27 December 2023 update: Bluesky is now publically viewable without logging in! You’ll still need an invite code to join, but now you can check out the site and view posts before creating an account. Check out my profile here. Some other notable features which have been added since I first wrote this post are the ability to control who replies to your posts and the ability to create (public) lists.

A year or two ago, Twitter would have been my preferred avenue for sharing an invitation of this nature. Now, Twitter is the reason I have an invitation to share at all. It’s been a long slow death but I’m fully abandoning Twitter in favour of Bluesky. Over the past year, I’ve registered for Instagram, Threads, and Mastodon but never used any of them. I’m staking my hopes in Bluesky, so today’s post is an invitation for you to join me there.

I’m not including much ‘how to use Bluesky’ in this post, though I’d be happy to point you to further resources if you have questions. If you used to enjoy the community banter aspect of Twitter and are looking for a place to recapture that experience, I recommend giving Bluesky a try.

Picture book author Debbi Ruth Ohi posted “Why I’m on Bluesky (and my personal take on social media for the kidlit community right now)” on her blog. If you’re not sure whether Blue Sky is a good fit for you (whether you’re part of kidlit or not), perhaps give it a read. The post also includes a lot of introductory tips for new users.

Right now, aspiring kidlit writers dominant my list of followers. That’s fine… but what I would really love is to reconnect with readers and book bloggers! So I’m putting out this call as a personal invitation to any of my blog readers – please come join me on Bluesky.

I currently have two invite codes. Users periodically receive additional codes, so even if I use these two, I can take names for the next time I get an invite. If you would like one, please leave a comment, send me an email, DM me on Twitter – whatever platform you prefer! I have privated my Twitter account. I’m no longer frequenting the site, but will maintain my account for DMs and memories for the time being.

So far on Bluesky, I have created two feeds which you might like to check out: one for IMWAYR and one for MGLit. Other feeds I browse include Book Bloggers (created by Jordyn @ Birdies Book Nook), Diverse Books (created by Amanda @ Bookish Brews), and Mutuals (created by SkyFeed).

It’s important to remember that BlueSky is a fledgling website, especially when compared to the behemoth of Twitter. It’s in beta and some of your favourite Twitter features are absent. But since I started using it in August, I’ve found it a refreshing corner of the internet where I can actually share and chat about books with folks like I used to on Twitter.

Don’t hesitate to request an invite in the comments! Feel free to share this post with other book bloggers who I may not be mutuals with.