Monday, January 21, 2013
Book Blogger Confessions - Calling it Quits on Blogging (Monday, January 21, 2013)
Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that allows book bloggers to discuss issues unique to what we encounter in the blogging world. Every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month we will post a question and invite you to answer, comment and discuss opinions and different views.
Please keep the dialogue courteous. No bashing!
If you would like to participate in this meme sign up below and please feel free to to grab the button to include in your post with a link to For What It's Worth Reviews or here at Midnyte Reader.
Question: We've discussed blogging slumps before but have you ever seriously considered throwing in the towel and quitting blogging? If so, what changed your mind? Did you discuss it with other bloggers?
Answer: I have never wanted to quit blogging, but there are times when I've felt like I should quit, if that makes sense. Sometimes it's because of time restraints but mostly it's because at times I get intimidated by the "right" way to blog. That I should be reading and reviewing quicker. That I should have more followers. That I should have more unique features. But then I remember that I started this blog for me and because I love books. That hasn't changed. I've definitely been in reading slumps, but they've never lasted more than a few weeks, so I'm lucky in that respect. I really enjoy blogging and the blogging community and mostly, the people I've met.
I used to do a huge Halloween event at my house. I absolutely loved it and I spent a lot of time building and decorating. I thought I would do it forever and never saw myself stopping, only growing. But one year, I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. It got to be too much work and the payoff wasn't as satisfying. Plus, I wanted to do other things in October. So, I stopped. I thought it would be difficult, but it really wasn't. It was definitely the right decision. Right now, I don't see myself not blogging in the near or even distant future and part of me kind of hopes that day never comes. If it ever does, I will definitely talk it over with my blogger friends to explore whether it is the right decision for me or not.
How about you guys? Ever want to just throw in the towel? Why or why not?
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14 comments:
You are so lucky it hasn't happened to you yet. But yeah for doing things your own way and not stressing over it. I totally get the Halloween thing at home LOL
I'm pretty new at this - just a year - so I haven't experienced wanting to quit. That said, I had a very succesful blog & I let it go last year - after 4 years, because of being fed up with the internet people in that industry (healthy eating) and all the negativity that floats around it.
Tanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
I wrote up a post, and I'll link it tomorrow.
And don't be hard on yourself! You have an awesome blog, and having lots of followers isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not that I would know, but I IMAGINE that it's not all it's cracked up to be. And if we got tons of books from publishers to add to all the books we already own, then we'd probably die in some freak book avalanche, and quite frankly we are still too young and amazing to suffer that fate.
Blogging can be intimidating at times, especially when you think you need to do things a certain way. I need to remind myself every now and again that there are no rules, despite what others might claim. Blogging should ultimately be about sharing our love of reading and having fun! Would hate to die in some book avalanche, so will keep this in mind! :)
If I would not be writing reviews, I would be able to read twice as many books. But I like sharing my books with others, and help promote an author a tiny bit. Still. I do write my reviews my own unique way, and I started doing this for myself. I don't do reviews on command as I am a mood reader, and I dislike meme's as you see the same thing on every blog. My only advice is: do what you like to do, it is your blog, and your followers follow you because they like what you do. And not what you perhaps should be doing in their opinion.
I think I got too caught up in trying to blog *correctly* or *professionally*. Once I started doing that I lost my way.
It really doesn't matter how you blog as long as you're having fun. In fact I think conforming makes you lose your voice and followers. People like to talk to the real you :-)
A friend said to me once that she didn't understand why bloggers felt so guilty about not blogging every day or quitting. It's a hobby - like anything else in life and sometimes you just grow out of it. It's not a personal failure. I try to keep that in mind now.
I like what you said about being intimidated about the "right" way to blog. Every once in a while it creeps in my head that I'm not posting enough or that I should come up with something fresh but I'm not good at coming up with new ideas and there is no rule that says you have to have a post every day (for which I'm grateful because I don't have the time or inclination to post everyday).
The best part about book blogging for me is the people that I've met and the books I've shared. The follower counts, ARC's, etc are great, but it's not why I started my blog. Because I am more interested in the friendships and books than I am in followers/ARC's I don't see myself ever getting burnt out on blogging.
Yes! I totally agree with everything you said! Blogging is awesome and it's something that I want to do and choose to do. If I ever choose to not blog, it will be a thought out decision to make room in my life for something equally awesome!
That's a good analogy with the Halloween party. Sometimes we have to think about if the work we put in is worth what we get out of it. The Halloween party does sound like a lot of fun though :)
I think about it all the time. My blog is middling, even though I have been doing this for five years. While I don't really mind that it's not huge, I always feel it needs to be more. The thing is I will always want to share about books so I decided that if I can post 5x a week I will, if not, I won't. I am taking the pressure off myself.
@Julie-I'm glad it hasn't happeend to me yet! I really hope it doesn't.
@Tanya-That seems shocking that there is negativity surrounding healthy eating. But I guess when you have enough people, there is negativity with everything.
@Kate-Thank you for your kind words and always making me laugh. I really don't want tons of books from publishers. I'd love to get all my books for free, but I don't like to be obligated.
@Alexia-I agree with you 100%!
@Aurian-I say that a lot...that everyone is allowed to do what they want on their own blog.
@Karen-I love what your friend said, that it's not a personal failure. I think I'll keep that in mind for other things in life too.
@Kim-I'm definitely more interested in the friendships I've made as well.
@Steph-Great attitude as always!
@Carrie-The Halloween event was totally fun...until I wanted to do other things and felt tied to it.
@Jana-I would never be able to post 5x a week myself. I've decided I'm taking the pressure off myself as well. When I get around to writing a review, then I will.
Hiya Midnyte!
I think we've all been there, and I hear ya when it comes to worrying about the number of followers, the "right" way to blog (I feel my reviews are too long! lol), wanting to review quicker, or participate in more memes but just not having the time.
Even though these kinds of things really bothered me in the beginning when I first started my book review blog, they don't really bug me that much anymore, and I reminded myself that the reason I started my blog in the first place was to have fun and to write reviews, particularly for books that don't get much coverage or reviews, and I absolutely love writing reviews, so at this point, I'm going full steam ahead and the towel is nowhere in sight ;-)
Darkeva
I'm so glad I found this post! I'm a new blogger and I was starting to feel the pressure: I need to do more reviews a day, I need to do better and more literary reviews, I need to do everything and anything to get more followers.
I was seriously thinking about calling it quits because I wasn't where I thought I should be. Reading the comments though,has reminded me of why I started my blog. I love to share books (good and bad) with my friends. I don't have to do everything in the world; as long as I'm enjoying it, that's all that matters!
Thank you!
I started my site in either 2004 or 2005 (will have to double check!) I ended up burning out and taking a few years off and now have been back at it for a year. I'm not sure why I needed the break, I guess I just got distracted with all this stuff that started going on. I had ended up losing my job of four years, apartment, and my car broke down when my unemployment ran out, so lost that too. I guess all those changes made it drift to the back of my mind.
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