SBPT15 Week 9: "You See What I Did This Summer" - Blog Tour Recap!

THE INTRO

Welcome to the Summer Blogger Promo Tour, hosted by The Book Bratz! 

If you're not familiar with it, the SBPT is like a temporary meme, only much more fun and interesting. Basically, a grand total of 56 bloggers who signed up for it have been divided in groups of 8 bloggers each. Every group got to swap posts through the whole summer - that is, every blogger in the group (plus the host) was featured on one of their companions' blogs every Sunday, always contributing with a different and original post. You can read all about the SBPT here and here. And since this is the last week of the tour, I want to thank my friend Tessa from Crazy for YA for being the one who brought this upcoming tour to my attention via one of her posts at the beginning of the summer...

So, this is the last stop for the SBPT 2015. I made it...and I am not even short of breath *congratulates self*. Like I mentioned in this post, I signed up for the Summer Blogger Promo Tour with the intent of 1) meeting new bloggers and 2) avoiding my usual summer blog slump and being forced to post during the wearisome hot season. Was I successful? [...suspense...]. Let's see...

THE TOUR

[Image source]

Week 1 (July 5th)
I posted "Afterlife Special", an appreciation of the namesake subgenre in YA lit (with a few recommendations), on Emily Reads Everything.
My guest was Nicole (The Book Bandit) with her short story "Painting the Roses Red".

Week 2 (July 12th)
I posted "5 Contemporary Novels to Read if You Need a Break from Romance" on Marissa Nicole Reads.
My guest was Jess (Little Book Heaven) with her Top 5 Audiobooks.

Week 3 (July 19th)
I posted about my least favourite book sequels on The Petite Book Blogger.
My guest was Veronika (The Regal Critiques), with whom I did a double interview about being bloggers whose first language is not English.

Week 4 (July 26th)
I posted my "Top 5 Series More People Should Read" on Mia in Narnia.
My guest was Mia herself, sharing her 6 most inspiring authors list (since she wants to be a writer herself!).

Week 5 (Aug 2nd)
The second part of my double interview with Veronika got posted on her blog The Regal Critiques.
My guest was Victoria (The Petite Book Blogger) with her dream-travels-and-book-matches list.

Week 6 (Aug 9th)
This was my week off during the tour, so I didn't appear on anyone's blog.
My guest were Amber and Jessica (The Book Bratz), that is, the very hosts of the SBPT, with their blogging tips.

Week 7 (Aug 16th)
I posted my "Top 5 Agatha Christie Books" on Little Book Heaven.
My guest was Marissa (Marissa Nicole Reads) with her least favourite book-to-movie adaptations.

Week 8 (Aug 23rd)
I posted an appreciation of indie authors on The Book Bandit, with a few book recommendations.
My guest was Emily (Emily Reads Everything) with her "How to Fall in Love with Horror".

THE RECAP

 

Thanks to Giphy!

The tour indeed forced stimulated me to post at least once a week, but it's not like I was able to do much more than that. I sort of expected it, though. On the other hand, the simple fact that the SBPT kept me active during the months in which I usually hibernate (yes, I'm a bear in reverse LOL...summer wears me out, so I tend to stick my activity to a minimum) can be counted as a huge success. Mission accomplished!

Another plus was getting to know a few bloggers who were new to me. Though we might have different book tastes and interests and ages, it was nice to broaden my knowledge of the book blogging community, and see what other people are up to/have to offer...And there are at least a couple of them whose blogs I'm visiting on a regular basis now.

Overall, I had fun putting all my SBPT posts together, but I have a soft spot for the double interview me and Veronika from The Regal Critiques did together. Despite the two posts (like I said, the first half of the interview appeared on my blog and the second on hers) not being particularly successful in terms of views/comments, I enjoyed comparing our situations and swapping a few details about our countries (Hungary and Italy). If I had known back then that Veronika's co-blogger, Ruzaika, was from Sri Lanka, I'd have loved her to join us (see, New York Daily News? that's a threesome! muahahahah! *shows them tongue*), but I worked under the assumption she was Hungarian too, so I thought some of her answers might have been similar to Veronika's. Anyway, Ruzi is a fun girl (and a Twitter friend), so I hope to have the chance to get her involved in some kind of future project...

Talking about comments, I think they were probably the weak link of the whole SBPT project. I thought we'd be more eager to comment on one another's blog - though I will admit that I didn't necessarily set a good example...I did comment here and there, but without much consistency. And I was hardly able to do that on the blogs of the SBPT participants who were outside my own group.

Thanks to the tour, I discovered a flair for guest posting...or at least that's what my friend Karen from For What It's Worth seems to think I have ;). She repeated to me so many times that she enjoyed the guest posts I was doing for the tour, and the mini-reviews they incorporated, that I couldn't get mad at her for favouring such mini-reviews over the long and labored ones LOL. Anyway, since most of those guest posts contained shorter versions of my reviews (though always rephrased and combined into a framework), Karen and the tour gave me an idea...I might consider doing my own brand of wrap-up posts from time to time, summing up and reworking past reviews so that they can fit in a themed post. This way, those visitors who don't usually read whole reviews or are investigating a particular area of the YA book universe can find what they're looking for more easily, and - perhaps - be more inclined to read my post! LOL. Let's see if I can do that in the future.

My bottom line about the SBPT is, it was a new experience that broadened my horizons as a blogger and blog reader. I might consider joining again next year (in case The Book Bratz are willing to put a new tour together) - if I get fresh ideas for guest posts by then, that is :). Also, final shout-out to The Book Bratz themselves for assembling the tour (which must have been a pain in the ass, what with all the bloggers involved and their different schedules!) and backing us up closely via both Twitter and email with suggestions and assistance. (I only regret not having been able to participate in the Twitter chats because of the time zone, but really, it would only have been a plus).

To my SBPT pals, thank you for keeping me company all summer! Have an awesome fall/autumn!