Book Blogging In The UK
So I know many many people who want to live in the UK but as a book blogger who lives in the UK, you start to see the downsides of living here. As much as I love my home and as much as I love living in the UK, there are just some things that make blogging and loving books a little harder...
American Authors...
It's pretty obvious that most of the big YA/NA authors are American. This means that some books are not available. For example, in bookshops in England, I have never once encountered anything by Jennifer L Armentrout. Obviously we have books like Divergent and Throne of Glass but if you want anything even slightly less popular by an American author, you have to reply on Amazon.
Read-A-Thons...
Most of the large read-a-thons going on around the year are organised by American bloggers and this is one of the reasons I have never participated in a read-a-thon. They are always at the most inconvenient times. I have found that most read-a-thons start in June which (correct me if I'm wrong) is when most people in America break up from school so it's a convenient time to host a read-a-thon whereas in the UK, we start our summer holidays late July.
Also, recently I found a read-a-thon that I really wanted to participate in but couldn't because it was at the exact same time as my schools exam period so I couldn't participate which is super sad.
Book conventions...
Now this is the part where I get really envious of all you American bloggers. Book conventions, more specifically YA book conventions. There are such a small amount of book conventions that go on in the UK and hardly any YA book conventions whereas in the USA you have Yallwest and Bookcon which I WOULD KILL TO GO TO!
Release dates...
Going back to the whole American books thing, if an American book is going to be published in the UK then it more than often has a later release date than when it does in America so we have to wait longer whilst everyone is going on about how amazing this new book is and we just have to...
WE DON'T HAVE FLOPPY PAPERBACKS!
It's such a struggle.
Different Covers...
Now I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but sometimes you just want a nice looking book and it makes you feel better when you're reading the book itself. So you see this beautiful book online that you want need. So you go to your local book shop and you see it...In a different cover...
Yes, some of the times it's not a bad cover change but other times...
I will never forgive whoever did this.
Less hardbacks in shops...
For some reason we have less hardbacks in shops. When I went to New York last year, I noticed books that come in both hardback and paperback but the ones on the shelf were all hardback whereas in the UK, almost all books are paperback and it's so annoying!
I appreciate that the UK is not the worst country to be a YA book blogger in but these are just some of the reasons I face often to do with books.
I hope you all enjoyed this post and I'll see you again soon!
Happy Reading!
Lily x
6 comments
I hardly ever get to participate in readathons either and I hate it, which is why I'm hosting my own :) (I'd totally be willing to co-host one with you ;))
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain on some of these. While I do live in America, I live in a VERY small town and The only resemblance of a bookstore that we have is at our Wal-Mart Superstore and usually the only books they have are Divergent and The Hunger Games, which of course I've already read. This also means no book events are close to me.
I have never thought about hosting a read-a-thon but it seems like a really cool idea!
DeleteI guess I'm lucky that I live in one of the larger cities in the UK because I've been to a few authors signings but nothing super big.
Ohh, you should totally lead your own read-a-thon - I'd join in! And I don't even live in a big city, so I have ALL the UK book blogger problems with the added bonus of having exactly ONE bookshop in town. It's a struggle.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I much prefer a crisp British paperback than an American floppy one. What is with those floppy covers? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!
Beth x
www.thequietpeople.com
I would love to host my own read-a-thon but I have no idea where to start! I am lucky that I live in a big city at least because where I live we have two big Waterstones and most events are held there so I guess I'm not too bad.
DeleteI ADORE the floppy paperbacks! I don't know what it is! I just love the feeling on flipping them around because they're so floppy and it makes them so much easier to read from!
Oh my god this post! I live in the UK too and the author thing totally breaks my heart, because not only am I in the UK, but I'm in a proper remote place too like nowhere near fun things or the few author meet ups we get and it breaks my heart!</3
ReplyDeleteFLOPPY PAPERBACKS ARE MY LIFE. Although, to be fair, I've gotten a few here in the UK, but most of the time, yes, they're not, and it hurts, so much, because they're so good!
Got to say, it's so good to find more UK bloggers, I plan to read more of your posts Lily!<3
I know right! Most of my favourite authors never come to anywhere near me and the one chance I had to meet Veronica Roth I messed up and forgot to buy tickets!!
DeleteI LOVE FLOPPY PAPERBACKS! Sometimes you can find the odd one or two in british shops but when I went to America I almost cried because every paperback I picked up was floppy and it was like heaven!
Thank you so much that mean a lot! I'd love to check out your blog too!