My Blogging Journey


I started blogging back in December 2013. Almost 7 months later, I am still here, blogging. This is my 103rd blog post. I want to say thank you to all of you. You made this journey so special for me. Thank you to everyone who's been reading my blog posts over the last couple of months, gave me feedback and praised my work. Thank you so much for all your support and love. You have no idea how much this means to me.

How did it all began? I started this blog because of Paige Toon and Simona. Let me tell you why. A small group of girls and I runed a very successful Paige Toon Fanpage on Facebook. I did the most work for this page. Contacted hundreds of people to like our page, created graphics, book quotes and posted on a regular basis. You know how it is, two's company, three's a crowd. At one point we had too many different opinions about the page and I was kind of bullied out until I gave up and I left. I loved running the page and it was very important to me but sometimes you just have to leave it be. I had to find another way to show my love for Paige. Now seeing what has become of the page makes me so angry. It’s toally runned down. No more updates, just nothing. Shame on them!

Luckily there was Simona. I met her through the Toonies. She became a true friend and is a wonderful human being. She listed to me when nobody else was. With Simona's help I set up my blog. Thank you for all your help, support and encouragement. It’s been one of my best decisions I have ever made. Even though I didn't knew what I was getting myself into. I had no idea how the book blogging world works. The book blogger community made it very easy for me. They welcomed me with open arms.  I’ve never seen such a fantastic community as the book blogging community. They are all so welcoming, caring and supportive.


Being a book blogger changed my life. In a good and actually in a bad way too. I’ve met so many awesome people during my journey. That's truely one of the best part of blogging. You meet book bloggers with the same interests, chat about books, give each other book reccomendations and you are able to talk to authors! I totally adore the author/blogger interactions on Twitter. I could have never imagined that this is possible. Authors are so incredibly nice and so thankful what we book bloggers are doing for them. I can tell you, not all of them are like that. I've experienced it myself. I received a couple of author requests where it turned out I didn't like the book. I wrote an honest and constructive review. They didn't even said thank you for taking my time to read their book. Luckily that's a significant minority.

Not everthing is perfect in the blogger community. I 've seen bitchiness and a lot of jealousy on Twitter especially when it comes to book post, features or individual projects.  Bloggers are moaning about not receiving enough books post. Just for the fact that you have a blog and been blogging for a while doesn’t mean publisher have to send you books. Don’t take it for granted. Be happy with what you receive. Of course it’s nice to receive book post but I actually don’t want to receive 10 books a week. I could never keep up. Even now, I feel like my Netgalley and author request pile is never going down. I rarely pick up a book of my own choice at the moment. There are good and bad sides of the blogging but I don't regret starting my blog and I love being part of this comminity.

I've been thinking about my blog for so long now. A lot has changed since I started blogging so many months ago. I can't keep up with everything I used to. Blogging is overtaking everything I'm doing in my life. Blogging became such an addiction to me. Spending hours with reading, writing reviews, browse on Goodreads for new book recommendations or read reviews of other bloggers. I’m struggling to find a good balance between reading, socializing and studying. Somtimes I am having trouble to put my books down and study for exams, go out and just do something not book releated. I love my blog and reading without a doubt but being a book blogger takes up so much time. Reading, writing reviews and preparing blog posts feels like a job to me at times. I'm not enjoy it anymore as I used to. For this reason I came up with a decision. Don't worry, I will not leave the community. I have to get my life back on track and take the pressure off I put on myself. I see bloggers posting every day, read 3 or more books a week. This is not possible for me. I feel like there is a lot of competition in the blogger community, so you atomatically but pressure on yourself too. I’m asking myself how bloggers can read about 100 or 200 books a year? How do they do that without getting lonely?

Long story short. I will keep up my blog and I still will be reading and reviewing books I just will take myself a bit back and lessen my posts, try to take the pressure off everything and get back the joy of blogging. Who minds if I post 5, 10 or 30 posts a month? I will do my own thing, doesn't matter what others are thinking.

I discovered a ton of new authors I would have never found out about without the blogging. I want to say a huge thank you to Aven Ellis, Rebecca Raisin, Rachel L. Hamm, Jill Steeples, T.S. Krupa and Jenny Hale. You're books bring me so much joy and hapiness. I am so happy I got to meet you and let me read your wonderful books. I am so greatful for that. Thank you for being here.

Whoever read until here. I love you! Thank you so much for reading. Now, I'm off the prepare my next hundred blog posts ;)

7 Kommentare

  1. Oh Isabell, I do love you! You are absolutely right to do this for YOU, on your timeline, and what you want to read. Having a life outside of the pages is really important, and I'm glad you recognize that. And whether you post once a week or once a month, we're always here for you.

    xoxo

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  2. What a FABULOUS post Isabell, so inspirational. I absolutely love your blog, your reviews are always great and the design of the blog is just beautiful. Keep up the fantastic work & great attitude to blogging! xx

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  3. I loved reading this! I've loved following your blog and I can't wait for all of your posts to come. Well done Isabell!

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  4. You go, girl!!! You're doing a wonderful thing and I'm sure that readers and authors are both very grateful for that. :)

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  5. Thank you so much, Isabell! I'm so pleased we've met in the busy world of social media, and count you as a friend! I hope you find that balance and continue to enjoy your blogging journey the way you want to, and how you think people expect you to. Like Aven Ellis said above, we are all here for you, however often you blog, and we will look forward to the next 100 posts! xxx Lot of love, Bec xxx

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  6. What a wonderful post, Isabell! I’m so happy to have met you too and enjoy following your blog and reading your well thought out book posts. I’m sorry to hear you’re not enjoying blogging as much as you have done in the past, but that’s completely understandable. It must be so much work and it always amazes me how much time, effort and enthusiasm book bloggers put into their sites. Definitely take a step back and find the right balance that suits you. If it becomes a pressure then it ceases to be enjoyable. We’ll all still be here to support you however often you choose to blog. Take care. Jill xx

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  7. No problem! I know we just met, but I keep a writing blog. I talk about everything that deals with writing, including my experiences. I love it. I am now doing book reviews as well. It is fun. Keep up the good work!

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