Saturday, September 24, 2016

Book Blogger Hop No. 68: How long have you been blogging?



Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,
hosted by Billy @


For more information, and 
to find out the topic of next week's question, click HERE.


What to Do

1.) Post on your blog answering this week's
question:

 How many years have you been
blogging? Anything special
you want to tell everyone about 
your experiences?

(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

This is an incredible coincidence, because I'm currently celebrating my Sixth Blogoversary! My very first post went live on Sept. 22, 2010, and I've been blogging ever since! It's been so much fun, too!! 

In order to celebrate, I'm holding an international giveaway!!  Just click on the button below to access the giveaway post and enter! I'm giving away one book of your choice, delivered by The Book Depository, worth up to $15.00!!


http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/2016/09/sixth-blogoversary-giveaway-for-nights.html
 

When I first started blogging, I basically reviewed books and published bookish musings. Gradually, as I began to familiarize myself with other book blogs, I began adding other kinds of posts, such as book memes, author interviews, giveaways, blog awards, book tags, and blog tours. Eventually, I had to stop participating in blog awards and book tags because these activities became much too time-consuming. But I continued publishing the other kinds of posts.

As for my blogging experiences, I can say that, overall, they have been wonderful and very positive! I've met some great bloggers along the way, such as Brian @Babbling Books, Elizabeth @Silver's Reviews, Michele & Mckenze @A Belle's Tales, Mareli @Mareli Thalk ink, J-9 @Blood Rose Books, and Literary Feline (Wendy) @Musings of a Bookish Kitty, to name a few! These bloggers have been a source of inspiration to me in  my blogging! There have been many others, too; they're just too numerous to name. I also sadly remember Stephanie @Five Alarm Book Reviews, who deleted her entire blog when she decided to stop blogging.... She did that because it was self-hosted on Wordpress, so, had she left it up, she would have had to continue paying for an inactive blog. But, oh, the loss! I wish she had decided to come back to Blogger, or perhaps started another, free, blog on Wordpress.... She always had AWESOME posts, and I still miss her dearly, even though she dropped out of the blogosphere several years ago. I "inherited" the meme "Shelf Candy Saturday", which I post on this blog on a weekly basis, from her.

I have to mention the authors, as well! Most of them are Indie authors, and they've been just WONDERFUL!! Here are some names, with links to their interviews: Cambria Hebert, Kieran Kramer, Paul Anthony Shortt, Cassandra Lawson, and the "dynamic duo": Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall 

One thing about my blog that many people might not be aware of is that it wasn't always named "A Night's Dream of Books". It used to be named "Twilight and Other Dreams". That was due to my great love for The Twilight Saga! Lol. However, I decided to change the name because I didn't want people to think this was "just another Twilight fan blog". So, I took inspiration from the Shakespeare play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and came up with the present name. Besides, what would a die-hard bookworm prefer to dream about most? BOOKS. Of course!

Thanks to the Blogger blog-creating system, I experimented with several templates and backgrounds, until I came up with the present one, which I love! As you can see, I ADORE the color blue!! Lol. The background was created for Blogger by merrymoonmary (that's the name this artist uses, but the page is no longer available), and the template is the Picture Window template, which I customized. The AWESOME header and blog button are the work of a VERY talented website designer named Jennifer Johnson @Sapphire Blog Designs. Her website design button is in my sidebar.

Before I hired Jennifer to create my present header, I attempted to make some of my own. I was limited in what I could do, though, as I didn't (and still don't) know how to work with PhotoShop. However, I did the best I could with another program -- Picasa. While not as versatile as PhotoShop, it will still allow a blogger to create headers and buttons.

I have created several blog buttons with this program, such as the one above, which is based on Jennifer's header. I also created the buttons for the memes "Waiting On Wednesday" and "Shelf Candy Saturday".






Here are some of the headers I created with Picasa, before I finally decided to have Jennifer create one for me. I do prefer her beautiful design!


     




I'm really looking forward to the next 6 years! After all, book blogging has become a VERY important part of my life! I couldn't imagine living without it! It's become more than "just a hobby"; now it's an all-consuming passion, right along with reading!
      
