It’s Book Blogger Appreciation Week!
It’s the last day of BBAW!!! I can hardly believe it’s already over! It’s been a wonderful week and I’ve certainly met quite a few new book bloggers I never knew before this week, which is fabulous! The last topic for the week is all about tools for blogging, take a look…
The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things that to you are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.
This is a harder topic than I thought it would be expound upon. Perhaps that’s because I’ve been sick the better part of the last day or two. Who knows? I’m not really one that follows a whole lot of trends and maybe that gets me out on the fringe a bit but that’s okay. So here are the few things that I do to try and keep myself motivated and coming back year after year and day after day:
- Remind myself why it is that I’m book blogging – It’s easy to get caught up in the “stuff” surrounding book blogging. I’m terrible about this at times. You feel like you don’t have enough followers or enough comments or the right amount of ARC’s or whatever it might be that you measure success by. It happens to all of us at one time or another. When it does step back and think, why do I do this? It should absolutely be for you. Sometimes just taking a step back helps me remember the reasons I started and it energizes me going forward. It also reaffirms my voice and helps my writing.
- Ask for Help - I said this the other day, but it applies to everything. If you aren’t feeling great about how your site looks, how your reviews are sounding or just generally need a boost…ask a friend! Part of the wonderful things about book blogging is that we are an incredibly friendly bunch. We’re willing and able to help in a number of ways. So just ask! I’ve been surprised that even some of the most wonderful helps I’ve received have been from publishers I work with which is great because they can tell you what they’re looking for. So ask!
- Read - This may sound like a no-brainer, but sometimes it’s easy to get caught up on Twitter or commenting or anywhere that doesn’t result in your nose in a book. I’ve found that a few days away with a dozen or so great books (even the potential re-read) will have me energized and excited to get back on and keep talking & blogging.
There are my two cents. What about you? How did/do you interpret this writing prompt and what do you do to keep moving forward?
Hi
I hope you are feeling better . You offer some wise advice in this post
Shelleyrae @ book’d Out
You make so much sense.
Great points, Danielle. Do you have an old post about how you initially got going contacting publishers etc?
I happened upon your post after a few days of thinking about the daunting task of starting up a blog. I’ll probably wait a few months until I’m out of grad school and so have more time, but I appreciate your thoughts and especially the point about friendliness! I know I’ll need to ask for some advice/opinions along the way.
I agree. It’s SO easy to get caught in the hype and compare ourselves to others.
The thing is: we’re human with only a finite amount of time.
Some of us have more followers but less comments. Others vice versa.
It’s all about what’s important to you and what you can handle time wise.
But the important thing is, this isn’t a contest. Have fun and make friends.
Excellent advice!
Eew, sorry you’re sick! Your tips are right on. I had a great experience with #2 just on Wednesday when i asked for help on Twitter. People swooped down in droves to advise me, and I even had a couple of people say hi over on Twitter. Everyone was so happy to help. I love it! I’ve found stepping back and taking some time to read can be really helpful for me, too. Sometimes I get so caught up in the blogging/community aspect that reading borders on stressful…SO not what I’m going for!
These are definitely good ideas. I especially like the first one. I’ve had to step back and think about why I do both of my blogs. I finally decided I didn’t want/need more followers and visitors to my other blog because that’s not the point of it. But with the book blog, it is tempting to try to do more and build it up over time. I try to remember that’s really not the point.
Read is the perfect answer, sometimes I seriously say to myself why are you on the computer, go read…..
Have a great weekend.
Oh how I need to ask for help sometimes (and don’t). I think that’s the curse of my nature. I will try to overcome it!
Yes, sometimes blogging can take me away from reading….after all that is why we are blogging.
have a good weekend
carol
Read, Read, Read, otherwise your no longer a book blog.
Your third point is the Great Irony of Book Blogging – it’s so easy to get caught up in the “blogging” side that we lose time for the “book” side. My reading hit an all-time low during my first full year of book blogging! Then again, if I weren’t a book blogger, I wouldn’t have even realized that happened, let alone been able to address it by re-focusing on hitting the books.
Feel better soon, Danielle!
I know what you mean about reading. I could read a lot more if I didn’t spend so much time chatting on Twitter, thinking about blog posts, organizing my blog, and commenting on posts! Sometimes my balance gets a bit off.
Your first point is the one that I have been struggling with/thinking about this summer. (It’s just taking me longer than I thought to do)
Seems like that last tip should be obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to let reading fall by the wayside when the internet is calling!
Oh this is so true, and the “Why do I blog?” is something I think about often. I think after the newness passes we begin to realize what it is we really want to do, but it is easy to get caught up in all of the fluff or whatever. You have to do what makes you happy