GIVEAWAY: Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon

Welcome, book fiends! Gather round our bubbling cauldron of sakura potion -- it's time for a brand new giveaway!

But first, I think this book deserves a bit of a special introduction! I read STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON as part of a book tour organised by The Royal Polar Bear Reads.

I absolutely love how this book focuses on a commoner POV that in many other books would simply be a sidekick. Anlei is a forceful protagonist with just a little hint of darkness, and her character arc is super interesting. I also adore how the book digs into the nuances of privilege and power in the worldbuilding. It’s a super fun and action-packed book that you should definitely try!

(Shout-out to Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea for buddy reading this with me!)

Oh, right, giveaway! A huge thank you to the author, Mary Fan, for giving away a signed copy to you guys when I flung myself shrieking at her, haha.

To enter the giveaway, simply type your email address below! This means joining my takeout army for our little regular giveaways, so I will send you emails about bonus entries, who won, and more giveaway information. reload the page if this form isn't visible. Once you've entered, you'll receive an email with details on how to redeem bonus entries—so go and check it now! Because you entered, right? riiiiiight?

Blurb (buy links here):

When a powerful viceroy arrives with a fleet of mechanical dragons and stops an attack on Anlei’s village, the villagers see him as a godsend. They agree to give him their sacred, enchanted River Pearl in exchange for permanent protection—if he’ll marry one of the village girls to solidify the alliance. Anlei is appalled when the viceroy selects her as a bride, but with the fate of her people at stake, she sees no choice but to consent. Anlei’s noble plans are sent into a tailspin, however, when a young thief steals the River Pearl for himself. Knowing the viceroy won’t protect her village without the jewel, she takes matters into her own hands. But once she catches the thief, she discovers he needs the pearl just as much as she does. The two embark on an epic quest across the land and into the Courts of Hell, taking Anlei on a journey that reveals more is at stake than she could have ever imagined.

ISBN: 162414733X. Author bio: Mary Fan is a hopeless dreamer, whose mind insists on spinning tales of “what if.” As a music major in college, she told those stories through compositions. Now, she tells them through books—a habit she began as soon as she could pick up a pencil. Mary lives in New Jersey and has a B.A. from Princeton University. When she’s not scheming to create new worlds, she enjoys kickboxing, opera singing, and blogging about everything having to do with books.

This giveaway will run until August 15th, at which point I shall select a winner and have a new giveaway for everyone else. Yay!

This prize will be shipped internationally.

help i'm a smol marshmallow with no legal knowledge but here goes:

Official details regarding this giveaway: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Entrants must be 18 or above or have parental/guardian permission. Giveaway, bot, or other suspicious accounts will be removed at organiser's discretion. In holding this giveaway, the organiser does not endorse this book or this publisher. The prize will be a finished copy of STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON or another substitute prize at organiser's discretion. Winner drawn on August 15th. Entrants' email addresses are collected for the purposes of entry confirmation, notifying winners, providing information regarding bonus entries, and further updates on new giveaways. These details are subject to change.

7 smart tricks for authors/bloggers starting a mailing list // since we're all jumping on the hype train

Hello bookish fiends! Today we have a super detailed guide for authors or bloggers trying to wrap their minds around this "mailing list" phenomenon! You will want to know these tricks so you don't smush yourselves into a mud puddle infested with spiky urchins. Like bb!Alyssa did 2 years ago.

(but Alyssa spiky urchins don't live in mud puddles--SHHH I'm a fantasy author I do what I want.)

If you don't want to miss out on future tips, be sure to sign up here.

Why do you need a mailing list?

Under our capitalist overlords, we've got to earn money for books and food! (Yes, I put books first.) If you want to monetise your book blog or sell your own books, a mailing list is an incredibly helpful direct line of contact to the people who are interested in what you're offering.

So let's get to the TRICKZ that will get you ahead of the curve.

1. Don't ask people if you should start a newsletter.

Say, "I'm thinking of doing a newsletter! Sign up if you'd read it!"

If you can't be bothered to set anything up, that's manageable -- just ask people to message you their email address.

People vote yes on your Twitter poll, then forget about it. Action is the best way to confirm interest! This isn't a major tip, but I see y'all doing it on Twitter and it's a pet peeve. 

2. Mailchimp is not the only option. Really.

Okay, MailChimp isn't bad! I started on this and still use it for a few things I'm too lazy to switch over. Quick thoughts:

• A great free plan with 2k subscribers
• Satisfactory deliverability
• Really user-friendly
• Subpar tracking and automations
• Can't easily "tag" subscribers, which means you'll be double counting subscribers for multiple lists

I've also given Mailerlite a spin:

• 1k free subscribers with great tagging system
• Fantastic, user-friendly automation — I can follow up on certain people who've clicked a certain link and go up to them like "heLLO I think you'd like a glass of lemonade"
• Send rich text emails like you're just chatting with friends. WHICH I LOVE.
• Many features removed from the free plan earlier this year
• I had deliverability issues in the three months or so that I used it.

Eventually the spam mushrooms started creeping back onto me and my list grew too big for their free plan. So I switched to sender.net last week:

• 2.5k free subscribers
• Good tagging and automation
• Because I'm super picky with templates, I wrote all my own emails with HTML, so if you're completely new to coding, make sure you're comfy with their templates.
• (Coding is something I talk about in a future post! sign up for updates here)
• I did encounter some technical issues here and there but their live chat support is really excellent.
• Basically 83% the features I need? For free?? For more subscribers???

Another option is sendinblue, which has unlimited subscribers, but only lets you send 300 emails a day on the free plan.

Explore options before leaping on the generic train, okay? Okay, teacups!

3. Don't use embedded sign-ups.

Use a page on your own website. Don't embed in your blog posts. Don't use a landing page by your email provider. Don't use a third-party form.

Because you might want to tweak your signup, and the changes might not translate to your embedded form. Because you might want to change providers, and now all your forms in old blog posts are wrong. Because the third-party form provider might vanish, and your links are now dead. Yes, I learned these the HARD way.

Plus, I hate those Captchas! Maybe I'm secretly a robot, but I always get them wrong and it's torture to sign up for anything, which makes me not sign up. Using your own landing pages gives you the option to avoid them. (I've never noticed a particular uptick in bot signups when they're removed.)

If you don't know how to set up landing pages, I will teach you that in a future post (stay updated here). But for now, set up a redirect from a page on your own website to a landing page of your email provider, or embed the sign-up in a static page and send people there.

