The Art of Securing Physical ARCs with Lissa

Oh and did I mention she's also effortlessly chic too . Please welcome to the podcast , lisa . Hi , I'm so sorry . What an intro I like butchered that . I'm so sorry , no that was great .

As soon as I decided myself that I wanted to do this podcast , you were , like one of the first people I reached out to because I wanted to have a conversation with you so freaking badly and I feel like we have these conversations , naturally just us anyways , it would be so cool .

Right , I feel like , and like too for the people that are listening I've like met Lisa in real life , in person , like , actually , like physically , like I could hug her and I smelled your perfume .

Yes , we were like that close , there was no screen in the way , but I feel like our conversations were so organic and nice and flowing-ingly that I think it was like my mind was like you were perfect for this .

It's like I'm standing in front of like a crowd of like 500 people and I like can't talk and I like nervous sweat and I'm like why , why do I do ? This Makes no sense .

I had tears , actually the whole time the friend that drove me there was recording me . It was really embarrassing because I was crying , I just had tears in my eyes , because he writes these books and then he speaks , and it makes so much sense . Why , in my eyes

? Because he writes these books and then he speaks . And it makes so much sense why he writes the way he writes , because he can just speak gracefully and intellectually and he's a professor . It all just makes sense . I felt like I was getting pinched over and over again and that's why I was crying .

We're Briefly Gorgeous , oh okay , I definitely remember you talking about this one Heavily influenced by his own dating life , his poverty , upbringing and his mother and grandmother .

So everything , is very everything he writes , as he stated , is about his life , and this recent read , the emperor of gladness , is the first book he's writing for us , not for his family , not for anybody . So he says he's writing alongside us and it's basically a book about his life or his time .

He used to work at Panera Bread , so this book is a different . I forget what it's called . I'm spacing , but it's called Home Market , home Goes or something , and it's a fast food joint and it's just basically . I don't know if anyone has watched the show the Bear , where they're in a restaurant .

Anyways , that was like the ultimate highlight , I think , of my whole six months or five months .

The latest one , happy place , got lost , didn't reach out to them , but this one I'm like , I need it in my hands . Understandable , understandable , yes , and I got it in my hands .

Like I don't know if they found that one , I don't know if you can find the lost packages or if they like actually sent you another one , but I think it's so cool that , no matter what they did , like they got you your copy yes , I know I felt really really happy and grateful because I didn't know that was me taking a shot .

yeah , and I feel like this is such a popular question that everyone has . Everyone who reads books has a book . Instagram , instagram . You wonder how people are getting these physical advanced reader .

No one taught me how to do this . I was 100% self-taught . I taught myself these things . No one gave me advice and I guess the way I started is I think I Googled it because you know , people just want the recipe . They're like oh my gosh , tell me step-by-step what to do .

But I was like proactive and Googled it myself and I go how do you write an email to a publishing house ? And then there was this lovely blog I found I don't remember Shout out to whoever's blog I saw , and it was this detailed email of how to structure the email and two which I'll tell you how I structured it .

But two , I was proactive and I had to go myself and search the publisher , the correct publisher email , which sometimes you can get wrong . But I had to do that myself and you got to put in the work , you have to go and put in the . No one's going to give you the email unless , like , if you're my homie I'll give it to you .

But and I know we're homies and you're not just trying to , you know , facilitate , I don't know You're not just using me for that . Yeah .

I am all for not gatekeeping , but if I don't know you .

Oh , and then what did you say to them ? I'm like , oh my gosh , you know I should just drop another email .

And then you give them like , okay , hey , like just like what you said right here , like I email the publisher , like here , even here is like the blueprint of the email , like make sure you have this , this and this , but not telling them like what to write , like I am all for that , I'm all for that .

Like no one can tell me for a fact that I stole someone's you know blueprint , whereas I created my own by being proactive , and then I maybe I asked someone along the way , but I don't even think I did that , I just I wouldn't .

That's not who I am , but yeah , so I I think , like the main thing is , you know , finding the correct publishing house and most of the time , if you send it to the wrong publishing house , they're kind enough to like redirect you to the right email , the right publishing house . So it's just trying to find the right email .

And then in the email you know , you have to put in the correct title and author and let them know you're requesting a review copy in the subject line . And then you have to have , you know , introduce yourself , let them know your Instagram account , your name , and then what book you want . Underneath , let them know some facts . Why do you want this book ?

