Sautday Spotlight! (And Giveaway)!

Today I'm trying out something new to me called "Saturday Spotlight". I'm pretty excited about it to be quite honest! The idea actually started with my guest blogger today. She's very kind and when I contacted her to see if she would mind if I did something similar, she wrote back immediately with a super-friendly email and a positive answer! So, how long with this run? Good Question! Each week, I'd like to host a different Blogger and depending just how many people I have interested, will depend on how long it runs!

If YOU would like to be featured in Saturday Spotlight, just hit the "contact" button and I will be more than happy to host you here, at Park-Avenue Princess!

Today's Blogger in "Saturday Spotlight" is Sophie from Mrs. Magoo Reads!

Name? Sophie

Your Blogger Alias? Mrs. Magoo

Name of Your Blog? Mrs. Magoo Reads

What's Your Blog URL? http://www.mrsmagooreads.com/

Can you give us a quick bio about yourself? I am a thirteen year old girl who has been blogging for almost two years (my blogoversary is on August 16!). I have loved to read for as long as I can remember, and now love blogging about it. Last year I was featured on TV for my blog.
Why did you start your blog? As the buzz about blogging got louder and louder around me, one day I thought it would just be cool to start a blog. After a bit of brainstorming, I decided to make my blog about something I love: books. Little did I know there was such a huge YA book blogging community!

What is your favorite genre and/or genres? I'm really not that picky about genres. I do, however, prefer realistic fiction over fantasy.

Who is your favorite author? Oh, I don't know if I can pick just one! JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer (so sue me), and Scott Westerfeld.

What's your favorite book of all time? I think this pretty much corresponds with my favorite writers: Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Uglies.

Name and describe different features on your blog: Other than my reviews, I have Saturday's Scribe, where an author is either interviewed or writes a guest blog every Saturday. I also jumped onto Reviewer X's Retrospective meme, which comes every Sunday, where I link to every other post I made during the post. My most popular feature is Movie Monday. Every Monday I make a review video of a book I've reviewed, and it comes along with a contest to win that book! Last but not least, I profile other bloggers, and these often come with contests as well.

Do you use your own Review System? How is it Different? I start by listing the title and author, give it a grade, and name its "ideal audience", according to age and gender. Then I provide my own summary of the book, followed by my thoughts. I finish the review by providing links to buy the book through Amazon and/or IndieBound.

How is your blog unique from other blogs? I'd say Movie Monday is the most unique thing about my blog-- not a whole lot of other bloggers make review videos.

How do you market your blog? First, I make sure to have good content. I also do link exchanges and interview other bloggers (the links back actually generate a surprising amount of visitors!). My contests are also very popular and are a form of marketing themselves! :)

Can you give us 3 tips about content?

• 1. Make sure your reviews are the right length. I'm not going to read a very long review, but an extremely short one will lose my respect.


• 2. Add at least one unique element to your blog-- I want a reason to come back to yours rather than somebody else's.


• 3. Don't use chat speak on your blog!

Can you give us 3 tips about blog promotion?

• 1. Leave comments on other blogs. This is really hypocritical of me, as I hardly ever leave comments, but if anybody has any tips on fixing this bad habit, they'd be very welcome!


• 2. Be friendly to other bloggers.


• 3. Be patient. Nothing comes immediately.

Thanks so much for having me, Amy!!

You're More than Welcome Sophie! Come back anytime!

OK...I'm going to ask that you visit sophie and leave her a comment and you may also commet here!

THE GIVEAWAY!

Sophie has offered to do a free personalized "Header" for ONE Winner's blog. In order to win this, you must be a follower of both blogs! Want an 10 Extra Entries? Follow me on Twitter and Follow Sophie there as well (that's FIVE points for each follow) Just note it in the comments section! (Sophie wants me to note that she's not a PROFESSIONAL Graphics Designer...but does some pretty cool work and will help you to get the look you want)! Again, this is Sophie's contest. But, you MUST enter here and I will pick the Winner.

All enteries MUST be in by September 19th and WINNER drawn on Septmber 20th! *Note that I also have a contest to win a $20.00 Gift Card to the Bookstore of your choice on Mrs. Magoo Reads! Hurry, I think it ends on the 27th!

KISSES ~ XXX