Busting the Newbie Blues

Welcome to the second 
Busting the Newbie Blues event!

Hosted by Small Review

Starting out as a new YA book blogger is a ton of fun. You meet a bunch of new people who all share in your passion for YA books, you become a part of a friendly community, and you're continually exposed to wonderful new books.

But sometimes things can be a little discouraging when you're just starting out. You look at your blog and then look at some of the awesome established bloggers out there and wonder if you'll ever make the grade. 

So here's to Busting the Newbie Blues! Don't be discouraged. Instead, take action! Participate in my Busting the Newbie Blues event, which will run through the entire month of January!


To find out more go to the host's post here.


Questions:

1. When did you start your blog? I started book blogging about 2 Months ago.
2. Why did you start your blog? I worked at Borders Book and Music for three years until they went out of business. My store in Maine closed in September. I love reading and I love books so when I got the job I was wicked excited. After being away from that atmosphere I started missing it more than I thought I would; going through liquidation made me want to blow up the building. That was not a fun process at all and I hope no one that reads this has to go through it. I really started missing the connections I had with people when I worked there. I was able to talk about books I love daily, showing people awesome books they didn’t know about. It was a great feeling when they came back and told me they finished the series and needed something new to read. I was part of their reading experience and I helped find them new books they could be as ecstatic about as I was. It was also fun because the customers would also share with me the books they loved. That is how I ended up reading Bittenby Kelly Armstrong and Darkness becomes her by Kelly Keaton. I even had a customer bring me in a book after she finished it and gave it to me. I met some pretty great people working there. That is why I started the blog. I just really missed connecting with people and talking about books.
3. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?  Hmmmm Probably Redesigning my blog myself. I spent hours changing it and trying to make it look nice. I wanted it to be different and eye catching.
4. What do you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How many bloggers there are out there and how good they are. There is also so much to learn from writing reviews, features, getting followers, making your blog stand out... It is a lot of work and takes a ton of time.
5. What do you find most encouraging? How many awesome bloggers there are that are welcoming and very helpful. I have made some great friends blogging that makes it worth it and makes me want to continue.
6. What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog? I like blogs that can catch my attention, so designs that bloggers have worked on help. I also like well written interesting reviews. I also enjoy looking at various features. I have started to do some features and they are fun. you get to know bloggers better that way and what they are interested in.
7. What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this? I haven't found this yet but I hate plagiarism and I have heard stories of it happening to some fellow bloggers and I think it is awful that people do this. Easy to avoid I write my own thoughts.
8. Any advice for other new bloggers? It’s a lot more work than it looks! I would say make sure you have a good amount of time when you start if you are serious about blogging and trying to catch people’s attention. I have gone on the computer to quickly change something on my blog and ended up being on the computer for hours fixing things and figuring new things out to make my blog better. It is a lot of work. It is very rewarding after when you get good feedback.
9. Any questions you'd like to ask newbie or established bloggers? How do you get the cool slide show that has a nice picture from your post with some info? I have seen a few people using them. http://mochalattereads.blogspot.com/ has one but someone did it for her so she doesn't know how to do it. I really want one!
10. Is there anything you’d like to tell us about your blog? Feel free to link a few of your favorite posts or posts you wish had more comments. I work very hard on it. I try to comment back to everyone. I will review everything I read and give my honest opinion. I generally read Young Adult, Science fiction fantasy, and realistic fiction. I will give anything that sounds really good a try. I love to meet new people and make new friends.

http://www.christiesbookreviews.com/