09.16.11
Posted in Event at 8:01 am by Amber
Today is all about blogging tips.
Here are some tried and true blogging tips:
- Use the schedule feature! I love this feature in WordPress (and I think most blogging platforms have it). How do you think I was able to find the time to post every day this week? I spent about two hours on Sunday writing all the BBAW posts. I already have book reviews scheduled for when I go on vacation in a few months.
- Make quality posts on a regular basis. If there’s no quality content, people will stop dropping in to say hello. Isn’t every blogger pleased when someone leaves a comment?
- Have a variety of posts. Vary the length. Add pictures. Use bullets or different font colors. Make your posts visually interesting.
Have you noticed any new trends or tools in blogging? What are some of your tried and true blogging tips?
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09.15.11
Posted in Event at 8:45 am by Amber
Today’s daily topic is about reading. Has book blogging changed the way I read?
Absolutely!
- Overall, I read more. I don’t go months at a time without reading some book.
- I’ve read more fantasy in the last four years. I used to read mostly literary works.
- I keep track of the books I read. I love LibraryThing. Access databases were always the pits to work with and I never really knew what types of things I wanted to keep track of. LibraryThing lets me do that and includes stats on other things. For instance, I didn’t realize most of the books I read are by women.
Has your reading habits changed over the years?
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09.14.11
Posted in Event at 8:16 am by Amber
Today’s BBAW Daily Topic is on Community. How do you find a community and keep in touch?
How do you find a community?
- I suggest using an internet search on your reading interests. Add a genre into your search term. For example, “book review fantasy” or “fantasy book reviewers” will get you started on finding people who review fantasy books.
- The Book Blogs group on Ning is another place to find people who like to read and review books. There are a few authors too.
- When you find blogs that may be of interest to you, take the time to read a week or two of posts to get a feel for the person’s writing style. Some, like Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? are informal and chatty. Others, like A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook, are more formal and focused.
Keeping a part of the community you find can be more difficult. Here are a few tips.
- Until a year or so ago, I used bookmarks to keep track of the sites I wanted to keep up with. That is so old school! Having a RSS Feed now seems mandatory. I now use my Google Reader to keep track of my friend’s feeds. Now it’s not hit or miss if I go to the sites I want to keep up with.
- Leave comments. Often, if you stop by someone’s blog and leave a comment, they’ll drop by your blog too. They may not leave a comment, but they may like what they see and add you to their feed.
- Memes and Challenges. If you participate in memes on a regular basis, you’ll get to know the other people who participate. You will visit their blog (and vice versa). Same thing for challenges. It doesn’t matter if it’s a reading, writing or blogging challenge, you’ll start to recognize the names of the participants and you’ll find people you connect with.
What tips do you have on finding and keeping up with your communities online?
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09.12.11
Posted in Event at 10:33 am by Amber
In case you didn’t notice, today is the beginning of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Giveaways, posts on book blogging topics and interviews abound. This year I’m not participating in any interviews but I am going to post on the daily topics. This year the topics were posted ahead of time to give everyone a chance to get started.
Today’s daily topic is community.
Community: A body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, or political interests.
I wanted to highlight some of the people who are part of my reading and writing community on the internet. They are listed in no particular order.
Kathy of Bermudaonion. She often leaves comments on my site so I know someone is reading! 🙂 Her own blog has a variety of posts so it’s never boring when I drop in.
Rhonda Parrish. She’s got an editing hat (Niteblade) and a writing hat. She may not realize it, but she’s got a mentor hat too. Rhonda is an example of a do-er. She writes. When she didn’t see her writing interests represented, she made an e-zine to make it happen.
Lisa Damian of Damian Daily. She’s a writer and book reviewer. Her blog chronicles her interests and observations.
Do you have anyone you think of as part of your reading or writing community on the internet?
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08.13.11
Posted in Event at 6:48 pm by Amber
Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be held September 12th – 16th.
Registration is now open! You’ll need a Twitter or Google account to get registered. And today is the last date for blog nominations. This includes favorite Author blog!
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