Discussions Only We Know: Blogging Manifesto

Discussions Only We Know

Blogging Manifesto

A commenter suggested I do a post like this several years ago, and I've had the plans in the back of my mind for a long time. I typed my first draft of this post on May 4th and just haven't gotten around to scheduling it to post until now. This is a post that I'm really writing for myself chronicling why I started blogging so that I can always remember.

I know I've addressed the how and why I started blogging in prior years that I participated in Armchair BEA. But essentially, here's the deal. Four years ago, I was finally finishing up with college--ugh that took forever--and I was finding myself in a place where I could finally read without feeling guilty for needing to do school work. But what I also found was that while I have several real life friends who like to read--and most of them even like to read the same stuff that I do--they read at a different pace than I do. We don't all have the same amount of time to read. For some of them it's lower on the priority list which is totally fine. But I wanted some way to chronicle the books that I was reading, what I thought about them, and how they made me feel so that when they came around asking for recommendations, I would have the perfect source to point them to.

Husband suggested I start a blog, but I blew the idea off for a long time. Yet the more I let the idea sit with me the better it sounded. And thus my blog was formed.

When I first started blogging, I just wanted to review the books I was reading. I wanted my friends to be able to see which books I've read, what I thought about them, and which ones I would recommend for them to read. It was almost a year before I even started telling people--other than my immediate reading friends--I had a blog.

Soon after I started telling people I became immersed within the book blogging community. I became aware of these things called ARCs, advance reader copies, and the idea of getting to read books before they're even published was so tempting to me. But I saw post after post that said publishers want to see you post regularly before they will approve you for ARCs or galleys. And so that's when I started participating in memes.

Eventually, I developed the thought that more followers = better blog. And it’s true that again, some publishers won’t approve review copies for blogs with only a few followers. But over time I've come to think that more followers doesn’t exactly equal a better blog. I've seen blogs with 2000+ followers that don't meet my own opinions of what constitutes a "good" blog. And I've seen blogs with less than 100 followers that I consider high quality. Despite hearing other bloggers who have been doing this longer than me say, "don't worry about the numbers," I still worried about the numbers. And sometimes I still do.

Beyond that, sometimes a book comes up that becomes so overwhelmingly popular. There’s a temptation I feel to try to read all of the books and especially the ones that everyone else seems to love. Sometimes it’s a book that sounds interesting to me, and I add it to my TBR list. Other times, I know my reading preferences fairly well enough at this point that I don’t even bother adding it to my wish list if it doesn’t fit my preferences no matter how much others have raved about it and try to force it on me.

But worrying about the numbers, trying to impress publishers, participating in memes, reading the books that other people think I should read, all of this...this isn't the reason why I started the blog. And all of this won't be what I fall back onto to maintain my interests in blogging if I fall into a blogging slump. What's going to keep me blogging is remembering why I started in the first place.

I started this because I love to read (the books I want to read) and I love to talk about the stories and the places that I can go only through books. Places, characters, things I wouldn't experience were it not for the world of books.

I get to fall in love a million times over. With a vampire, a werewolf, a faerie, a faerie king, a faerie prince, Death, an alien, an Amish boy, my teacher, a dragon, an angel, a demon, a shadowhunter, a nephilim, a boxer, a tattooed up guy with issues, a duke, a prince, a wizard, a cop, a grocery store clerk, a guy with cancer, a childhood friend, my best friend, a rock star, a troll, a guitar player, a furniture maker, a guy who can't speak, a thief, a graffiti artist, a part human part machine, a guy who loves horses, a guy who saves my life, a guy who solves murders, a military man, a farmer, a kitsune, and more.