Oh , it's because you know I love . Let's , for example , nisha Tooley shout out . We love Nisha Tooley's artifacts , the series , and I want your new spinoff , which was the rom-com or not spinoff her new genre rom-com . And so you would draft that email letting them know you love this author .

And then , underneath , just put your stats , put your Instagram followers , how many times you post a day , tiktok . Put your good reads , the links . It doesn't have to be crazy , just put the links , let them know your followers for each account . And then underneath and this is so important underneath , put your mailing address . Put your mailing address .

This is the number one thing I recommend , because most of the time the big publishers , they don't have time to reply , they just don't , they don't talk to you ?

But I also have to say too , because , like I know for myself , like especially Nisha , like I , I remember we got the arc for the third book in the artifacts of Arano series which I , like I , oh , it's out there , but I covet that book like with my whole heart because , like also the favorite , my favorite book .

But I think too , like I think a lot of people have like the misconception that , like every time you reach out like you think you will get a book , most of the time I don't get a book . Like when I've reached out , like I , because I then like talking about her new rom-com , not Safe for Work .

I did the same thing that I did for the third book in the Artifacts of Arano series , but I didn't get it . I didn't get like the . No one got back to me . I never got the book . So I think a lot of people only see what is on like Bookstagram or BookTok , of like oh my God , everybody's just getting all these arcs .

But I think people need to know that , yes , maybe like somebody got an arc , but they also got like five rejections from five other publishers or about five other books .

Like there's not all , like you don't necessarily get every book that you ask for yeah , despite your followers as well , it doesn't really matter sometimes no , and that's true too , because , like I think , sometimes I get like discouraged in a way , because I'll like reach out and not saying that I like put so much into like my follower account , but then when I

see somebody else get it and then they have like less followers , I'm like , oh , okay yeah , that's cool .

There are so many books out here and maybe some we don't get and some we do , and I'm just it's not something like I'm going to sleep , like lose , sleep over . Sure , when I see someone else getting it , I'm going to like visibly , like squint and be like okay , like I see it . Okay , I see it .

But the thing about me is I will prioritize , like if a publishing house slash author sends me a physical copy and it's a book I really want to read .

And the thing about me is I will prioritize , like if a publishing house slash author sends me a physical copy and it's a book I really want to read and like , let's say , I have 10 books I really want to read and I only get four of those sent to me .

I'm going to prioritize those and I'm going to review , I'm going to post , I'm going to shout out because they took the time to send it to me and all the other ones I wanted to read and missed out because he didn't send me a book time to send it to me and all the other ones I wanted to read and missed out because he didn't send me a book .

No , thank you very much , and that's why I read dark romance , like that's my horror limit .

I'm like my thought process is is like I mean , I guess it comes back to what you were saying , like we don't necessarily know what's going through , like marketing's head , but I'm like you didn't have anybody else you could have sent this to .

Okay , that makes sense , because before I didn't know my taste yet and I was going through , like I was going through authors that already had a plethora of books Whereas I was the new ones ones . I was developing my new taste does that make sense ?

okay , I think so , I think so , like Ocean Bong , this is my first like I got his finished copy for Time as a Mother , which is his poetry collection , and then this is the first time I've gotten an advance from him particularly and it .

different from the people who are in the office getting the emails directly sent into their inboxes . Which is what I've learned Because I've gotten especially by Henry Hold . They contact me via DM and then they'll send me an email and then I'll have to remind them oh , I was already contacted via email . They should be sending it to me .

So I , you know that's when I learned , oh , I need to just say yes to both because I don't know if I'm going to get it or not . But it started with direct messaging and that was a lot easier for me because you , I , would reply back .

And then the thing with with building a relationship with them is when they send you a book , post about it , even if you're not gonna read it . You're starting out . Post about it . Tag them , blow them up , doesn't matter . If you create a book stack , add the book .

All they wanna see is that you appreciate that their book is out there , even if you're not gonna read it anytime soon . Post about it , put it in a cute little photo , put it on your stories , get in their DMs , let them remember your handle , your Instagram handle . You're constantly attacking them .

So then when they get a new book , they're like , oh , this person keeps tagging us and they remember you from the last book they sent you and they're going to think of you and then DM you again .

But if you're constantly and the one time they opened their DMS , once they opened their DMS , you can get in there at all times because they opened it You're either in their general box or in their primary , it doesn't matter , you're in their inbox . So the more you post them , the more they'll see you . Yeah , I learned the hard way . Like Ocean Bong , he .

