The Otherworld of Kelley Armstrong discussion
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Questions & Ideas to improve the group
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Well I wonder if you think about opening it up to this sci-fi girls kicking butt. I have only read a few of Kelly Armstrong's books so I don't know what else she writes about, but opening it up to other authors, but have the same kind of characters/plot would probably bring in more people. For a list of the kinds of books I'm talking about just take a look at my 'sci-fi girls kicking butt' shelf. Not necessarily the best name, but hey it gets the point across.I think it would really open up the group to more people while keeping the idea there. Kelly Armstrong isn't my favorite author so if I hadn't been invited to the group and had just been perusing I think I probably would have skipped it.
That's a good idea, Erin, but I think that there are probably already a lot of groups out there that focus on the same types of books that Armstrong fits into. I know I belong to at least 3. It can be fun to have a group that is specifically devoted to just one author, but by so doing you kind of have to accept that it's going to be a bit smaller and probably not have quite as much activity as the larger groups that have a broader focus. I also belong to 2 or 3 other groups that focus on one author, and those groups tend to have a moderate amount of activity when a new book comes out, and then they're fairly low on the radar the rest of the time. I think the best way to encourage activity is just to start as much discussion as you can. Perhaps start a group read - pick one of her series, start with book one and read one every month, start a discussion thread that has a good moderator who will ask interesting questions that will spark debate. For people who have read all of her books, this wouldn't even necessarily require them to read the book that month, it would just help focus the discussion.
Also, make sure that if you mention a book in one of the threads that you link to it so that people who are reading reviews and summaries on that book's page might be interested in following the link to the discussion to see what it's about. Those people might then be interested in joining the group.
My final idea is to assign someone to watch Armstrong's web site and make sure all news (newly posted excerpts, upcoming releases, author blogs, etc.) are posted in the group as soon as they're announced.
Cool, i think all of these ideas are great and will definatly put them to use.
Erin wrote: "Well I wonder if you think about opening it up to this sci-fi girls kicking butt. I have only read a few of Kelly Armstrong's books so I don't know what else she writes about, but opening it up to..."
With Erins idea, I think we could do a small section where people can talk about other author's but at the same time, as Nicole said, keep the main focus on the Kelley armstrong books.
Nichole wrote: I think the best way to encourage activity is just to start as much discussion as you can. Perhaps start a group read - pick one of her series, start with book one and read one every month, start a discussion thread..."
I was thinking of doing what Nicole said about a group read. but i hesitated because some people may not actually have the book or something may prevent them from reading it. I know that lots of other groups do this and its great. i especially wanted to do a group read when the Awakening came out but I realised that not everyone had the book yet.
But we could try it and see how it goes
And most definatly we need someone to check up on kelley's website coz thats obviously where all the news is at. at the moment anyone can post the latest news they hear about. i'll be doing that too, try and keep you guys updated
Thanks
Erin wrote: "Well I wonder if you think about opening it up to this sci-fi girls kicking butt. I have only read a few of Kelly Armstrong's books so I don't know what else she writes about, but opening it up to..."
With Erins idea, I think we could do a small section where people can talk about other author's but at the same time, as Nicole said, keep the main focus on the Kelley armstrong books.
Nichole wrote: I think the best way to encourage activity is just to start as much discussion as you can. Perhaps start a group read - pick one of her series, start with book one and read one every month, start a discussion thread..."
I was thinking of doing what Nicole said about a group read. but i hesitated because some people may not actually have the book or something may prevent them from reading it. I know that lots of other groups do this and its great. i especially wanted to do a group read when the Awakening came out but I realised that not everyone had the book yet.
But we could try it and see how it goes
And most definatly we need someone to check up on kelley's website coz thats obviously where all the news is at. at the moment anyone can post the latest news they hear about. i'll be doing that too, try and keep you guys updated
Thanks
Mod
I'll see how busy I am at work today and I might have time to put together a "Latest News" (or something) section.
And hey, if we want to start a reread of the series, that's cool. I'll pause my listening of Bitten (I just got the audiobook for Ward's Lover Avenged anyway, and am anxious to listen to it as I read the bok too fast to take it all in).
yh That would be great DarkHeart, especially since i'm abit busy at the moment what with exams going on.
I'd love to do a group re-read of all the books and start with bitten since thats everyones favourite.So that eventually by the time Frostbitten comes out, we would have read the whole series with fresh memories of whats happened so far.
We'll send a message to everyone and see what they think
I'd love to do a group re-read of all the books and start with bitten since thats everyones favourite.So that eventually by the time Frostbitten comes out, we would have read the whole series with fresh memories of whats happened so far.
We'll send a message to everyone and see what they think
Nichole would you mind sharing those three groups? I am part of the Paranormal Romance group, but its into the more romance stuff. You know the stuff that is written all around sex. If you know of a group that isn't just about sex books that include paranormal creatures I would love to check them out. If not then I think I might start my own group. I haven't yet because I haven't had a good chance to search for one and why make one when there is already one.
I like the idea or rereading the earlier books, after having read the series we'll get a new view point. Also, this will give everyone a better chance of actually getting their hands on the book.
Thanks, DarkHeart!Erin, the two groups DarkHeart mentioned were the ones I was thinking of. I also thought of the Paranormal and Urban Fantasy group read, which does several monthly group reads from both genres, but it does seem like it focuses a little bit more on the paranormal romance than UF.
I did look at your 'sci-fi girls kicking butt' shelf, and all of those books fit under the Urban Fantasy genre label, so I think either of the two groups DarkHeart mentioned would be great for you. The Who's Your Author group is a little bit more active than the Urban Fantasy group.
Thank you DarkHeart and Nichole. I'll tell my dad that those books are called Urban Fantasy usually. We're not into genres really, so this really clears up a lot.
So i was thinking that maybe we should do some group challenges to make the group more interesting. What do you guys think? Like monthly challenges which can be based on anything you like and doesn't have to be connected to KA books. e.g read a book with a red cover, or read a book which has a male main character. Could as hard or simple as you like.
I think the group challenges idea sounds fun. I've got a huge TBR pile so any direction on what to read next is always helpful.
I like the challenges idea. As long as we don't get swamped with PM's about challenges, challenge reminders, etc, I'm fine with it. I rarely finish a challenge but I love participating :)
I'm a bit of a challenge addict so I'd be up for it.
I love group challenges. I think it would be great.
I think the challenge idea could be interesting.
lol Mel, dont worry you wont be getting any PM's about challenges. This was just a one time thing to let you guys know what's going on. If we do this then there will be a folder dedicated to the monthly challenges where you can come and check for yourself what the challenge will be for the current month and participate if you want to.
I like the idea of monthly challenges. We could do like you said, book w/ red cover, certain word in the title, certain # of words in title, etc. Sounds fun.
challenges will be a great idea, they'll make sure people come back to the group more regurally and not just new releases
Hi! This is my first time posting here; I've been lurking for a while.I'd be game. I participate in challenges in some of my other groups and would love to do so here also.
ok so i thought i'd start the challenge now so that we have all this month to do it. CHeck it out in the Challenges folder. let me know of any issues
so if you guys have any ideas to make this group more interesting then this is the place.
:D