I get to be a wizard, a vampire, on the run from zombies, half-vampire, queen, shadowhunter, witch, faerie, bounty hunter, a killer, a healer, immortal, dying, rich, poor, werewolf, angel, succubus, shy, bold, alien, survivor of cancer, victim of cancer, a reformed prostitute, princess, elf, demon, warlock, scientist, mother, mermaid, monster, chimera, shapeshifter, alchemist, horse racer, ghost seer, brain injured, fearless, a psychic, a seer, a dwarf, a pilot, a spy, a pianist, a singer, kidnapped, a dragon, the mother of dragons, a cyborg, hunted, an assassin, an actress, an audible, and dead.

I get to drive a flying car, ride on a broomstick, watch my parents die, fight an evil wizard, carry a precious ring into the fires of Mt. Doom, fight demons, fight vampires, cast spells, play football with the guys, save the world from eternal darkness, help a friend recover a lost memory, help an angel get back his wings, overcome a drug addiction, go to jail, participate in a protest, learn magic, have a baby, have a miscarriage, train for a marathon, start a riot, become a fugitive, live in Australia, go through a portal, be an uncover FBI agent, be a teenage boy, live on Mars, hunt down fugitives, lose my memory, learn to surf, go dogsledding, travel to Paris, go to boarding school, crash onto an unknown planet, search for an undead king, befriend a ghost, time travel, die in a car accident, survive a serial killer, write fanfiction, and so on and so on.

So when I find myself: overwhelmed with pressure to post daily, tempted to compare my blog to others, drowning in the numbers, letting envy over an ARC I didn’t receive get the better of me, beating myself up with missed deadlines, forcing myself to read something I’m not enjoying, or worried what others will think of me because I’m not even interested in checking out that popular book…I’m going to remember where it all started: a love for reading the type of books that I enjoy and a desire to share a really good book with my friends and family who I think would enjoy it as well. There’s nothing more to it than that. And that’s what I’m going to come back to time and time again. That’s what will keep me reading and keep me blogging.

Reading for me. Blogging for me.

*Feel free to comment should you feel like it, but this post was more for me than to really inspire discussion.

Discussions Only We Know: 13 Blog Related Frustrations

Discussions Only We Know

13 Blog Related Frustrations

I try really hard to remain positive here at Somewhere Only We Know. Negativity brings me down. But every now and then I run across things that annoy me when I’m visiting other blogs or participating in memes. And I just have to wonder to myself if maybe the things I’m seeing are bothersome to others and maybe the blogger has never thought about these things before. So…let’s take (most of) what’s said here and try to see the positives (i.e. ways we can avoid these things or ways we can “fix” them). Or let’s exercise some good ol’ common-grace and try to overlook what we can’t change.

That being said…let me put up a disclaimer. I do not want to be one of those bloggers that tells you “this is the way you must blog and if you don’t then you’re wrong.” Everyone has a right to blog their way…and my opinions or frustrations don’t make that way “wrong.” It just makes them wrong for me. We all have different things we’re looking for when we follow a blog too. So even though I don’t blog for my readers, I do want to make things convenient for them (and other visitors too).