He doesn't follow me , he's never replied to anything , but he sees my stories when I tag him because he's seen it once . He's seen them all or he will see them all . I know I'm like Ocean Bong . I love you . He's like this girl , it's always tagging me .

But I have yet to actually read it okay , but anyways , sorry , you can continue .

But then I bought the audio book but I have yet to actually read it or listen to it , so like I'll slide in your dms once I do , but until then it's so good it's good okay okay , this is I'm gonna bully Jordan from now on . She needs to read them , honestly , though I I think I might need it , but what you were saying , too , is like Tor .

She's published by Tor .

Then they picked up masters of death one for my like . They just picked up all her books and because of that I wanted I started requesting them because I already knew I loved her . So that's another , I guess , ocean ball example where I had to get familiar with her writing , loved her , and now I request everything Like same with Sally Rooney .

Read her backlist . The newest in her mezzo requested it . So I feel like this past year is the first year like 2024 , maybe towards the end of 2023 , I finally started getting advanced reader copies .

Yeah , yeah , like I would only ever get finished copies , oh , or they would reach out to me like , for example , like tour now that's how I was able to get runix's enigma , because they know my taste in books that they emailed me and it and I was like , I think I like I think I screamed , oh , look at this email .

I'm like , oh , my god , what the heck ?

So I just like I'm praying one day I can get like an ARC of a Runix book , but granted , I think she only had those two . And now I think she's like kind of going hybrid , but that would be the dream one day . But I was so jealous of all the people posting about ARCs for that book and I was like way to rub it in everybody but for that book .

And I was like way to rub it in everybody but like secretly , I'm also like happy because , like I know too , like we like buddy read gothicana , which honestly is still my all-time favorite book number one .

But that's what I mean , like , tag the heck out of them , email the heck out of them . They will put you somewhere , they'll put you in the back of their mind and then they'll prioritize you because they see that you read the book .

Someone was telling me that if there's a book you really like and like let's say the publisher posts about it , like , follow the publishers at like marketing accounts and comment on their post , because they'll sometimes go through comments and be like , oh , like , we saw you like , are really excited about this book , can we send you a copy now ?

I don't know if it would be necessarily an art , but it could be like a finished copy . So someone was telling me that's also like a lot of work and I have yet to do that , but if you want to like , kind of like , slide into their comments .

She was works for the marketing and she would post advice like hey , when you email us , like make sure you put the address . And that's when I was like I always I already do that . But like wow , yeah , you really should put the address . But and then I have one of the girls from Bramble who is the one who DMed me for the Enigma arc .

She follows me on Instagram and I follow her back .

I wouldn't say like arcs or anything , um , but I , so you can apply for these like PR companies and like you fill out the forms and you're not guaranteed anything but like sometimes they'll like send you stuff . If an author is like looking to send PR packages and they don't know like who to reach out to , they'll go through these like PR companies .

So that's like another way that you could get like finished copies of like indie authors .

But I don't know if you do that , but like I had one where I was like part of like their influencer like program and they emailed me and they were like or they emailed everybody that they were sending a book to and they were like we want you to post about it when you get it , and I was like that's been .

That was like the first time I ever saw like you you need to post about it , like you have to post about it , which is fine , like I plan on posting about it anyways . But I felt so uncomfortable because then I had to screenshot my you know how like they'll send you like a tracking number .

So I screenshot that it's still stuck in pre-shipment and I'm like hey , like I just want to let you know like the reason I'm not posting about it is because I never got it . Like it's still stuck in pre-shipment and this was like three weeks ago . So just just letting you know .

But it's like kind of like awkward that I have to like get back to them and be like , hey , I didn't get it , but I felt like I had to , because they made you feel that way . Yeah .

But I think everyone knows , because when you sign up for them , they will tell you so it's , it was like Valentine PR , and if they will send you these net galleys like a bunch of net galleys and if you don't post about it within two weeks , you have . So that's their rule you have to post a review within two weeks or else they won't prioritize

you , you won't get books , and it was . And they have a lot of romance , especially dark romance , mafia , everything , everything . It was a really good platform , but it was a little bit stressful to keep up with because of life and full-time job at the time .

So I think I missed one posting and I freaked out , and I've never requested anything ever again , so I hope they don't hate me , but it ended up being a lot .