When you level up and want to make changes, it will be much easier to tweak your own page!

... and yes ... I am pointing you to mailchimp's signup form for tutorial updates ... because if I changed it now, I'd have way too many dead links to fix. DO AS I SAY not as I do.

4. Reconsider using tips or tutorials to make people sign up.

—uh, Alyssa, YOU ARE DOING THIS.

You see, these rules are like writing rules, where if you know why they exist, you're free to break them. I'm not the boss of you. You're your own boss. Or you're an underemployed millennial who wants to dismantle capitalism?? Sign me up for THAT mailing list.

Anyways, my email list for future blogging/website tips? It's the first list I started, and the one with the worst engagement. I don't expect to sell anything from it. I just want to make sure the few people who are still reading get to see my new content. I'm so benevolent. *hides Slytherin scarf*

Authors: The reason you shouldn't use "how-to" posts to entice people to join your list is that you're likely giving advice on how to write to other writers, when the people you actually want on your list are people who think your book idea sounds cool and will want a copy 30000 years later, when revisions are finally done. I won't lie, tutorials can create amazing sign-up numbers, but think about who are the right subscribers for your newsletter! Tutorial posts are a common suggestion for mailing list beginners, so I just wanted to say my piece against them for fiction writers building their platform.

Book bloggers: Tutorial posts are an AMAZING way to connect with other bloggers and I do love to do that!! I'll shake all the hands like an octopus! But if you want your audience to be comprised of a wider audience of non-blogging readers, then you might want to think of other content ideas.

5. Don't act like a company sending me discount codes I'll never use.

I personally love author newsletters because they're an intimate way to talk with my closest supporters. I say hello teacups I need your help to choose a title because I'm a silly indecisive goose. I say they say dystopian is dead, my book is going to prove them wrong.

So I don't get it when author newsletters have weird block formats and speak in the third person and paste their blurb in wholesale! I mean, nothing against these authors, it's just not my style. That's up to you!

(On the other hand, I'm personally not a fan of lifestyle-ish author newsletters. I like to talk books more! But that might be because I'm still a book blogger at heart, so eat your chocolate however you want. YMMV.)

6. Don't do it just because they all say you should.

Mailing lists actually can take a lot of time, and mistakes, and effort. It's definitely not "build it and they will come" or "passive income". If someone's mailing list reached 10K in 2 days, it's probably because they were already influential.

Start a mailing list if you have the time wouldn't mind modest results. It's great, but I don't feel like it's a must.

So if you find all this confusing, it's fine to ... not. 

Alyssa, of course I find this confusing! You keep telling me what NOT to do, and it's turning me into a porcupine in headlights! Tell me something TO DO.

7. Convert your social media followers to email friends.

You know what? I'll be real. Social media is still going to reach more people. Emails aren't going to go viral!

So find a way to turn your social media reach into an email list. Here's why — social media is owned by corporations who like algorithms. Ugh. You can't control them, or their decisions when they decide to wipe you off the map but keep the racists around.

PSA. A misconception about mailing lists: A lot of people just shout "no algorithm!" six times as though this is a ritual to ward off the demons of social media.

Well, first of all, there is an algorithm: email spam filters, your service providers' terms of service, and also your readers' minds. On a good day my email list may get 50%-70% open rates. My smol Instagram account's posts might be seen by 50% of my followers and it might also get seen by four times as many non-followers. Don't leap on the hype train just for the demon rituals!

But you won't lose the subscribers because of a social network's say-so ... take your list with you unless they unsubscribe.

I've tried several modes of tweets / social media posts to convert followers to email friends, and here's my experience:

does NOT work: "Want to find out 10 reasons romance is dead? get the deets here: [SIGNUP LINK]"

This is the classic "lead magnet" style that lots of other email list tutorials will suggest, to entice them with some sort of secret or benefit or incantation. My personal results are dismal. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm not doing it anymore!

sometimes works: "I just started a newsletter, please join here! [SIGNUP LINK]"

This isn't fancy, but it will get your closest followers to join you. I've literally signed up because an author I liked said "I will feel bad if this doesn't work". The guilt trip annoyed me, but it worked!

If nothing else, here's your takeaway from this post: a mailing list is not going to inherently net you new fans like an ad. For me, I use it to continue to engage with people who already like what I'm doing! That's why giving a blunt invitation is better than writing up clickbaity ~content upgrades~ to lure people in.

best for me: "Friends, my latest newsletter drops Saturday. I'm talking about [TWO TO THREE SPECIFIC THINGS]. Join here! [SIGNUP LINK]"

I'm upfront about what my intentions are, I show them I'm super cool and they should do as I say, and I give them a gentle time limit. It's like the Inigo Montoya method of networking ...

maybe works?? "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to join my murder newsletter."

and that's a wrap! If you'd like to see how I do my authorly newsletters after learning from 2 years of mistakes, here's the link. ... I will feel bad if this doesn't work? Ha!

Any questions about mailing lists? Comment below! Oh, and leave a link to your newsletter + join up with other people's too — there's no better way to learn about newsletters than observing how others do it!

.S. My next post is about how to start a stylish book blog or author website for FREEEEEE. If you want to stay updated on that, head here.

Looking to promote to book lovers? My giveaways are promoted to around 1.5K dedicated newsletter readers, may reach over 30K impressions on Twitter and a potential audience of over 50K on Instagram. Email me to sponsor one now or find out more!

GIVEAWAY: Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim // mulan adventure and celestial dresses

Welcome, book fiends! Gather round our bubbling cauldron of sakura potion -- it's time for a brand new giveaway!

Today, we're giving away a signed copy of SPIN THE DAWN by Elizabeth Lim, pitched as Project Runway x Mulan. yES PLEASE. In order to become the imperial tailor, Maia Tamarin embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Aren't you enchanted just by that summary? This is a super hyped book and I'm very lucky to have read an ARC, so huge thank you to Elizabeth for giving away a signed copy. If you enjoy magical adventures and slow burn romance, be sure to join this giveaway!

To enter the giveaway, simply type your email address below! This means joining my takeout army for our little regular giveaways, so I will send you emails about bonus entries, who won, and more giveaway information. reload the page if this form isn't visible.
Look at this gorgeous aesthetic, illustrated by Tran Nguyen — can't you just feel the exciting adventure that Maia embarks on!

Once you've entered, you'll receive an email with details on how to redeem bonus entries—so go and check it now! Because you entered, right? riiiiiight?

