The Secret Life of a Book Blogger | In Where Secrets Spill..

I've been blogging for, well, you'll find out exactly how long in a moment, but lets just say it's been a while, and in that time, there's been a lot that's changed. Alongside switching up from solo-blogging to co-blogging and back solo, three blogs, name changes and lots of other very stressful occasions, the biggest change for me was making the decision to stop being a 'book blogger' and just be a 'blogger', which, let's face it, can be frightening. Saying goodbye to a title is like alienating followers - if they can't relate to you, then you've got a problem, and so in some ways, I feel like a fraud doing the following tag, but I'm a blogger, and going where inspiration takes you is part and parcel of the hobby, so without further babbling, let's delve into my secrets behind blogging.

1. How Long Have You Been A Blogger For?

I've been blogging for exactly 1 year, 10 months and 23 days including today. It's a tad scary when you actually put such a length of time into numbers, because in some ways, I feel a though I've been blogging for a lot longer than almost two years, and in another way, I wonder how such a long period of time can have passed so quickly. Wow, almost two years.. wow.

2. At What Point Do You Think You'll Stop Blogging?

I'd like to say I'll never stop blogging, but god knows what might be coming around the corner tomorrow. I'm already aware that when I'm working, I'll be blogging less, and the more responsibilities I get, the lower down my priority list blogging will be, but I think I'd like to continue blogging throughout all walks of life, and if I have my way, I'll only really stop blogging if I feel I have no choice in the matter, you know, like Wifi ceases to exist, or I become homeless, or I'm just too darn busy.

3. What Is The Best Thing About Blogging?

For me, there is no single 'best' thing about blogging. In some ways, there are aspects I love more than others on specific days, but generally, I love an awful lot about blogging.

• I love getting comments. Views are one thing, and I will not knock them, but comments mean interaction, it means that I'm doing something right. A comment means I'm worth somebody's time and effort, and that makes blogging beautiful.
• Having people turn to you for advise/help is special. Of course, in that moment, the person contacting you is in meltdown, panicking or just needs a hand, and doesn't have time for your moment of special snowflakeness, but having people turn to you times of need is so rewarding, and make me feel as though what I'm saying actually makes sense.
• Sharing and teaching is my jam. I also thought teaching had to be in a school enviroment, but knowing now that I can teach others almost anything and share experiences and knowledge I know to people who want to learn here on Nellie and Co. is such a great feeling, and I love seeing people pleased to learn new things.
• Being inspired by others is amazing. I love the blogging community, but I also love a lot of other communities, like the crafting community, and the business and branding community, or the design and code community, they're all fabulous and inspire me to grow, and it makes me want to blog all the more.
• Creating new content excites me. There's something about creating new content that makes me giddy when I'm in the right mode, and it makes blogging all the more fun. Everything is so much more enjoyable when you love what you do, and I love blogging.

4. What's the Worst Thing About Blogging?

I did a whole post the number one worst thing about blogging for me last week (which you can check out here, I won't give it away) but there are a lot of other things that make blogging a little sucky.

• Low social interaction on posts. While this is entirely a test of how good my content actually is, the lower the response of followers on a post, the suckier I feel about creating content like that. The bigger the interaction on other post, the more likely I'll write those kind instead.
• Blogging drama on social media. I tend to try and keep out of the drama where possible, and when I have gotten involved, I've been passionate about it (See Harassment, Stalking and The Law) but lately, I've been avoiding the social media drama because it's just not worth it. It destroys communities we work hard to build, and I'd much rather continue to build than knock it all down on an angry whim.
• Having bad motivation days. I'm going to be honest with you now. Sometimes, I just don't want to blog, and I don't. I can not blog for three days straight, and sure, it isn't good, but I just don't feel motivated sometimes and that can be sucky, although the gaming I do and food I consume on these days doesn't feel totally bad. In fact, I'm currently loving being able to take a step back and enjoy more of the other hobbies I have, like kicking ass on my xbox.

5. How Long Does It Take You To Create/Find Images?

I talked a little at the end of my tutorial on creating graphics on Picmonkey that my graphics tend to only take me around 10 minutes at most, but my Canva graphics can take up to 30 minutes, and any other actual images I use I tend to find in the days leading up to writing a post, but for the sake of details, lets say maybe 20-40 minutes is spent per post finding images from other sources. When it comes to book covers, I search google for the nice large sizes (check out Ashley's post on finding large book covers for your book review posts) and for any other photos or images that require credit, I tend to just browse. Where possible though, I will always create my own, and that takes hardly any time at all.