Like this is just a digital arc , like maybe I'll post about it , maybe I won't , but like you'll get my reviews , like I will send those to you , but I'm not going to like prioritize like posting this on social media because , like I would see people like posting like oh my god , thank you so much for the arc , and then it's like a picture of their kindle

which is like cool , like if I have time to do that , like I will .

But I did , I do , but I do like not that I apply for that much through them , because I just again life be lifing , I'm like I don't want to stress to like read , but like I've also just gotten nervous because I feel like I've heard from these like PR companies , from other people that use them , that are like you have to send your reviews , like this day ,

and if you don't , like you're like shunned . So it's just kind of one of those things that I just I get like scared . So I like oh , I make sure I only apply like for one arc at a time yes , that's why arcs are can be stressful .

So , especially when you're going to request a review copy , make sure you you know if you want an advanced review copy , it's going to come early , like that's when you got to post about it , that's when they're like really entrusting you . It's their whole marketing budget that they're wasting .

They're not wasting but they're gifting to you and so to me that's always a gift . I'm going to prioritize that .

That's why you said , if you send me 10 books and you know four of them are ARCs and they're not released yet , I will prioritize that because I know how blessed of a position I'm in , whereas if you send me a finished copy , thank you Still appreciate it , love it , we'll read it one day , but it won't be up top at all , I agree , I agree , like I've

definitely put down books , I was like reading because an arc came in , especially an arc that I really wanted .

I can't tell you what it was about , Jordan , that's how much I think it was something about a restaurant , right , you know the restaurant like a chef oh okay , yeah , yeah , yeah , you're close , that's what I knew .

But that's the thing is , I think I was reading two other books . I like basically threw those out the window to read the arc of the second book because I like out the window to read the arc of the second book because I like I got it .

So I got that one because I previously reviewed both of them . So that's the thing if you want something , if you love an author and you want to keep getting their advanced copies , you gotta post them . Like authors that I mean that have a backlist , like like Anna Huang , you want any of her books , you got to keep posting .

Like they'll ask you for a review for , like her latest King of Envy , or the first one , the Striker , which you know I'm very blessed to always get her advanced reader copies . This year I didn't really ask for it because she has so many , but like authors like that , you got to keep .

So not only are you getting these arcs , like you did all the work , you finally got the book , you got to post about it . That's what people forget . Oh , I got it . No post about it and go above and beyond and read it .

But sometimes if it's a reel , I don't think to tag the publisher . But I really want to get in the habit of doing that because it is still content for them , like I'm showing them everything . I know I love them and everything I blow them up like poor Lizzie Blake . I mean this girl .

No , because like I feel , like okay , even stalkers coming out again , follow me , but she comments every time I post but see , like remember , you saw her in person and you talked about how , like she knew who you were because you were posting about her . Yeah , I know , I went to her .

I would have , like , kissed you and I was like I missed a kiss from Melody . It's fine , but do you know what I mean ? Like I and remind you , if I could go back , I still wouldn't tell her my handle because I would just be so I would start sweating profusely in places that , like you , shouldn't you know ?

So I was like they were like she's coming back later , just come back then . You betcha , I waited in that hour-long line again to like meet her because I just like wanted to meet her so badly . But I kind of like not saying that she knew who I was .

But she was like you look familiar , like do I like to have we met before , and I was like , no , this is like the first time , but like I do talk about your books a lot on Instagram . And she was like , oh , okay , so it's like I think authors really do , especially if they have like their Instagram accounts and they like use them .

I think like not saying that an author has a sway with a publisher , but I do think an author , like if a publisher is like hey , like we have these people reach out , like it doesn't hurt to be like talking about the author's books , because like they might see this list and be like , oh my God , this person , like I see them tag me in a bunch of things ,

like I love their content , so it definitely doesn't hurt to do that both , like I'll , tag the author and the publisher .

That's how Penelope Douglas oh the only way they notice me , because other than that , like pride month , I always create a pride month which I need to create but yes , it's a good and you know they love that the only time it's the only time I've gotten an acknowledgement , I think like way back then , when you know they weren't as big as they are now , but

still it means a lot , like I think the authors know it means a lot . It means a lot to them that we're shouting them out and it also means a lot to us when a publisher recognizes us or the author .