Blurb (buy links here):

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Full review by moi to come.

This giveaway will run until June 10th, at which point I shall select a winner and have a new giveaway for everyone else. Yay!

This prize will be shipped internationally.

help i'm a smol marshmallow with no legal knowledge but here goes:

Official details regarding this giveaway: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Entrants must be 18 or above or have parental/guardian permission. Giveaway, bot, or other suspicious accounts will be removed at organiser's discretion. In holding this giveaway, the organiser does not endorse this book or this publisher. The prize will be a signed copy of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, or another substitute prize at organiser's discretion. Winner drawn on June 10th. Entrants' email addresses are collected for the purposes of entry confirmation, notifying winners, providing information regarding bonus entries, and further updates on new giveaways. These details are subject to change.

UPDATE: I have an agent!! + blog changes!

HELLO DENIZENS. Your resident writer has news to announce, gather around with hot chocolate and takeout ramen!

I'm so so so thrilled to announce that I have signed with the amazing Kiana Nguyen at Donald Maass Literary Agency!

A little about my manuscript:


When sixteen-year-old thief Mo stabs a runaway witch-princess, she’s cursed to wear her face. To break the curse, Mo braves the unfamiliar world of witchcraft where she must survive the assassin hunting the princess—and equally dangerous, her own desire for power.

Also featuring: demons, a curse, magical food, Chinese folklore, and a villain origin story buried somewhere.


Stay updated here!



And check out our Twitter announcements, too!

I am literally beyond thrilled to announce that I've signed my first client @HKAlyssa 🌸✨She wrote a KILLER YA fantasy that blends Swan Lake with Mulan. It's dark, it's queer, and oh so delicious! Welcome to the DMLA team, Alyssa 💜

— Kiki Nguyen (@kianangu) January 10, 2018

TWITTER. I am overjoyed to announce that I'm now represented by the amazing @kianangu at Donald Maass Literary Agency!! #PitchWars

full blog post w/ more about my Mulan + Swan Lake retelling: https://t.co/sqJBioYmzS

— Alyssa Carlier ♠️ 愛玲 (@HKAlyssa) January 11, 2018

11 Super Common Villain Tropes as Pokemon Moves! | Should book villains use these?

Welcome, everyone, to the fabulous NEFARIOUS TALES, a villain event organised by Mishma! You're in the right place if you love villains and morally ambiguous characters in general. Today I'm covering 11 common villain tropes ... as Pokemon moves.

Wait, what? Alyssa, how are villain tropes and Pokemon moves related?

First, what are villain tropes?

Tropes are easily recognisable story elements, such as heroes, damsels in distress, and so on. Villain tropes are the tropes that, well, relate to villains, such as the chessmaster, the villain with good intentions, and so on.

(If you love villains, you might also like my previous post on the 7 types of villain deaths.)

For those with no childhood, Pokemon are a very, very, very large group of fictional wildlife that fight each other. Pokemon moves are the specific kinds of attacks that these wildlife use.

This post operates on the assumption that villain = antagonist = generally unsavoury. Some of these, of course, apply equally well to anti-villains or even anti-heroes.

11 super common villain tropes + examples:

1. Evil Cackle

This is one of the most "I'm the Villain" signs. In almost every story, there's a point when the villain has (nearly) succeeded. It's time to celebrate with tea and takeout and terrifying laughter!

Often, this cackle precedes a beatdown by the protagonists:

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly. (Evil Overlord List)

Type: Psychic.
Effect: May be humiliating to more self-conscious protagonists. More often exasperates protagonists (and readers!) because of how clichéd it is. I kinda dislike it in everything except the most classic video games. Like, I don't know, Pokemon? *shrugs*

2. Acid Monologue

It often goes with the evil cackle. The villain has succeeded! They've taken over the world! All the takeout is theirs! Mwahahaha!

Now is clearly the perfect time to lord it over the helpless protagonists and/or explain the entire evil plan. After the monologue, failure of said evil plan is almost inevitable.

Type: Poison
Effect: May make you feel good for 0.4 seconds and paralyse the protagonists for 0.25 seconds. May also give them the information needed to utterly destroy you.

However, I do enjoy it when these monologues start off gloat-y and end up revealing the villain's less evil motivations. Morally complex villains FTW!

3. Random Wrath

This villain is a loose cannon. He's just evil for the sake of it! They will for no apparent reason steal children's cake, kick random kittens down wells, and shoot their trusted lieutenant for something that is not his fault and/or plot convenience. They have a terrible reputation and their allies tremble in fear.

Type: Dark
Effect: Strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies. May also give them the resolve to fight and defeat you. I like my villains clever, not just ruthless.

4. Minion Attack

Said some wise literature person, "Everyone likes to root for the underdog." (I'm actually legit, but I cannot find my notes for that lit class, so take my word for it, okay? OKAY.)

Therefore, while the protagonists may only be the hero and his plucky sidekicks, the villain often has armies at his disposal. Many villains will deploy these minions to vastly outnumber the protagonists ... because "we have resources".

The consequences are either (a) their troops turning on them or (b) the protagonists succeeding despite all odds.

Type: Fighting
Effect: Unfortunately, minions never seem to leave a real scratch on the protagonists. (Although they may provide some comic relief to the novel.) Minions are seriously ineffective. The only way to make it worse would be to send out your minions and then say "Leave him to ME!"

5. Shadow Sneer

Unlike the evil cackle, this is when villains appear all simpering in front of the protagonists, hiding their world domination plans with good manners and hot chocolate. Bonus points if the villain-in-hiding steeples their fingers.

I actually adore it when villains in disguise act the hero's allies. But I'm less on board with it when the book then shows me their SECRET smile and tell me, "this guy is SECRETLY evil."

Type: Ghost
Effect: May confuse your opponent and cause them to hurt themselves. Recoil damage is also caused to the Fourth Wall.

6. Royal Disdain

Off with their head! Let them eat cake!

As explained above, we tend to root for the underdogs. So powerful royal figures are the domain of many villains instead. Some monarchs may slip into Random Wrath as explained above. Others might simply not care about the peasants they trample on.

Type: Dragon
Effect: Makes for dramatic entrances. That said, that's all it really does. Most attempts to destroy the protagonist via a casual royal command don't work. (When it succeeds, though, you can bet I'll be on board for that.)

Chances are, said villain will lose their royal authority fairly soon ... unless you happen to be reading somewhat accurate historical fiction, where there's a decent chance the "villains" make it out.

