2017 Wrap-Up: In Which I Rear My Head and Try to Schedule

Hello my beauties!

Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2017 up. Well, if I should blurb it...it was a slow, but rewarding year - due to a few great books I was sent for review, the handful of authors that made my day, and the small, but awesome group of old and new friends who supported my blogging adventure. Post-wise, it was a walk of shame when it comes to numbers - but as some of my most faithful and kindest readers like to remind me from time to time, it's the content that matters...and apparently, in that department I delivered 😊. Or so they say 😉.

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 5 years and a couple of months 😃.

This is what happened on Offbeat YA during the year, broken down by number of posts, events I took part in, books I reviewed, authors I interacted with and discussion posts I wrote...

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Best Books of 2017

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.

Here is what is on deck this week:

BEST BOOKS OF 2017

I didn't read many new books this year (or many books at all), since I can't treat myself with them as often as I would like. But there are at least five of them that I either rated 4.5 or 5 stars, and three were by debut authors (which is why I didn't do a separate post for them on November 28th). Oh, BTW, they're either YA or NA (but not your usual college-girls-anxious-to-get-laid NA 😉. The "genre" is changing, y'all. Let's celebrate!). Here are some excerpts from my reviews, with brand new notes and a link to the whole thing if you're interested. I hope you'll find something that meets your tastes in here!

Making the Cover: "Wakefield" 2.0 by Erin Callahan & Troy H. Gardner

Hello lovelies!

I'm treating you to something different today. Not quite your classic cover reveal, but the illustrated story of how a concept is made into a cover. Cool, uh? 😃

 
Before we start, a short recap is due. In 2013, I received a review copy of Wakefield from the very hands of authors Erin Callahan and Troy H. Gardner. To cut a long story short, since then we have developed a great author/blogger relationship. I reviewed the three collaborative books they have put forth so far (after Wakefield, the sequels Tunnelville and Perfection), beta-read for both of them, and cheerleaded like a champion at every step of their writing journey. The books Erin and Troy co-authored are the first half of the Mad World double trilogy, originally published by a small press. After Book 3 came out - that is, in June 2013 - the two of them have been working at refining their craft, while also tending to their individual projects. Now, since the rights for the first three installments were reverted to them, Erin and Troy have decided to go indie, and are ready to kick off Wakefield, Tunnelville and Perfection again, before they start publishing the second half of the series. This involves a whole rebrand, of course, starting with the covers. Troy is the one in charge of them, and today on the blog he kindly shares his creative process in a Wakefield making-the-cover post. (Note: Wakefield 2.0 is scheduled for Dec. 22nd, as an ebook for now, with a paperback edition coming soon - so keep your eyes peeled!). Here goes...(...P.S.: watch the very end of the post for Wakefield new blurb, along with a preorder link!).