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| honohawaiiactivities.com |
Aloha! Let's continue our celebration of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Thanks to those who named unique or favorite blogs on Monday at this link.
My blog is probably unique in that it evolved from an online newsletter to support military families. Mary Gramlich, the Reading Reviewer, suggested I create a blog to provide more timely information. I was terrified of expanding beyond a controlled group of email addresses. I was terrified of going public.
I took baby steps. I posted monthly. Then weekly. Now daily.
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| directoryofkauai.net |
At first I just gave away books. Then I added author interviews. Now I review books!
I had a few hits. A few misses. Many typos. But my confidence grew over time. Thanks for your support as my blog has grown!
As part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I invite you to tell me about your blog - I know you are out there! Make sure you include a link to your blog.
If you are a reader, I invite you to tell us about any blog that deserves special attention! It may your friend's, your favorite, or one where you win the most loot!
One randomly selected commenter will win a book of choice from my RWA Stash. This giveaway is open to all readers. Comments are open through Saturday, September 17, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 18.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
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| bookpatrol.net |
My blog rarely sees activity. Oh I use it when I get the rare ARC's so I can do the sporadic reviews. I am of the mind that if I won an ARC of a book then I definitely do a review. It is my way of saying "thanks" to the author.
ReplyDeleteI did do a review once for another blog that's no longer active. Friend of mine helped and she had a request from a fantasy author. She doesn't read fantasy but I do. Other than that I fear doing them.
I have a couple friends who are starting out in the blogs - giveaways and such. I always try to pimp them out the best I can.
I promote this one because Joan is so sweet, and her bookthongs are awesome. http://joanswan.blogspot.com/
http://romancebookcraze.blogspot.com/ -> helped out getting the word out for her contests when she has them
http://www.csmaxwell.blogspot.com/
Aloha, Raonaid! Thanks for sharing! I know authors appreciate reviews for ARCs or even books you may have purchased! Never underestimate the power of any publicity!
ReplyDeleteI have a blog list of well over 140. I visit all of them about once a week, your's included :) I wish I had the time to do so more frequently but it's a long list! I started with referrals from other sites I've visited and it snowballed! I really enjoy the different blogs I visit. I value the reviews and yes, the giveaways are nice too! Thanks and enoy BAW!
ReplyDeleteefender1(at)gmail(dot)com
Well, my blog is here; http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHope you'll all give us a visit. But my favorite blog in the whole blogosphere is http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com
She has many great themed-weeks. Hosts many great giveaways and has massive cool content. Please give her a visit and tell her Freda sent ya!
Susan McMinn's blog - Chickens in the Road - is definitely a different kind of blog. She started out with a very small following as a romance writer. I don't believe she even writes books at the moment. She followed her dream and now has a farm and does everything from scratch. She has recipes and crafts and does photography and workshops and raises animals. Her wonderful down to earth stories with a wonderful sense of humor keep me going back.
ReplyDeletecatslady
I don't have a blog, but the Romance Bandits blog was one of the first ones I discovered and started visiting daily.
ReplyDeletecatslady I follow CITR too I love her photos of Clover, BP, the wee devil GB, Annabelle & mini belle.
ReplyDeleteYou all should take a look.
I have a blog page but not used,
This is my favorite place to be.
Have a good one ann/alba.
I am with catslady and alba. Chickens In The Road is a great blog. Suzanne takes and posts awesome pictures of her farm.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a blog but I enjoy visiting your blog and Mary's blog. I also stop by Sheila's blog, Book Journey. I enjoy reading her Morning Meanderings.
ReplyDeleteI do have a few that I at least look at every other day or so. I also try to comment at blogs that are interviewing a writer I'm following on Facebook or Twitter as a show of support for that writer, giveaway or no.
ReplyDeleteAside from the aforementioned blogs (Joan Swan and Romance Bandits), there are also:
The Romance Dish: http://www.theromancedish.com/
The Qwillery: http://qwillery.blogspot.com/
And a couple of new ones:
Book Monster Reviews: http://bookmonsterreviews.blogspot.com/
Books-n-Kisses: http://www.books-n-kisses.com/
Then there a few that I check only once a week. Hm, I think perhaps I'm spending too much time online.
Kim I just adore your blog. Thanks for bringing a little bit of Aloha to San Diego. :)
ReplyDeleteI've started quite a few blogs but never really did anything with them. Then at the beginning of the year I discovered the romance community and it's been my motivation to continue my current blog.
