Meet the Book Blogger: SM Boyce

Today I'm happy to have book blogger and author, SM Boyce visiting with us. She was kind enough to answer some questions and share her blogging experiences. Please make her feel welcome by leaving a comment at the end, or ask her a question yourself.

What can readers expect from your reviews?
Honesty, a thorough critique, and a video review if I like it a lot (4+ stars). I’m not rude or overly snarky with my reviews, but I put my Creative Writing degree and freelance editing experience to work. I’ll mention both strong and weak moments when I see them (as I expect others to do with my novels, no worries). So I can keep things positive, I only review books I can rate at least 3 stars. I focus on key areas of a novel and address everything from the characters to the pacing to the logic and narrative voice.
I also do video reviews for highly-rated novels because they come in handy as marketing tools for writers. I like to help, and these are fun to do…but they’re also time consuming, and thus I only do these reviews for the best books I come across. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’d like to see more as I add them.

Very cool about the video reviews; thank you for putting that time in for the books you love!

What does it take in a book to absolutely annoy you to the point where you quit reading or throw the book at the wall?
Characters that are too stupid to live. You laugh, but you know what I’m talking about, right?
It’s like in a scary movie, when the MC hears someone rifling around in the dark when they’re home alone and calls out “hello?” The killer isn’t going to respond with “Hey, I’m in the kitchen. You want a sandwich?” so why would she say anything in the first place? Run, girl! RUN.
It’s those moments that break the story’s logic and kick me out of the narrative, and I usually have to put the book away if it happens more than once.

I know exactly what you mean with scary movies when the character goes to explore in the dark. I usually yell at the TV. 

What makes you a fan for life?
Characters with whom I can connect. If I think about a character afterward as if they’re a real person, I’m pretty much hooked on that author forever.

Many book bloggers are also writers—are you? If so, SHARE with us what you write and some of your book titles.

Yes, actually. I’m a fantasy and paranormal author working on my debut, the Grimoire Trilogy. It’s a YA epic fantasy series, and it’s been seven years in the making. A lot of sweat went into it. The first, LICHGATES was just re-released with a new publisher (Immortal Ink Publishing) and the sequel, TREASON  will be available on October 27. You can click those links to read the blurb and learn more about them.

Both books sound really good. I had to get a copy of each, now I just need the time to read them!

Have you ever stayed up reading all night even when you had to work the next day, and what was the book you cursed while fighting to stay awake all afternoon?

Yeah, I’ve definitely been there. Hasn’t every book nerd, though? 

I tore through Entangled and Duplicity by Nikki Jefford that way. I couldn’t help it. Those books are so addictive and just so fun! Vaempires: Revolution by Thomas Winship and Five by Christie Rich were two other books that kept me up. (All titles and authors linked to Goodreads.)

What is the most challenging part of book blogging? Rewarding?

Rewarding: The reward is connecting with talented authors and learning about stellar new series. I’ve made some of the best connections and closest friends through reviewing strangers’ books.

Challenging: The challenge is getting queries from authors who obviously didn’t read my requirements. I know it takes longer, guys, but let’s not waste our time here. It’s so important that an author read the bloggers’ requirements before they submit a query.

Do you like to hear from an author after a review? How do you and your fans feel about authors following, reading and posting on your blog?

I love it! Like I said, connecting with authors is part of the fun. I love to hear if an author really enjoyed a comment or a review, and it means a lot when they can still reach out and say hello even if it wasn’t a glowing review. 

My fans also don’t seem to mind. I actually think they enjoy seeing the author engage like that.

Can you share with us up to 5 authors who are auto-buy for you?

YES. All right. It’s actually kind of hard to choose just five, but…Nikki Jefford, Rebecca Hamilton, Thomas Winship, Jessica Fortunato, and Christi Goddard. (Again, authors linked to Goodreads.)

I get the "it's hard to choose just five" with just about every interview. :) But thank you for sharing!

How much is too much for an eBook?

This is an awesome question! I wish more people asked it.

For me, more than $5 is too much unless it’s in a series and I got the first one for free. Even then, I’d really rather not pay more than $5. When I see eBooks for $10 or more, it’s just a turn off. 

There’s an argument that publishers price eBooks high so they don’t detract from print sales, but I don’t care how much the print edition is…there’s no reason to price an eBook at $10. After all, it’s just a copied digital file.

Do you know how many books currently reside on your To Be Read list?

Oh goodness. Too many. As of this moment, I’m at 250. I know. But it changes often, so you can check it out if you’d like. Suffice to say, I had to close inquiries for a while. I doubt I’ll actually go through the list before I reopen, though. There are just too many good books out there!

I agree, so many good books and never enough time. :) I'd say 250 is a lot, but I fear my list is catching up way too fast. 

Well, that's all I've got. Thank you very much for answering my questions and letting us peek into your world, Boyce!

Boyce is a YA, fantasy, and paranormal fiction author/book blogger. You can find her books on Amazon or check out her reviews on her blog.

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Readers, it's your turn; something you want to ask Boyce about her blogging or her books? Now's your chance!