6. What Author Blogger Would You Like To Feature?

As much as I'm still bookish, featuring authors is something I would not like to do - not because I don't want to support them, but because I feel that's not what Nellie and Co. is about. Instead, there are a large number of bloggers I'd love to have on Nellie and Co. because they're so fabulous.

Business Babes

• Lauren from Elle and Company. This lady is definitely one of the most super savvy business owning women I know and I have learnt and continue to learn a lot about blogging, business, marketing, social media, promoting - so much good stuff comes from her mind, and to have such a great mind Nellie and Co. would just be amazing.
• Rebecca from Autumn Leaves Blog. She's the most recent business busy boddy I've added to my follow list, but Rebbca's in depth posts 100% about blogging and her tools of her trade are fabulous and I absolutely love how she just strikes it all into words so well. She's a big name, and having her featured would be just a dream.
• Lisa from Elembee. There's something so darn funky about Lisa and her blog. She's a holds-no-punches, gets-right to-the-topic kind of blogger and wow, is her blog design awesome. She rocks any subject she puts her mind to and just has this way about her that makes me want to have her as a second Mum, and her on Nellie.
• Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. I just love independent business woman that can not only control their life, but their blog too and Melyssa does just that. Her posts are one of a kind, and delve into things other bloggers wouldn't dream of doing. She pushes me to be a better blogger and would be super to feature.
• Amanda from Amanda Genther. You always find solace when there's somebody else with your name, and Amanda is somebody I always feel inspired by. She pushes me out of my comfort zone, teaches me things I didn't even know where possible and makes me consider my future as a blogger, all valid reasons I'd love her on Nellie.

Blogging Babes

• Marianne from Design Your Own Blog. She's also a recent addition to my follow list, but Marianne has such a great balance between blogging and her everyday life and job and it's amazing to see. She takes great pride in teaching others how to design and rock their look, and some great design tips would be great on Nellie.
• Jessica from The Blogging Brew. Jessica just has it all going on - she's a college major, she's a blogger, she's a traveller and she's a coder and she nails anything that comes her way. She's  whizz with Pinterest and I'd learnt a lot from her in the last few months I've been following her. She's super fun and I'd love to work with her.
• Ashley from Nose Graze. I'd been more of a ghost reader on Nose Graze for quite some time before I started getting involved, but I absolutely love what she shares and how she takes great time and effort to ensure her followers learn the very best. Sure, she's Wordpress focused, but what she does is amazing and featuring her would be awesome.

Bookish Babes

• Cait from Paper Fury. If you're into bookish blogging and haven't yet stumbled upon Cait, then you need to rectify this pronto. She's hilarious, full of beans, always being booksh and has made me cry with laughter on many an occasion. Oh, and she's a writer, and guess who gets to Beta read her novel. Oh yeah, go me. I dream of featuring Cait..
• Asti from Oh, the Books. I love Asti, she's such a gentle soul, but she's got a deep love villains and all things dark and I like about her, she's not as docile as you'd think. That and her discussions are oh-my-god-this-is-fabulous worthy and 9 times out of 10, I can relate hugely. She's super awesome and would be amazing to feature.
• Jess from My Reading Dress. Jess is like my blogging soulmate because she, like me, just can't help but chatter and natter about all things blogging and bookish and writes about a million and one words per post, but I adore this, and her, and I miss her so much (come baaaaaaack) - sharing this space with her for a post would make my day.
• Lauren at Bookmark Lit. I remember when Lauren got involved with Five Friday Favourites and now look at her, she's got her own all singing, all dancing super great review blog and writes some of the best discussions I feature on Blogger Love. She's in depth, passionate and loves what does, why wouldn't I want to feature her?
• Nova from Out of Time. You know who else writes some of the best, thought provoking blog post? Nova does. I mean, sure, she's book based, but her posts need your love because they just make you think and question and reconsider everything you knew about the world. She's such a great blogger and would bring some great opinions to Nellie.