I'm slowly figuring this out. First joining weekly memes (Teaser Tuesday, WWW Wednesday), reviewing books, then interviewing/hosting authors, participating in blog tours, joined my first blog hop and doing several giveaway. I'm still trying to get the hang of it but it's still a ways from my first blogoversary where I'm hoping to roll out some fun things.
___________
Kati R @Romancing Rakes
Besides yours where I have won the most awesome loot! I like to visit:
ReplyDeleteNot Another Book Blog
The Romance Bandits
The Jaunty Quills
Book Binge
Book Reading Gals
BookHounds
Once upon a Chapter
Romance Crush Junkies
One Book Shy
Babbling about Books
Smart Bitches Trashy Books
The Goddess Blogs
Romancing the Rakes
I like these the most but I visit quite a few more.
There are a few blogs that I am loyal to, this one included. Of course, all the blogs are of the romance genre in one way or another. I also review for Bitten By Paranormal Romance.
ReplyDeletewww.bittenbyparanormalromance.com
I find that if I'm not careful, blogging, (reading, writing, following, etc.) can take up a great deal of time. But I do enjoy it so very much.
Aloha! Oh, so many new blogs to check out ...
ReplyDeleteand that OK! Because it keeps us growing as romance readers!
Yes, Artemis, blogging is addictive ... but better than other bad habits!
Aloha, Kim and all of your lovely followers! I lurk here a lot but between my day job, real life responsibilities and my blog, I don't get time to comment very often but I always enjoy what you have to say! :)
ReplyDeleteI run The Romance Dish along with Buffie, Andrea and Gannon. We've been blogging, reviewing and hosting authors for almost two years and have had the best time doing it. We've met lots of wonderful romance readers (I see some familiar names in the comments above) and do our best to keep our blog an entertaining, informative and positive site to visit.
Kim, don't enter me in your giveaway. I probably brought home just as many (if not more) books from RWA than you did! :)
Oh, one more thing. I'd like to extend an invitation to you all to visit our blog next week (Sept. 18, 19 & 20) when I'll be hosting a three-day birthday celebration (it's one of those zero birthdays!) with surprise guests and lots of giveaways.
~PJ
http://theromancedish.com
And some of the blogs I regularly visit are...
ReplyDeleteThe Romance Bandits
The Goddess Blogs
The Ballroom Blog
Just Janga
Romance Writer's Revenge
Word Wenches
Whine Sisters
The Season
Have a long list of blogs I check regularly, including:
ReplyDeletehttp://sosaloha.blogspot.com/
http://www.suzanneadair.typepad.com/ -- history
http://bookssnob.wordpress.com/ -- Londoner's sojourn in NYC and home again
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/ -- foreign novels reviewed
http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/ -- crafts
http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/ -- Joanna Campbell Slan et al.
http://theladykillers.typepad.com/the_lady_killers/ -- Camille Minichino et al.
http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ -- librarian extraordinaire
http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/ -- Jeff Siger from Greece, et al.
http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/ -- great writers w/ wonderful recipes
http://www.5minutesforbooks.com/ -- eclectic but often children's books
Wow! I'm impressed by all the cool blogs people are posting about. More fun blogs to check out. I don't have a blog of my own, though I have considered doing a blog. I'm just not certain on what type of blog I would do. Thanks for the background info on how your blog got started Kim. I think it is really interesting that it evolved from the online newsletter to the daily blog you have today.
ReplyDeleteI spend far too much time checking blogs and have tried to whittle the list down some - my family is still threatening an intervention!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to following your blog, Kim, and Mary’s The Reading Reviewer, these are some of the blogs I check fairly regularly: Books-n-Kisses, Book Lovers, Inc., Book of Secrets, Ex Libris, Earth’s Book Nook, Lesa’s Book Critique, Reading Between the Wines, and Secrets of a Book Lover.
Now all these new ones to check out - Oh my.
I don't have a blog but I visit a few favorites.
ReplyDeleteRomance Bandits
The Romance Dish
Debbie Wallace
Lucy Monroe
Well, I admit that I finally started a blog but it is nowhere near as polished as Kim's beautiful site. I am slowly learning how to do things and am concentrating on remembering to write entries at this point. I read a lot of books and up to now I have been posting some on Goodreads and others on the website that I do reviews for so I am starting to try to give my insights on the blog...I do find myself rambling occasionally but that will probably get a little more restricted once I know that people are actually reading it (-:
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants to visit, the site is: http://thereadingaddict-elf.blogspot.com/
I have a cute blog (if I may say so myself) but few followers :( Maybe I don't blog enough about books? I love to read! but I don't discuss it in detail. There are so many great book blogs out there (like Kim's!) that it can be intimidating to tackle it yourself.
