Busting the Newbie Blues 2012!
8:29 PM
When did you start your blog?
I started my blog back in October 2010 and I wish I had gotten into blogging earlier!
Do you ever still feel like a newbie?
At times, but not very much anymore. I feel very established and I've met some great people along the way.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from?
My biggest challenge was learning my style of reviews and sitting down to write them. Now, I can write reviews fairly quickly, but I found it very challenging before. For new reviewers, taking the time on their reviews is crucial to become a better reviewer.
What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How did you deal with this?
Knowing that not many people were seeing my opinion and that I was not reaching many people.
What do you find most encouraging?
The fact that I can tweet some of my favorite authors as well as other bloggers and get their opinions on the books I am reading.
If you could go back in time and speak with your newbie self, what five bits of wisdom would you tell yourself?
I would tell myself:
1)It's ok to have your own opinion, even if it differs from the popular one.
2)Write your reviews sooner after finishing the books!
3)Don't watch the numbers of followers so much, it's not about that.
4)Review for yourself, if you don't enjoy it don't do it.
5)Don't worry about how many comments you get, just write your reviews!!!
What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?
I love the design of many of the blogs I follow for starters, they aren't too cluttered to read. On a deeper level, I love their reviews and often agree with them.
What do you dislike about blogs you’ve seen? Do you try to avoid this?
My biggest pet peeve is music playing or cluttered sidebars, both drive me nuts so I try to keep my blog as neat as possible.
How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people?
I tweet a lot and try to participate in a few memes a week without overloading (I'm on a meme break right now).
When and how did you get your first ARC (or first few ARCs)?
I got my first ARC around January 2011. I got it by having a few connections in the book industry who found out I had a blog and referred me to Simon & Schuster Canada, which I consider myself very lucky for.
8 comments
I think your blog design is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI also agree about cluttered sidebars. Sometimes there are so many buttons and links in them that I can't find the buttons to follow the blog, so I just leave.
Thanks for sharing your answers!
pagesunbound- Thank you! I just can't stand cluttered sidebars, plus when there's broken widgets, that kills me.
ReplyDeleteHi! I agree about being able to reach authors on Twitter--it's so awesome to finish a great book and being able to tell and congratulate them!
ReplyDeleteHere's my post if you want to check it out: http://nicoleslibrary.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/busting-newbie-blues.html
I know! I just love the interaction Twitter gives you.
DeleteOMG music on blogs is my biggest pet peeve too!
ReplyDeleteYes, it just gets to me!
DeleteOMG , I thought I was the only one who didnt like Music as so many people do it LOL. Im an old follower
ReplyDeletewww.thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com
I was just like you. I used to have a much harder time writing reviews, figuring out how I wanted to format them, what things to include, and what is considered unnecessary. It's much better now :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! I love getting feedback or just say Hi!