Event! The Book Read 'Round the World

The Book Read 'Round the World

Hello all you international book bloggers out there! Lately I've been wanting to connect with more international book bloggers because I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of their blogs. So, I thought I'd try to connect with some by organizing an event! 

I would like to send a book around the world and have people report back to it by doing guest posts on my blog (and post on their blog about the experience as well). Depending on interest, I am not opposed to sending more than one book out and having two groups (Book A and Book B...etc.). 

This is roughly how it will work:

• I will purchase two brand new, shiny paperback books that we choose as a group
• I'll read the book within 1-2 weeks (no War and Peace length books of course) and send it on to the next person on my randomized list
• The package sent must include: the book -AND- a local treat of some sort that cannot be found anywhere else (it can be something as simple and cheap as a postcard or bookmark, or could also be more expensive like a book by a local author or something like that)
• Before you send the book onto the next person, you must sign the inside cover with the name of your City/Province(State)/Country
• Write two facts on a piece of paper about your City/Province(State)/Country to send in the package as well

So you are interested in joining?!!

• To participate you must be willing to pay international postage to send the package onto the next person 
• Commit yourself to finishing the book within a reasonable period of time (no longer than 1-2 weeks). 
• Review the book on your blog and write up a post about the experience for my blog (you can also post the experience on your blog). Don't worry, it will be a short post (What you received in the package including the facts the previous reader sent you, a short summary of your thoughts on the book, and where the book is headed next)

Because it takes time to read a book and then have it mailed to another country, the group will have to be small so if there is a lot of interest I may have multiple groups (with the option for a different book). 

This event is also open on a limited basis to U.S. book bloggers, but the goal is to get bloggers from all over the world to participate so only a few U.S. bloggers will be chosen. If you are interested in joining or helping in any way, please fill out the form or send me an e-mail at carin.buffington[at]gmail[dot]com. 




Click Here to Sign Up! (signups are closed)

Please also leave a comment on what book(s) you think would be good for this event.

Book Suggestions

• The Ridiculous Race by Steve Hely and Valy Chandrasekaran
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• Stern Men - Elizabeth Gilbert

Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 1

Before I get into my post about Hugh Ambrose's book signing for The Pacific, I most definitely want to tell you about how I spent the day before his appearance at the Nimitz Museum. It was one of the best days I've ever had in the 10+ years I've lived in Central Texas.

April 17, 2010 began with the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. The walk benefits Texas Service Dogs and is held every year in Central Austin. This year the goal was to beat the world record which was held by England whose event totaled 10,762 dogs. How could Austin possibly beat that number?!! I wondered myself when I registered for the event at a local Petsmart just a few days before it was going to be held. My bib number was 2003 and my friend Karen's was 4897. In addition to those low numbers, it was supposed to pour rain for most of the day so I was sure that turnout wouldn't be very high. I packed my dog Max into the car at 6:30 am and we drove the 30+ minutes to Downtown Austin to find a parking space. We were definitely one of the early birds, but there were vendors that were handing out lots of goodies for the dogs right before the starting line.

I met up with Karen and her dog Mhina and a little after 8:00 we raided the vendor tables for free dog treats, reusable shopping bags, coupons, and then started the three mile trek through downtown. Austin is very dog friendly, and it was so great to just see all the people walking with their dogs. We even saw a family walking with their eight Chihuahuas in a stroller! Eight! I couldn't believe it! As we crossed the starting line, the MC actually called out my dog and asked what he was. I proudly told him that Max was a whippet (I didn't tell him that he was a crazy whippet...which he TOTALLY IS), but I felt special for his being noticed. Max and Mhina were both really well behaved and they walked like champs. Karen and I got to visit throughout the walk which was pretty leisurely because people and dogs always want to socialize. There were volunteers in the road at water stations that gave the dogs and people water. Best of all, the weather was awesome! It was nice and overcast which kept it cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were walking. After we finished, we picked up more goodies from the tables and then walked to my car. I gave Karen and Mhina a ride to their car and right when she got into her car it started pouring rain! We really lucked out! Max was exhausted (he normally doesn't really get up until about 1:00 pm), and I drove him to my friend's apartment so she could watch him for the rest of the day while I drove to Fredericksburg for the book signing.

I didn't hear whether or not the walk broke the world record for most dogs walked, but I did read on the Texas Service Dogs May Newsletter which said that we did in fact beat the world record with a total of 11,256 dogs walked! My dog, Max is a world record holder! How exciting is that?!!

My dog Max

I didn't have a lot of time to visit with my friend or even eat lunch because I planned extremely poorly and realized that Fredericksburg was an hour and a half drive from her apartment. I panicked a little because I had been looking forward to the Hugh Ambrose signing for over a month. I had faithfully watched the first few episodes of The Pacific on HBO after having waited eight years for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make it (they made Band of Brothers in 2001 which is one of my favorite films/series of all time). 

I didn't want to miss it or look like a total chump walking in late to a book signing (which most likely included many veterans or family members of veterans) so I hopped into my car and sped to Fredericksburg (ok police officers--I didn't really speed much because I drive a Prius) hoping that I would make it in time.


