Happy Monday everyone!
I have an unexpected day free!
I thought I’d take the opportunity to just chat about blogging and stuff! I was at a conference a few weeks ago and we had several discussions about blogging philosophy. These conversations got me thinking about the direction I want this blog to go in.
I started this blog for two main reasons:
1) the technological challenge
2) to write down my thoughts on books that I’ve read
I didn’t aspire to be a writer, in fact, I’ve never aspired to be a writer. I am a reader, a voracious reader. I am never without a book close at hand. I can remember reading a post shortly after I started this blog about someone who received free books in the mail. I thought to myself – that will never happen to me. Holy cow, has it happened to me! I have a TBR pile that numbers in the multiple hundreds and I have had to close to reviews to try to catch up. The reality is that I can’t possibly read all the books that I have been offered.
This made me realize exactly how many authors there are out there that have books that need at least a little voice. In fact, if it wasn’t for this blog, I wouldn’t have met some wonderful authors like Maureen Driscoll, Norah Wilson, or Virna DePaul. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to read some of the best stories that I’ve read in my life! Feel free to drop by and say hi to these wonderful women….and read their books!!
Frankly, before this blog, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to read something that didn’t come out of a New York Publishing house. If I couldn’t buy it at a bookstore or Walmart or the grocery store, I didn’t read it. I didn’t have any sort of an ereader and I preferred to be able to hold the book in my hands. That has changed also! I understand the advantages of my Nook!
I now realize that more and more book bloggers are the new gatekeepers of book promotions. I don’t post more than once a day, but I have 7 days a week to give some publicity to some authors. I simply can’t read fast enough to post 7 reviews each week. As a result I post about 3 reviews on average each week and then offer up the rest of the days to author interviews or promotions. I want to use the vehicle of my blog to promote as many authors as I can. Does it matter to me that I may not have read their books? Not really. I feel that everyone deserves a chance to talk about their book. My readers are smart cookies! I think that everyone can decide for themselves if they want to read a book that is being talked about. They don’t need my 2 cents on every book they read!
So, have I met my original blogging objectives? Yes! I have conquered the technology and in fact spend a good portion of each week teaching WordPress and optimization to other WordPress users. I have had the opportunity to write down my thoughts on the books that I have read, and met so many wonderful authors.
I have discovered that my readers, like me, like romance, be it contemporary or historical or erotica, but they like romance. When I try to promote an author from a different genre, there isn’t much interest – ie hits. Because of this, you will see a bit of a change in the next few months. I’ll be narrowing the focus of this blog to just adult romance. I might as well stick with what I like!
Thank you to everyone who has filled out my survey – more to come on that in the next few weeks, and thank you to everyone who continues to share my enthusiasm for romance novels.
Hope you all have a great week!
Related articles
- Blogger Confession Time: Switching Genres (geekybloggersbookblog.com)
- Coffee Talk ~ With Moira (brazenbroadsbookbash.blogspot.com)
- Escape to Romance: More Historical Romance Chat with Jenn LeBlanc (booksavvybabe.com)
- Weekly Recap: What Ya Missed (3/26-3/31) (lovetoreadforfun.com)
It sounds as though you have developed a very good way of doing things with your blog. I’m not much of a romance reader, but I agree that you should stick with what you like and know best, because otherwise, you and your visitors/followers won’t be as interested!
Hi Laurie!
Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your words of wisdom! Much appreciated!
I think your post is very interesting..I agree with you..I cant read fast enough to post more than one post a week ( or so..)
I say..stick with what you like to read!
Hi Melissa!
Thanks for stopping by and saying hi! I wish I could spend hours and hours reading….sadly, not enough time any longer!
When I have an unexpected day free, I sleep! But I’m particularly glad you did this. I think e-publishing is going to change traditional publishing similar to what TV did to radio. Traditional publishing will never die out. I also like a solid book in my hands, but the gatekeepers are going to change.
My agent tried to get my first book published traditonally. She was relentless, sending it just about everywhere in NYC. And while we got a lot of positive responses just about everywhere, there was always someone up the ladder who said no. There was even one place (I can’t remember where) where they said they do 12 books a year and whether they’d do my book hinged on whether they were re-signing one of their authors. In the end, they re-signed her and I was out of contention. So I’m very thankful for self-publishing, and even more thankful for people like you, Barb, who gave me a chance.
🙂 I’ve loved your books so much that I just can’t fathom why they aren’t NYTimes bestsellers. I’m certainly thankful to have run across you and thankful to the blog for being the vehicle that has brought me to you and to others. I’m plugging away on a top 10 books post that you are featured in….stay tuned!
Barb
Hi Sugarbeat, as a new blogger I loved this post. I have been reviewing since the late 90’s but only recently decided to start up a blog and it’s on Blogger because it seemed easy to setup. I am not tech savvy, LOL. Was that a mistake and should I have gone with WordPress instead?
H Laurie,
I like and prefer WordPress! I have a blogger blog as well and I find it too constricting! Moving from Blogger to WordPress is not difficult and I can help if it is something that you want to do. I’m also going to be teaching a WordPress course in the next month or so. You can have a look and see how straight forward it is. Don’t hesitate to drop me a note.
You are so sweet. I will definitely check out your WordPress course and see if it’s for me. If it’s user friend I’m all for it! Blogger is a bit of pain for me but I thought it was only because I’m new at it all.
Hi Laurie,
I’ll send you an email when I have more information on the course. I am biased – although I used Blogger, I do prefer WordPress. I find it less constricting. Blogger does have it’s fans, though. There are alot of people who would never switch to WP.
Great post! And congrats to you on completing your goals as a blogger. It’s takes a great person to stick to their goals and not let things go to their head. I adore your blog!
I’m a little overwhelmed myself with the pile of books I have for review, but am picking away at it and limiting what new books I accept.
One day in the fall, I might switch to WP, but I do not have the time nor patience to attempt that switch just yet. 😉 But sounds like you are a guru at it now. Congrats on that as well.
Hi Crystal!
Thanks so much for your kind words! Very much appreciated! I think it is a mutual admiration society – I love your blog also and enjoy visiting often!
I dont think anyone expects a blogger to have read the work of each author they host. The thing about guest blogs is that the post or interview response tells you a lot about the author…so you, the reader, can judge for yourself.
Grace x
Hi Grace!
Thanks for stopping by! I agree with you. I love reading guest posts or interviews! They tell me so much more about a book than just the blurb does. I feel like I can make a more informed decision…..just my 2 cents 🙂