About
How to Sign Up
How to Request a Penpal
How to Remove Your Advert
About:
Hello! I'm Faye. This blog used to be run by the amazing Jo but after she got too busy, she had to hand it over. I hope that I manage to do it justice. The reason that Jo started this blog is in the next two paragraphs but I just wanted to say that I love the idea of this and look forward to keeping it going!
After discovering a penpals blog for beauty bloggers, Penpal Bloggers, I thought it sounded like a great idea. Once discussing with a few fellow book bloggers to see if anyone was interested and given permission from the other blog to set up our own, Book Blogger Penpals was formed in October 2012.
Book Blogger Penpals is for all international book bloggers, no matter what genre of books you review. Bloggers are categorised by country and by genre, so when searching for a penpal, you can either search for someone in a specific country - either your own or abroad - or for someone who reads similar books to you. Read on for how to sign up and how to request a blogger as a penpal.
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How to Sign Up:
To take part, all you have to do is send an email with "Signing Up" in the subject, including the following information for your Penpal Advert:
- Name - This can be either your real name or a screen name. When using your real name, only your first name will be shown.
- Email address
- Country of residence - if in the USA, please provide your state as well.
- Whether you're under 18 or 18+ - Those under 18 will need to get parental consent to take part. I'm sorry to make things difficult, but this is for your own safety. If you are under 18, as well as stating you have parental consent, please provide an email address for your parent/guardian and your real name so this can be checked.
- Blog name & blog URL
- The kind of books you read - This will be the genre and/or the category. To make things easier, if you review a wide range of genres, just put various. You can go into more detail about which exactly in your bio. This is so your advert can be listed under "Various", rather than under several different genres, which will mean needing to allocate you several Penpal Numbers (see next paragraph). However, if you feel "Various" is a bit too strong, yet you wouldn't fit in just one - for example, I review YA and Fantasy and think "Various" doesn't exactly fit - you can say the few you do review and have only a few Penpal Numbers. As long as there isn't a huge list.
- Your bio - This can be as short or as long as you like, but I would recommend more than one line, but less than an essay. Your bio is for other people to see if you're the penpal they would like, so tell us about yourself. How old are you? Favourite books? Other than blogging, what are your hobbies? Where do you live, roughly (not too specific)? What's your occupation? Do you have a family? Whatever you would like to tell us so we know a little about the person we may be writing to. Also, it would be great to mention if you can speak any other languages for bloggers who live abroad.
- The type of penpal you would like - This can be about age range, location, the kind of books they review, etc. You can also mention what you don't want in a penpal - for example, if you don't want a penpal who lives abroad, you can say so.
You will notice you're not asked to provide your mailing address. This is for privacy reasons. You're the only person who gives out your mailing address. We don't have it, so the only people who can write to you are those you allow to. Your email address will not be included in your advert, it will only be used for the purpose of connecting penpals (more on this under How to Request a Penpal) and to update you when and if necessary. It will not be used for any other reason
Once this has been sent in, your advert will go up under your country of residence, and under the genre/category you read. Your blogs will also be added to the blog roll.
As I mentioned above, you will be allocated unique Penpal Numbers, this is in the case that bloggers who have the same or similar names, so they can be identified. For example If you're a blogger from the UK and review YA, you may be allocated the Penpal Numbers #UK001 and #YA001, which will go along with your advert under each search heading. You will then be emailed back with your Penpal Numbers, which you will need for when you want to request a penpal, and a link to the page with your advert so you can view it.
Please note: If a number of Signing Up emails are received around the same time, it may take a while to get them all up. Please be aware that there may be a queue, though we will endeavour to get them up ASAP.
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How to Request a Penpal:
So you've searched through the adverts and you've found someone/some people you would like to write to. Check you have signed up yourself. What now?
1. You send an email with "Penpal Request" in the subject stating the following:
- The name and Penpal Number of the person you wish to contact.
- Your Penpal Numbers - each one. This is so that when we pass on your request to the blogger, we are able to tell them very quickly which country you're from and what type of books you review, and also so that blogger can search for your own advert.
2. We will then send an email to the blogger you have requested, telling them your country of residence and what you review, and your Penpal Numbers so they can search for your advert.
3. The blogger will read your advert and decide if they want to be your penpal or not. They then email us back saying yes or no.
4. If yes, they are emailed your email address so they can email you their emailing address, and the rest is up to you two from there.
5. If no, you are then emailed to told the blogger has declined to be your penpal. If this happens, please don't take it personally. It could be down to something as simple as postage costs. There are other people you can request being penpals with.
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How to Remove Your Advert:
There may come a time when you no longer wish to take part in the Book Blogger Penpal Scheme, or you have a few penpals on the go, and no longer wish to receive requests from others. If this is the case, simply email with "Remove My Advert" in the subject, and provide us with all your Penpal Numbers, so we know where your advert is listed and can make sure it's removed from each place.
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