Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,
hosted by Billy @
For more information, click HERE.
What to Do
1.) Post on your blog answering this week's
question:
How much of your day is devoted
to your blog, and how much is
devoted to reading?
(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)
2.) Enter the link to your post in the
Linky list on Billy's blog.
3.) Visit other blogs on the list and
comment on their posts.
4.) Be sure to find out next week's
question when you visit
Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer!
My Answer
I wish I could say that I have perfectly balanced my blogging and my reading, but alas, I have not.... I'm way behind on reading the books I want to read. There's another cause for that, as well, but I'll get into that later.
Like most bloggers -- whatever the subject blogged about -- I have always been a perfectionist regarding my blog, and want to make sure that I present not only posts done to my satisfaction, but also the best blog design I could possibly get, that would reflect my visual values. So, during my first year of blogging, I went through a few blog designs, until I settled on this one. My post backgrounds used to be dark gray, then I changed to black, and now I'm satisfied with the Navy blue I selected some time ago.
Since I don't know anything about PhotoShop, I could not create a header I liked and could live with. Then I came across the work of Jennifer Johnson @ Sapphire Blog Designs! She designed my header and blog button, and I absolutely love them! (As you an see, I'm a huge fan of the color blue, lol.)
Added to all this is the fact that I want to maintain a certain style and look for this blog that goes along with its name. So I've experimented throughout the years with font sizes and colors, as well as image sizes.
When I'm creating a new post, I'm also very much a perfectionist in regards to the writing. I always check for spelling and grammatical errors, as well as the best ways to express myself. This is especially true when I'm writing a book review; many times I will tweak and re-tweak a review several times even after I publish it.
One hour is usually not enough for me to create a post if, in addition to the writing, it contains several images and links. In fact, it can take me up to 5 hours to create one post, depending on what's to be included in it.
Then there's the issue of commenting. I think this is extremely important! Since I greatly appreciate any comments I receive on my posts, I always make it a point to not only reply to them on my blog, but to visit the commenter's own blog, and comment back on their post. When I read posts on other blogs, I always read the entire post, too, instead of just skimming it. Then I can leave a thoughtful comment about it.
All of the above translates to a LOT of time spent every day on my book blogging!
When I do find time to read, it's mostly at night, when everything's quiet and hubby is fast asleep. I can sometimes get in a couple of hours, and maybe even three, depending on the book I'm currently reading.
I have found, of late, that I'm not reading as many YA novels as I'd like, in order to review them on this blog. I do have another blog, in which I review literary fiction and nonfiction. So the trouble is that lately, I've been wanting to read more of those types of books, and less YA.
Recently, I've also been wanting to read books that are uniquely interesting to me. Therefore, I know practically no one will be reading my reviews of such books, which means I won't bother to write reviews of them.... But this means NO blogging activity while I'm reading them, of course.
Then there's the issue of blog tours.... I have been cutting down on those, because I don't seem to get many comments on such posts. I've heard that many bloggers consider blog tours to be spam, especially when these posts don't contain any original material. However, I have made sure that my blog tour posts contain at least some original material. Still no comments, not even when the post features my review of the book in question. So I'm thinking of not doing these posts anymore, which will definitely give me more reading time, and then perhaps I will be posting more reviews (non-tour-related, that is). Besides, blog tour posts are very time-consuming.
I really should have made a New Year's resolution about balancing my reading and blogging.....sigh.....
Like most bloggers -- whatever the subject blogged about -- I have always been a perfectionist regarding my blog, and want to make sure that I present not only posts done to my satisfaction, but also the best blog design I could possibly get, that would reflect my visual values. So, during my first year of blogging, I went through a few blog designs, until I settled on this one. My post backgrounds used to be dark gray, then I changed to black, and now I'm satisfied with the Navy blue I selected some time ago.
Since I don't know anything about PhotoShop, I could not create a header I liked and could live with. Then I came across the work of Jennifer Johnson @ Sapphire Blog Designs! She designed my header and blog button, and I absolutely love them! (As you an see, I'm a huge fan of the color blue, lol.)
Added to all this is the fact that I want to maintain a certain style and look for this blog that goes along with its name. So I've experimented throughout the years with font sizes and colors, as well as image sizes.
