Friday, December 3, 2010

Event: Busting the Newbie Blues


Starting out as a new YA book blogger is a ton of fun. You meet a bunch of new people who all share in your passion for YA books, you become a part of a friendly community, and you're continually exposed to wonderful new books.

But sometimes things can be a little discouraging when you're just starting out. You look at your blog and then look at some of the awesome established bloggers out there and wonder if you'll ever make the grade.

So here's to Busting the Newbie Blues! Don't be discouraged. Instead, take action! Participate in my Busting the Newbie Blues event, which will run from December 3rd through December 31st.


This event is designed to:
  •  Put new YA book bloggers on the map
  • Increase blogger interaction
  • Start a discussion by sharing our experiences as a new bloggers
  • Learn about what it was like for all those impressive established bloggers when they were newbies

So how does this work? Simple:
  • Select the questionnaire that best applies to you (there's no "wrong" choice, so just pick whichever one you feel most comfortable answering)
  • Create a post on your blog with the questions and your answers
  • Grab the banner above or the button below to include in your post or sidebar
  • Link back to my post here
  • Sign the Mr. Linky below so we can all come and visit your post!
  • Spread the word!

If you don't want to make a post on your blog, but you do want to participate, then just email me your answers and I'll post them up on my blog! Be sure to include your name and blog address. Here's where you can email me:
Imagesandwords at optonline dot net

Try to visit as many blogs as you can. Take a look at their answers, but also check out a bunch of their other posts (try for 5?) and leave comments. If you like their blog, follow them! If someone follows you, then take a look at their blog and follow back if you like what you see.

This event will run from today all the way through December 31st, so bookmark this post and check back to ensure you'll be included in all the fun as new bloggers add their posts to the list. I can't wait to see all your answers and blogs! I hope everyone has fun. :)


Want to see my answers? Click here to see Small Review Bust the Newbie Blues!


Questionnaires:

New Bloggers: 

Pick this questionnaire if you if you feel you're still getting your "blogging legs" and could use some advice and awareness brought to your blog, whether you're a brand new blogger or even if you've been blogging for over a year. 

  1. When did you start your blog?
  2. Why did you start your blog?
  3. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
  4. What do you find most discouraging about being a new blogger?
  5. What do you find most encouraging?
  6. What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?
  7. What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?
  8. Any advice for other new bloggers?
  9. Anything else you’d like to share about your experience?
  10. Is there anything you’d like to tell us about your blog?

Established Bloggers:

Pick this questionnaire if you've been blogging for a while, have a decent sized group of followers and people commenting on your posts, and get a decent amount of traffic. Basically, you have some experience blogging and you've seen positive results for your efforts. You can define "decent."

  1. When did you start your blog?
  2. Why did you start your blog?
  3. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? Did you make any mistakes new bloggers can learn from?
  4. What did you find most discouraging about being a new blogger? How did you deal with this?
  5. What do you find most encouraging?
  6. What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?
  7. What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?
  8. Do you have any advice for new bloggers?
  9. How did you bring your blog to the attention of so many people?
  10. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience?





Oh, and please pay no attention to the "Blog Fodder" title in the Mr. Linky or the links below it. I think you have to pay to customize that, and I only selected the free option that let me choose an established name.

73 comments:

  1. This is a great idea! It is difficult being a new blogger and trying to figure out how everything works without having a handbook :D I am not too sure which group I fall into though (somewhere in between, perhaps?) - any criteria (like number of months) for the categories?

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  2. I love this... I was just thinking that someone should do this and figured I didn't have enough connections yet to pull it off thanks!

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  3. Thanks for the email! Great idea :) I have joined in.

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  4. What would you classify as a newbie blogger?

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  5. I'm so glad you're all participating. I'll be stopping by your blogs soon!

    Danya and Cass, nothing is set in stone. The goal is to help one another, so it's really up to you if you consider yourself "new" or not. I would suggest choosing the questionnaire for new bloggers if you've either just started out or if you've been at it for a while but you feel you're still struggling to get a hang of things. There really is no "wrong" answer here. I'll edit the original post for clarity. Thanks!

