Bloggers Unite™ discussion

** NON-technical help**

If you have any wisdom to share with your Book Blogging/Book Reviewing friends, please post your ideas and suggestions here.

If you are new to blogging, please feel free to ask questions and hopefully one of us here, will be able to answer them for you or be able to steer you in the right direction.

If you are a seasoned Book Blogger and you would like to pass on some words of wisdom, hints, tips, etc. please share with us.

I am wanting to try my hand at Graphic Creation and Editing (so I can design my own blog) - does anyone know of a simple software program that won;t break the bank?

Advice needed! Thank you!!

Has anyone noticed some NEW features on Blogger recently? I think that some of them are only in available in "Blogger in draft".

Here are the NEW or upcoming features that I have noticed:

* under the DESIGN tab, there is the new Template Designer feature - lets you quickly and easily change templates, background image (colors & color-themes), body & page layout and more.

* STATS tab - gives you an overview, post stats., web traffic sources and audience (by country, web browser or operating system.

* PAGES gadget - I think that this is a new feature --- regardless, it's a lifesaver and I love it - displays a list of stand-alone pages on your site.

I have always been a fan of Blogger because it is really easy to use, allows advertising, flash & java widgets and makes the over-all experience more enjoyable.


What about you? How do you feel about Blogger; good or bad?

I am a great fan of blogger especially their stat page. It makes me feel special, all warm and fuzzy inside. It also shows me that my audience isn't just in the USofA which I find interesting.

I was wondering if anybody had thoughts on inviting young bloggers to read your blog. Just googling the main words of your content and following blogs like yours. It gets results, but could it be seen as badgering?

I love Blogger. It's just so easy to use! Though, one issue is that there isn't a built in reply/subscribe to post feature with comments, which would be REALLY useful!

Isabell, I don't quite understand your question.

Well with one of my blogs I googled some of my content and found bloggers that were similiar to me but had just a few followers and read their posts and responded with relevant comments followed by a you should read my blog speech.
Is taht good ettiquette or am I being annoying?

Hmm... well, I can't say for sure. If it works for you, if it gets people to visit your blog and read your content, then sure. Is it good etiquette? That's questionable. You did say that you make relevant comments, so in a way, I think it's okay.

I guess the most important thing to remember is that if your blog posts are earnest, well thought out and truthful, then people will respect your purposes. A little self-promotion doesn't hurt at all. I'm a bit more subtle in my approach-- I comment big massive paragraphs w/ insight, and leave my name & blog name (with the link) underneath. I don't normally do it anymore, since I have some regular readers, so it's all cool.

Basically do what works for you.

I'm starting out and I'm wondering when I write a (good) review for a book, should I let the author know? Do authors generally like reading reviews? Does it matter how popular the author is?

I've been pondering this topic for a while so I'm interested in what more experienced bloggers (and authors) have to say.

P.E. at Tantalizing Illusions wrote: "I'm starting out and I'm wondering when I write a (good) review for a book, should I let the author know? Do authors generally like reading reviews? Does it matter how popular the author is?

I've..."

Hi, I am only pretty new a this too so this is only a suggestion.
Do you have a twitter account?
Sometime I have put my thoughts of a book up on a quick tweet and put by '@authorsname'. Sometimes they answer *fan girl squeal* and sometimes they re-tweet my tweet. It is just a suggestion but maybe you could do the same thing but only insert a link to your review at the same time. But I couldn't tell you if the re-tweets are automatic or if they actually read them...
Anyway, hope that helps.
:-)

Isabell wrote: "Well with one of my blogs I googled some of my content and found bloggers that were similiar to me but had just a few followers and read their posts and responded with relevant comments followed by..."

I don't think that's annoying at all. It seems to me a pretty good way to let others with the same interest know about you. What's annoying is bloggers who could care less about your topic but still follow you and then put on one or more of your posts... "Hi, I'm following you now please return the favor by following me". I dont want to just look popular. I want people to care about what I write.

P.E. at Tantalizing Illusions wrote: "I'm starting out and I'm wondering when I write a (good) review for a book, should I let the author know? Do authors generally like reading reviews? Does it matter how popular the author is?

I've..."

I try to let the author know whenever I write reviews. I recently wrote one for Jane Green and she wrote me back how much she liked my review. I have had mostly positive results. I have even had random comments from an author's publisher or agent. So I would say try it.

P.E. at Tantalizing Illusions wrote: "I'm starting out and I'm wondering when I write a (good) review for a book, should I let the author know? Do authors generally like reading reviews? Does it matter how popular the author is?

I've..."

I think most authors have a way of finding out when anyone writes a review; like they must have an alert on that lets them know anytime their name comes up online. Like Jencey, I've had authors contact me right after I post their reviews...so they must have a way of being alerted.

I also do the Twitter tactic too which works well since most authors seem to have an account. I don't use FB very much but I imagine similar to Twitter, if you announced it there, they would probably find out or even go one step further and write a little note on their fan page:) Have fun!

Interesting discussion about folks blogs. I use blogger and find it quite usefull. I do have two blogs, one for my book reviews and one for my crafting.

I keep my book reviews quite simple and straightforward. Ive looked at some blogs and found all the adverts and links to video etc very distracting.

If i get a request to review a book I do send a link to the author of my review. However, Ive never posted an email to other authors that I happen to like and have reviews of the books Ive bought and read

If anyone has suggestions on how to improve my blog, I would love advice. I have no idea how to do one and I just started mine. Where do you find things to post?