...Did I make it? Come back tomorrow to find out!


In the meantime, look at my pictures from the event and check out my friend Karen's entry about it at her blog, Arborescence.

Bloggiesta Update #3 - Crossing off the List Pt. 2

It's Day 2 of Bloggiesta and wow....did I take a lot of time on some things today. I actually didn't expect to spend so much time on my business card task, but I found a website called Zazzle that has fantastic business cards and bookmarks that you can customize for a fairly decent price. I spent many hours just working on my design which left less time in the day for things I should be doing--namely, writing backup posts. Oh well, it was fun to play graphic artist for the day and let my OCD get the best of me.



Here are the things I accomplished:

• I created a button for Shelfari that links to my Shelfari page (it's on the right hand sidebar near my Twitter button)
• I came up with an event primarily for bloggers outside the U.S. that will be a globetrotting book event (it will start in the U.S. though). Look for a post this upcoming week about it if you are a blogger from a country outside the U.S.
• I designed both a business card and a bookmark. Thanks to my fellow blogger/Twitter friends for looking at my bookmark, and a special thank you to Judith at Leeswammes' Blog for looking over my business card.
• I wrote a blog post ("Could Not Detect a Feed for This URL?!!"--That's Right, I Finally Figured Out How to Fix It!)about the RSS Autodisovery Fix for broken RSS Feeds. Thank you to Pete Freitag whose post helped me fix my RSS Feed that had been broken since February 2010.
• I wrote part one of a two part post about my trip to Fredericksburg, TX in April for Hugh Ambrose's signing of his book, The Pacific. I will post it in the morning!
• I entered my first mini-challenge: Bloggiesta Day Two --The Surprise Mini Challenge (I've decided that free-spirited people have more fun so I took a silly picture).
• Got both a gravicon and a favicon
• Found a guest blogger--Judith, from Leeswammes' Blog--to do a guest post on my blog. If you would like to do a guest post, just leave a comment and let me know! I'm pretty open about topics!

Still on my To Do List:

• Write a few backup posts
• Continue brainstorming on a series post that is not meme related

Mood Music

For your daily listening pleasure, I've chosen "Hey Baby Que Paso" by the Texas Tornados. Oh man....this brings back memories. My brother's band used to sing this all the time when I was growing up! Love it! Also, check out Suey's Bloggiesta Updates on her blog, It's All About Books...and life's other adventures too! She features a Nelly Furtado/Josh Groban song and an Enrique Iglesias song. I've listened to both MULTIPLE times on her blog!

"Could Not Detect a Feed for This URL?!!" -- That's Right, I Finally Figured Out How to Fix It!

Back in February I wrote a post about my blog roll problems in a post titled, "Blog Roll Problems Anyone?" because I received a few messages saying people weren't able to add me to their Blog Roll because they got this error message:

"Could not detect a feed for this URL. Blog posts and update time will not be shown. Add URL anyway?"

I had found a quick fix that involved giving people my actual Feed URL instead of just my Blog URL. If you are wondering what the difference is between a Feed URL and just a regular website or blog URL, here it is:

• Feed URL - http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
• Website/Blog URL - http://blogname.blogspot.com

This has been a known issue for Blogger for months and it doesn't appear that they've fixed it. I think the problem may come from using templates that are not from the Blogger website. My template comes from BloggerThemes.net. 

If you are having this problem, FEAR NOT! Through the wonders of Google, I found a website that actually fixes the problem permanently without having to tell people what your Feed URL. You just need to add this line of code into the HTML of your blog template:

<link href='http://littlebookish.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default' rel='alternate' title='RSS Feed for A Little Bookish' type='application/rss+xml'/>

• The above link tag should be added right before the </head> of your HTML
•  Change the "title" and "href" to fit your blog
• If you use Atom, change the "type" to application/atom+xml
• If you have multiple feeds, you can add multiple link tags

**Please note that I took this directly from Pete Freitag's website. I give his post full credit for helping me fix my problem and really appreciate his post! Please visit his website if you have any further questions (of course, I would be happy to try to help if you have having the same issue I did.

Bloggiesta Update #2 - Crossing off the List Pt. 1

It's only Day 1 of Bloggiesta, and I have most definitely have NOT been participating in siesta. I've accomplished quite a lot today partially because I am woefully behind on reading a few books and need to get back to it (if you are curious, I am reading Middlemarch by George Eliot in an informal read-a-long at Literary Lollipop, and I'm also trying to finish up The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose--non-fiction always takes me longer to read).



