Feature & Follow (July 13) – Why I Started Blogging

Posted on by

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re here for the first time, I’d love if you could follow via email, RSS, LinkyFollowers or Networked Blogs. Just let me know your follow method of choice in the comments, and I’ll be happy to return the favor.

And if you’re not new, welcome back! Repeat visitors rock my world.

Today’s question is simple:

What started you Blogging?

As you’re probably aware, I haven’t been book blogging all that long. I started this blog at the end of March, a scant 3.5 months ago. I have, however, run a personal blog for years, the content of which was ravenously consumed by members of my immediate family. They wanted to read about my kids, and I provided oodles of info on that subject, and they were appeased.

Yes, I still write that blog. No, I’m not going to tell you where to find it. Sorry.

But I’m assuming this question is referring to book blogging. So as far as that goes, I started this blog for several reasons:

1) I was consuming too much television and felt my brain turning to mush (even though I watch awesome television). And I was all like, “Hey, self, remember when you used to read all the time and be semi-intelligent? How’s about you start that up again?”

“In my day, television was called books.“

Name that movie.

2) I feared that if I simply made the resolution “I’m going to read more” without any accountability, I wouldn’t read more. So I set up a blog. Voilà, accountability!

It’s the same reason I got a running partner. But the problem there is that she is about as motivated to run as I am, so on our most recently scheduled running day, we went to go see Spider-Man and I ate almost an entire bucket of popcorn. But it’s okay, because Spider-Man rocked my world almost as much as repeat visitors.

3) Most books I read are not the same books my husband or friends read. And I always wanted to talk about books when I finished reading, and was always disappointed that I didn’t have anyone to discuss them with. I thought writing reviews would be a good way to get all my thoughts out into the world, and then maybe people would even read them and we could talk about them. But even if no one read them, just the act of writing helped me process my thoughts about a book.

4) I would be lying if I didn’t admit there was a bit of a draw in the idea that if I actually could dredge up some readers, publicists might want to send me advance copies of books I really wanted to read. For free. Before they were released.

No, I didn’t start the blog “for the ARCs,” but if you don’t see the appeal in the idea of being able to read a highly-anticipated book before release, then you must have that crazy thing called “patience” that I’ve heard about but never really possessed. And I envy you.

 **********************

So there you go. That’s why I got started.

Of course, if you wanted to ask why I’m still blogging — yes, a whopping 3.5 months later — the answer would be slightly different. It would involve the awesome bookish community, the great bloggers and authors I’ve met (either in person or online), the way it’s gotten my creative juices flowing, the way it’s inspired me to come out of my shell and share more of my passions than just reading (like So You Think You Can Dance. And comic book superheroes. And other things that may or may not be just as nerdy).

But you didn’t ask that. So I won’t tell you.

19 thoughts on “Feature & Follow (July 13) – Why I Started Blogging”

  3. Have you really only been book blogging for 3.5 months? I feel like I’ve been been email following you for longer than that. When my cousin & I started blogging we were totally new to everything. We’d both used Goodreads but not avidly. We mainly just stuck to reading and would share our latest books finds. We learn something new everyday and it’s all due to the people we’ve met in this community.

    Happy FF!
    Cimmaron recently posted..Feature & Follow #7My Profile

    Reply

  5. Another reason I forgot to mention in mine is that I wanted to branch out of my norm, reading wise. I seem to be stuck in 2 genres and I wanted to see what else was out there.

    Follower

    My FF

    Reply

  6. I rarely watch T.V. lol! Honestly, we don’t even get any channels. My kids just watch netflix through their gaming consoles. Gosh, my kids don’t even know what commercials are *Gasps* But I totally understand about wanting to book talk with people and not having anyone to do it with.

    Old follower passing through :0)
    Alisa recently posted..Feature & Follow { 5}My Profile

    Reply

  11. That’s a pretty good reason to start book blogging. Interesting too! I love reading your reviews and posts, they’re always so fun and interesting! Your personality definitely shines through and that is what makes your posts even more fun to read.

    Definitely an old follower via RSS! 🙂 🙂

    I love your blog so much that I’ve added your button to my blogroll! 🙂

    My FF
    Jordon recently posted..Feature and Follow #2My Profile

    Reply

  15. I could find myself in point 3. I’m not able to talk really good about a book, because nobody in my surroundings read. And I never heard of things as ‘ARC’s’ before I started my blog. The idea is very tempting, I can understand that, but I don’t get my hopes high on receiving them (INT)
    Mel@thedaliyprophecy recently posted..Feature & Follow (8)My Profile

    Reply

  16. Ooh nice! Seeing lots of different origin stories!

    Thanks for visiting and following my blog! I follow you now too!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge