Secret Life of a Book Blogger

I was tagged by one of my favourite Aussies, Lauren, over at Wonderless Reviews to answer some book blogging questions to shine a little light on me & my blog! You guys should check out her post/blog cause it’s one of my faves. We have a lot in common with books & such. Lovin on that YA & horror thing!

Here we go!

How long have you been a blogger?

Like many people in my generation, I grew up rocking a LiveJournal account, so I’m no stranger to putting my thoughts on the internet. But I haven’t tried LEGIT blogging (or specific theme blogging in a community) like, ever. So….I’m not sure how to answer? It had been years since I had an active online journal, but I’ve also been on tumblr for a couple years as well.

I think I’m gonna go with 2 months. Cause that’s how old this blog is! That’s how long I’ve been actively active & fully participating in the book blogging community as a whole.

At what point do you think you will stop?

I definitely don’t have a specific time in mind. I’m hoping to be able to do this for quite a while, but I’ve said that about things in the past & sometimes life has different things in mind.

I’ll definitely be doing this until I don’t want to anymore.

What is the best thing?

The community. I love all these cool people I’ve found through blogging. Their blogs, their differences & similarities to me. All the fun games & conversations we have here. And of course all the new books I’ve been introduced to! It’s great.

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

Sometimes I find that I second-guess a lot of what I do & end up comparing my personal successes to others. It can be overwhelming to see so many people doing this blogging thing & making it successful & feeling like I just don’t match up.

We all start small, but try getting my brain to understand that.

I try to make it ok by talking it all out with my husband when I’m feeling like a failure. He’s a great soundboard & is ridiculously supportive & reassuring.

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

It really depends on what the post is about. It takes seconds for reviews cause all I really need is the book cover & something I can edit a quote to for the featured image.

Tag games are a tad more difficult sometimes. Those can take almost an hour or so (total) to find, edit, & get just right for a post.

Who’s your book crush?

Currently? Ronan Lynch from The Raven Cycle.

Mostly cause that’s what I’m reading right meow.

There’s also Shane from The Morganville Vampires series, Archer from Hex Hall, & even Maven from Red Queen. (Don’t judge me on that last one, I CAN’T HELP IT.)

What author would you like to have on your blog?

Rachel Caine or Neil Gaiman? I’d cry though. The whole post would just be a mashing of all the keys on my keyboard cause OHMIGAWD COULD YOU IMAGINE???

What do you wear when you write your blog?

Whatever I put on that day. Since a lot of the time it’s between when I get home from work & before I go to bed, it’s usually my work clothes. Right now it’s the Pusheen tee & shorts I wore to bed.

How long does it take you to prepare?

I currently have a ton of tag games bookmarked that I was tagged in so those only take a moment as I find content that I need as I go, & prepping for a review takes as long as it takes to read the book & have the time to sit & write about it.

Basically, I do zero prepping & just kinda wing it as I go!

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

Overall it’s great! But I do find that there can occasionally be some elitism with some people. But every community has that problem. It definitely feels worse in the gaming community than it does here. Which makes me insanely sad, as I have a foot in both.

What do you think one should do to have a successful blog?

There is no one way to measure success, but I find these things to be universal:

Post. Participate. Be Yourself. HAVE FUN!

Emphasis on fun, guys.