It's a mutual benefit transaction and I feel , like some people along the way , no offense , when you get maybe a little bit too big of an account and you get all of these books , I don't see the posting anymore , I don't see the appreciation for these authors and that's why I always try to remind people like it's a blessing , like they are spending their budget

on you , they're sending it for you . Post the book At least . It's the least you can do If you're not going to read it , or maybe if you read it and you didn't like it . I don't know if people can write a neutral review . You didn't like it . I don't know if people can write a neutral review .

And I was like think she liked it , and then you're like , no girl , no , I did not . And I was like , oh , I had no idea , but no , but like .

Sometimes I think that's like a good thing , because , especially if it's something that , like somebody sends you like and maybe it doesn't seem like so genuine , but like when you get an arc or a finished copy , sometimes it's like you kind of like have to make those things , like you're not lying , maybe you're not like the reason I write like a neutral review ,

like my main point of it as well , is because I don't want to dissuade people from reading it .

What I will give my time to is building that relationship , thanking them , them seeing my efforts , and someone might love that book . I don't want to ruin their day by writing a negative review , so I'm just going to write a review .

What it's about , what it did , maybe one thing that I actually learned from it , and that's that , and then I just go about my day , but that it's worked for me . So this is my advice , because it's actually worked for me .

Would you write a negative review for a book you didn't like , or do you tend to like , leave those off your page and you , or do you tend to make those like if you didn't like it ? Those are like the neutral reviews .

I mean , I don't know , to each their own . I know some people do , you to do , you guys , but I just like to keep my page very positive , very all the books I like , and so that's why if it's like a three star and a publisher sent it to me , then I will waste my time and put it on my page .

Other than that , I never , never review books I don't like . I don't put them on my page , I just don't Fair .

Her first one , god of Fury . You know that's my top tier , top tier , god of Fury . I preach by that . This one was not good . Oh my God , when I tell you the verbiage that was used did not make any sense and I won't repeat it because it's weird and cringy , and that's what I put exactly in my review .

It also was very dark , like borderline , like consensual , and so it was a lot of things I didn't really enjoy , and so I definitely put that in my review . But would I spend the time to put that on my Instagram ? No , because , one , I don't want to advertise the book and two , I wouldn't even know where to begin .

But like I'm not , like I've definitely not been reviewing like every single book I read , but I've definitely done some negative reviews for books that I had a lot of hype , like I had a lot of expectations for , that just didn't hit . But overall I'm not reviewing books . I realized that I did not like but that I read if that makes sense .

So I was like , oh my gosh , like I didn't know that was in this , like heavy it's like multiple point of views and it's just like the crappiest crap people .

But I also am obsessed with the cover . I love the cover so much so I was like gorgeous , right . So I'm like I , so I bought it because of that .

So this is why sometimes it's like , even though like negative reviews , like you should never tag the author in them , but like sometimes they are helpful because you're writing something that might either interest somebody else , or you're like helping somebody , in this case , because there's a lot of people that are like no , absolutely not .

No , cheating , I can't do it . And totally fair , totally fair . So like you help somebody that like could have very much bought the book , and then like listen to your stories , watch your stories , and we're like , oh , I can't . No , like I can't , I can't do this .

Oh , the review would not be nice . The review would probably dissuade people from reading the book , even though it was good . Great writing , no complaints , like , for example , I just read the uh , the favorites , I think , and I another one . I took to my stories . Oh shit , Because of the cheating trope and everyone's like there's cheating in that one too .

Yes , it's awful , and then I would have rated it five stars . I'm not even kidding . Did I think this plot point was necessary ? Absolutely not . That's my personal opinion . To other people they probably like the cheating trope and some people are like it's such a huge spoiler . Listen , as my friend told me , who wants to be spoiled with cheating ?

Exactly and that's another thing that like again , if people like don't like that trope , I heard about the favorites that it's very , it's like very similar to Daisy Jones and the Six and that's like one of my like favorite favorite books .

So when COVID happened , you know , I was 23 , going to 24 , and I was like , yeah , I can finally read and I've always loved reading , and so I guess that year I tackled 25 books , which doesn't sound like a lot , but for me it was a lot .

And so I started following this one account and this is how I I eventually created my own , cause I was like , oh my God , there's a whole community of book readers . Cause I would see people in the comments and this is COVID . I didn't have anyone to talk to .

My mom and my sister were over me , over me , telling them uh , book plots , they're just like uh , and they just were over . I'm like this is boring . So I was started commenting on this influencers with people and I was talking to them , and then we're like should we create our own book accounts ? And I had no idea the world of bookstagram was here .

