May 13, 2019

I’ve Been Nominated For The Blogger Recognition Award!

I’ve been nominated! It makes my day to be nominated for an award! Bloggers work hard to bring their followers consistent, inspiring, and relevant posts, and although it’s thrilling when followers leave likes and comments, it’s extra thrilling when fellow bloggers recognize and shout out your efforts.

It’s with a full heart that I shout out a huge thank you to Amanda at The Lexington Bookie for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award. As well as answering the questions, this is a great opportunity for me to share a few extraordinary bloggers with you.

Blogger Recognition Award Rules:

1. Thank the blogger for nominating you and give the link to their blog.
2. Write a blog post on your website showing the award.
3. Describe the story of why you started your blog.
4. Write two pieces of advice you have for new bloggers.
5. Nominate 10 more bloggers.
6. Notify each of your nominees that you have nominated them.

Why I Started Blogging:

When I first contemplated retirement from my teaching career, I knew I would need to channel that passion and energy. I needed something I could jump right into that would help ease the bittersweet sting of retirement. I started by thinking about my interests and skills: I am a voracious reader, I love searching out and recommending the best books (especially histfic), I love to read new releases, I love to write, I often annoy others by oversharing my great reads with anyone who will listen, I am not intimidated by technology, (teaching required learning new technology and before my teaching career I dabbled in graphic design), and I was already an avid reader of various blogs. During the last week of teaching, I drove home each night dreaming and scheming about creating my own space on the world wide web to share my love of reading and great books. On the last day of teaching (June 17), I hunkered down with a yellow pad to write my first blog post. By July, I had met with a techie friend (thanks Chad!) to help me with the intricacies of WordPress and by July 27, I was ready to hit publish. Of course, the weeks and months since then have provided great opportunities for learning more about the wonderful world of blogging.

Advice For New Bloggers:

1. One aspect of blogging that caught me by surprise in the beginning is the amount of time required for blog promotion. My first advice for new bloggers is to have all your social networks set up at the same time you establish your blog so that you’re ready to promote across all platforms from the first published post. I’m caught up now, but I approached this backward by first writing several posts and then gradually building my social media presence over the next few months. Twitter was the last hurdle when Jennifer at Tar Heel Reader took the time to point out that my Twitter button was not set up to share my blog posts. (an example of the supportive blogging community!) It took me a while to realize how convenient (and preferred) Twitter sharing is, and I certainly missed out on the window of promoting the first year’s blog posts. (On a side note: it’s important to have your follow/subscribe options and social media sharing buttons connected and visible on your website). Today I regularly share my posts on Instagram (bookstagram), Twitter, Pinterest, FaceBook (on my blog’s FB page and through interacting with various FB blogging or book groups), and I post my reviews (with a blog link) on Goodreads. It’s beneficial if your blog name is the same or similar across all platforms. I spend about two hours every day promoting my blog (sharing on various platforms, blog hopping (making comments and tweeting others’ posts), posting/interacting on Instagram and Twitter, and making Pinterest images for the next few posts). I hear that blogging is 20% writing content and 80% promotion…..it certainly feels this way! The time I would devote to promotion definitely took me by surprise. Some benefits to the time spent on promotion include being inspired by what others are doing, creating a bank of post ideas, and building a support network.
2. My second piece of advice for new bloggers is to put yourself out there and interact in the blogging/instagram/twitter/pinterest communities! I’m an introvert (except when it comes to talking about great books) so this part was difficult for me at first. I was also security conscious and the thought of interacting with complete strangers from around the world intimidated me! When I first started blogging I wasn’t aware of the importance of establishing a support system. Most bloggers are generous with their encouragement/interaction/support. They are usually happy to answer your questions and offer advice. As with IRL friendships, this is a two-way street! When you tweet or retweet someone’s post, they will usually express appreciation and often you will find that they will reciprocate. Eventually, you will find your people in your niche! It’s thrilling that your new blogging friends might be from your same city or county, from across the United States, or across the ocean, or on another continent (I have found my people in all these locations!). In order for this to happen, though, you do need to put yourself out there!

***I’m planning a post in the near future with a few more tips!

My Nominations:

I’m nominating the following bloggers who exemplify support and encouragement, and they always inspire me! I look forward to each of their posts and I hope you will check them out. (listed in no particular order)

1. Nicki at The Secret Library Book Blog
2. Jennifer at The Tar Heel Reader
3. Lynne at Fictionophile
4. Tina at Reading Between the Pages
5. Kendra at Kendra Nicole (lifestyle blog)
6. Rikki and Michaela at The Ardent Biblio
7. Elizabeth at Silver’s Reviews
8. Ashley at Ashes Books & Bobs
9. Jaymi at Orange County Readers
10. Kristin at Kristin Kraves Books

Please also visit Amanda at The Lexington Bookie which is where this all started!

This list is only a small sample of the blogs I follow and appreciate and learn from.

I sincerely hope my two pieces of advice have helped a new blogger! If you have a question about blogging, I’d be happy to see your question in comments. When I first started blogging, I scoured the internet looking for tips, hints, and advice. Please don’t be shy about asking! It’s an ongoing leaning curve.

QOTD: If you are a blogger, what is one aspect of blogging that you wish you had known from the beginning? If you are a reader of blogs, if there one thing you’d like bloggers to know about your experience that could help us become better bloggers?

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