How would you create a border around a post in blogger?

I always email authors who have requested reviews to let them know the review is complete and posted. I've never had the guts to contact a "big name" author though. Kudos to you for being so brave!

JD: I think most blogs are people's hobbies, and here that seems to be a lot of book reading. I know a couple friends who use it to post on life in general, kids, family, military spouse things, etc. The best advice I've ever heard any one give on writing anything is to write what you know and what you're passionate about.

J: Until just recently I completely agreed with you, and I wish I could say I followed that high road. But after almost a year, and with next to no followers, how do you build a fan base without being willing to co-follow every once in a while? I don't mean that sarcastically, I sincerely would like to know. I've only been blogging for a year, and would love to make it something bigger than it is, but am basically clueless as to how. Though I'm researching and learning a bit more each day.

I was wondering how do you gain traffic for your blog? Do you use other websites to help such as facebook twitter digg, things like those if so which one?

Hey everyone! I need some advice from the blogging community. My site www.yanovelreader.com is mainly geared toward the Young Adult Genre. Lately I have been getting a lot of requests from authors not in that genre to read and review their books. I don't mind reading other genres, but my question to all of you is, will that get confusing on my blog? Should I create a whole other blog for all genres or just have a post category called The other book shelf? Thanks for the advice :)

Heather wrote: "I was wondering how do you gain traffic for your blog? Do you use other websites to help such as facebook twitter digg, things like those if so which one?"

I'm having this same issue. I have over 100 followers but my blog traffic is still really low. I post my updates and blog links everywhere I can think of: goodreads, twitter, facebook, digg, pintrest, bookblogs.nig. It doesn't seem to make much difference. If anyone has any suggestions on increasing blog traffic I would love to hear them.

http://fromthebootheelcottonpatch.blo...

Flora wrote: "Heather wrote: "I was wondering how do you gain traffic for your blog? Do you use other websites to help such as facebook twitter digg, things like those if so which one?"

I'm having this same iss..."


Hi Flora, I am a new follower! I would love a follow back at http://endlessdaysofbooks.blogspot.com/ and maybe a Facebook 'Like' too!

I have heard that Blog Hops are a good way to increase traffic.

Candace

Candace wrote: "Flora wrote: "Heather wrote: "I was wondering how do you gain traffic for your blog? Do you use other websites to help such as facebook twitter digg, things like those if so which one?"

I'm having..."

Thanks Candace! I've returned the favor, I like yours as well.

I've been considering joining a blog hop, I had heard that was a good way to increase traffic. I just haven't had the time to look into it yet.

Hi everyone...I just joined today! I am in the "thinking" stage of becoming a blogger. My question for all of you is, why do you do it? Initially, I thought it would be fun. An extension of Goodreads where I can just be more of myself...

But, I tried writing one earlier today and was actually put off by all the work involved. Reviewing on my blog, reviewing on goodreads, reviewing on Amazon...why so much work to tell people what I thought about a book? And who the heck is going to look at what I have to say anyhow?? I'm no one. Not famous, not in the literary field. I'm just someone who likes to read. Speaking of which, I'd rather spend my time reading!!!

So, why do you do it?

How do you design your own blog background/header? I'm not a big fan of all the templates that blogger has, i want to make my own.

Thanks! You can check out my blog here: www.littlebookwormreviews.blogspot.com

On contacting authors, you should almost always do it if your review is neutral/positive. I'm moving from being a blogger to an author this year, and one thing that has surprised me is how quickly things get buried. Google alerts don't catch everything, and when I search for "MY NAME" "BOOK TITLE" it's surprising how many results there are already, considering I'm just starting out. Often these aren't reviews but blogroll mentions, sales pages, tag pages and other things, but there are a lot more of these non-review pages than I expected.

Some authors don't read reviews, but personally I'd always love to be informed of them, and not just for the sake of my ego. If the review is interesting and well-written I might want to use quotes from it in my promotion, and that's definitely something I would want to link to.

Hey guys! I have a YA review blog. I love blogging so much. I have been wondering something though, some people have signatures at the bottom of every post. My question is how do I set it up so that I have a signature at the bottom at my blog? Thanks!

Whenever I add a Google Adsense gadget to my blog, it doesn't show up in the layout or my blog itself. I am saving my layout, so I don't know what's wrong. Please help!

Thanks

Can I create and promote my own blog tour without the author. My blog is very new and my facebook following is...let's say CHALLENGING. However, I have fav authors who I promote any way just work of mouth. Is it proper etiquette ( it may be misspelled oops) to do one on my own?

https://www.facebook.com/MileHighKink...

Heya! I review YA books on my blog. Sometimes I post a daily log to do with my recovery of mental illness. What other topics/post ideas are there that I should/could feature on my blog? Thank you.

http://thehyperlapse.blogspot.com.au/

HI

I am having a bit of trouble if anyone could help me. I would like to know if it can be done. How can u make the image box bigger ( that is where all your images are stored

Mile High KINK wrote: "Can I create and promote my own blog tour without the author. My blog is very new and my facebook following is...let's say CHALLENGING. However, I have fav authors who I promote any way just work o..."

I do the same thing. It is challanging. Just keep reaching out to other bloggers and gain them as followers. This will allow their followers to see you too.

https://moohnshinescorner.blog

I'm new to blogging and I was wondering how I could add on my blog posts after the reviews the" Add to Goodreads " button and " Buy on Amazon " button. I use WordPress.