1. When the comment section spans the entire height (or more) of my screen. So I’m a bit lazy. And when I happen to be visiting blogs I tend to do a bulk of blogs at a time. It’s the repetitiveness and inefficiencies that annoy me the most. So the deal is…I don’t want to have to scroll down to finish leaving you a comment. A lot of blogs (Wordpress blogs mostly, I believe), require you to input your name, email, website (if you have one), and then you can leave your comment. That’s fine. I get that. But then you’ve got to scroll down and see that oh wait you can also input your Twitter id as well. Or various other things under the actual comment section. I know most comment sections come with a blog design, and everyone’s screen size is different. But there are ways of adjusting your blog design to shrink (or expand) based on screen size. Here’s an article that elaborates a bit.
2. Speaking of screen size. With this day and age where there are a myriad of devices available for browsing the internet and not being restricted to PCs, enable your mobile site. I would think this would be a given. But it’s not. It’s a simple step. Check out this tutorial for Blogger or this one for Wordpress.
3. It is totally possible to link up to a meme that you normally participate in using your mobile device/tablet. However, when adding your url to the link section of the linky, please remove the last 4 bytes of the url. While some people do browse blogs from their mobile device, the majority of people are probably still using laptops or computers. When you don’t remove the last 4 bytes of the url (typically "?m=1"), anyone browsing will automatically be directed to the mobile version of your site. It’s an easy fix to click “view web version” at the bottom, but it’s an annoyance that doesn’t have to take place if you’d simply remove those 4 bytes when doing your link up. I personally link up Top Ten Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday from my phone every week, but doing this small step directs people to my normal webpage instead of the mobile site. If you link up from your phone or tablet, please do the rest of us a favor and take this small step.
4. Linking up to a meme with your home page rather than the direct post. It’s really only an extra click for visitors, but I tell you that this is annoying. It’s no more difficult for you to copy and paste your direct post link into the linky than it is to use your home page address. And let’s just say for argument’s sake that you posted several times that day, if your meme post isn’t the top one on your page, I’m gone. I’m not going to spend the time looking for what you should have linked to in the first place. I’ll visit the next blog in the linky instead.
5. An even worse offender than not linking up to your direct post is linking up to a meme that you’re actually not participating in. I mean I realize that people who do this are only looking for a method to drive traffic to their blogs/sites. These people don’t really care much about how you feel so they don’t care that they’re an annoyance, but come on people. Get real. There’s no need to link up to a meme when your site isn’t even related to the content of the meme at all.
6. Captcha/check boxes. I’ve noticed a significant decline in the amount of blogs that use captcha, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. There is nothing more annoying than typing out a thoughtful reply to your thoughtful post then clicking publish and being surprised with a word verification test. I am horrible at these. I know others are too. Do anyone who wants to comment on your blog (and yourself) a favor and turn this option off. So granted, the check boxes are a lot more easy to handle and I would take them over captcha ANY day, but again…it’s one more click. One more step. One more annoyance. You know the ones “check the box or you shall not pass,” “check to verify you’re human,” etc. If there’s any way to get around having this…please try.
7. Comments sections that time out. I’ve seen this only on a few sites ever, but boy is that frustrating. I’ll pull up several sites at one time and have all of the windows/tabs open at once. Then I systematically work my way through each tab viewing posts and commenting. But some comment sections time-out and require you to reload the entire page if it has been idle too long before they will allow you to leave your comment. WEIRD. And annoying. Find a new commenting system. Or turn that mess of a feature off. What purpose does it serve anyway?
8. No HTML allowed in the comments section. I’m sure there’s a purpose for this one that I’m not aware of. Someone please enlighten me. I’ve only run across this in a few blogs, but most of them do offer a place for you to list your website address with your name and email address. But I always like to link back to myself in any comment I leave. I can’t visit other blogs who visit me if they don’t leave a link and so I like to leave one when I visit others as well. Let me leave my link!!! Please!
9. When I can’t tell if the book you’re featuring is a standalone or part of a series. How difficult is that? To list the series information in your post? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been browsing a post and I think “oooh a standalone” and then I see a comment like this “I really loved the previous book and can’t wait to read the sequel.” And then I sigh because no I’ve not read the previous book. How hard is it to indicate with the book information (title, author, publication date, etc) that this is book 9 out of a 20 book series?
10. No book covers. If you’re doing a book review, book haul, or some other post related to any specific book, but there’s no picture of the book cover…I’m out. I like pictures. Pictures convey a lot of information in a very short amount of time. I’m not likely to spend my time reading your book review or even noting the books you received in your haul if there are no book covers. It doesn’t take that much more time to include book covers in your posts.
11. Linking up to a haul post with no haul. This is totally a personal preference of mine. If you want to link up to a weekly recap post and say “YAY I got no new books this week”…that’s cool. But what’s the point of linking up to a post that’s entirely about featuring the new books you received each week just to say that you have nothing to share?
12. Totally another personal preference of mine, blogs with multiple contributors each with lengthy updates. Ok…I totally get having a blog with multiple contributors. I think that’s a great idea and in part wouldn’t be opposed to it myself. I’m a bit of a control freak to really think that would work for me, but it’s a great concept. And I also get each contributor wanting to do a weekly update or chime in. But these days, people like short and sweet (or maybe that’s just me). I don’t want to read a ginormous post detailing how you spent each day of the past week. And to have to read two of those in the same post….it’s just a bit much. If you’re both going to contribute to one post, then I say “keep it short and sweet”.