7. Kiss n' Kill

There are two sides to this. First, evil overlords tend to keep around a harem (or at least a very attractive consort). Unfortunately, villains are also paranoid, so they also tend to kill off their consorts, if they're secondary/tertiary characters, quite liberally. Look, they're evil!

That said, I genuinely don't like treating love interests as disposable plot objects.

But you know what is cool? When villains try this on less savvy protagonists and distract them to carry out their schemes. And maybe even fall for the protagonist for real.

You know what is even cooler? Savvy heroes trying it on villains.

Type: Psychic
Effect: Causes confusion to the opponent, as well as to the reader. Also muddles up feelings and murder and basically flailing all around.

8. Backstab

Yeah, that image really says it all. But y'know, villains might not be able to do everything alone. And their allies often don't have moral compunctions. So a great deal of stabbing happens within the enemy camp.

I adore this trope and it's one of my favourite ways for a villain to go out as well.

Type: Steel
Effect: Creates a NEW villain for the protagonists to fight. *happydance* Unfortunately, it does very little actual harm to the protagonists.

9. Crimson Wash

While I hold the best entrance is having a signature villain song (Imperial March for the win!), books don't play music. While we wait for this momentary oversight to be corrected, giving villains a signature colour is the next best bet.

So when the villain enters and/or takes over, a shift in colour can instantly signify that victory. Red may not always be the villain colour of choice, although ... *looks around blog* Hmmm

Type: Psychic
Effect: Creates fabulous tension + atmosphere—colours are one of my favourite literary elements. However, not very effective for anti-villains or disguised villains, for obvious reasons.

10. Evil Scar

While protagonists may have the occasional scar to show their bravery on the battlefield or somesuch, many villains like the Joker or Scar (like, obviously) have evil-looking scars. Sometimes it's even serious enough that the villain is down an arm or half a face or an eye.

Type: Normal
Effect: Handy label for a villainous appearance. But personally, I feel this trope could be very problematic in propagating ideals of beauty and/or ableist ideas, so I'm a little dubious unless it's well justified.

11. Thousand Stories

I've talked about villains and the potential problem about their troubled backstories, but villains with complex motivations are still fantastic. Here's why it might just be my favourite trope here:

• heartbreak all around
• characters being vulnerable
• moral ambiguity
• just emotions, okay? I might not be able to handle them in real life, but emotions in fiction = the most important

Type: Ground
Effect: Earth-shattering destruction on everything you thought you knew.

Oh, and don't forget to check out everyone else on the Nefarious Tales trail (ahaha, I rhymed):
Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts - Awesome Villain Powers
Nova @ Out of Time - The Darkling Formula

Which of these tropes do you like/dislike? Who's a villain you really love? And comment with a Pokemon move-version of a trope yourself! I will feature the best ones :D

ETA: While the Nefarious Tales giveaway is over, never fear! I'm running another INTERNATIONAL giveaway for a truly fabulous book, perfect for readers who love morally ambiguous stories!

How should you monetise your book blog? Redbubble vs Society6 + 6 case studies + Infographic (CIVIL WAR!)

More and more book bloggers are monetising their book blog, which is THE COOLEST. One of the more popular options are print-on-demand design shops like Redbubble and Society6. Today, we have 6 fantastic designers here for the CIVIL WAR between the two!

So why are design shops so popular? First off, print-on-demand design shops like Redbubble and Society6 are super easy. In my opinion, they also align better with blog readers, aka other book lovers, more than most ads.

And last of all ... many bloggers have picked up design to make a pretty blog! So it only makes sense to transfer the skills. I think it's super important for book bloggers to be invested in art OTHER than books. It's productive procrastination and helps us keep blogs running!

Looking to promote to book lovers? My giveaways are promoted to 1000+ subscribers and have gotten up to 18K impressions on Twitter. Email me to sponsor one now!

Team Divergent:

Shannelle @ Art of Escapism

1. Thoughts on Society6? 

I think that Society6 is awesome because it runs promotions with free worldwide shipping. As a customer, it's really hard to beat that. But I really, really hate how I have to size a different file for each item. I can't just crop a file like I do in Redbubble.

2. Thoughts on Redbubble? 

I love how much more user-friendly Redbubble is when it comes to uploading, they have a cool range of products, and their support is really quick too. I love how you can set whatever price you want, for every single product, and their option to download an image that you uploaded yourself is awesome too!

Redbubble only offers discounts, though, but no free shipping. And while sometimes that's manageable, like a journal to China with a shipping fee of $5, which I can actually live with (and no, I have not been staring at my cart with my All the Mysteries of the Universe journal and crying inside a lot). But the fact remains that it's still expensive.

3. Biggest difference between the two?

I see Redbubble more of as truly for the artist. As a whole, it provides proper protection of art, it's easier to upload things on it, and they have a really cool range of products (if you see someone using a Fire-Breathing Bitch-Queen journal in the wild, tell me so I can smother the person with my love), not to mention their very flexible pricing.

Society6's biggest selling point to me, as someone not in the US, is their free shipping for other international buyers. But I personally think that their system is not nice to artists. Unlike Redbubble, I can't put an artist's note, and as someone who puts a lot of thought into each design, I would like to put something and hope people appreciate that. Links to the artist's website are also hidden, so while it does put a spotlight on the art, the artist deserves appreciation too.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Shannelle's VICIOUS throw pillow as pictured to the right! I mean, did you expect anything else from the diehard Schwab fan? And don't forget to visit Shannelle's Redbubble and Society6 stores!

Cait @ Paper Fury

As our glorious queen, Cait is of course different from the other lovely divergent contributors to this post. Instead of being on Redbubble and Society6, she's on Etsy and Society6.

1. Why did you choose to sell on Etsy? And after that, why did you also join Society6?

I basically picked Etsy because before that I'd been selling via facebook and it is abominable for trying to promote products and not pay for ads. Etsy was the only other internet creature I knew of to trot my origami over to so -- voila! I did!

I've been on Etsy for nearly 2 years now, but I only just signed up for Society6. Firstly, because I've wanted to for a while. So why not try it?! And secondly (most important) I honestly don't think there's ever enough merchandise out there to proclaim the gloriousness of dragons. I am here to fill the need.

2. What are the best features of Etsy and Society6 respectively?

Etsy: You only pay about 3% of your profits to Etsy, so that's marvellous. You basically have a lot of control over your store and if you're a mild control-buzzard like me, then that's glorious.

