Harry, A History ~ Book Review (& when I joined the HP fandom)

I picked this book up the other day for a couple of dollars, at my local second hand store. I was actually looking for the last three Harry Potter books to complete my collection. Then my friend handed me this book – Harry, A History – and I bought it. I was a little skeptical but it seemed promising. It’s written by Melissa Anelli, an admin at the Harry Potter fan site: The Leaky Cauldron. It’s about her journey into the fandom and her experiences along the way. As the tag line on the front cover reads: ‘The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside The Harry Potter Phenomenon.’

This book was intriguing and kept me interested for hours. Being on school holidays it was a good way to spend a day – reading in the sun on my back porch. But the thing I found most interesting, was reading about the author and the Harry Potter fandom’s experience in waiting for the books to come out. I first read the series in 2009 when they’d all been published. I never had to wait for months even years for the next book to be released. I just finished one book and then picked up the next. I never got the chance to sit and ponder what would happen next.
This is mainly because the first book was published in 1997, a year before I was born. But I’m still consider myself a major HP fan regardless.

Now back to the book, which covers topics such as Wizard Rock – Harry Potter themed music – to how HP fans got the author through the tragic 9/11 attacks when she didn’t know whether her sister was okay. The book is a must read for any Harry Potter fan. I just hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rach, x

LMAO

The Truth About Admining a Facebook Fan Page

Nine months ago, May 2012, I was at a sleepover at one of my good friends house. We are both huge The Hunger Games fans, and one of us -it might have been me- suggested we make a Hunger Games fan page. We both loved the idea, and spent ages pouring over the first book, looking for the perfect quote. Eventually we decided, and our page was officially created. “She has no idea. The effect she can have” – The Hunger Games.

I remember we spent hours posting things and asking for ‘promos’ on other pages. By the time we went to bed we had 30 likes on our page, and we were so excited. We didn’t realise what we’d gotten ourselves into. I’m not gonna be blunt – admining a fan page is hard work. For six months it was just me & my friend, asking for promos, sharing other pages, making statuses, posting photos. It was hard work. A promo by the way, you might have seen, is where one page will post on another page, “Hi there, promo for promo?” Basically you share there page, and they’ll share yours. A share for a share. It became harder to find new content. You have to be a good page. Posting at least once a day, doing promos every now and then when you (or another page) asks, so you get more likers. But then you can’t post stuff you’ve already posted, or steal something from another page without crediting them and you have to keep it HG related most of the time. After six months, in about November 2012, when we had only 300 likes, my friend and I opened an admin contest. We chose four trial admins, and three of those we’re taken on board, and are still with us today, three months later where we have 1145 likes!

But don’t get me wrong. Being a Facebook admin can be good fun. You have this power – being able to reach out and talk to people from all over the planet, bringing Hunger Games fans together. It’s great. And of course it doesn’t have to be HG. You could make a Harry Potter, or Divergent or The Host or Game of Thrones fan page. Or whatever page you want. It doesn’t even have to be a fandom page.  If you’re thinking about creating a FB page, just remember that it can be a big commitment, and you have to be prepared and able to post regularly otherwise your fans won’t be impressed. And you don’t have to have more than one person to make a page (although it will certainly make it easier). Or if you don’t want to have the hassle of making the page from scratch, look out for pages that are running admin contest, and enter! You never know, you might win!

And please, if you are a Hunger Games fan and have the time, please go check out my page, and maybe even like it? It would mean the word to me and my fellow admins! And if you do like a lot of pages and they post content, like or comment on it. It means the world to us admins, so don’t be scared. There’s nothing better than having people like or comment on your statuses and photos! Thanks on behalf of the admins 😀

Check out my page >>> 

http://www.facebook.com/SheHasNoIdeaTheEffectSheCanHaveTheHungerGames

Rach, x

LMAO