And this last one…maybe it deserves its own post entirely. Again this is a personal preference of mine so take it with however much weight you want to put on it. I personally follow via email my favorite blogs. These are the blogs that I don’t want to miss a post. I’ve likely connected with the blogger just as much as I’ve connected with their content. It’s not just about not wanting to miss the topic of a particular post, but it’s about not wanting to miss the content itself. Systematically, some of my favorite bloggers that I follow via email have switched from email posts that show their entire post content, to posts that include about the first paragraph and then have a link that says “read more” which will take you directly to the post on their site.

This started out as a devastating thing for me. And every single blog that I’ve followed via email that has resorted to this post I’ve contacted the blogger to plead my case on them returning to their old method of including the entire post in their emails. Some have and some haven’t. To be honest, I only retain my email following from two of the bloggers who haven’t returned to their old method. The others I’ve unsubscribed from. This isn’t me trying to punish them or anything like that. It is simply that this method of following no longer meets my needs.

I get it. I do. The purpose behind an email post method like this is to drive traffic to your blog. People who read your posts in their email can't do this anymore when you choose this method. They now have to be driven to your website which ups your blog views and potentially will help direct visitors to multiple articles, posts, etc of your site. Plus maybe there’s a level of hope that the visitor will leave a comment now that they’re actually at your site. From a blogging standpoint, I get this. I really do. You want your readers and followers to be actively involved. And you want your numbers and statistics to reflect that. But from a reader/follower’s standpoint, I’m getting screwed.

Here’s what I mean. I didn’t choose to subscribe via GFC or Bloglovin’. I don’t follow you through what you post to Facebook or Twitter. I chose to follow via email. What I want is to be able to read your posts when I check my email without having to go to your site. Often times I flag posts I’ve read to go back and comment on when I get home or when I get access to a computer (because some things I don’t enjoy doing from my phone). This is the method by which I chose to follow you. And now all of a sudden you’re trying to change the terms of our agreement (an unspoken agreement, sure). It’s not a threat that I’m trying to hang over anyone’s head…by all means you blog the way you want to blog. But I’m going to follow the way I want to follow too. And if this method is the means by which you choose to deliver to your email subscribers then I’m out. You don’t just lose out on the clicks you were hoping to get to your site, but you’ve lost a reader entirely. I may not comment on every post, but I usually do read them. What this says to me is that you care more about your blog statistics than you do your readers. Maybe I’m wrong. (That’s totally within the realm of possibilities.)

If you haven’t picked up on a theme behind most of my frustrations, it’s this: ease, efficiency, time savers, eliminating unnecessary clicks and navigation, etc. Maybe I’m lazy. But I feel like if I feel this way then surely there are others who agree. I can’t be alone in this? While my thoughts are mine and I’m not trying to force any one way to blog upon anyone else, maybe others feel the same way? Maybe others whole heartedly disagree. Personally, blogging takes up a long of time (time away from reading). I love doing it, but if there are any ways to make it easier, more efficient, and cut down on time away from the books I’m all about it.

What do you guys think? Are any of these things that you’ve noticed when visiting other blogs? Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have your own set of blogging frustrations? Let me know!

Armchair BEA 2015 - Day 3: Character Chatter & Blogging Q & A

Character Chatter

Asking me to pick a favorite character is like…okay I’ve got no analogy for that. Let’s just say it’s impossible. So to help myself out, I’ll focus on my favorite character that I’ve read so far this year and then a few character traits that I think are cliché.