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  6. This is such a wonderful idea, I know that I found established blogger's tips very helpful when I started out but it was very difficult to find the posts. I'll be participating sometime soon and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's answers :)

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  7. This is a great post! I'll add this to my post lineup this weekend, so I'll link my answers tomorrow.

    Book blogging is awesome, but it's a process, and it's best to keep with it, you know? Even after blogging a year, I have far less followers than some newbie bloggers, but I will say that I have an awesome and involved following, which brightens every day for me, so I have nothing to complain about!

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  8. I changed my blog again! It's now blue! xD

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  10. Whoops! I put my name instead of my blog's name! Is there a way to fix it? I'm sorry, I feel so stupid!

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  11. Thank you for this event! I joined it and linked my post up :D

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  12. Such a good idea! Thanks for putting this all together!

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  13. hi Small Review! thanks for dropping by my blog and for following. i'm glad you like paintings done in watercolor. your new event looks cool. hopefully everyone gets to share & learn something from each other. i'll come back soon to sign up for it.

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  14. This is such a great idea!!! I'm definitely joining in :)

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  15. This was a wonderful idea and so well organized! Thanks so much for hosting - I'm new, so this may not count for much, but I think you are doing a fantastic job with your blog!

    -Linds

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  16. I love this! I'll definitely do it tomorrow =)

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  17. This is an absolutely, lovely idea! :)

    I'm so participating!

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  18. Thank you all for joining up! I'm so happy you like the idea. I hope everyone's answers help you and we can have some good discussions. :)

    Melissa: Oh I agree. I don't think it's the number of followers that matter as much as the quality of followers, and I'm so lucky with the people I've met here. You're all really great.

    Laura: If there is a way to fix it, I can't figure it out. Don't worry though, your blog links and that's what is important. Don't feel stupid, I think we've all done something like that at one point or another. I know I have!

    Linds: Of course it counts! Thank you :)

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  19. Great idea - I decided to join too!

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  20. I'm so glad you guys are joining up! :D

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  21. Great idea! I feel like I am at a house party meeting a bunch of new friends :) Linked, posted and spreading the word.

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  22. Such a totally awesome idea! Thanks for doing this. :)

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  23. This was a fun little project to participate in! It really did make me stop and spend some time evaluating the whys, whats, and so forth behind my literature blog. Thank you for the opportunity to share my perspectives. I also thought your questionnaire was very well thought out. Cheers! Chris

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  24. BookGeek, Isn't it nice? I'm having so much fun mingling and getting to know so many new people. I'm glad you're enjoying it (and spreading the word!)

    Thanks Julia! And you're very welcome.

    Christopher, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and for your kind words.

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  25. Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog about this. I somehow missed it as I was away this week. I've bookmarked the post and will be participating during the week! x

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  26. Hmmm...I'm not sure if I'm a newbie or established. I totally think of myself as a newbie even though the blog has been up and running for a while now.

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  27. I really like this event! It's a really good encourager for newbies like me :) especially since I pretty much just started (2 days ago). Lovin it.

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  28. Leanna, Thanks for participating! I can't wait to read your responses. I'd definitely consider you established, but you can answer either questionnaire.

    Steph, I'm glad you found the event! Now I've found your blog :)

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  29. This is a great meme you came up with! There are lots of great feedback that we wish we would have known when we began blogging :)

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  30. Thanks Natalie! There has really been a ton of wonderful feedback. I'm so thankful to everyone who participated. I'd love to hear about your experiences. Your blog looks great!

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  31. No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed reading my answers.

    As for finding my "voice," I'm probably still developing it, but I would recommend just blogging as it comes naturally to you and not trying to force anything or imitate another blogger's style. I think if you're genuine then this gets conveyed across to the reader :)

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  32. I just discovered this event on AnimeGirl's blog. I'm a newbie blogger and I've been hoping to run across something like this. The blogosphere is so massive I often find myself bewildered and not sure where to start.