But so that first year I read like 25 books and it was like , based off this influencer , and it was all these popular books . So I met , I read normal people , born a crime , a little life , uh , people we meet on vacation .

So I started with the very , very popular I don't want to say basic , but just the very well-known popular books and through that I eventually in 2021 . So at the end of 2023 , I finally read from blood and ash . I met this girl in the comments and we created we were thinking about creating an account and so she goes have you ever read this book ?

You should read it , it's romance . And so we both went into it thinking it's romance . No clue , there was going to be vampires . That was my first introduction to fantasy romance and after that series there was only

two books out . It was from blood and ash and kingdom of ash .

I was like feening , I'm like I need this , I need this , so I googled and then I came across just everything that everyone has read already , you know , throwing a glass , like , oh , I went on a deep dive of everything and then I went to like Holly Black , the fairy , or the all that Prince , yes , cruel , prince , there you go .

So I just binge , and that was my introduction . And then I finally started , in 2021 of April , creating my account , and I started my first post with Six of Crows and immediately it like took off because obviously it was such a popular book , but I didn't know , and so through that , I was just able to just start reading . Just start reading books .

Like I think it's very cool , like you like such a diverse reading taste , that you post about on your like page too , because , like I notice , like a lot of people will tend to stick to one thing , whether it's like fantasy , romance , literary fiction , but I but that's only because , like , mostly I read romance , but like I do want to die , like dive into

other things . But sometimes I feel like I can't , like I'm stuck in this , like I can only post about like romance .

Do you remember that it was so fun , so fun , so fun , and I think I was a year late to the game , but it was still prime , prime .

to wanting to be a multi genre content creator at the time ?

It was , just , at the time , everything that I needed . I was like this is where my headspace is at , and then I would read a romance here and there , and then I don't know if you remember , but at that time , romance was almost looked down upon . It was the intellectual snobby . Snobs were out , which is okay , we love y'all . Y'all have big brain energies .

But I also wanted to be that person that I'm like . No , I can have a big brain energy and then want to do something that's going to bring me happiness and peace . And you know , we live in a world at the time that was really crappy , Like we couldn't move , we couldn't go out .

I needed that breath of fresh air that came in romance , dark romance , fantasy , you know sci-fi , I needed that and you can include like thrillers in these .

I'm just not a huge fan , but anything that brings escapism , because when you're back in the literary fiction it's the reason it's called literary fiction is it tackles a lot of real and very intellectual topics that can sometimes just take a lot out of you because it is intellectual and the writing is intellectual and you have to understand the words .

And yeah , it was a lot . So I wanted that blend and I wanted to normalize romance because I at the time I was following a lot of um girls who want , who posted the hot girl . You know reading books which were hot girl literary fiction . Do you remember that ? That's what they called it at the time ?

I still remember because it was just like just everywhere and then what were ? those books Out of curiosity . Yeah , they were like Zadie Smith , joan Didion , eve Babbitt , a lot of classics . So not what I was reading .

No , like memoirs , nonfiction , like things that are , I guess , just a little bit topics I hate to say this , but topics that are taken a little bit more seriously . Like a romance author is never going to win the Pulitzer prize , yeah , because they're just not going to . That's what I'm saying .

That giant thing fits in that tiny thing Got some nominations , but do you know what I mean ? That's , that's the only reason I'm separating the genres . I hate that I even have to do this . But , like , at the time it was worse and I came in hot . I was constantly on my stories , I was advocating for romance .

It was a huge thing at the time and finally it took off , I think in like the end of 2022 , it became books to grant or what's it called , like book TikToks , and you would see romance to see . Romance was everywhere . Like we finally started . Like Bloom Books just got created , like not too long ago and I do .

and we just talked about it but it still wasn't really like that like outside of it .

So I love that like my bookstores are having like multiple rows of shelves for just romance and I like that there's more romance stories out there and I like that bloom exists and taking all these indie authors and bringing them to like a traditionally published space and I think that's like very cool .

So I I do have to give credit to like book talk and like yeah , I think more so book talk because like that just like blew up , but I think that's like very cool . So I I do have to give credit to like book talk and like yeah , I think more so book talk because like that just like blew up but I think bookstagram .

But I have noticed , like I think and I don't know if you agree , but I think book talk is very good about like go . If you want to like be really big and grow like that's what book talk is .