Darrow from Red Rising by Pierce Brown – Darrow goes through A LOT in this book. He starts out as a guy who just wants to do his job, do it well, and provide for his family. But he’s forced into a situation where he loses what he wants most and his eyes are opened to the lies the government has told. So he has to decide whether to be a part of bringing down the government and exposing their lies or ignoring it all and letting the sacrifices of those around him be for nothing. In the process, Darrow completely changes who he is. He goes undercover, and we know how hard maintaining a cover identity while not losing your true self can be. Throughout the book, Darrow makes bad choices as well as good ones. He struggles. He battles. He strategizes. He mourns. He has so much going on around him and so much going on inside him. He is multilayered and alive.

Now some character clichés:

The gay best friend of the opposite sex

Atheists/Agnostics

The crazy Christian

The bad boy who sleeps around until he finds the perfect woman for him

I know there are more character clichés out there, but I’m drawing a blank right now. These are the ones that have caused me the most frustration lately.

Blogging Q & A

I guess these aren't really questions I have so much as advice I'd give to someone just starting out.

1. Spend some time thinking about why you wanted to blog in the first place. Write those reasons down. This is so that when a blogging slump happens you’ll remember what you wanted to do this in the first place. Often times, I’ve realized that I end up in a slump because I’m not staying true to the original reason I started blogging.
2. Don’t get caught up in the numbers. Number of posts, number of books read per year, number of reviews, number of page views, number of comments, number of followers, number of ARCs…it can get very overwhelming very quickly. I know that’s so easier said than done, but it’s true. All the numbers did was stress me out. They’re used as benchmarks and not rigid determinations of your value as a blogger.
3. Try not to get caught up in comparing yourself to other bloggers. Instead of being the one jealous and seething when another blogger reaches a milestone or gets an ARC that you really wanted and didn’t get approved for, don’t be that girl (or boy). Just be happy for their success. Your turn will come.
4. I do suggest posting regularly. And by regularly, I don’t mean every day. I just mean consistently. Like 3 days a week. Or 2 days a week. Or whatever you decide to do. Just try to be consistent about it.
5. Try to get ahead on posts. I realize that this is more of a personality thing than anything else, but I can’t tell you how much relief I feel being scheduled ahead. I don’t have to blog by the seat of my pants. I don’t have to rush to finish my books. I don’t have to rush through my book review. I don’t have to scramble to prep my posts. And the beauty is that I can rearrange my schedule at any point that I want.
6. Try to write your reviews within 48 hours of finishing your book. The more time that goes by, the less you remember the details. I’ve found that if I start another book before I’ve typed my review of the one I just finished, I’m more likely to forget important details.
7. Be the change you wish to see. If you feel like people aren’t visiting your blog, then you need to spend some time visiting other blogs. If you think people don’t comment enough on your posts, make sure you’re commenting on others posts. If you want to get more followers, follow a bunch of other bloggers. Basically, do to others as you would have them do to you.
8. Use a commenting system. Do a little bit of research about this. Personally as you can see, I use Disqus. It not only notifies me when someone leaves a comment, but it also notifies them when I reply. I want to have a conversation with my readers as much as possible, and that’s not going to happen if they have no idea that I replied to their comment and what I said.
9. Use Google Calendar. I love being able to move my posts around and see what’s scheduled. You can color coordinate. I use this calendar for EVERYTHING!
10. Turn off Captcha/Word Verification. Trust me...anyone who visits your blog and tries to comment will be thanking you for this.
11. Turn your mobile setting on. This allows your blog to be viewed from a smartphone, tablet, etc in a format that works better for a mobile device.

I could keep going with advice, but I feel like I might have done too much already. I wouldn’t worry too much about blog design or getting too fancy up front. You’ve got time to learn about that along the way. Plus I don’t feel like I’m an expert in that area. I totally want to do a blog redesign, but I want to do it myself (instead of paying someone to do it) and I just haven’t felt like taking that on yet.

