What inspired you to start your blog?

[Ethan Schneider]

I recently got the chance to host a giveaway of the first book that I reviewed for my blog. As I posted the information, I realized that without that book, I would never have started my site. Last year, I fell into a kind of reader apathy. It would take me weeks, even months, to finish a single book. As the new year rolled in, I resolved to change my reading habits. Fortunately, the first book that I read this year was an absolute page-turner that devoured in a couple of days. With this new sense of motivation, I decided that I would read no less than one book each week. To hold myself to this challenge, I decided to start a blog where I could post reviews and chart my progress. I never dreamed it would grow the way it has, but I am very happy that I challenged myself and created a place where readers can get info. With that said, I'm curious to see what inspired others to create their blog. Whether it be that you just started on a whim or some interesting event inspired the creation, please post about you blog. Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder to everyone who reads it to remember why they blog, and inspire them to continue this exciting hobby. 

-Ethan

http://e135-abookaweek.blogspot.com/

[Chris Stevenson]

That's pretty easy for me to answer. When I visited our self-publishing thread in my writing group and saw the tremendous success of some of the self-publishers there, it was a result of having a reader and fan base, all of it owed to their Blogs. These writer had had their blogs in place prior to publishing, for months or sometimes years. I then realized how important it was to gain followers and subscribers, since I could occasionally plug my book. Since I've started my blog just recently, I've had 1,800 page view and 24 subscribers. I can attribute many sales to my blog mates and readers.

Guerrilla Warfare For Writers:

http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2...

[Ethan Schneider]

Blogs can be very useful tools when it comes to book promotion. As long as the promotions is relevant (not spam) , it can really boost interest in a novel. Thanks for commenting!

-Ethan

http://e135-abookaweek.blogspot.com/

[ManOfLaBook.com]

I read a lot of books and wanted to keep track of my thoughts. 

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Ms. L]

I've actually been blogging for a long time, but am very new to the book blogging community! I wanted a medium to combine my passions for reading and writing in one place - hence book blogging!

Stef 

http://hotandbotheredbooks.wordpress.com/

[Ethan Schneider]

Did you choose to re-purpose an established blog, or start a new one, completely devoted to books?

-Ethan

http://e135-abookaweek.blogspot.com/

[Ms. L]

I started a new because I felt like the topic was pretty removed from other things I'd been blogging about and I wanted to have the whole blog dedicated to books.

[Chris Stevenson]

Another thought: I've had 24 years experience in the trenches and have suffered some of the worst mistakes any writer can make. I geared my blog for those who could actually up their chances as a result of my mistakes. I also cover some of the more obscure topics that others fear to tread, all of it in an attempt to give writers the edge and make the publishing experience much more tolerable. I've published in just about every medium and genre there is, and hope that Guerrilla Warfare For Writers, has something for everyone out there.

http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2...

My most recent topic is HAS YOUR BOOK FLAT-LINED ON AMAZON?

I would certainly appreciate any subscribers and viewers at this point, since this is a fairly new launch.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ms. L]

Thanks for sharing - I love the title of your blog, very catchy!

[Lisbeth Cervantes]

If you are interested in getting more books we would love for you to join us for our party on May 30 in San Francisco from 6 to 9 pm PST, if you don't live in the are join us on the webcast at http://bestsellerparty.com/ where you can also find all of the details of the event! If you are interested in blogging about it we can give you free giveaways!

[Joseph Arellano]

Good question.  I had written record reviews for my college newspaper, so about three years ago I decided to start a blog; in it, I included both new and old (retro) music reviews.  A friend of mine pointed out that not many people read album reviews now, "So if you want people to read your reviews, why don't you write book reviews?"  It was a valid suggestion, so I took it.

Joseph of Joseph's Reviews  http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/

[Ethan Schneider]

Cool blog Joseph! Do you still review records?

-Ethan

http://e135-abookaweek.blogspot.com/

[Jim Rada]

I started my blogs to try and meet other readers, writers and local history. In particular, with my history blog, I thought it would help me get ideas and updates to some of my history articles. One of the things I've noticed is that when my articles are published electronically with the ability to leave comments, I've picked up useful information pertaining to the articles. The problem was that not all of the magazines and newspapers that published my stuff have that feature. I can republish those articles on my blog and hopefully get that same feedback.

 

Check them out if you have a chance and let me know what you think. The history blog is Time Will Tell and my writing blog is Whispers in the Wind.