Taylor’s Take on Novel Novice’s One Year Anniversary

I came to Novel Novice midway through its first year. I’d already been reading the blog and checking out all the great books, activities and contests, but I was also finishing up my Master’s degree in Library & Information Science, so between school, a job and a family, I didn’t have much extra time to contribute. I received some encouragement from Steph (who happens to be my best friend) and Sara to put my love of YA Lit to “work” at Novel Novice. It wasn’t hard to decide to commit to joining the staff once I finished up my degree.

I brought in some different ideas and started with simple things like polls and library-related concepts and themes (because books and technology are FREE at the library, and who doesn’t LOVE free stuff)?! I started off slow with book reviews, but am finally starting to get more comfortable with reviewing after six months. In the beginning, a lot of my contribution was just brainstorming and helping out with ideas for projects Sara and Steph were already working on. Now, I’m beginning to work on my own projects and find my comfort zone.

There are so many great things about Novel Novice! I love that I can use what I’ve learned in school and can apply it here to put a different spin on things. I love that Novel Novice is fun for me. It rarely feels like “work,” and when it does, it’s mostly because I’m trying something new or just outside my comfort zone and that never ends up being a bad thing. Sara and Steph are great leaders and it’s so awesome to have other people, including all of you, to share my passion of reading and YA literature. My biggest accomplishments at Novel Novice so far are bringing in library-related activities and awareness for teens (look for a bigger lead in to Teen Read Week in 2011), putting together a large part of the Novel Novice Cafe Press Store, and stepping outside my comfort zone to try new things like making book trailers.

Best of all, the most awesome perk of being a NN staff member: ARCs! I love receiving those packages in the mail, containing the most precious of NN jewels. WooHoo! Sorry to rub it in, but there’s nothing better than getting those upcoming titles a month or two before they’re available on the shelf and having the chance to chat about it with other NN staffers.