Comments on: Why does the length of time you have been blogging matter?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:05:34 +0000

Amen to this. After I tweeted something about almost having 500 followers in time for an impromptu 500 followers giveaway, I saw somebody say, “I don’t get how someone gets 500 followers in 6 months. and I’ve been blogging 1.5 years and only have 150.” And then the proceeded to talk about it’s just because ppl hold a million giveaways and blah blah blah.

I was so offended because I work really hard on my blog, get rarely any books for free and have had 2 giveaways in our 6 months of blogging and maybe 3 or 4 on my personal book blog that I’ve also done for 6 months. I don’t require people to follow.

The thing this person doesn’t understand is that marketing and social media is what I do for my job. I’m passionate about it and it carries over. I have quality stuff on my blogs that yield discussion and have thought of new and innovative ideas for features. I don’t often to memes aside from the one I created (Top Ten Tuesday) and I’m not gimmicky. I network, I go to events, I buy my own books and I’m very involved with other people blogs. Most importantlly, I worry less about followers and more about talking about bookish things!

It really upset me because it’s just what I do and I can’t help that it’s the one thing that I’m good at. I shouldn’t be faulted just because I’ve gotten more followers in a quicker time.

I agree with your post 100%!! Thanks for posting this because I’ve been feeling bad about my accomplishments thus far and I realize I shouldn’t.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:45:49 +0000

I think a lot of people saw this same comment and this same conversation on Twitter and realized there are some catty bloggers out there in our community. I started blogging in January of this year and have been surprised at how quickly my blog has grown. I chalk this up to not having a job for seven months and being able to take extra time to blog and to network, not because my blog is necessarily any better than anyone else’s. In fact some of my favorite blogs are those who are quieter. I look for quality reviews, a good personality, and I look to see if they have read something different than everyone else in the blogosphere. Nothing is more boring to me than a blog that has not one different book to offer up in a review. To others, this may not matter. I think the high school cattiness needs to cease (it is not the high school bloggers acting like high schoolers notice, it is adults) and we all need to realize that we have something to learn from each other whether someone has been blogging for 4 years of 4 weeks. Maybe your style is getting stale and you need to incorporate something fresh into it. You can always learn from others. There is no hierarchy here.

By: Jenn's Bookshelf

Jenn's Bookshelf — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:24:38 +0000

Very well stated! I agree, blogging time doesn’t matter. There was a point when book bloggers first came to be when that was an issue. It was one of the first questions I was asked when I started working with a particular publishing house. Lately, though, it doesn’t matter. Publicists are learning the value of bloggers. Networking, making connections with both other bloggers, authors, and publicists, matters as well.

Reputation is important, too. Authors/publicists do pay attention to how you portray yourself online, be it on facebook, twitter, or other blogs’ comments. All of this is learned through experience, not necessarily time.

By: Amy @ My Friend Amy

Amy @ My Friend Amy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:17:21 +0000

Length of time doesn’t matter..newer bloggers usually want more ARCs than those who have been doing it for awhile. ;)

By: MARIE BURTON

MARIE BURTON — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:12:17 +0000

LLLLOOOVEEE this blog layout.
Anyway.. obviously the length of time only matters to the other bloggers who are not getting the ARC’s that they want.
ARC’s do not magically appear. (well~the unwanted ones somehow do).. but the point is the publisher/promoter/publicist has to know who you are, and has to like what you have to say before they are going to trust you with something that is a part of their own company.

Also needs to be said:
You do not have to review ARC’s in order to be a good book blogger.
A book blogger does not HAVE to review ARC’s.

By: SuziQoregon

SuziQoregon — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:45:05 +0000

Amen to what Heather just said!

I am so over this whole topic. I don’t care how long you’ve been blogging, I don’t care how many ARCs you get, I don’t even care if the book you are posting about came the library, a publisher, a publicist, an author, a bookstore, your neighbor or the park bench you found it on. What I DO care about is what you have to say about the books you read. That’s what will bring me back to your blog.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:36:40 +0000

Great post!

I don’t think it SHOULD matter. I’ve been blogging for 4.5 years and I don’t even care if you or anyone else gets a ARC that I didn’t. If you’ve put the work into your blog, if you put the work into getting that book, you deserve it, in my opinion. It is so silly and petty and downright rude to attack another book blogger for getting perks. I just hope that the publishing community doesn’t look down on all of us for those who are acting like they are still in middle school.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:24:08 +0000

Great post!

I too am a short timer, I just started my blog in May. I like to think I’m somewhat successful in this endeavor as my stats keep increasing and there is continual interest by industry types in establishing relationships. This is all fine and good and I certainly appreciate it, but I doubt any of this attention has anything whatsoever to do with the length of time that my blog has been in existence. If anything I would imagine that if that was a factor I’d be continually overlooked.

It’s all about the content….content….content. Add to that positive user experience (regardless of author point of view) and a giant helping of professionalism and you’ve got yourself a success.

By: Laura/BookingIt

Laura/BookingIt — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:09:06 +0000

I haven’t been blogging long– just under 4 months now. I haven’t blogged before, but I do have other relevant experience. I’ve taken my blog seriously.

I’ve got what I think is good content. I’m steadily building an audience.

And I haven’t had any trouble being taken seriously.

I haven’t gotten every book I’ve requested, and I have no problem with that. I have been sent far more than I expected (and this is a bit of a problem at the moment, but a good one, and I’m figuring it out).

More importantly, I’ve been taken seriously by the community. That’s the best thing I’ve gotten from blogging.

When I started, I didn’t realize that either of these (free books or the community) existed. I was doing it for myself. I know which is the more valuable thing I’ve discovered.

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:13:50 +0000

The funny thing here is that the petty jealous behavior of certain people is getting them further away from their goal rather than closer. At the end of the day this is all about professionalism. When a company has free stuff to give away for review, who are they going to give their limited amount of items to? Someone with a consistent professional image or… one of those whiners?

Everything you do on the net is seen by people, including the ones that have the good stuff, future employers, etc. Therefore any negative thing you do online can and probably WILL have a negative impact on whatever it is you’re trying to achieve with your online presence.

The whole ‘this person is too new’-argument is a load of nonsense. I had the same thing at an employer at one time. My manager and all my co-workers agreed that I should be promoted to technical lead. Then came in someone from higher management with absolutely zero knowledge of my abilities who simply dismissed the request for promotion from my manager because I hadn’t been with the company for long enough.

Seriously, it’s completely ridiculous and these whiners shouldn’t really be given any airtime IMHO.