Society6: Your job is so easy. After you upload the design: BOOM, you are done. You could sell 1 thing or 100 things and you don't have to do a thing. Also no risk of mixing up orders, running out of something, or accidentally crying over your products in rush-season.

3. What are the limitations of these two platforms?

Etsy: People who buy handmade tend to be very picky. And if a customer has a problem, they can leave a nasty review before you even have a chance to fix the problem.

Society6: It definitely boils down to: you don't make very much profit. You definitely have to sell a lot, which can be daunting. Also purchasing the correct licenses for graphics and fonts can be mildly overwhelming.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: On Cait's Etsy, definitely her new bookhook bookmarks! And from her Society6, it shall be her "drinking the tears of my readers" travel mug. I think I'd kill for one of those.

So far an infographic to sum up Society6 vs Redbubble, but keep reading the case studies for details!

Oh yes, blookunity, you should pin that for reference. Just roll your cursor over the infographic!

Team Redbubble:

Eve @ Twist in the Taile

1. Why did you choose Redbubble?

I chose Redbubble because I preferred it as a customer. I’d previously had good experiences buying from it. The pricing and shipping of Society6 seemed quite geared towards the US, and I feel as though it sells more art and illustration. I wanted to sell designs on actual items rather than just art prints!

2. What is the best feature of Redbubble?

It’s extremely easy to set up. You only have to upload designs and set prices! And it’s easy to find your stats too. For someone like me who has very small knowledge of businesses, it’s excellent.

3. What limits you most on Redbubble?

I haven’t yet encountered any major limits (although I haven’t been selling on it all that long). But I think the search system doesn’t work particularly well, and often seems quite random. It can miss out items for a specific combination of search terms even if the keywords are in there.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Eve's Les Mis vive la revolution notebook and her writing warrior stickers are so cool! Check out her store!

Meleika @ Endless Pages

1. Why did you choose Redbubble?

Redbubble is super easy to use and uploading pictures is super easy. I also chose to open a small shop there because it had no verification fee.

2. What is the best feature of Redbubble?

The best features on Redbubble is the layout of the website. I prefer it way more than Society6. It's also easier to upload your work as you can resize it (zoom in and out and also multiply it) on the website. I can also bulk upload my designs and fanarts!

3. What limits you most on Redbubble?

Redbubble hardly ever has 'free shipping' or specials. This is why I also ended up opening a Society6 store but most of my customers are on Redbubble. They go crazy for the shadow hunter stuff and my tumblr chats.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Her 'the pen is mightier than the sword' and 'I wish I was reading' notebooks are super snazzy! Check out her store!

Team Society6:

Yani

1. Why did you choose Society6?

There are countless reasons I can think of right now so let's just break them down:

I am in an overwhelming feeling of admiration whenever I visit stores of some great artists in Society6 which resulted to daydreaming of my store & that someday, I would be one of these artists, that people would look up to my works (THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE RIGHT NOW BC I'M LAZY AS THAT CAT BESIDE YOU).

Society6 serves their artists in a satisfactory manner. Take this: You are a long boarder and went to a skate park with lots of skate boarders but these skate boarders invited you to join them because you are a boarder. Long and skate boards just differ in sizes but when you use it, it's still skating. No difference, eh? The artists in Society6 have different kinds of works but they are still the same.

Society6 is like the legit site I know for now. There are lots that are booming but I don't know them, yet. And I even don't know how to manage my time with blogging, school and my store, how much more if I open another store? I would go demented!

2. What is the best feature of Society6?

Their profit on art prints! You can name your price. ($$$HINING IN MY EYES). I'm genuinely thankful to Society6 for these profits, it's staggeringly helpful + I don't have to do the work on producing whatever I sell on the store, I only just upload my art and tadahhh! (EXCUSE MY DESIGNS RIGHT NOW FOR THEY ARE A PRODUCT OF HEAVY SCHOOL SCHEDULES). *Hollers.*

3. What limits you most on Society6?

They should have a template for phone cases because I have a problem whenever I upload some typography designs. And, some of my designs are not available in another product even though I already uploaded a design for that particular product.

ALSO! Take note on this, if you haven't noticed: Whenever you upload your designs or view some artists store on S6 using Google Chrome, some of the products are not shown or not "there" when you expect it to be there.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Her 'mischief managed' art print and her 'home is where my books at' tote bag look FAB. Check out her store!

Bhavya

1. Why did you choose Society6? It seemed easier and nicer to deal with than Redbubble.

2. What is the best feature of Society6? I think the best feature of society6 is that you can pick your profit for the prints. Also, they seem to have sales all the time.

3. What limits you most on Society6? It's a bit annoying to resize images for the different products. A few of the products to have templates but it would be nice to have one for all of them. That way it's easier to figure where to place things so print doesn't look odd/end up where you don't want it to be.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: This iPhone case is so unique. Check out her store!

For those skimmers, here's the infographic towards the right again for your reference.

Personally, while I'm all for monetising book blogs, I feel that the design store market is a little oversaturated, and book bloggers are now gearing up for other ventures like subscription boxes.

There are also some designers who don't really have quality work, but just slap haphazard fonts on random backgrounds. And that's okay — everyone has a learning curve.

But take the time to make quality designs and artwork, and then? Upload everything and "they will come"?

Not quite. Build your reputation in the blookunity (read my super intense detailed guide how), learn how to market your work, and let's rock whatever design store you choose.


Are you Team Redbubble or Team Society6? Do you sell your designs online? Who sells your favourite book merch?

Looking to promote to book lovers? My giveaways are promoted to 1000+ subscribers and have gotten up to 18K impressions on Twitter. Email me to sponsor one now!

I challenge ALL book readers to stop making these 11 mistakes [#bookwormproblems GAME!]

Okay, unpopular opinion here: BOOK READERS ARE STUPID. *dodges the hurricane of urchins*

I say that as a proud, card-carrying, TBR-ignoring reader. And so I'd like to challenge myself and everyone from the blookunity to STOP. We are so often blinded by our love for books. Let us STOP making these 11 most heinous mistakes.

(In case you haven't picked this up, this is Not a Serious Post. Until the end.)

Play this game (and be honest!) to find out whether you're a hardcore book lover:

(I didn't embed it 'cos it ends up really long, so click here to play it. There's a plot twist.)