When I'm creating a new post, I'm also very much a perfectionist in regards to the writing. I always check for spelling and grammatical errors, as well as the best ways to express myself. This is especially true when I'm writing a book review; many times I will tweak and re-tweak a review several times even after I publish it.
One hour is usually not enough for me to create a post if, in addition to the writing, it contains several images and links. In fact, it can take me up to 5 hours to create one post, depending on what's to be included in it.
Then there's the issue of commenting. I think this is extremely important! Since I greatly appreciate any comments I receive on my posts, I always make it a point to not only reply to them on my blog, but to visit the commenter's own blog, and comment back on their post. When I read posts on other blogs, I always read the entire post, too, instead of just skimming it. Then I can leave a thoughtful comment about it.
All of the above translates to a LOT of time spent every day on my book blogging!
When I do find time to read, it's mostly at night, when everything's quiet and hubby is fast asleep. I can sometimes get in a couple of hours, and maybe even three, depending on the book I'm currently reading.
I have found, of late, that I'm not reading as many YA novels as I'd like, in order to review them on this blog. I do have another blog, in which I review literary fiction and nonfiction. So the trouble is that lately, I've been wanting to read more of those types of books, and less YA.
Recently, I've also been wanting to read books that are uniquely interesting to me. Therefore, I know practically no one will be reading my reviews of such books, which means I won't bother to write reviews of them.... But this means NO blogging activity while I'm reading them, of course.
Then there's the issue of blog tours.... I have been cutting down on those, because I don't seem to get many comments on such posts. I've heard that many bloggers consider blog tours to be spam, especially when these posts don't contain any original material. However, I have made sure that my blog tour posts contain at least some original material. Still no comments, not even when the post features my review of the book in question. So I'm thinking of not doing these posts anymore, which will definitely give me more reading time, and then perhaps I will be posting more reviews (non-tour-related, that is). Besides, blog tour posts are very time-consuming.
I really should have made a New Year's resolution about balancing my reading and blogging.....sigh.....
What are your thoughts?
Please leave a comment,
and I'll go check out your post!
Wow I never thought about the blog tours. I do get visits and author thanks but it is true I get no other comments.
ReplyDelete
Sportochick’s Musings Answer
Hi, Teri!
DeleteI do enjoy creating blog tour posts, but, after all that hard work, I get very few or no comments. And I don't always get author thanks, either. I'm still undecided about not doing them anymore, though, because I think they add variety to my blog.
Thanks for the comment!! :)
I understand where you are coming from. I struggle with the same thoughts.
DeleteGlad to know I'm not alone in this struggle! Thanks for the support!! :)
DeleteAnother great post Maria.
ReplyDeleteI share almost all the problems that you do. i am constantly frustrated that I am not spending enough time reading. Blogging takes time from that. I really want to make improvements to my blog also. But time is an issue. I am also spending a little too much tim,e on Twitter, I really need to cut that.
I think to some extent this is an issue with many book bloggers. In the end your blog looks great and your posts are iso interesting and well written so you are al least doing it right.
Hey, Brian!
DeleteThanks so much for your kind words!
Yes, I think that most book bloggers have this very same problem.... I did read a couple of posts (written by participants in this blog hop) in which the writers stated that they do more READING than blogging. Amazing! I don't know how they do it.....
Blogging is not just creating posts for your blog, and making updates on it, and/or design changes (I'm past that, though; I'm DEFINITELY keeping this design, lol.) It also involves commenting on other blogs, as well as replying to comments made on your own blog. Not everyone does both, but I have always tried my best to do so. I think this is a very important part of blogging. The blogosphere is supposed to be a community, after all.
As for Twitter, lately I haven't been spending much time on it. I think I'm getting disillusioned with it, and you know one of the reasons for this, which we've discussed in emails. Aside from that issue, though, tweeting my blogs posts has not brought me much new traffic, nor has it brought me more new comments. So I am going to limit my tweeting somewhat.
Thanks for the compliments about my blog! I greatly appreciate them, Brian. Since I'm such a perfectionist, I always do my very best to present posts that will be interesting not only for their content but for their visual appeal, as well.
Your blog posts are also very interesting, and I always learn something new from them! As for design, I think your blog looks very elegant and dignified. Keep up the GREAT work!
Thanks so much for the super nice comment!! :)