The Past: Save the Drama for the Fictional Characters
Drama is going to happen. Don't get sucked in. I spent a long time worried that I'd somehow become a part of the drama and was hyper aware of everything I was doing. But at some point, I had to stop and remember that this blog is my space and I get to say what gets posted. I did recently feel the need to create my own blogger pledge to establish my own views and values on blogging. You can read it here.
The Present: Tip for New Bloggers
You'll hear it from a lot of people - be respectful, don't blog just for ARCs, be original - but I think one of the most important pieces of advice I can pass on is: Network! I caught onto the importance of Twitter pretty quickly. But I was afraid to talk to people. I was a relatively silent spectator. But once I realized that people wanted to talk to me too, I started reaching out and joining conversations. Nothing brings people to your blog like making friends! I'm still tenative about who I talk to (for my own mental reasons) and I know I need to knock it off. I love my blogger friends and I always love meeting more people!
The Future: Keep Going!
I get to talk about books. That's what this blog comes down to. I love that I have a platform to gush about my favorite books, maybe rant a little about ones that weren't so good, and fangirl over amazing authors. It doesn't get much better than that. I've had my lower moments. I've gotten really behind or have avoided writing posts. I've been in reading slumps and just get really down on it all. But at this point, not blogging would leave a huge hole in my life. It's so much of what I do now. It's kind of funny how quickly it became such an important piece of who I am. So even those low points aren't enough to outweigh the love of it. Talking about books. Gushing about characters. Freaking out about the epicness of it all. Reaching out to authors. Hearing from publishers. Recommending books. Connecting with other readers. These are the things that make book blogging amazing.