There are so many other awesome bloggers I'd love to feature here at Nellie and Co. - bloggers like; Eugenia from Genie in a Book, Stephanie from Chasm of Books, Shannon from It Starts At Midnight, Debby from Snuggly Oranges, Zoey from Uncreatively Zoey, Emma and Elise from A Beautiful Mess, Regina from By Regina, Alyssa from Alyssa Barnes, all these ladies are fabulous and would be amazing to feature, but alas, they're all pretty darn busy with, you know, their businesses or their blogs, and we can't all be unemployed like me.

7. What do you wear when you blog?

What a creepy question, sounds like your planning on murdering me than getting all my secrets.. If I'm honest, it depends on the kind of day I'm having. If I'm planning on leaving the flat (which sadly I have to do quite often) then it's usually a jeans and t-shirt combo, the most common of my looks. If I'm not leaving the comfort of solitude, then it could be a mix of PJ bottoms and a simple vest top, or I pretend to have made an effort with a pair of leggings in place of PJ bottoms, but most commonly, it's the first. Let's face it, is there much point in dressing up when you're only going to get covered in cat fur throughout the day? Of course not.

8. How Long Does It Take You To Prepare Posts?

Well, now you're asking aren't you. Once again, it depends on the post;

• A review can take any length of time known to man. Just because I've read the book doesn't mean I churn out the review off the bat. Sure, I reviewed The Summer of Chasing Mermaids as soon as I'd finished, but it took me over a month to review Defector after I'd finished reading it, and I still have notes from when I read Monument 14 in January, ready to review whenever I can be bothered. There is no system when it comes to reviews, it's pot luck.
• A standard discussion can take me anywhere from a few hours to a day to write. Something that just has my thoughts, opinions or involves an experience can usually be churned out of my fingers pretty easily and doesn't require of time beforehand. I get an idea and BAM, I type away and it's ready. Of course, there's the proof-read-a-million-times-before-posting-just-be-sure routine that follows when it's written, but it's written by them, so..
• A more complicated discussion that actually requires thought and attention to detail can take me up to a week. Posts like How To Keep Your Blogging 'As a Hobby' Status and my A to Z of Nellie and Co. took me upwards of a week as they weren't as easy to get out, they need debating and thought, they were important and were informative, and informative posts always take longer to prepare than informal one do.
• A tutorial or 100% informative post can take me upwards of 2-3 weeks. Writing my post on using Google Analytics instead of Blogger Stats took me around 2 and a half weeks due to other commitments and needing my head in the game, while  my post on Blogger Post URL's and Permalinks took me around a month to perfect as I was never quite 100% pleased with the post, although it went down well.

9. How Do You Feel About the (Book) Blogging Community?

Er.. I confess, I have my issues with it, and there's one or two major, huge, big glaring issues, but on the whole, I enjoy being involved in it. Sure, I don't alway think I belong in the 'book' blogging community, but a lot my followers have journeyed with me through my changes and let me hang around with the cool kids, and that's pretty nice of them.

I really quite like being a part of such a varied and special community as a blogging community. I love when people who aren't involved in the community or blogging or much of the internet at all (who are these people?!) ask me what blogging is like because it's a great experience that only other bloggers really understand. It's a wonderful hobby that really demands you heart and soul and it can pin you down under a pile of scary rubble, but it's the communities that strive that make it worth it. I feel as though I have great friends in the community, people that inspire me and encourage me to create, people that support me and remind me why I do this, and that's one of the things I like about blogging - you've always got somebody who has your back.

10. What Should One Do To Have a Successful Blog?

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it. - Maya Angelou

Nobody measure success the same way. We all have different aims and objectives, things we want to achieve and do in life, and what we do that makes us happy is different from somebody else, and we must all remember that we are different in this world, and that's a good thing. I could tell you that blogging for yourself gives you a successful blog, or that following a list of rules of advise will take you there, but your blogs success depends on what you want out of it, and how much you like getting that from it.

I don't for one moment think I have a successful blog, but that's because I have high expectations for myself and want to reach them, and I know that things I've done, such as switch my blogs, change names, lose brands and start from scratch have hindered this, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I love what I do, and I appreciate my achievements. I've managed to do and learn a lot from blogging, and there's little that I could use and remember in everyday life should I stop, but success is measured by your happiness in what it is your doing, and only through that happiness. If you feel you have succeeded, then success you have.

Tell Me: What's the Best Thing About Blogging To You?