Wahoo! Today is the kick-off to the Book Blog Expo, hosted by the lovely Donna of Girl Who Reads. When Donna offered to organize an event when we learned that the ArmchairBEA wouldn’t be happening, I was thrilled! To learn more about this event, click here!
Today’s topic is Introduction & Networking. So let’s dive in!
Book Blog Expo Day 1: Introduction & Networking
My name is Erica Robyn and I started this blog in December of 2016. I blog about many different genres; from children’s picture books to horror, and everything in between. I started this blog as a way to connect with other readers and get more out of the reviews I was spending so much time writing up.
I blog mainly from our dining room table. We’re living in a rather small town house right now, so we don’t have room for me to create an office space. Though that is definitely one of our immediate goals once we buy a house! Other places I may blog from include the couch, our bed, or my lawn chair that sits on our patio when the weather is nice.
I started out really strong with my blog; I was publishing a post almost every single day. But after a year went by, I started losing steam and I realized it had become more stressful than fun. My life also got quite busy, so blogging was forced to take the back burner every now and again. However, now I simply publish a post when I have something that I am proud of ready! This is working much better for me because I’m no longer posting memes that I don’t care about or trying to force anything.
I am continuously blown away by looking at how far I’ve come in just a short amount of time. I’ve made so many wonderful connections thanks to this blog, and I am so humbled by all of the amazing doors it has open up. I cannot wait to see where I am a year from now!
To stay involved in the community, I participate in weekly memes and Twitter chats on occasion, I’m always on the lookout for great events like this one and the Bloggiesta, and I’m very active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Litsy.
I think the key part of being involved in the book blog community is simply blog hopping. I try to go through my list of favorite accounts at least once per week. Feedly has been making this process much easier for me, as it tracks all of the posts that have gone live since I last checked, without forcing me to manually check each of my favorite blogger’s links.
Thanks for reading!
Are you participating in the Book Blog Expo? If so, I’d love to see your intro post!
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This sounds like a very fun event! I'm sorry you were getting burned out on blogging! It's so important to be having fun.
Yeah… I was just trying to do way too much at once! 🙂
I didnt know about this event, sounds pretty amazing. We all start out strong and then life happens, unfortunately. I also have my up and downs but will always come back to this amazing community. My heart will always belong to it. I do have to agreen, that the best way to make freinds is to blog hop ( thank goodness for Feedly) I used to be on twitter all the time, but for me it started to take a toll ( to much anxiety) Im much more happy with IG and Blogging for now. Great post, Erica! I hope you have a wonderful day 💋
There's definitely still time to take part! 🙂 The next few topics are really fun! And I totally understand the Twitter anxiety. I've just started using the "Hide These Words" feature in the settings. It's really helped me feel less stressed about the platform!
I didn’t even know this was going on. Fun! Are we following each other on Litsy? I’m @jenny over there.
Oh! I'm not sure. I'll look right now! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your handle!
Thanks for participating in Book Blog Expo. I remember my early days of blogging (I've been at it for over 7 years). It took a while to strike the right balance. I'm really glad that I add team members so I still have regular content without having to do all the work myself. Be sure to add your post to the linky on Day 1's post.
Of course!! 😀
Love this post! I started my blog in November 2017 and came out racing out the gate, I have found that life can get in the way and I need not stress about getting a post out in the world if I am simply not ready to. Plus with a book blog I actually have to find the time to read the books! 😉
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I didn't know about this event, but it sounds awesome! I love always coming to your blog to see what you have to say about books! ❤
It's not too late to participate! 🙂 Aww, thank you! <3
Ahh, I loved Armchair BEA and looked for something to replace it, but I didn't come across this event! I also use Feedly to keep track of all the blogs I follow – I'm catching up on three weeks of unread posts right now ^^;
Oh darn!! There's still time to take part! 🙂 Oh my gosh, yeah, I'm behind in my blog hopping as well!
I didn't even know about this Expo…maybe they'll do it next year so I can participate. I would never have believed you've only been blogging since the end of 2016. Your blog is awesome! And of course, you know that I love that you review all kinds of books.
I hope it will be around next year as well. It's been fun! And thank you so much!! 🙂
It's lovely to meet you, Erica! I completely understand how crazy life can get, too. My blogging is sporadic at best, but I keep at it anyway. 🙂
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It's been great getting to know you through the blogging scene as well. I used to post once every two days back when I was in secondary school but I just can't keep up that momento. It's weekly but I want to get back to twice a week in the summer.
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I'm so bummed that I never knew this was happening. I was so sad when I heard Armchair was done.
Oh darn!!! Mark your calendar for next year 😉 I'll try remind you as well when the dates get closer.