2013 Rewind - The Blogging side
WARNING: This'll be a REALLY long post so I'll put key points. A lot of discussion mushed into one...
The Blogging Side of this year
Intro -I'd be lying if I said this year was uneventful! So many things happened including the start of my blog (May 10th). Sunny has been trying to get me to blog for ages but I always turned her down because I thought it was a waste of time. How sorry I am for even thinking that and I definitely learnt my lesson of keeping my mouth shut until I try it. I wouldn't have been able to get to this spot without her or the Goodreads group Teen Bloggers. Whenever I had troubles with my blog or as far as to choosing my next book, Teen Bloggers was always there to fall back on for support an help.
One thing I like about the whole blogging community is seeing other peoples blogs improve whether it were the designs or just the content, it definitely grew throughout the year. In saying that I would probably have to say the same thing about me. My first review I had no idea what to say and it was the shortest review I had seen in my life. But now my writing has improved and I find it a lot easier to put my thoughts into words. (Even if it's still a little choppy here and there)
Benefits -
As much as I saw blogging as a fun hobby I can't say that my intentions were all that pure. The idea of getting free books was definitely alluring. This is the awesome rewards of being a blogger. As in one of my discussion post - How Has Blogging Changed Me? - I stated that when you blog you are always up to date in the new releases and popular books. It made it a lot easier for me to know what I wanted to read next as when I was just a reader, I just walked into the library and just chose whatever book had a nice cover. This saved me from a lot of reading slumps but put me in many.
Challenges -
- Publicising
My biggest challenge was and still is publicising my blog. I am very happy with the amount of followers I got and the feedback has been great but I still want to widen the amount. Sometimes it's hard being a blogger and you get so excited to see some comments and you open your email and there are 0 comments...
Some days you get heaps and then the others you get like none. It's a sometimes thing unfortunately.
- Reviews
Reviews were also hard to get into but that just improved over time. There is no set rule for writing reviews, it's really up to you. Each blogger has different styles which sets yours apart from everyone else. As a tip I would just say keep changing it up to keep it interesting. Add pictures or a gif every once in a while.
- Design
Design was also really hard for me. It's funny looking back at my old designs and comparing it to now. Thank god Sunny recommended me (which I recommend to you) an amazing graphic designer, Emma, who owns the blog The Graphicness. If you're in need of a new design (header, background, button, banner etc) she is definitely the best person to go to. It's free (at the moment) and she does exactly what you want.
If you guys have been following me since the beginning, you'll know that my previous header was horrible. But Emma was able to incorporate the original header into this new one and it just looks so much better!
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| My original header |
- Fonts
I don't know whether I'm alone in this but fonts always challenged me! Nothing ever looks perfect to me on my blog. I remember I used to drive myself crazy just constantly checking on it when I first got it. Now I tend to avoid looking at it otherwise it just makes me upset or fills me with rage.
- Blogger in General
Now this doesn't mean I'm changing to word press or anything but Blogger just annoys me. Sometimes I think it does it to annoy me. I am having this issue where I can't get the preview when I'm fixing the design and it says it's a temporary problem but I dunno...a couple months doesn't sound temporary to me.
- Motivation
I think every blogger can relate to me when I say motivation. Sometimes I think I suffer from blogging slumps (it's a real thing) It's the same with reading but you just lack the motivation to do anything involving a blog.
Book Slumps -
I know I'm not alone when I say I suffered from this more than once this year. There is no winning when it comes to this. I usually fall into these when there are no new books at the library or book store and I just have nothing to read but I can also fall into one having too much to read! I can't win! Next year I aim to try and keep myself occupied and not fall into as many. I also want to write a post next year on how to avoid them and get yourself out of one but first I have to figure out the solution my self.
Twitter -
I'm not a big fan of all these new social media sites and I don't usually take part in them, but somehow Sunny managed to convince me to get it. This has actually been really helpful because it helped publicise my blog and keep up with everyone elses posts. It also helped finding out about the latest giveaways and just general bookish news. It also meant I could find out about book events near me that I was able to attend this year. If you don't have it I highly recommend you get it. It's not a waste of time and even if you don't own a blog it just helps you to keep up with all your favourite blogs.
So this post turned out to be too long and I have much more to say so I'm splitting it into two parts. The blogging side of this year and The bookish side. This'll make it easier for you guys and I don't want to just pile it on you. Feedback will be much appreciated!
Thank you
- Francoise
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