Here are the things I've accomplished:

• Thought about the goals for my blog and have made a short-term and long-term list of goals. I have to admit that I am not super driven to chase down 1,000 followers, but my general goal would be to get people regularly reading and commenting on my blog (and not just memes--I like it when people read my reviews...hehe). 
• I have added RSS subscription and e-mail subscription to my blog on the right hand side of my sidebar at the top as well as changed my Twitter icon to something a little bigger and hopefully more noticeable.
• Added Google Analytics to my blog
• I organized my bookshelf and can now find all the books I haven't actually read yet (It's a lot! Does anyone else have this problem?)
• I have asked someone to do a guest post on my blog and hopefully I'll hear back from her soon.
• I have come up with an idea for an International Book Blogger event that I am going to organize. If you are interested, please comment here and I will add you to my list. 
• I only need two more followers to do my first giveaway (it will be books off my shelf and will be open to anyone in the world).
• I have found a few new book bloggers to follow (especially because I'm looking for bloggers outside the U.S. for the event). If you have a Twitter account, let me know. Recently, I've been finding it is much easier to read people's reviews if they post links on Twitter (and I like to comment on reviews!)

Still on my To Do List:

• Need to write a few backup posts for lazy days. I've come up with a few ideas, but if you have suggestions, please leave a comment!
• I still need to come up with a post that I can do on a regular basis...not a meme, but something that has the same theme from week to week.
• Write the post about fixing my feed URL problem. Apparently other people using Blogger have encountered this problem and I can now tell the world how to fix it (thanks to someone else who posted it first of course)!
• Look into doing business cards. I am not sure I will get this done this weekend, but I would like to consider doing it.
• Look into doing a gravatar and a favicon

Mood Music

...AND, I can't leave out something for your listening pleasure! Here's a song I grew up hearing my family sing at just about every family party I went to:

Bloggiesta Update #1 - My Goals for Bloggiesta!

UPDATE #1

It's the first day of Bloggiesta, so I decided to write a post about what I plan to do for the weekend:

• Write a few backup posts that are book related, but not actual reviews. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions for topics.
• Come up with a series post that I can do regularly between book reviews
• Find someone to do a guest blog post. If you are interested, please let me know!
• I would like to think about doing an International Blogger Event of some kind to promote community with book bloggers all over the world--possibly a read-a-long or a Sisterhood of the Traveling Book kind of thing (you send a book and local treat to the next person on the list)
• Come up with a "business" plan with some short-term and long-term goals for my blog
• Make some business cards
• Get 50 followers so that I can do my first giveaway.
• Write a post about the solution to my Feed URL not being detected so that other bloggers that have the same problem will know how to fix it!
• Consider dropping a challenge or two that I've signed up for so that I feel more free to read whatever books I feel like reading. 
• Consider getting a gravatar
• Network with a few bloggers that I haven't previously found through the Bloggiesta event
• Organize my bookshelf so that I know exactly what books I have that still need to be read.

What are your goals for Bloggiesta? Please leave a comment with your blog URL so that I can come check on your goals and progress! Good luck!

Some Mood Music for You!

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun (from their self-titled album, Rodrigo y Gabriela)

It's Time for the Semi-Annual Bloggiesta!

¡Bienvenidos! ¡Ya es hora de celebrar Bloggiesta!* This time around, Bloggiesta is scheduled between June 11-13. It's a time to evaluate your blog and think about what is working, what's not, and where you want your blog to go!

What is Bloggiesta?
According to Maw Books Blog, Bloggiesta is, "...a blogging marathon. An opportunity to cross those nagging items off your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two!"


What to do During Bloggiesta

• Write reviews
• Write backup posts for a rainy day
• Write that great post idea from three months back
• Work on series posts
• Write guest posts
• Put out invitations for guest posts
• Conduct and edit author interviews
• Create template posts for your future reads (i.e., title, images, linking, tags, etc.) so you can open up, write the review and post it without being bogged down with technicalities.
• Clean up your tags, archives, books reviewed list, etc.
• Create a text file (or Google doc) of cheat sheets (html codes, post url's, etc.)
• Improve your blog template, clean up sidebars, add a favicon, install those plug-ins you've been meaning to.
• Add or edit your About Me page, review policy, disclosure policy, privacy policy, create landing pages (for example--an About Me page for Twitter readers page) or any other pages you might have
• Any bloggy type housekeeping that you've been neglecting
• Clean up and update your challenge lists. Link up your posts with hosts.
• Make sure all of your social network profiles are up to date. Brand yourself through those profiles with color schemes, images, etc.
• Go get a gravatar
• Visit the Blogging Tips Group on the Book Blogs Ning Network and find ways to improve your blog.
• Work on any specialized projects you may have going.
• Clean out and organize your feed reader and blog subscriptions
• Create an elevator pitch.
• Make business cards
• Find a blogging buddy
• The sky's the limit!

How to sign up:

• Go to Maw Books Blog and read her Bloggiesta post
• If you decide to join, clink on the Mister Linky she has posted on her page
• Be sure to check out the mini-challenges she has posted as well. They include some great tips and discussions on book blogging.
• She says there will be prizes if you're one of those people that needs extra incentive!

To get you all in the mood to fiesta for Bloggiesta, here is one of my favorite Spanish language songs:

Gloria Estefan - Mi Tierra


*Thanks to my friend James for giving me a little Spanish opening. He is headed to Monterrey, Mexico next month for work and has been working hard to become fluent in Spanish!