   

What are your thoughts on
this topic?
Please leave a comment!
If you're participating in this meme,
I'll go comment on your 
own BBH post.
If not, I will then comment on one 
of your blog posts!
Thanks for visiting!!! 





8 comments:

  1. Hallo Maria! I had a lot of fun reading your post and I felt a bit like a student. I was making notes as I was reading! LOL - thanks for all the great tips and advice AND the shout out... That is so nice of you!! I feel honored to be mentioned by a fabulous blogger as yourself. I love your graphics, even the ones you've made yourself. I have to admit, I haven't tried to make one myself. But maybe I will look into it after all your suggestions.

    CONGRATULATIONS on your blogoversary! That is really awesome! I have no idea if Book Depository ships to SA, but I am going to enter your give-away and find out.

    Hope you will have an awesome weekend and a great week ahead! Here's my Friday Meets: http://marelithalkink.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/friday-meets-23-september-2016.html


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Mareli!

      Oh, thank you SO much for all the compliments!! (blush)

      It might not seem that way, but it did take me some time to learn the ropes of blogging! I looked at a lot of blogs, did a lot of Googling, etc. I found out about Picasa through a tutorial posted on a blog. I should have made sure to remember which one, but I don't.... but if you just do a search on how to create your own blog buttons and headers, you'll definitely find it!

      You're very welcome for the shout-out! I felt SO honored when you mentioned me as one of your favorite bloggers, so I just had to mention you back! :)

      Thanks for the congrats, as well! I can't believe that SIX whole years have gone by.... About the giveaway -- I've already checked, and yes, TBD does indeed deliver to South Africa. So I hope you do enter my giveaway, and GOOD LUCK to you!! :)

      Hope you have an awesome weekend yourself, as well as a great week afterward!!

      Thanks for the SUPER NICE comment!!!! <3 :)

      Delete
  2. Another wonderful, educational post, Maria.

    I can add amazing too.

    Those are some awesome buttons you made. I forgot about Picasa...I need to head back there again.

    And...thanks for mentioning me in your post. HUGS.

    Happy 6th anniversary. I too have been blogging for six years, but my anniversary is July 27, 2010.

    Have a wonderful weekend!!

    Happy Hopping!!

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog Hop Answer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Elizabeth!

      Aw....you're SO sweet! Thanks for the compliments!! (blushing again)

      Yes, Picasa is very useful indeed. As I stated in my post, it's not as versatile as PhotoShop, but at least, it will allow you do to create buttons, and even headers, for your blog.

      You're very welcome for the mention! You're one of those special bloggers who has made blogging not only fun, but very supportive for me! HUGS BACK!!! ,3 :)

      Thanks for the congrats!! And Happy 6th Anniversary to you, as well! Belated, because I didn't know about it....

      Hope you have a wonderful weekend, too!! And Happy Hopping to you, as well!!

      Thanks for the SUPER NICE comment!! <3 :)

      Delete
  3. Happy blog anniversary, Maria! Six years is a great accomplishment. Thank you so much for your kind words. You inspire me too, Maria. I love the look of your blog and your thoughtful posts and comments. Here's to many more years of blogging and friendship. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Wendy!

      Thank you SO much for the congrats!! I hope to continue blogging for many more years!

      You're very welcome for the shout out, as well. I LOVE your blog! And thanks for your compliments on my own!! As you can see, I've put a LOT of work into my blog, and do so on a regular basis.

      I'm so very glad to have met you, and I, too, consider you a good friend. So yes, here's to many more years of blogging and friendship!! :)

      Thank you for leaving such a LOVELY comment!! Hope you and your family are having a GREAT Sunday, and that the coming week will be GREAT, as well!! <3 :)

      Delete
  4. Woah! 6 years! I hope I keep blogging this long too :D
    Plus those blog buttons are amazing! <3 your my new motivator now! :*
    Haniya
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Haniya!

      I'm sure you will!! Just keep up the GREAT work!!

      Thanks so much for the compliment on my blog buttons!! And I'm so honored that you now consider me your new motivator!! <3 :)

      Thanks as well for dropping by and leaving such a lovely comment!! Hugs!! <3 :)

      Delete

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