ReplyDeleteI decided to stick to what food I'm cooking, craftprojects I'm making or stuff that happened in my life. :D Just things I'm into or that are on my mind really. Check it out sometime. (Would love to know what you think, any tips for improvement or just a commend...) =>
http://lovingteacup.blogspot.com/
I have many blogs I like. These are just few of them:
ReplyDelete1)Sabrina from Germany reads a lot & has a huge book collection. I like her blog, honest reviews (romance, suspense, YA, paranormal) & she seems to be a very nice person
http://www.abouthappybooks.com/
2)Hope has a great blog for those who love men in uniform. Mostly she writes reviews about romantic suspense, sometimes contemporary romance.
http://hopefrost.blogspot.com/
3)Rita's blog I like because of the atmosphere she has created. It's very romantic :)
http://notanotherromanceblog.blogspot.com/
I started my blog back in 2005 mostly to have a place to vent and talk about things on my mind. I never really thought anyone would read my thoughts. But with 47,000 views since then, someone is reading my thoughts which is always nice. You can find my blog here...
ReplyDeletehttp://scarymarythehamsterlady.blogspot.com/
I usually talk about things on my mind, my rats, my family and I post funnies very frequently because we all need to laugh. I also review books on occasion and talk about shows ect. You will find a little of everything on my blog and would love to see you there.
I don't blog but I do visit quite a few book blogs often. Here are a couple that I recommend:
ReplyDeleteFiction Vixen Book Reviews (www.fictionvixen.com) - One of the first book blogs I started following, with reviews in different romance genres. Also has some fun and interesting feature posts from time to time.
ALPHA Reader (alphareader.blogspot.com) - I really like reading her book reviews because they are in the genres I usually read and are quite thorough and I often find that I would agree with likes and dislikes that she would point out.
My blog is http://www.kaetrinsmusings.blogspot.com I started it in May 2009 but it was really just so I could follow other blogs via the dashboard and I didn't actually start posting until Australia Day 2010 (January 26). Since then, I've experimented with different review formats but I've settled on one that works for me now I think. After a while, I felt challenged to review not just books I loved, so if anyone visited, they would know that I don't give an A to everything! But then, I didn't know how to choose, so I decided to do a post about everything I'd read. Now I do a monthly post with a mini review of everything I read and listen to (I'm an audiobook fan too), with some stand alone reviews thrown in too. I'm trying to put up something about 3 or 4 times a month - I tend to be long winded so it takes time! :)
ReplyDeleteGradually I've become more confident with my reviews - I don't get a lot of traffic so I get a kick out any comments. I've been fortunate enough to be linked on a couple of other sites and that's fun too! Thx for the opportunity Kim. If you have time, please stop by my blog. :)
I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU once again for sending books to our little base in Belgium. It's a challenge to get books in English over here, so goodie boxes are most appreciated. I've been reading your blog for quite some time now, and it's always informative and entertaining. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Kim! And to think I was your 9th blog follower or something like that when you started! I've enjoyed all of your blogs even if I don't comment on them all. I'm amazed how you have time to post every day - and many times you have more than one posting per day! You are by far my favorite blogger.
ReplyDeleteBesides your most awesome blog, I also enjoy following Austen Authors, Jaunty Quills, and Romance Bandits. They are all very enjoyable.
I enjoy your blog and others are
ReplyDeleteBookin'withbingo, LuxuryReading,Finding Hope Through Fiction, Sunnybank Meanderings, Under His Wings, Word-Vessel, Write About Now, Writing for Christ~~The Audience of One,and more. Thanks for this opportunity to enter giveaway.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
There are so many wonderful blogs out there, some I have discovered and others I am hoping to. I only recently discovered the blogging world this summer and being an avid reader, I am thrilled to find such a huge reading online community. I first came into this world by visiting an author's webpage, then went onto her blog and the rest is history :)
ReplyDeleteSome romance blogs I like to visit:
The Romance Dish
The Goddess Blogs
The Siterhood of Jaunty Quills
It's mainly about romance books, but there are also great advice about life and relationships. The topics are fun and insightful. Sometimes I get a peek into the daily happenings of my favourite authors. A great perk is the frequent chance to win books. Great way to discover a new author or add to the keeper shelf.
Apart from your blog Kim, I don't really check blogs daily. Since I write book reviews for Literary Escapism I see it everyday.
ReplyDelete