I've been nominated by lovely ladies Carrie over at The Book Goddess, Erika at Books and Stars and Sinead at Less Reality More Books in the Blogger Recognition Award tag. Thanks guys!
Rules
1. Select 15 other blogs you want to give this award to. Do some digging if you must! Find those blogs. You cannot nominate yourself of the person who has nominated you.
2. Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. List who you nominated in your post. Make sure to attach the award yourself!
3. Comment on each blog and let them know you've nominated them. Provide a link to your award post.
4. Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing!
My Story
I've always been a big reader, even since I was little and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. My mum used to wake me up for school when I'd slept with my head in a book and had to go to class with lines on my face. But in recent years reading has taken something of a backseat. After finishing college, I spent some time travelling and then took everyone's advice to "settle down" and "get sensible". I took a job which I love, but is stressful as hell and ate up my time to the point where I woke up one day and realised that I just wasn't happy. I'd been so caught up in being this successful career girl that I'd lost sight of the little things that were important to me and made me smile. The pay was great, it sounded good on paper and the parents were proud - always a plus - but it just wasn't what I wanted to do. One of the things that put it all into perspective for me was when I realised I hadn't bought or picked up a new book since I'd moved into my house. Almost 9 months ago. So as part of "getting back to me", I decided to set up my book blog. None of my friends are big readers of the YA/fantasy books that I love so much (my book group's latest pick is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote to give you an idea!) and I wanted somewhere to spew my thoughts and chat to likeminded bookworms. And the blogsphere has not let me down! The internet may have a bad rap for bringing out the worst in people, but it also brings out the best and the book blogging community has got to be one of the friendliest and most welcoming out there. You guys are the best!
Advice for New Bloggers
Do it! I was nervous as hell setting the blog up. What if no one read it? What if I just got a load of abuse in the comments (or no comments at all) and had to shut the whole thing down? Honestly, don't worry! I've only been blogging for a month or so but trust me when I say that book bloggers are some of the nicest people you will ever virtually meet. Don't be afraid to reach out. There are so many ways to connect with people and so many people out there, you'll realise where all the other book lovers have been your whole life.
And don't worry about trying to please anyone else, much less everyone else. Your blog is yours. You like that neon zigzag background? Have that neon zigzag background! My designer friend hates the indie flower font I use for my headers. But it's my blog and I love it, so it's going nowhere! Blogs are a constant work in progress, so try a few things out, see what works. Same with your content. Blog envy is painfully real, but don't try an imitate other people's, make it your own! Write about what resonates with you. If you post something that you think is clever and witty on Twitter and your follower number drops like a stone, who cares? What's the worst that can happen?
My Nominees
Priyanka @ A Booklion's Hideaway
Anna @ Enchanted by YA
Jessica @ A Great Read
Maria @ YA Teen Book Nerd
Phina @ Books Coffee and Life
Stina @ Once Untold
Jen @ My So-Called Book Reviews
Ardis @ Pondering The Prose
Piper @ Pipers Book Blog
Jess @ Little Book Heaven
Izzy @ The Reading Izzy
Kati @ Bookaholic Rambling Reviews
Donita @ My Random Book Thoughts
Aditi @ Book Stop Corner
Lauren @ My Expanding Bookshelf
I love your advice. It's great and so very true!
ReplyDeleteCarrie @The Book Goddess
Thanks Carrie. I still get so much blog envy when I see other people's book blogs though! There are so many great designs and widgets and features that I think I could spend 24 hours a day on my blog and still not get everything done, so I've just stopped wanting to!
DeleteI absolutely love your blogger advice, espeically the second one! I definitely think it still applies to old bloggers, even I worry too much about my content and compare it to others. It's always best to have fun and write exactly what you want :) great advice!
ReplyDeleteYour new GFC & Twitter follower,
Cody @ Literary-ly Obsessed
Thank you. There are so many great blogs I'm constantly getting new inspiration and ideas, but you'd just go round in circles if you kept worrying too much about everybody else.
DeleteNew Twitter follower btw :)
Thank you for tagging me! I agree that your blog advice is spot on! I'm surprised to see this is a relatively new blog. I thought you were a veteran!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thank you Ardis! Nope, I'm a blogging newbie. I still get massively intimidated by blogs that have been going for years with thousands of followers, but I'm just doing my thing. I'm just pleased that anyone is actually reading it!
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