Busting the Newbie Blues - a great event for book bloggers everywhere!

Have you heard about Busting the Newbie Blues? It's a great event that's being hosted by Small Review a very cute new blog that you should definitely check out! Busting the Newbie Blues encourages blogger interaction, and I've already picked up some great pieces of advice from reading various contributions from other bloggers.  It's also a great way to find out about new blogs that you might otherwise miss out on.

Each blogger is encouraged to fill out a short questionnaire.  I've decided to answer this one from a 'established' blogged point of view.  I still consider myself a new blogger, and I am definitely still finding my feet in some respects, but if I have any advice to give to even newer bloggers than me, then I'm happy to share! :)

You can find out more about the event and how to sign up: here

When did you start your blog? 

March 2010.

Why did you start your blog?

I kind of started this on a whim, which could account for the name of my blog and why it has nothing  much to do with books! I didn't put much thought into it.  Initially I started up a fashion blog, but I didn't put a lot of thought into that either and it folded after a few weeks.  I've always had a huge love of reading, and I was already posting my reviews on Amazon and Librarything, so book blogging seemed like a no-brainer. However, I had no idea that there were so many book blogs out there when I started this. I only knew of one or two. It's really a whole new world when you find out how big the book blogging community is.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from?

I think my biggest challenge has been HTML! When I started the blog first I was tearing my hair out over the layout. Mine is totally customised and it took me a long time to do it, because I am not all that tech savvy, and html actually drives me insane at times.  There have been a few times when I've almost deleted the whole blog by mistake -  it's true! Blogging consistently is also a challenge for me. It might not seem like it, because I have been blogging pretty consistently, but I am a huge procrastinator and I don't schedule posts, so usually everything is done in a rush the night before I post it! I very much admire bloggers who schedule posts months in advance.  That is never going to happen for me!

What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How did you deal with this?

I'm going to talk about the issue of comments on reviews. I think a lot of bloggers find the lack of comments on their book reviews discouraging. Certainly I did and still do sometimes. Memes are all well and good, but when you're getting 20+ comments on a meme and only 2 (or sometimes even zero) on a review that you've put some work into, then that can be discouraging.  That's why I always try to comment on reviews of blogs I'm following! I don't have any secret formula to getting more comments on reviews, though. I still post plenty of reviews that don't get many comments. I will say, mix up your reviews - don't just review books that you have received from a publisher, because that's what everybody else will be reviewing too! Include books that you've bought too. People like to find new books to read, and they don't want to read twenty reviews of the same book all in one day.  I say this as someone who posted her review of Vampire Academy on the same day as 1,000 other bloggers posted reviews of Last Sacrifice. ha!

What do you find most encouraging?

The welcoming community! I had barely set up my blog when I had an email from Eleni (La Femme Readers - one of my fave blogs!) welcoming me to the blogging world.  I think Eleni is super nice and very supportive of new bloggers. Apart from that, I've met some great bookish people through blogging, which is great for me as most of my real-life friends aren't hugely into reading. Oh, and I found my book twin - Tammy from The Book Fairy's Haven. I like to think that us two along with Christina from Confessions of a Book Addict are book triplets!

What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?

All my favourite blogs are filled with wonderful, thoughtful and well-written reviews. This is something I've tried to replicate on my blog, as I feel that the reviews are pretty much the most important thing about a book blog, right? I got a little carried away with memes when I started blogging, but now I only participate in two, which, for me, is the right amount. There are a lot of abandoned memes around here, I'm afraid! I also like it when bloggers think of original features for their blogs, and mix things up a little. Innovation is good, and variety is the spice of life! 

What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?

As far as layout goes, I don't like it when blogs are cluttered and very difficult to navigate. My PC is old and slow, and so, if your blog has music players and widgets it's probably not going to work for me.  From a review point of view, I don't like nasty reviews.  Sure, I've read books that I haven't like, and I review them, but I never get personal or slag off an author, and I don't like seeing it in reviews either.  Also, my favourite bloggers all blog for the love of reading and blogging, but I've seen a few blogs crop up, and the very next week they'll have an IMM post featuring a publishers entire back catalogue that they've requested for review. Those blogs are not for me. It's not what I'm about. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Is this controversial? It's just how I feel. I have no problem with bloggers requesting books for review, but when a book has already been on sale for a year?!

Do you have any advice for new bloggers?

Make sure that people can easily follow your blog (I usually only follow via google friend connect) and also make it easy for people to comment on your blog.  OK, so the blogger default comment system may not be the prettiest, but I hate it when I have to jump through hoops to comment on a blog. I don't want to fill in my details every time. Make sure commenting is quick and easy. That's what people want. It doesn't matter if it's not pretty.

Also, always have a test blog so you can try out new designs before you use them on your actual blog. This will save you many html nightmares! I speak from experience!

How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people?

I actually got lucky.  One of my very first WoW posts drew the attention of a publisher who offered me the opportunity to host quite a big giveaway. I got lots of followers this way pretty quickly, but  I now know that the majority of these people are never actually going to comment on my blog!  The best way to bring attention to your blog is to interact with other bloggers, get involved in the community, join Book Blogs Ning, create a twitter and goodreads account for your blog.  All of these things help.  Oh, and of course, participate in the blog hops held at crazy-for-books and Parjunkee's View every Friday.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience?

I never knew how much of my time blogging would take up or that I would be so dedicated to it.  It's important to stick with it and give it time, because the hard work will pay off and it is rewarding! That said, I am still learning every day! I'd also like to say that I'm thankful to the helpful bloggers out there. Every new blogger should check out The Story Siren for her helpful posts and also Book Blogging 101 at Parajunkee's view. I know I picked up a lot of tips from those two!