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May 12, 2015

How To Become A Book Reviewer

HappyMother's Day (2)

Hello again, savvy savers! If  a mug of soup, a cup of hot tea, and a great, new book sounds like your perfect night, than that makes two of us! If you are anything like me, than you are nothing short of a bibliophile! Well, you are in luck, as this weeks Tutorial Tuesday post centers around being able to score free books.

How can be score free books?

  • You can become a book reviewer, with one of several dozen online book reviewer programs.
  • The best part is that you do not need to be a designated book blogger, to be able to review books.
  • You simply need to have a love of the written word, a social media following, and a verifiable mailing address.
  • Each blogger will need to apply for book reviews, and just wait for the reviews to come in.
  • Keep in mind, you will need to keep reviews legal, by always disclosing your reviewer status. 
  • Beyond this, you will need to review books online, as well as reviewing on an online purchasing outlet, such as Goodreads, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. 

Here are a list of Reviewer Programs:

  1. BookSneeze:  They have both print and e-books available. Booksneeze sends out a monthly newsletter informing participants of the latest books available for review.  

  2. Blogging for Books: This program is ran by Waterbrook Multnomah. It has a pretty simple sign-up and I like that they send out email notices monthly informing you of the different books they have available. 

 3. Bethany House: Here is a link to the latest newsletter with the list of books available for review.

  1. Tywebbin: Offers a quick simple sign-up to be host of one their virtual book tours. Books offered from this review program tend to be primarily African American books. 

  2. Cross Focused Reviews: This program is a service of Cross Focused Media, LLC. Once you have signed up on their list, you will receive email notifications of available books on tour. 

  3. TLC Book Tours:  Offers a quick sign up process to get on their list of tour hosts. 

  4. Tyndale Blog Network:This program is hosted by Tyndale House publishers. Each month they send out a list of available books once you have been approved. 

  5. NetGalley: This program offers books from a vast number of publishers. According to their website, “NetGalley is a service to promote and publicize forthcoming titles to readers of influence. 

  6. The B& B Media: I have done several reviews through this program. Once you’re on their distribution list, you receive an email notification of available books they have and you simply fill out the form to be a part of that book’s tour. They give you a date the review must be posted by.

This list provides a great start for book lovers and bloggers alike, that are looking to review books. Each program offers free books in exchange for an honest review and have their own requirements about review length and where you must publish your reviews.  So, today I challenge you look into saving on your monthly book purchasing costs, by becoming a book reviewer!

Here’s to saving,

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Save $120.00 Annually By Lowering Your Thermostat At Night!

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Good morning, savvy savers! For this week’s Greener Living Tip, I wanted to post about a very commonsense method for lowering your household electrical consumption, as well as lowering your carbon footprint, lowering your thermostat at night!

Here are a few reasons to lower your thermostat at night:

1) Help prolong houseplant life. Keeping your thermostat 75 degrees at night will prolong the life of household plants; cooler temperatures at night help to mimic outdoor, nighttime cooling off periods. This tip also allows plants to need less water when they’re cool. A helpful tip, when leaving to go out of town leave plants in the coolest part of the house, and they will instinctively know to consume less water, staying fresher until you return!

2) Help lose weight. To shed a few pounds, drop your thermostat below 70 degrees, for half of each day;. you want the room to be so cold enough so that a light sweater feels perfect. Why is this useful? When the temperature drops, your energy expenditure increases, which tells your body to burn more calories; this can burn roughly 100 a day. Over a period of one month, increased energy can translate into an extra 3,500 calories burned or one pound body fat!

3) Extend the Life of Your Fridge. Your refrigerator and freezer work really hard to keep your food safe and fresh, so when your home is cooler, large Freon-regulated appliances will not have to work as hard to keep your food cool. This will extend the life of the appliance, and help reduce the number of service calls needed to replace Freon.

4) Get a Better Night’s Sleep. Lowering your home’s temperature by about five degrees sends a signal to your brain to release more melatonin into your bloodstream, triggering the desire to sleep.

5) Lowering energy costs. Each one-degree drop on your thermostat can reduce your energy bill by 1-3 percent, and by lowering your thermostat to 68 degrees at night, you will help to lower your energy bill by 10-15 percent, which is an average savings of $120.00 annually!

So, friends, that’s one additional way you can save on your monthly heating bills and make your home a little more zero-waste in the process. And if you have any tips for saving on your monthly heating bills at home I’d love to hear about them below!