Secret Life of Book Blogger Tag

Thank you to these two wonderful ladies Lia and Raven for tagging me. ❤

Go check out their blogs if you already haven’t. 🙂

1.How long have you been a blogger?

I started blogging during the new year so this July will be my seventh month. During the first couple of months I didn’t exactly know what my blog was going to be about. It started out just being really random: random thoughts, rants, quotes. Basically my personal journal. The only book related thing that I was doing at that time was the 30 day book challenge. Then one day I ventured into book reviewing.  I really wanted to share my opinions on the books that I read, and from there blogging about books was what I wanted to focus on.

2.At what point do you think you will stop?

I hope I will never stop. However, if I do get really busy with other things in life then I may stop. All I can say is that I may not post as much as I would like to, but I’d still log onto my account and read everyone’s posts.

3.What is the best thing?

The book blogging community itself. I love that I have come to know other people who loves books as much as I do. Being able to interact with other book lovers even if it’s only virtual communication, it makes me happy. A majority of my friends don’t read so it’s difficult to discuss bookish related things with them.

4.What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

At times, I feel like I’m lacking in creativity when it comes to my blog and it’s so bland–meaning I feel as if I post the same thing, just on different days. I would often have a difficult time thinking of what to post because I’d like my blog posts to be more varied. I don’t think there’s anything wrong if your blog only consists of book reviews, but for me I want other things on my blog other than book reviews, but still be book related….

For making it okay? I guess I try not to think too much about it. An idea will come to you. I think I’ve came up with some interesting topics for my blog posts.

5.How long does it take you to create/find pictures to use?

It doesn’t take too long.  I just go on Google and type the book title since I need them for my book reviews which will take a few seconds.

As far as taking pictures though, especially when I have book hauls, it takes me a little bit longer. I am a little bit of a perfectionist and I would take so many pictures of the same stack of books until I find the one that I like. Most of the time I still think they don’t come out as good, but I try…. 😉

6.Who is your book crush?

One too many. I think my first book crush was Wes from The Truth About Forever, though.  Then there’s Four/Tobias from Divergent trilogy…..Tucker from the Unearthly trilogy….Damon from The Vampire Diaries (I haven’t read the books so I’m not sure that this counts, hmmmmm…I love Ian Somerhalder as Damon in the TV series though)….Wesley from The Princess Bride…Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice...Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables….Prince Ash from The Iron Fey series…….Aaron Warner from Shatter Me….I can go on forever honestly. A lot of my book crushes tend to be from young adult books that I’ve read.  I guess the authors just know how to make a girl reader swoon.

7.What author would you like to have on your blog?

I apologize if my answer is not going to be definite for this particular question. I just can’t pick only one.

I know they’re dead but I would love either Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, or John Steinbeck.

For the ones who are actually alive I’d like to either have Sarah Dessen, J.K. Rowling, , or Mitch Albom.

8.What do you wear when you write your blog posts?

Ummmm…Clothes…definitely clothes. *raises eyebrows*   Why is this even a question? Unless some people have this habit of writing their posts in their birthday suit, which I doubt.

9.How long does it take you to prepare?

Forever.  I would have my post already prepared, but it would take me half an hour to almost an hour editing my post before publishing it. I am very meticulous when it comes to editing my posts. Unfortunately at times I would still see mistakes even after it gets published. *sighs*

10.How do you feel about the book blogger community/culture?

It’s such an awesome community. Everyone is so kind, supportive, and also very respectful of one another despite the fact that everyone has different opinions on certain things, in which this case books.

11.What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?

It will depend how each blogger defines “success”.  Is it getting a lot of follows? Is it writing posts in which others offer an insightful commentary? Or being content with what you are doing with your blog, and knowing that there are those who appreciate what you have to say? There are so many things that can be taken into consideration when it comes to a successful blog, but I’m assuming generally it means having a lot of subscribers… Nonetheless, here’s a few things that comes to mind or at least some tips that I think is helpful especially for those who are relatively new to blogging:

Don’t get caught up in the numbers game- I know this is sometimes unavoidable and at times you get a little discourage when there are others who have more followers than you, but don’t think too much about it.  Don’t let the number of followers define the worth of your blog.

Write what you want to write, not what you think your readers want to read--for example when it comes to writing your reviews, be honest. Don’t be afraid to write a negative book review–keep in mind though, be professional about it–don’t bash. Well thought out book reviews are great!  It’s also about quality, not quantity…(just how I feel though).

Interact with other bloggers by commenting on their posts. They enjoy that. (including me!)

Participate in challenges or book memes (i.e Top Ten Tuesday)–a lot of book bloggers participate in this. You may find other bloggers with similar bookish interests….

Use tags on your posts. Even if they don’t subscribe to your blog, generally, other bloggers will get a chance to read them.

Integrate social media--maybe link your blog to other social media websites like Twitter, Instagram, FB. I personally don’t do this, but I believe it helps getting your blog out there.

Comment on every book blog that you come across and leave a link that says “follow for a follow” HAHA okay I’m totally kidding about this one. I thought I would add in humor. Truthfully, I find this annoying.  I’ve had this happened to me and I was quite displeased. My advice is to follow blogs that you really enjoy or maybe have similar interests in and not because you just want a follow back.

…but overall my main advice is to have fun.  It may take a while to attain what you may consider a “successful” blog, but it doesn’t mean you won’t get there.  Just be patient and have fun!

I’m not going to tag anyone particular because I’d love everyone who reads this post to do the tag. You can just link me to your post if you do the tag. Have a wonderful day lovely people. ❤ 🙂