The 11 mistakes that all book readers make:

1. We actively seek out heartbreak.

This conversation practically happens to me EVERY DAY:

Friend: You talk about this book a lot. Is it good?
Me: IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND SMASHED MY DREAMS
Me: read it
Friend: okay, that sounds fake but okay

Still! Most of the time, the difference between a good book and an AWESOME book is whether I was emotionally traumatised and screamed at the book enough times. After all, we read to vicariously experience adventures, and what better than an adventure of the heart?

If a book is particularly awesome, we might even — gasp — STOP READING for a while. Because nothing can hurt you like the way that last fantastic book hurt you. If you're suffering from these book hangovers, Anissa has a few cures for you!

PS: I strongly believe this is a vicious cycle because if readers later decide to write a book, said book probably aims to break hearts.

2. We feel guilty when our hearts are not torn apart.

Even for fluffy contemporaries (read: Simon Vs), we have FEELS. And even if it's not as dramatic as allllll the characters dying (read: Hamlet), these FEELS can hurt our fangirl heart, especially if they lead to headcanons and fan edits and just skjldfjs—

But sometimes, books DON'T break our hearts and wreck our feels.

One of these books would be The Winner's Crime. I actually loved the ending of The Winner's Curse so much I didn't want to pick Crime up, but everyone was raving and The Winner's Kiss was coming out. But then I DID and I felt so incredibly underwhelmed.

So disappointment + guilt = sad bookworm.

3. We get excited about books with sequels that come out YEARS later.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab (who else, really) has somehow secured the impossible spot of being my favourite book. It was a standalone, which I was on board for, but then APPARENTLY TOR IS PUBLISHING A SEQUEL. Cue fangirling.

And there isn't even a publication date listed on Goodreads. How will I live?

ETA: Vengeful was published in 2018, so good things come to those who wait! Remember, teacups, the best way to get a sequel for a book you love is to actively support a book.

Or — even worse — there is NO SEQUEL YET. Again, I am perfectly on board for standalones, but some books are clearly first books in a series but somehow the series doesn't exist? *pterodactyl screech*

Personal pet peeve: first books that aren't also standalones. Please make it somewhat possible for the story to just end there. Otherwise, I'll just be annoyed all the way through the second book. Or not read it.

4. Our TBR keeps growing but we decide to reread.

The threat of the TBR has always been a common topic in the blookunity:

Bookworms! Dying by TBR is a team sport. It's true bc
1) pretty graphic
2) @PaperFury would wear it on a T-shirt. pic.twitter.com/f5iUvh9fwe

— Alyssa Carlier (@AlyssaC_HK) February 5, 2016

We've all faced that decision. We have a nice, tall (maybe not so nice) TBR waiting for us to dive into. They all look wonderful, and it's going to be agonisingly hard to pick one, but it's also going to be fantastic to know you have a stack of super intriguing books waiting for you.

So, we apply supreme book reader logic, and reread an old favourite.

And it is so tempting! After all, we're guaranteed to love an old favourite, probably love it even more. Whereas that TBR, tempting as the premise may be ... there is zero guarantee that it will rip out our hearts. And who wants to be a disappointed bookworm instead of an unproductive one?

5. Or we decide to do other bookish things, and our TBR grows in retaliation.

Maybe we FINALLY tackle one book in the TBR, and heavens save us, that book is every bit as wonderful as you'd hoped. You are a broken, shambling reader (as stated in no. 1). No point stopping the illogical decisions!

Instead of slaying the book hangover with a new book from the TBR, let us become obsessed with this new amazing book! Write 2000-long keyboard-smashy reviews on Goodreads and all the retail sites. Seek out all the fanart and headcanons. Heck, make some of those fanworks.

Let's pretend this didn't take me years to edit.

6. Sometimes we forget to eat and instead spend hours on Twitter/Tumblr/Pinterest.

Oh man, social media. On one hand, it lets us ramble about our love for books in (5). On the other, it is a huge time suck. I'm sure I spend hours every week on social media to chat with other book readers.

A Typical Day In Alyssa's House:
Me: spends one hour on Twitter
Me: I need to stop procrastinating.
Me: closes tab
Me: ...
Me: opens new Twitter tab

7. Sometimes we speak with non-bookish humans who ask DIFFICULT questions.

Let's be honest, non-book lovers can be very eccentric. Sure, us in the blookunity might sniff books and cry over fictional characters or take out our ENTIRE BOOKSHELF for one bookstagram.

But non-book lovers have the gall to ask questions like:

• "What is your favourite book?"
• "Why do you spend so much time reading?"
• "Why can't you just let go of [insert dead fictional character]?"
• "Why are you eating all the takeout?"

The last one isn't book-related, but clearly no book reader would ask such a strange question.

For MORE things we're tired of hearing, here are things that Pyjama Queen Blogger Cait @ Paper Fury has dictated bookworms (book dragons?) should NEVER have to hear.

8. We read books recommended by our most evil book friends.

Yep, that's me!

9. Sometimes those books keep us awake past 2AM accidentally.

Everyone knows that "I'll just read one chapter before bed" NEVER works. I'll go back to The Winner's Curse again. At the time, I went to bed at 10 PM every schoolday, but that day I brought TWC into bed with me.

I must have said "Just one more chapter" at least a dozen times before I gave up and speed-read the entire book. I finally slept at 1 AM. I had a few bones to pick with it, but let's face it, any book this compelling was an auto 5-star.

(I also just realised that all my bookstagrams in this post are books by Victoria Schwab ... but I've never read her books past midnight. Possibly because I just abandon all daytime activities to read them the moment they appear.)

10. New book with pretty cover eeeeek.

What is better than book mail, I ask you? BOOK MAIL WITH GORGEOUS COVERS. Let's not deny it, we do judge books by their covers. In fact, if it's a particularly pretty book, we'll probably stroke it, sniff it, bury our face in it, or even *gasp* go outside to take 300 bookstagrams of it.

Or maybe — and I won't ask you to confess, but I know it's true for some of you — you've bought books JUST because of the pretty covers.

(I'm sure it'll be the bane of any book buying ban I try to start.)

11. We run out of kidnapped souls to trade for books.

Wait, what? Um, no, that never happens. Nope. Not ever.

(By the way, thinking of writing a new post about evil bookish recipes ... tell me in the comments if you'd like that?)

Now go and do the quiz if you haven't ... because now I'm going to analyse the answers.

To keep anyone from peeking, here's a BONUS MISTAKE: Not joining a book giveaway! Lucky for you, I'm running one here for a truly fabulous book:

(This is an evergreen section, which means it updates automatically with my latest giveaway. Even if you're reading this months later, it's still going!)

