Book Blogger Confessions | 04.01.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic:  How does blogging affect your *real* life? Are friends and family supportive? Do you find that blogging cuts into family time? How do you strike a balance between the two?

Ha! I consider blogging to be part of my “real” life – it’s just another extension of me, hanging out on the cyberintervirtualwebs. My friends and family are supportive, but I’m still in the early stages for my blog. I’ve only been blogging regularly for three months, so I’m still getting content and timing adjusted.

I try to draft posts early, like on weekend mornings or during lunch breaks; that way I can maximize time with family and friends. I have a dedicated time set aside and I don’t feel pressured to choose one or the other. When I get home from work, I don’t like to feel like anything is hanging over me so I can spend time with the fella and Huckleberry (Huckleberry does get a little antsy when I spend too much time camped in front of my laptop, regardless of whether I’m at my desk or on the couch).

What about others? How does blogging (whether it’s about books or not!) affect your “real” life?

Book Blogger Confessions | 03.18.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic:  What is important in design for the blogs you follow? What features/elements do you appreciate? What are big turn offs?

So, full disclosure: for the most part, I read blog posts via RSS feeds. I do go to blog posts to leave comments and view any content/media that did not come through the feed. For the most part, I see some common features – social media feeds, challenge banners, and review archives.

Everyone has their own preferences – I’m a fan of cleaner lines and more minimalism in the layout and color scheme. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a good colorful, vibrant layout when I see one. It might work for that blogger and that might be his or her preferred aesthetic. Ultimately, content is king – if the design detracts from that (or even prevents me from finding it!), then I’m out.

What about you all? Any suggestions for book bloggers? Anything you’d suggest for my blog in particular (I should note that I’m exploring new designs for my blog, so suggestions are welcome!)?

Book Blogger Confessions | 03.04.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic:  Giveaways:  As a blogger, how do you feel about extra entries, required entries, etc? Do you have a system to choose/announce winners and keep prizes organized? What method works best for you when hosting a giveaway? (Rafflecopter/Google Doc’s or other)

What do you do about people who enter your giveaways but don’t follow instructions exactly?

Have you ever had problems hosting a giveaway sponsored by an author or publisher who is supposed to send the prize to the winner and doesn’t? How have you handled these issues?

As a prize winner – what do you do if your prize never arrives? Do you contact the blogger or just let it go?

I’ll try to answer as much of this as I can. I’ve never hosted a giveaway, so I  don’t have a system for conducting any aspect of the giveaway process. I’m not exactly adverse to hosting one; I’d just like to get back on track with the blog and grow my follower base. Perhaps I’ll attempt one in 2013 for two possible scenarios:

• If I were particularly passionate about a book I would sponsor a giveaway myself
• If a publisher contacted me about hosting a giveaway for an author/genre

I’ve had one instance where a book was never sent. However, it was for a readathon event and I wasn’t participating to win anything; it meant more to share my love of reading and make new online friends. I’ve won a few books where the publishers sent them later than anticipated, but I usually received emails preparing me for that.

What about you all? How do you feel about giveaways as a blogger/participant?

Book Blogger Confessions | 02.18.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic:  How has blogging and reviewing changed your reading habits? Do you read a genre now that you wouldn’t have tried prior? Or have you been turned off by a genre you used to love?

I think my reading habits have changed a lot since I started blogging. First of all, there’s a huge community out there. I’ve found quite a few bloggers who have similar interests and like a lot of the same books (across genres). When I see a review of 4+ stars, I know it’s something I should consider reading as well. I’ve actually seen books featured on websites and disregarded them, only to add them back after seeing enough favorable reviews from my favorite book bloggers (and not as ARCs or publisher-provided books). I guess it just goes to show you how strong word of mouth advertising can be!

I also participated in a couple of discussion giveaways last year, which helped me discover authors that never would have crossed my path otherwise. Beforehand, I might have gotten some recs from friends; more than likely, I was just picking stuff off the shelves at the bookstore.

