Looking for advice and suggestions~ Thanks in advance

[marilu]

Hi there. I am new here. I have never blogged before, and I am wondering if anyone can offer me some advice or suggestions. I feel like this is something I want to do, yet I am not sure where to start. Thanks

[Kathleen Garber]

Well here are a few things to think about before you do anything:

1. What kind of blog are you thinking of? Only about books or about books and anything else you find interesting? Only book reviews or book challenges, author interviews, guest posts, book tours etc..??
2. How much do you know about html and blogging? If not much, you may want to use Blogger. If you know how to customize more, you may want to check out wordpress or typepad.
3. Are you going to be spending money on this or no? If you want to purchase your own domain or even just purchase a larger space size you may want to check out what is available first.
4. How often do you plan to post? How often do you read? Will this be a daily blog or a weekly or so? This is just good to know for your own thoughts.

After you are more sure what you want, sign up for a blog somewhere and then get creating. Unless you know graphic design and html, you'll have to use one of the template that comes with your chosen blog platform (i.e. blogger, wordpress etc..) If you are serious about this though, you may want to pay to have a design done or even learn how to design a header yourself so it's at least a little different than everyone else's. Start posting some content, make an about you page or section and place to contact you. Look at the blogs that you enjoy reading or looking at for some ideas. If a blog is doing something specific and you want to know how to do that, send them a friendly email, most bloggers will help.

Once you have some content, start commenting more on other people's blogs which will start to get people visiting your blog. Post a link to it here too of course and then just keep on posting and improving.

[marilu]

HI Callista. Thank you so much for replying! You have given me alot to think about. At this point I don't really want to spend money on it. Other than the cost of books of course....lol! I did just set one up on blogger, but think I may try wordpress since I think from your suggestions, that I can customize it a little more there. I am pretty quick to pick things up computer wise, so I may give it a shot. I read everyday, however with 2 children I don't think I would be able to blog everyday. I would love to review books, but the problem I am having right now is that pretty much all of the books I am reading are a bit older. They are not new releases. (I decided to go through my bookshelves and found about 50 books that have been sitting there for awhile unread, and am reading those before I buy anymore!) Do you think I should post about them in my blog? Maybe just a what I am reading kind of thing, until I get to reading more recent stuff, and get used to the whole blogging thing?
I have checked out your blog, and enjoyed it. I will definitely be visiting it again!
Any and all suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again Marilu
P.S. How do I do about getting review copies from authors/ publishers? OR hosting giveaways? Or guest posts/ blog tours? Thanks