#MondayMusing with Guest Blogger: Anne Cater

A product of contemplation; a thought: "an elegant tapestry of quotations, musings, aphorisms, and autobiographical reflections" (James Atlas).

 I am thrilled to welcome Anne Cater to the blog today, she blogs over at Random Things. I really do advise having a look her blog, it's wonderful. Anne is one of the biggest book peddlers, encouragers, enthusiasts, shouters, and advocate of reading I know. She encouraged me to start my blog, helped and continues to when I falter. I am also proud that she is my friend. Thank goodness for her and her middle of the night ideas...

Book Connectors on Facebook

Just over a year ago I had a middle-of-the-night idea that has turned out to be one of my better ideas …. I’ve had lots of not-so-good ideas during my life, but those are for a different post!

I believe that you can never be bored if you have a book in your possession. An author can fill your life with vibrant characters and whisk you off to other lands. You can be witness to a murder, to a love affair, or become part of history. I don’t think I’ve uttered the words ‘I’m bored’ since I was a ten-year-old being dragged around yet another garden centre by my mum.

Being a reader can be lonely though. Sometimes I don’t actually want to read my book, I want to talk about it to someone else. I want to discuss the plot, or how the author knits their words together. I want to compare the book to the author’s other works, or discuss books that are similar. I like to talk about anything that’s book-related.

The internet is a wonderful place to find like-minded people. Ten years ago I was part of an on-line forum, we talked about books, it was great. I met some amazing people who have become some of my dearest friends. 

Along came Facebook, and the rise of groups. I joined a few groups, I’m still a member of a couple that I enjoy, but I was getting so frustrated by the constant ‘Books v Kindle’ debates, which are pretty pointless really, and I was quite offended when I was called a ‘book snob’ because I said that I don’t want a Kindle!  Then there’s the comments about price; the ‘oh, I’m not paying more than £1.99 for a book’ …. what?  Are you serious? You can’t get a decent cup of coffee for that!  Oh, and the ‘I’m going to start a book blog, then I’ll get free books’ …… I can’t even respond to that one.   There were so many RULES too!  And WARNINGS!  And things that you JUST CAN’T DO OR SAY!  I’m a bit of a gob-shite, and when I was slapped with a WARNING when I asked a question, I was (a la Dragon’s Den) out.

I just wanted to talk about books, and about blogging. I wanted to talk to authors, to find out what they were writing, to find out about their latest releases. I wanted to share my blog reviews, and read other blog reviews …. all in one place. 

So, the middle-of-the-night idea struck me and I created Book Connectors; a Facebook group just for bloggers and authors.  It would be place with no rules, but I wanted everyone to be nice to each other. It would be a place where authors could promote their work, and bloggers could share their posts. It would be a place where authors could ask bloggers if they’d like to read their book, where blog tours could be arranged, where bloggers could ask authors if they’d like to take part in something they’d planned for their blog.  It would be a place where established authors could advise new authors, and old-hand bloggers could encourage new ones.

Book Connectors is not a reading group, or a book club. It’s a place where authors and bloggers can connect. We do discuss books, of course we do, but it is so much more than that. Everyone is equal, it doesn’t matter if members post in the group every day, or every month, or just a couple of times a year. Book Connectors has four admin members who keep an eye on things, that’s it, nothing more. The admin members are just the same as other members, there is no hierarchy, no labels, no top-dog.

There are over a thousand members, but believe me, it could be five times that amount as we get requests to join all the time, but if someone is not a blogger, or an author they’re not eligible to join the group. There are loads of book groups on Facebook for readers, Book Connectors is not the right place for everyone.

I think members enjoy Book Connectors, we get great feedback and I know that there have been some wonderful blog tours, blog posts, events and friendships made over the last year or so.

So, if there are any bloggers or authors out there who would like to join Book Connectors, please find us on Facebook and click the ‘Join Group’ button … you will be made very welcome.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1466353170351020/

@Book_Connectors

Anne Cater blogs at Random Things Through My Letterbox http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk/

Follow her on Twitter @annecater