The big downside is that I have so many books I want to read but I keep adding to the list, so I end up shelving things for years!

What about you guys? Have your reading habits changed since you’ve been a book blogger? What about reading habits shifting for other reasons?

Book Blogger Confessions | 02.04.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic:  Share the love! In honor of Valentines Day, tell us about a few of the bloggers (and/or) authors you love.

I follow a ton of book blogs, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to these:

• Entomology of a Bookworm
• The Lit Bitch
• The True Book Addict
• S. Krishna’s Books

I’ve been following these guys for quite some time; we have similar reading tastes and I always enjoy their reviews. I’ve added a lot of new blogs to my Google Reader lately, so I’m sure this list will expand over time to include more (and a wider variety) of the blogging community.

As far as authors go, I have a special fondness for (listed in no particular order):

• Neil Gaiman
• Chad Harbach
• George R. R. Martin
• Tana French
• Lev Grossman
• Erin Morgenstern
• Stephen King
• Gillian Flynn
• Erin Kelly
• Margaret Atwood
• Eleanor Brown
• Justin Cronin
• Bill Bryson
• Suzanne Collins
• Tamora Pierce
• Jon Krakauer
• James Renner
• Patricia Wrede

[Internal Monologue: Whoa, there’s a pretty wide variety of genres represented on that there list.]

If you’re unfamiliar with a particular author I would strongly suggest checking him/her out! C’mon, give a book a chance!

Book Blogger Confessions | 01.21.2013

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic: We’ve discussed blogging slumps before but have you ever seriously considered throwing in the towel and quitting blogging? If so, what changed your mind? Did you discuss it with other bloggers?

Oof. Okay, prompt, I get it – I’ve been a bit behind lately! Stop sipping on the Haterade (Do people still say that? I mean, people other than me? Le sigh).

Honestly, I blog for me as much as I do for followers. A few folks have told me they enjoy my blog, and that’s great – but I like having a “safe” place to write my thoughts on literature, putting pen to paper (or more accurately, fingertips to keyboard?), and life. I am trying to build a platform to showcase my writing, and I’ve definitely had slumps – last week I missed a few features. However, I’ve never wanted to throw in the towel and quit altogether.

This year, I am making a more concerted effort to blog more consistently and offer unique content to my followers. Hopefully, those slumps will be fewer and more far between!

Any other book bloggers out there? What do you do to prevent slumps when they come on?

Book Blogger Confessions | 01.07.2013

I decided to participate in a book blogger event I saw posted on Bookish Ardour. I really enjoyed Bonnie’s post today and it got me thinking. I was struggling to come up with a focus topic for Modify Monday and this week’s prompt helped me a great deal!

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers “confess” and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Hosted by For What It’s Worth and Midnyte Reader. Check out the Book Blogger Confessions Schedule to see what topics are coming up.

Today’s Topic: Happy 2013! What are your blogging goals for the new year? Are you making any changes or testing out new ideas for reviews or organization? Have you joined any challenges?
What are the trends you noticed in blogging from 2012 and what do you hope to see for the blogging community in 2013?

One of my big blogging goals is to be more consistent and stick to a schedule. It kind of plays into my all-around goal of prioritizing and making time for me. Too often in 2012 did I set myself aside for others’ needs. As part of that, I’m trying to conceptualize how I will post book reviews. I’m debating whether to set aside a specific day to post reviews, or if I should just go with a “post a review no later than a week after the book has been finished.” I’m going to have to decide soon because I just finished American Gods and I need to post about it!

One thing I noticed in 2012 (and was guilty of myself) was committing to way too many challenges! I tried to participate in over a dozen different challenges last year. Eventually I reached a point where I just wanted to read what I wanted to read, not figure out which books I could read to fit into X category for a challenge. A few other bloggers also dropped out of some challenges throughout the year. As I finalize which challenges I want to complete in 2013, I’m going to keep that in mind. Reading shouldn’t be a source of stress!

Any other book bloggers out there? What are some of your goals and challenges (book reading or otherwise)?