note: We typically accept less than half of the review requests that come our way. (You wouldn’t believe some of the kitty litter fodder we get.) So to reiterate:

No promises, but you can improve your chances of getting your book accepted for a review if you take the time to carefully read our submission guidelines before inquiring about a review.

Woof!


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How to Grab an AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

You may recall that back in November Mom and I decided to temporarily close the blog to new book review requests thru the end of 2021. One of us was just plumb tuckered out! (Hi, Mom.) We were also way behind in reviews due to the sheer volume of requests. Phew!

We’re gonna have to push the re-open date back to February 1, 2022. 

In the meantime, we decided to start the new year off by offering some Author Spotlights. If you’re an author with a book that meets our Submission Guidelines and would like to promote it here, this is for you.

Here’s the 4-1-1:

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