All right, spoiler. There's only one result: You love books. Done.

Being a bookworm is not a competition, okay?

The blookunity has its fair share of drama. Over celebrity bloggers, blogging for ARCs, blogging for followers, blogging for stats, blogging for $$$. I've talked about so many #bookwormproblems today but none of them are REAL problems. They're just slightly fanatic things we do as fans. (hahaha, pun.)

The real mistake I'd like to challenge the blookunity to stop is this: Stop competing with each other. Let's start loving books together.

How did you do?!? What is your biggest bookworm problem? Oh, and do you want a list of evil bookish recipes?? Let me know!

In March: I reveal giveaway winners, flailed over ADSOM, and rewrote the witchy WIP!

WOAH, March has whisked past so quickly, and it's nearly April Fools'! In this month's recap, I reveal my birthday giveaway winners and my start on Mulan + Swan Lake retelling WIP revisions.

I've been blogging:

• I talked about how to take gorgeous bookstagrams with a phone + made an infographic that walks you through VSCO
• Don't forget to grab my five bookstagram templates — I base my book photos off these!
• I bit the bullet and wrote a risky discussion post about whether there can be TOO MUCH diversity in books
• Plus my post back in January about 7 types of villain deaths went minorly viral on Pinterest and I expanded it with more detail + a statistical breakdown!

Oh, and birthday giveaway winners! They are ... Abi Pearson, Liz Brooks, and Denise. Congratulations and I've emailed you about the prizes — but for anyone else, I'm running another giveaway here for a truly fabulous book:

I've been reading:

'Tis the season for A Darker Shade of Magic and (NYT bestseller!!!!!) A Gathering of Shadows. Victoria Schwab herself RTed the first photo and I am STILL FLAILING.

On other bookish news, I'm still clearing out the December haul plus a couple more books! I read A GATHERING OF SHADOWS (February-March favourite), Dark Places, The Bureau of Time, Red Rising, and The Winner's Crime.

Reviews upcoming on Goodreads —friend me there for bookish updates, and check me out on Tumblr for more book photography experiments!

PS: I am on Instagram, but I'm posting very very rarely if at all until I graduate from high school — I will however follow back + like/comment on your bookstagrams!

I've been writing:

Oh man, guys, I finally finished draft 3 of MATRYOSHKA, aka Revenge WIP. Bad news, I think I will be rewriting this one extensively, so it'll remain hidden in my laptop for a while.

Good news: I'm currently working on the Witchy WIP, aka Mulan + Swan Lake retelling! Awesome to be back in the comfort of very-rough first drafts:

“I don’t trust dying men.” Desperation was very dangerous.

“At least I’ve lived before I die.” Hung took out a nice watch [describe] and flashed it at her. “If they want magic, fine, but their monsters shouldn’t go where we don’t want them. We fight so that the future generations will be free.”

“We’re all monsters here. They just wear different skins. I’m not afraid of the northern creatures.” Lie. She was terrified of them, [elaborate on this].

Hung shrugged. “At least you’ll be the richest girl in town, and you’ll have fun.”

Mo didn’t need to join the army to find power fun. “I’ll have an adventure in time but I sure as heck am not dying on it.”

In other news, I've delayed Secret Poetry Project and am instead considering Secret Teacup Mini-Project. Informative, I know. RT the below tweet and I'll notify you when you can read it!

Writing a spin-off for my Mulan/Swan Lake retelling. Deaf assassin-witch conquering cities. RT if you want to read? pic.twitter.com/jr286l8QBW

— Alyssa Carlier (@AlyssaC_HK) March 14, 2016

The superlatives:

(Has anyone been to Model United Nations conference where they vote on cutest delegation and next Malala or whatnot? This is the blookunity equivalent.)

• The Poet with the Dragons: You should support Topaz Winters on her new Patreon page and get a copy of Half Mystic! I kind of intensely regret going on a book buying ban ... this might seriously make me cave.
• Coolest Delivery Girl: FAIRY LOOT, a UK subscription box for YA fantasy lovers by Anissa, had a hugely successful March box!
• The Girl with the Best Thinking Cap: Emily @ Loony Literate asks what happens when books have problematic endings.
• The Next Elsa: Hannah @ The Road to Hannah shared when to call it quits and let it gooooo on your writing.
• The Next Blookunity Yoda: Amanda @ Nellie and Co. shared 5 pieces of blog advice EVERY blogger should know.
• The Next Blookunity Obi-Wan: Hawwa @ Hawwa, Etc. shared 4 things that EVERY blogger should accept.
• The Craziest Queen: Cait @ Paper Fury has some rather deranged lies that all writers tell themselves.
• The College Student: Heather @ Sometimes I'm A Story asks do male voices dominate college reading???
• The Funniest Blogger: Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight has some helpful instructions on going into a reading slump.

Link me up to your favourite March post in the blookunity! And thoughts on my A Darker Shade of Magic bookstagrams?? 

Join my takeout army to receive monthly letters of magic, madness, and murder!

The Step-by-Step Guide to Awesome Bookstagram (with a phone) + VSCO Walkthrough Infographic!

Guys, I'm doing it again. This is an intense, 2000-word post to walk you through the entire process of taking a book photography, including why and how to use VSCO, plus five insanely easy bookstagram template styles to get you started right away.

ETA: I'd love to be friends with you on Instagram! I'm at hkalyssa, and I follow back bookish/author accounts.

Let's be honest, every book blogger and their dragon has tried book photography these days. Whether your bookstagrams get 200+ likes every day, or you just tweet a photo of an ARC you're excited to read, book photography is the easiest way to spared the book love.

If you feel like you are terrible at anything artsy, or have no idea how to bookstagram, or want to streamline your bookstagram process ... this post is for you.

Get started with five easy bookstagram templates!

This post is going to walk you through the four steps to take any book photo. Yay!

1. Plan your book photo.

The single most important key to book photography is intention. Sure, you can take a thousand photos and hope one turned out well, but intention will take that success rate WAY higher. Some questions to ask yourself:

(a) Where are you using this photo?

This is important to dimensions! If you're posting it to Instagram, then your photo should be square. On Tumblr, square to tall images work best, and you can even use a set of photos. On Pinterest, images should be tall.

All these factor into how you arrange your book photo.

(b) Why are you taking the photo?

Do you want to show off your shelf? Flaunt some gorgeous swag? Spotlight a single book? These will all affect how you set up the photo to emphasise certain elements.