But if you want that sense of community and like having like a group of people that you can chat with , that's like what Bookstagram is , which I think is very much that Like . I do find it difficult to grow on like Instagram at times , but I think I have this like core group of people that I can chat with about books and like life and anything .

Like do you ever see , you know accounts that you love and the minute they like grow or something , they switch up . I'm just like wait , like I came and followed you for this and now you're doing that , and then I'm just sad .

Like I think I got so stressed with Instagram and like needing it to be curated . And I'm not very good with like the aesthetic , like book photos , like I want to be and I try to be , but then I just like don't love them , so usually I'm in it , and then I was like kind of getting sick of that and I hated that .

I was like not having fun with it anymore . So , like TikTok brought the fun back . So I'm having more fun and , granted , I'm not necessarily posting just book things , I post random things , which is definitely not going to help me grow in any way . But at least it's fun again Because remember when we first started Bookstagram and it was fun .

They're gone , like there's so many people yeah , I think you reach a certain amount of followers and I think the pressure at least that's what I noticed the pressure to continue to post , but those were like we all grew together , we all like just had fun and commented and it was so silly , our pictures weren't even that cute .

It was like I remember I used to post the most basic stuff , like a book on a bed . That was it .

So I I think , like what will always stay with me is I'm just going to like I think , like what will always stay with me is I'm just going to like I always try to remind myself why did I create my account ? Like what was the goal for my account ? And like the main goal was to get free books .

Like I will say it , I made this account because I did not want to spend money on books . And now , this year , I have not bought a single book , not a single book . Jordan , not a single book . I cannot say the same .

So I wanted a sense of like community because I was reading so much and so I feel like I got that plus free . I wanted free books Like let's be real , yeah that was my top .

You don't want to keep it to yourself , you want to shout and scream and be like no , I'm crying because like , holy crap , this book . And I found that here and I was able to grow my account and to the point where I would get free books and like . So my goal was never to be to come here for the likes or the followers .

That's just our endorphins , that's just what , you know , social media feeds to us . So I always constantly have to remind myself I'm not here for the followers , I'm not here for the likes . I came here for the community and I have that . And I came here to build my account in order to get free books and I did that . So I don't want to be swept up in .

You know , this account's growing more than me or this . Is that because I already have these connections and I made it like .

I did that and sure followers played into it and sure you know a lot of other factors played into it , but the goals that I set out I made , and so I have to remind myself that when one post doesn't do well or this doesn't do , that you know .

I feel like that's what people should remind themselves , because I hate to see accounts disappear when the pressure gets to them . Like that's how you say you want to fall in love and TikTok is now making you re-fall in love .

But also like , do it because you like love doing it , don't do it for like the followers and hopefully you get followers and things like that .

You just need one person to read it and connect

and that will go such a long way . So make the accounts start from scratch . Get 10 likes , it doesn't matter .

So what is then a spicy book that you would recommend to anyone and everyone ?

No , but I literally thought the whole book was like the Trojan War and I , like never was a big fan of the Trojan War . I was never a big fan of like the Iliad , no hun , not at all .

I don't even want to tell you too much because , like I could cry , but anyway , so that's all time , all time , okay . Okay . Spicy , all time , okay . This is crazy because there's so many , but okay , I'll have to go with this one because I constantly reread it it's misconduct by Penelope Douglas .

No , you need to do a month where Lisa's picks oh my God , I really do so you're going to all-time favorites and they're gonna be your favorites , because that's just what friends recommend friends to do . True , so true , and we have very similar tastes . No cheating in any of these . But listen actually the song of the keyries . See how excited she got .

I'm concerned . I love a cheating trope , okay , no . But Misconduct Girl , misconduct by Penelope Douglas . It's set in Chicago , no wait , oh , sorry , sorry , sorry . New Orleans , new .

They have an estranged relationship , and so there's the plot point with the father son . There's a plot point of forbidden . There's also , he's in politics . There's they meet at a mardi gras masks . That's the first thing . Because you know , penelope douglas is known for their first chapter . Insanity , yeah , insanity , yeah . Tennis , uh , just rich .

I mean , I'm obsessed , I'm obsessed . Minor stalker , the , he , the amount of times he , oh . There's this one scene where he just goes shut up , easton , I'm trying to finish these emails anyways , like yeah , see , this is what I'm saying this man .

Um , okay well , thank you so much for coming on the podcast , lisa like . Thank you , thank you , thank you thanks for having me .