Which character has been your favorite this year? What about blogging advice? Got some to add to my list? Got any questions for me? Feel free to ask. Let me know!

Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Blogger/Reader

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Blogger/Reader.

Reading

1) Reading takes me away from real life for a bit—not that I particularly feel the need to escape my life because I happen to love my life, but it’s nice to have an escape too.

2) I meet so many characters that I fall in love with. I’m surrounded by friends and family that I love, but I don’t always understand how they think. That’s one of the reasons why I love reading—being completely immersed into someone else’s mind and experiencing their thoughts and feelings.

3) I get to visit a variety of places and worlds. I’ve never been to Paris, but I kind of feel like I have been. I’ve never been in outer space, but I kind of feel like I have been. I’ve never seen any dragons, but I kind of feel like I have.

4) Studies show that the “cloud nine” feelings you get from falling in love do go away over time. It’s really scientific and involves chemicals, hormones, pheromones, etc in the body. But reading allows me to in some small part experience those cloud nine feelings over and over again.

5) It bonds people. I love being able to discuss the books I’ve read with people—whether they are people in my real life or people on the blog. It’s really why I started blogging to begin with which leads me to the next point.

6) Books change people. My dad always says (and he may be quoting someone I don’t know) that you’d be exactly the same 5 years from now as you are today except for the people you surround yourself with and the books you read. I think the books I’ve read—all of them—have made me a deeper person (not that all the books I’ve read are deep). They help me to relate to a larger portion of people over a larger variety of situations.

Blogging

7) The book blogging community is really special. I’ve never “met” anyone I wish I hadn’t. It’s full of supportive people who share a common love. There's really nothing I've experienced quite like it.

8) I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I love blogging because of the access I have to a wider variety of books. I am exposed to a large selection, and it’s really awesome. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review all kinds of books.

9) Blogging also gives me an excuse to read. While blogging isn’t my fulltime job, I always have that excuse of “but I need to read this for my blog…now.”

10) I already mentioned the book blogging community, but I’ve “met” so many great people (not book characters) through this medium.

What are your top favorite things about reading and/or blogging? Let me know!

Top Ten Things that Make My Life as a Reader/Blogger Easier

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Things that Make Your Life as a Reader/Blogger Easier.

Reading

1) Kindle - My goodness where would I be without my kindles? I love phyiscal books, but it's just so stinkin' easy to take all of my ebooks with me in one device. AWESOME!

2) Kindle App on my phone - And what's better than that is if I've left my kindle at home I can always just bust out the cell phone.

3) Kindle cover with book light - I've got a kindle fire that I usually use to read if it's dark, but I also have this handy book cover that has a book light attached to it for my regular kindle. This is the one I have. (not an affiliate link)

Blogging

4) Google Calendar - Keeps me organized.

5) Blogger Planning Kit from Clean Mama's printable shop at Etsy (not an affiliate link) - Also keeps me organized.

6) Highlighting/notes making feature on Kindle - I don't know how I used to write reviews without taking notes.

7) Planning ahead/scheduling - I'm currently scheduled until mid-November, with the exception of a couple of October dates that I'm holding for something specific. It takes so much pressure off of me to be scheduled ahead of time.

8) Book Depository's Free International Shipping - Makes hosting international giveaways so easy. However, my latest giveaways have actually been coming out of some birthday giftcards to Amazon and thus have not been international.

9) Other bloggers who do a tips and tricks post periodically - This is a huge help to me. I wish I knew enough to do these kinds of posts, but I just don't feel like I do.

Both

10) Goodreads - Anyone who reads ever should have a Goodreads account.

11) Audiobooks - There's a lot of debate for and against audiobooks. They have their cons for sure, but they definitely help me keep up with my reading goals since I can multitask with listening to audiobooks.

What are the top things that make your reading/blogging life easier? Let me know!