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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 353
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Hi gang!
As some of you already may know, I've taken on a new role here at Penguin.
I'm now the new Associate Director of Marketing, Social Media
and Reader Experience at Penguin’s NAL/Berkley Group.
Although I'll no longer your community manager, I’ll be staying on as a strategic advisor to Book Country, and an active moderator/giant
nerd/ban-hammer-of-doom on the Book Country discussion forums. (And I'm REALLY looking forward to all the cool stuff we have in store for Book Country 2.0 in June!)
I love
this community that I helped to build, and don’t plan on disappearing any
time soon.
In the meantime, however, we're also welcoming a new team member: Brandi Larsen is our new Director of Book Country and she'll be
helping Nevena with the management of the Book Country community as I
make the transition into my new role. Additionally, she'll be driving the business side of Book Country.
I just interviewed Brandi for the Industry Blog. Head over there and get to know her a little bit: https://www.bookcountry.com/Industry/Article.aspx?articleId=137491
Brandi has also started a Discussion thread where you can ask her anything you want! https://www.bookcountry.com/Community/Discussions/Default.aspx?id=137495
(I encourage you to ask her about werewolves, zombies and exclamation points, in that order.)
You can Connect with Brandi here on Book Country:
http://www.bookcountry.com/Members/Profile.aspx?id=35ffbd5e-85a8-49b5-9dda-3cfcce3fcb4e
And, lastly, you should be following Brandi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandilarsen
As for me, I'm also happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Shoot me a comment below.
Cheers!
Colleen Lindsay
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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While it makes me a little sad that you'll no longer be the community manager, I'm super excited about your new role, and that you'll be around the office and the discussion forums.
I'm happy that you're staying on as strategic adviser to help us make the new iteration of Book Country as awesome as can be.
Also, the title of Book Country Head Nerd is forever yours!
Nevena
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Joined: 6/18/2012
Posts: 228
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Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome.
I'm happy we still get to work together and that you'll continue to be on here. Book Country wouldn't be the same without you.
Also, could there be a more perfect job for you? I'm so happy for your much-deserved promotion.
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Joined: 4/27/2011
Posts: 608
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Just found this bit of news.
Welcome aboard the crazy train, Brandy! We're a curious, big-hearted and very diverse lot of reader-writers. I've seen discussions about commas and genre classifications grow heated in here, heh! Glad to haves ya! [sic]
PS. And congrats on your promotion, Colleen! Good to know that you won't truly be leaving us, you well-read tuna-spattered cat-food dispenser, you!
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WoW Coleen, I have come to identify you with Book Country. This Brandi person had better not be as nice as she seems or she won't be able to fill your shoes. We need someone who likes to poke us with a sharp stick now & then just for fun. (Well, Carl E Reed needs it most 
ConGrats! All the best to you, Coleen. Thank you for helping so many writers here on Book Country. You will be missed.
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 192
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Colleen - Congrats on your move upward, but you will be missed (I know you're not leaving us completely, though)!
And Brandi, welcome! I look forward to what this change will bring to BC - a great community of fantastic people!
Change is good!
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Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
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Congrats on the promotion, Colleen, but you will be missed as head nerd. Glad you'll still be around.
Welcome to BC, Brandi. Be prepared for the craziness that it is. But we promise we won't bite, hard.
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Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
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Colleen, you have created/grown a marvelous site here. Book Country is both useful and easy to use, with the ability to assemble a slate of favorite discussions/books/people and the prompts for recent activity being a few of the best features.
The easy access attracts users and encourages participation, and the level of participation from many members allows you to get to know them beyond their posted books. Whatever my favorites have to say, I want to hear it. The ease of connection to a helpful community is the draw of BC, and you have been a major force in setting the tone and direction. Brandi, I have read your interview and I like you already. Our writing methods seem to be similar: I try and take the square and then expand it, asking myself: “What happens next? Then, what happens? Then what?” That’s just what I do. I don’t plan, for the most part. I write a scene and ask, what’s next? I also ask, and for me this is the most important thing, why-why-why? I start to explain history and motivation to myself and that is the reason for my all-over-the-map story. I care about my dumb-bunny critters so much that I have to know everything about them. I get a lot out of reading to improve someone else’s work—that’s how I really see what can be strengthened in my own. I also read to examine other approaches, to decide what works and what does not, in order to solve my own problems. See you around, kid.
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Joined: 6/28/2011
Posts: 188
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Colleen, thanks so much for all you've done here, and for reassuring us up front that you'll still be around. The place certainly wouldn't be the same without you. Many congratulations on your promotion!
Brandi, welcome aboard. I see from your profile that one of your preferred genres is Utopian/Dystopian. How appropriate for someone in charge of an online forum! (Naturally, BookCountry is much more utopian than dystopian.)
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Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
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Colleen, congratulations and best wishes! I'm sure you'll excel in your new position just as you did with bringing Book Country online. Thank you so much for everything you contributed to this site (and will continue to contribute!).
Brandi - Welcome! I hope our overall craziness doesn't make you go running and screaming from your office any time soon.
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Joined: 6/18/2012
Posts: 228
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It was refreshing to walk into a community that had been created with so much love. That's all Colleen. She's fierce and protective of this community, especially the levels of friendship and respect that you've established together. I think that's a large part of what makes it awesome, and I'll work hard to protect and support that.
@GD I'll do my best to be nice and poke you with sticks.
@Laura <Waves.>
@Angela and @LeAnna, I come from a newsroom so my levels of crazy tolerance may be higher than most folk. My husband would argue (rightly so, I think) that I'm at my happiest amongst the chaos.
@Carl Heated conversations about commas are my favorite. (Example: I'm using the serial comma now out of respect for my Penguin colleagues, but I feel so conflicted. That's a whole other thread, though.)
@Mimi I can't wait to read your work and talk about writing.
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Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 353
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Aw, you guys are all so nice! *blushes* *digs toe awkwardly in dirt*
It has certainly been fun building the community, and I'm thrilled about the new technology we'll be implementing in the summer, too. The tech team we have working on it are fantastic, and mostly giant nerds, so they're trying hard to make something that's whiz-bang awesome for y'all.
In the meantime, I'll keep dropping by the discussions. Feel free to leave questions for me here, too!
Cheers!
Colleen
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Congratulations, Colleen!! 
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