(c) What themes can you include?

Is the book about parallel universes? Perhaps you could take the picture upside down. Or is it about time travel? Include a pretty pocket watch there!

(d) Choose your aesthetic wisely!

Your book photos are the visual representation of yourself as a book blogger. The bookstagrams that get the most attention aren't just "awesome". They're "airy", "bold", "dreamy" ... all these specific aesthetics help so much.

If you aren't sure what your aesthetic is, you might want to start from developing your book blogger trademark, which is how you appear online 99% of the time.

2. Set up your book photo.

Here are the most important things you need for a book photo:

(a) BOOKS: Obviously!

If you're featuring a single book, then that is of course in the photo. But will you need other books to act as props? Or maybe a shelf to be a background? Will the books be stacked up, spread on the ground, murdering zombies for you? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.

(b) Props: Like I said, books can already be props. There's no need to be too fancy here — there are so many props that you can find in your own house. Stamps, stickers, stationery, bath salts, cosmetics. Or book swag! You can even make your own props — fold some origami, or use the trick I'll discuss in the next section.

Oh, and check out this list of 50+ props over at Nellie and Co.!

(c) Blu tag: BOOKSTAGRAM LIFESAVER.

Okay, so repeat after me: what they can't see doesn't matter. Blu tag is simply the best for affixing any set-ups that aren't super secure, especially when you're including props and whatnot. Paperbacks also have the nasty habit of the pages curling up, so a little blu tag along the sides will put that right.

You can even be creative with this and shape some models out of blu tag to act as props. You can reshape them when you're done! (I'd show you examples, but my artistic skills = 0.)

(d) Background: Here are four of my favourite backgrounds to use!

1. White — paper or cardboard doesn't always look natural, which is why I prefer using a blanket or a towel
2. A quilt — same concept as a white blanket or towel, but with colour or patterns. Do make sure it doesn't clash with your books.
3. The floor — tiles or wooden planks are already a fantastic texture, so go ahead and put the precious books on the floor!
4. A shelfie — what could possibly make a photo of a book better? AN ENTIRE SHELF OF BOOKS.

A good background is essential to a flatlay! Here's a photo where I used wrapping paper from Christmas as a background:

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A post shared by Alyssa Carlier // YA fantasy (@hkalyssa) on Jan 5, 2019 at 4:16am PST

(e) Lighting

Natural light is actually not always best! Yes, everything looks much brighter, but I've taken perfectly lovely bookstagrams with artificial light.

I do prefer natural light, but let's be honest, we have books to read and blog posts to write and takeout to eat so we can't always time it right. Natural lighting works only in early morning or late afternoons, or on a cloudy day. And in any event, it works best when you're taking the photo outdoors.

Types of natural light that don't really work:

• direct light. just, no.
• light coming from behind your set up
• light coming from one side (e.g. a window)

The best thing about artificial light is that you can control it. I've used my desk lamp to supplement natural light by eliminating shadows.

But don't worry that much about lighting — most of the time it can be fixed with a little editing. More on that below!

3. Take your book photo.

This is the step where there are a lot of guides out there, so I'll keep it brief! But I really recommend Nova @ Out of Time's post because she discusses a lot about angles and such.

Oh, and I use a phone for all my book photography. It's absolutely doable — there will be limitations, but most book photography don't require a super pro camera if you don't want to!

My tips for this step:

• Set up your book photo as planned and take multiple shots.
• Don't forget to focus on the right part. Change around your focal point as well to try out the effect.
• Take your photos with a little extra space around the edge, just so you have more to work with when cropping.
• Change your angle. Vantage shots, side shots, shots while you're lying on your side with one leg up in the air ... unique angles immediately set a photo apart.
• Change around little things in your book photo.
• Check the photos halfway through your mini photoshoot. Do any of them work? Are there things niggling at you?
• If you're feeling unsure, take the photo through a VSCO filter or other editing app.
• Change around big things in your book photo. Be open to changes.
• When you're done, share your photo to your computer! I do this via Pushbullet for single photos or Google Drive/Dropbox for batches of photos.

Woah, feeling a little overwhelmed? This all seems a little abstract? Not to worry, I distilled it down into five basic concepts you can easily start with:

Please email me five easy bookstagram templates!

4. Edit your book photo.

This is where the magic lies, blookunity.

In my opinion, the VSCO editing app is a lifesaver, although I know some people use Snapseed. I love mobile editing apps instead of Photoshop or the like because I can edit my photos right on my phone and think over whether I need a new shot, without transferring back and forth.

By the way, I get zero profit or anything from recommending VSCO. I just happen to really like the app.

VSCO has some fantastic free filters that I take advantage of when I'm in a hurry, but if you want to give your photos a unique edge, you should definitely toggle the settings one by one. Not sure what I mean? Fear not, here's the infographic:

Blookunity! Don't forget to pin this image for future reference — just roll your cursor over the infographic and buttons will appear in the center.

However, if you want some complex edits to really set yourself apart, some more complex tools might be needed. GIMP is my go-to tool because it is nearly as versatile as Photoshop, but completely free!

My favourite complex edits are to play with black-and-white or to stitch photos together. Take a look:

Do not forget to watermark your image!

Not that people will steal the image, but oftentimes it gets pinned somewhere or shared to Facebook without your original link. Plus, a watermark opens up even more options for unique editing.

2-minute watermarking for Macbook users:

1. For your first time, go to GIMP or other editing software and create your desired watermark as a PNG file with a transparent background. Save it as "WATERMARK".
2. Open your book photo and watermark png in Preview.
3. Go to your watermark png window, press command + A, then press command + c.
4. Go to your book photo window, then press command + v. Your watermark will appear!
5. To move it around, simply use your mouse to drag the selection around.
6. Bonus tip: rotate the image by keeping one finger on the trackpad, and moving a second finger in the desired direction. Yay!
7. Super bonus: click and hold on a corner of your watermark, then give your finger a spin to flip the watermark.

5. Share your book photo. Eat takeout. Yay!

Excited to start? Get your bookstagram templates!

Any extra book photography tips? Which step do you find most difficult? Recommend me your favourite bookstagrammer!

Don't forget: I'd love to be friends with you on Instagram! I'm at hkalyssa, and I follow back bookish/author accounts.

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A post shared by Alyssa Carlier // YA fantasy (@hkalyssa) on Mar 25, 2016 at 6:03pm PDT