Guest Post: Don’t Know What to Read Next? Then Try The Book Lottery

Every time after you finished reading a book, you are plagued with a simple question. "What's next?"

It had only been a few seconds since you had clicked "mark as read" in Goodreads, and already the question is on your mind, and the world is watching while you make your choice. If only you knew what to read next ...

I know the feeling far too well. There are many books that I want to read, then there are a few that I have to read, and, of course, the magic ones that I would die if I don’t read them. In addition, my TBR pile looks at me from a hidden corner in the room - trying to guilt-trip me. The most forgotten books are ebooks that were cheap and … now the poor things are waiting on my eReader to be read. Just that I haven’t used the eReader since this millennium started and I can’t remember which books are on it.

However, there is one way out of this disaster that has always worked for me: The Book Lottery!

“What is a book lottery?” I hear you ask. The principle is rather simple - just like with a regular lottery nothing more than a stroke of luck decides the outcome. In that case it would be about money but in this case it’s about which book to read next.  

How is it going to work?

STEP 1: 

This might be the most difficult part. For the book lottery to work, you need to write down all the books that you would be able to read in this very moment. 

This includes - but is not limited to: books on your TBR, any books on your digital TBR, (A)RCs you were given without a deadline, books on your “want to read” that you can buy within a second and start reading, and books from your eLibrary that had always tickled your fancy and you could borrow in this very moment. In short, pretty much any book that you thought about reading and is available as of now.

Once you have your slips, we turn to step 2.

STEP 2: 

Find a pretty hat or jar. A cap is going to do as well. Then throw all those slips inside.

STEP 3: 

Mix and shake

STEP 4: 

Last but hardly least, comes the most important part: Now it is time to draw a "winner".  

Whatever title you pulled out of the magic hat/jar/cap is going to be your next read. This way you don’t have to decide yourself and hundreds of - hopefully - entertaining pages ahead of you

Happy reading!

Bio:

I am Susanne from https://www.floralcars.com/ – a rookie road tripper, blogger, and bookworm at heart. I regularly write about travel, lifestyle, and books. Naturally, I wouldn’t dare to leave the house without one in my bag.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/floralcars1

Instagram: https://instagram.com/floralcars

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floralcars/

Bad Reads: The 7 Stages of a DNF

Hello lovely people. I while back I made an infro graphic on the 7 stages of a DNF.

DNF = Did Not Finish

Lets be real. It happens. Sometimes that book everyone's been raving about just isn't that good. You force yourself to finish but it's just not happening. The reason I made the original post was because I was struggling to get through An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Apparently I eventually finished it since I wrote a review of it although I did joke about writing half-review a few years ago for books I couldn't finish.

Like I said the last time, if you're really not enjoying a book it's okay to save it for later or maybe even give up on it completely. Reading should be fun and if you're not having fun get a different book.

Have you ever had to DNF a book? What was it?

6 Awesome Ways to Promote Your Book

Here's a throwback to a post that I wrote a while ago that might be helpful for authors looking for ways to get there book out there. Let me know in the comments what ways your find most useful.

Okay, so you've written your book. You've published your book. Now you need to promote you book. When there are so many books around it seems hard to get yourself out there as an author. People aren't noticing your book in the crowd. Growing a following isn't going to happen overnight, it takes time and persistence and fortunately there are a few ways that you can help promote yourself:

1. Twitter

If you're an author and you aren't on Twitter already, then you need it ASAP. This is probably one of the easiest ways to reach out to other authors and readers who might enjoy reading your book. You need to build friendships and engage with others so that they can get to know the person behind the book. Tweet for you, not your book. Of course now and then you can plug your book but what really catches peoples attention is being interesting and showing your personality.

2. Goodreads 

As a Goodreads author you can find bloggers who may be interested in reading your book. If you're lucky someone will leave a good review which will lead to more people being interested in your book. Engaging with people on the group talk threads is as a great way to connect with readers and other authors.

3. Giveaways

This is ideal if you need more reviews. The best way to do this is to offer an entry into a giveaway if they follow you on a certain platform such as Twitter or Bloglovin'. You can offer various prizes, some pof which will of course be your book.

4. Start a blog

You're a writer so blog about it. Tell me about the journey you took to writing. What are the best and the worst things about writing? What are some good books you've found lately? Gain visitors and followers who appreciate your blog posts and then you'll later gain readers of your book. Think of your blog as a showcase of your writing and character.

Undecided? Here's how and why you should book blog.

5. Guest posts/interviews

Try to find a book blog which is interested in books that are similar to your writing genre. This way, when you write a guest article or interview with them, the people that read the post will be people that are likely to enjoy reading your book.

6. Virtual book tours

This is a great way to create buzz around your book because you'll have many bloggers promoting your book within the same time period. You can set it up yourself which will require sourcing bloggers who are willing to participate, creating banners, organizing giveaways and scheduling the tour yourself. This can be time consuming so an alternative that many authors choose is to hire a blog tour company to do it for them.