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  33. I really enjoyed participating in this event!

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  34. Rubysreads, I know! I never realized how large the community really was. I'm glad you found the event!

    Jen, Great! I'm happy to have you here!

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  35. Thanks for telling me it didn't work I added a letterto the first one but I fixed it. :)

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  36. You're welcome. I want to make sure people can stop by your blog! :)

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  37. The community IS enormous. I never stop finding new blogs, even big ones that I haven't heard of yet heh~~

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  38. I know! I can't get over it. It's so wonderful that there are so many people out there all connected by a love of books.

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  39. I'm glad you like it and joined in!

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  40. This is so great! Definitely a newbie, and will post on Thursday. Such a wonderful idea.

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  41. This should be fun. Thanks for doing it. I still think of myself as a new blogger, but it may be time to revise that thought.

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  42. Thank you so much for doing this! I started up just a few days ago (like 2...hehehe) and it really helped me want to stick with it. Thanks again!

    Jessica K.
    http://thesimplepleasureofreading.blogspot.com/

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  43. Hello Small Review and thank you for this event! I consider myself a newbie, learning day to day, and am always looking for community. BTW, the photo....a-dor-able. Exactly how a newbie feels. :-)

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  44. My post is now up. Hope I gave some helpful advice! x

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  45. Thank you all for taking part! I can't wait to read what you've all written.

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  46. My post went up this morning. I'm really looking forward to reading everyone else's answers. THANK YOU Small Review!!!

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  47. You're very welcome! Thank you for participating. :)

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  48. Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  49. Whoops, accidentally posted THIS url with my comments when I meant to post my own. *forehead slap* Small Review, if you see a comment by me with your URL (for the linky list), my apologies! I didn't do it on purpose. :p

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  50. Oh don't worry at all (I just made a complete mess of a Mr Linky on another blog today!), but your link looks fine to me. I see you as number 14 and the link leads back to your blog as it should. That's right, right?

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  51. Thanks so much for doing this! I really need help establishing myself, and I'd like to get to a level where I can start doing an ARC type thing? Thanks again! :)

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  52. You're welcome. :) You just need to make a post filling out the questionnaire before linking up your blog. Then add the direct link to the post in the Mr. Linky.

    ARCs are great, but blogging is about so much more and it's all very rewarding :) I'm looking forward to reading your responses.

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  53. This was fun. It is good to reflect on what you are doing sometimes. Thanks for doing this event.

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  54. I'm a newbie and think this is awesome! Thanks Small Review for hosting this event-- I will participating :D

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  55. I'm glad you both enjoyed this event! I'm off to check out your responses.

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  56. Thanks for setting something like this up! Just posted my responses and link and am off to check out the other new blogs :]

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  57. Absolutely love this event! I'm joining in, my post will be up Wednesday.. Still a newbie (:

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  58. You're welcome! I'm happy to hear you're both joining up :)

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  59. Awesome event! Thanks for hosting, it's awesome to meet other Newbies!

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  60. :) Hope its not too late! I just signed up... Thanks so much for doing this! It's good to know I'm not the only "newbie" out there!

    Diana

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  61. Awesome idea! I am really trying hard to get my blog going, and I hope this helps!

    www.yabookloverblog.blogspot.com

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  62. The Lovely Getaway, It's not too late at all! Anyone can enter up to and including December 31st. Thanks for participating!

    Chloe, glad to have you join in! Just be sure to include your responses to the questionnaire on your blog. :)

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  63. This is such a great idea! Thanks a lot!

    http://unputdownablebookies.blogspot.com

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  64. Wonderful! Glad to have you, and you're very welcome. :)

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It's all about friendly conversation here at Small Review :) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Be sure to check back again because I do make every effort to reply to your comments here.

Because I am absolutely terrible about following through with blog awards, I can't in good conscience accept any more. Thank you very much for thinking of me though!

Spam WILL be deleted. Attacks on myself or other comments WILL be deleted.

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