Now that I have caught-up, registered, and introduced myself, I'm moving on to today's topics: Blogger Development and Genre Fiction!
As far a development goes, sometimes I wonder if I am falling short in the development area. I've been pretty stagnant as far as what I post (3-4 reviews per month, Top Ten Tuesday and Feature and Follow Friday memes). I try to network and be social, but sometimes I don't think I know what the boundaries are for the blogosphere. Should I be e-mailing/messaging fellow bloggers to get to know them? Should I be visiting and commenting a lot more than I already do?
What can I add to my blog to make it more reader friendly? What can I do to "extend the reach of my blog"? I've never tried to generate any income from my blogging. I just don't see that I'm at a point where that would be feasible. If my following was much more substantial, maybe I could try it, but at this point, that's not why I am blogging. I am blogging simply for the enjoyment.
One thing I haven't quite figured out (or wasn't sure I wanted to even participate in) was giveaways and blog tours/interviews. Oh and guest posting. I guess it would be pretty cool to guest post on someone else's blog, or have them guest post on mine. But that means giving up control in both aspects, so can anyone give some advice on how to ease into that, and how blog tours and giveaways work in general? I don't think either one are things I would be doing right now anyway, but its always good to know for when I do want to expand my horizons some more.
For me, this Blogger Development link-up is more along the lines of me having questions and asking for advice. As such a new blogger, I'm not sure I know enough to give advice or input to bloggers who have been at this so much longer. So with that, gimme what ya got! What can I do to better my blogging-self?
And now for FICTION! I basically read fiction only. Okay, sometimes I read the occasional non-fiction book, but its 99% fiction! For those of you who follow this blog or have taken a look around, a lot of what I read is young adult dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi. Not to say I haven't enjoyed my fair share of Nora Roberts romance, Stephen King mystery/horror, Lois Lowry sci-fi, Jodi Picoult contemporary, etc. But lately I am a young adult girl through and through, with some other sub-genres thrown in here and there.
It probably wont come as a surprise for most of you but, my absolute favorite author on the planet is J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books for "children." Call me a kid then, I guess, cause I'm truly obsessed. :) I think a lot of more modern fiction doesn't get the recognition it deserves like the classics do. Probably because modern works are less complex, easier to read and decipher and don't always have such deep literary messages. Or so they think. I have found that many modern works have resonated with me much more than some classics because of the messages they have that hit home with a modern girl such as myself. Not to say that I haven't been affected by the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird and any wonderful reads such as that.
Anyway, I've recently realized what a huge sci-fi fan I am, so I guess that answers that question. YES TO FICTION! I would like to expand my horizons on this front too, though. Does anyone have any recommendations as to what a modern-loving girl like myself might like that will still provide for some variation in my reading selections?
Well, I'm having a great time on this second (my first) day of Armchair BEA here! Hope to get to know many of you and get some great feedback!
A.
I know how it is to be new. I myself am learning how to run a blog better. I try to talk to others on twitter and stuff but I usually go unanswered. I just keep hoping that in time I will have more people talk to me and be more of friends than just someone that reads my blog. I'm in the process of trying to come up with my very own meme to host but have yet to come up with anything creative. I'm here for ya as a friend and you are welcome to talk to me any way you feel you want to. I won't think of you as a creeper, I PROMISE!!
ReplyDeletewe both have a harry potter obsession too :) I'm about to re-read the whole series again and get a tattoo for my 25th birthday based on the books!
Amber
Paradise of Pages
Aaahhh!! I'm getting a Harry Potter tattoo too!! This is so exciting, I thought I was the only major nerd out there. Thanks for the kind words :) so glad to meet a fellow HP nerd! :D
DeleteI think that you should blog when you feel like it - post a review when you have it ready, and just continue to be friendly in your interactions with other bloggers :)
ReplyDeleteI do some memes, because I find them fun, they make me think about my reading and habits when it comes to books, and it's a great way for me to connect with other bloggers.
Some days, I spend quite a lot of time commenting on blog-posts by bloggers I follow. I love it when I have comments on my reviews, so I pay it forward kind of. And it's a great way to start discussions about books.
I read mostly fiction too, and I'm not difficult when it comes to genres - I will read any book that seems appealing to me!
I look forward to getting to know you better, Amanda :)
Thanks for stopping by my Better blogger / genre fiction post earlier.
I love Harry Potter too, but for most people that is a given. I didn't include my favorite fictional location in my intro yesterday because there are too many to choose from, but Hogwarts is in the top 3 for sure.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy ABEA!
I think your blog is very user friendly - and this is my first time here. I think if you get to a certain comfort level with a certain blogger via social interactions such as Twitter, Google+ etc, then if you have a question or request, then emailing them won't feel awkward. I emailed bloggers I didn't know when I was just starting out, for my Bloggers Recommend series, and the response was great.
ReplyDeleteAs far as commenting goes - I don't know how much you do actually comment, but it's certainly one way to get your blog out there. And we all have to get our blogs seen in order to get subscribers/ commenters etc.
But personally, I love my blog, and whether I get 1 comment or 20, I'll still do it, and try to put my best content out there.
I rarely do giveaways and don't do blog tours - so hopefully someone else will answer those questions :-) I do have guest posts on my blog, and yes - you do give up some control, so my suggestion is to choose the persons you ask carefully - look at how they blog to see if it's someone you really want to blog, and in your email, state how long the post to be - a few sentences or a few paragraphs. And give a time frame.
Hope this helps.
Mhm...blog tours and giveaways and that kind of stuff are still a mystery to me,too. I can't quite get myself to figure those out :)
ReplyDeleteI find adding guest posts from authors and being part of blog tours helps change things up. And it doesn't take too much work either!
ReplyDeleteYep, it's all fiction for me too. I figure that I LIVE non-fiction, so why try to relax with it?!
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda! You asked how to make your blog more reader friendly so two super easy tips: your font, Josefin Sans, is a bit hard to read and it makes reading large chunks of text a bit difficult. Same with the bright green on black for your navigation inks. Changing those are easy and may make a difference for people visiting your blog. Otherwise everything looks super cute!
ReplyDeleteAs for blog tours, if you sign up for a guest post you don't have as much control over what the author sends you, and it may be the same on every website. A good tour host will tell you what you are in for! I recommend Xpresso Book Tours if you are interested. Giselle always has a bunch of blitz, cover reveal and review tours open and from a wide variety of genres. She's very organized and I've never been disappointed in material I was sent for hosting a tour!
I also blogged about my development as a book blogger and genre fiction.
Have a great week! :)
I am by no means an expert but I suggest reaching out on twitter. I've made some good friends on twitter and I've had nothing but positive responses from people. If you're nervous about reaching out start with a smaller blogger who doesn't have a million followers on twitter already.
ReplyDeleteI second what Lexxie said - blog when you feel like it and blog what you feel like. There is no right or wrong way to blog. I also second what Tanya said - commenting gets your name out there, but you should blog for you first.
Looking forward to seeing more from you :)
I think there's nothing wrong with commenting and reaching out. Just make sure it's a real response to whatever you're commenting on, not "Come read my blog!" :) And you're more than welcome to add me on Twitter (@elvenjaneite) if you'd like--promise I don't bite!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of SF do you like? It's one of my favorite genres too. Lois McMaster Bujold is probably my favorite, but there are so many good ones!
I know what you mean about floundering a bit about development. I think you need to figure out where you see you blog in 1 year, in 2 in 5 and go from there.
ReplyDeleteAnd what sold you on SciFi? Inquiring minds and all that?