It's Small Reviews BUSTING THE NEWBIE BLUES

Small Review is hosting the 2nd Busting the Newbie Blues

This event is designed to:

• Put new YA book bloggers on the map
• Increase blogger interaction
• Start a discussion by sharing our experiences as new bloggers
• Learn about what it was like for established bloggers when they were newbies

So how does this work? Simple:

• Be a YA book blogger (oldie or newbie)
• Select the questionnaire that best applies to you (there's no "wrong" choice, so just pick whichever one you feel most comfortable answering)
• Create a post on your blog with the questions and your answers
• Grab the button below to include in your post or sidebar
• Link back to my post here so more people can join in
• Sign the linky list below so we can all come and visit your blog!
• Spread the word!

Established Bloggers:

Pick this questionnaire if you've been blogging for a while, have a decent sized group of followers and people commenting on your posts, and get a decent amount of traffic. Basically, you have some experience blogging and you've seen positive results for your efforts. You can define "decent" however you'd like. 

1) When did you start your blog? 

We started in the summer of 2009. Mom wanted us to have a summer project and she won't let us quit! Just kidding. She did have us start but we're happy and going strong.

2) Do you ever still feel like a newbie? 

All the time because we see so many fantastic bloggers doing such amazing things. There is always more to learn.

3) What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? 

Mostly just being organized and finding time to do everything we want to do. 

Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from? 

We were very intense over everything and felt like we had to post every day. But it's much better to post something that's interesting and relevant rather than just getting something up. People - especially book bloggers - can spot crappy content a mile away. 

4) What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger?

Wondering when, oh when, people would start to comment and interact with us!

How did you deal with this?

It's the simplest thing in the world. You just start interacting with other bloggers, commenting yourself, and suddenly there they are. Okay not suddenly. It takes time but reaching out to others is a whole lot of fun and what will bring others to visit you. But you have to be genuine. If you just leave something like "Love your blog. Come visit mine!" it won't work. Be thoughtful, interested, and engage in a personal way.

5) What do you find most encouraging? 

The love and generosity of other book bloggers. They would answer any question we had or send us in the right direction. Everyone was awesome!

6) If you could go back in time and speak with your newbie self, what five bits of wisdom would you tell yourself? 

Relax, calm down, be patient and put out quality over quantity. And don't be afraid to reach out to anyone, even if they're "big." It can be intimidating but 99.9999% of the time you'll meet a fantastic, down to earth person who'd love to help you out!

7) What do you like best about the blogs you read?

Humor. When posts are funny, make us laugh out loud, and full of energy, we're in love!

Have you tried to replicate this in your blog? 

Of course, but we never think we're as funny as our favorite humorous bloggers. Although Jake's pretty funny. Weird, wacky and original. Also annoying. Very annoying.

8) What do you dislike about blogs you’ve seen? 

We steer clear of blogs with lots of whining and complaining. Anyone can have a rant now and then but when it's a regular thing, we say good-bye. And anything negative about authors or bloggers, especially on a personal level.

Do you try to avoid this? 

Absolutely. We see no use for that sort of thing. Our dad always said, "You're here to help push people up the ladder of life, not drag them down." We focus on being positive. And wish we were funnier.

 

9) How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people?

Mostly commenting and communicating with other bloggers. Contests are always a good way to get buzz but they can be expensive and not everyone can afford to do that. Then there's Goodreads and Twitter. Social media is a great tool. Getting out and connecting with others works every time! And honestly (this was something we've learned) it's more important to have the fewer number of loyal people that keep coming back day after day, rather than the big numbers of people that may sign up to follow but you never hear from again. It's the regular interaction with your favorite folks that make all this work worthwhile!

10) When and how did you get your first ARC (or first few ARCs)?

When we started blogging we had no idea what ARCs were or that they even existed. We happened to comment on a blog that was run by a bookstore owner. She had a bunch of books that she offered to send us because she couldn't get to read and review them. In that batch were ARCs and we were amazed. We had a book that the public didn't have access to yet? Wow. We felt like super spies!