Tag: The Secret Life of a Book Blogger

Ayla from Books and Babbles tagged me to do this about a month ago, and I have no clue why it took me so long. However, this tag was a lot of fun to do, so thank you again for tagging me, Ayla! Let's do this! 

How long have you been a blogger?
Since January 2016, I think. So that's about what, 8 months? That's crazy, it feels like it's only been 3 months or something. 

At what point do you think you will stop?
I have no idea. None. I know blogging isn't something I will do forever, but I just can't see myself stopping. I can see myself taking breaks, and maybe posting less when I get super busy, but stopping? No. Maybe I'll still be a book blogger when I'm 80, who knows?

What is the best part?
Having your own place to talk about books where people don't judge you for it, and maybe even like it. A place where you're able to meet new people with mutual interests, where you can discover new books and learn so so much, not only about books but also about representation and diversity. I'm very thankful for all of that.

What is the worst thing?
This might be a very weird answer, but it's not living in the US/UK. I sometimes feel excluded from quite some things (giveaways, events, getting ARCs) just because I live in The Netherlands, and that can be quite frustrating. It's not that I can't enjoy blogging without all these things (because I obviously love it), but it'd be fun to at least be able to take part in those things. 

How long does it take you to find/create pictures to use?
Not long. For reviews, I usually just use a picture of the cover of the book that I find on Goodreads. For tags and wrap-ups and such, I usually take my own pictures. The 'taking a picture and editing it'-process usually takes me about 10/15 minutes, I think. Maybe I should spend more time on it, and get a bit more creative with my pictures, but photography just isn't really my thing and I don't really enjoy it. 

Who is your book crush?
I have SO MANY! But to name a few: Josh from Isla and the Happily Ever After, Theron from Snow Like Ashes, Gifford from My Lady Jane, Kashmir from The Girl from Everywhere and Percy Jackson! I quite like funny, artsy, spontaneous (maybe even mildly bad-boy-ish) characters. Sadly, I haven't found one of those IRL. 

What author would you like to have on your blog?
Honestly? I get way too shy/nervous around authors. Even sending a tweet their way, or mentioning them in a tweet about a book review gives me butterflies. So working with them on a blog post? I'd probably die of anxiety. 

What do you wear when you write your blog?

This is going to be such a boring answer, but I usually just wear whatever I'm wearing that day. It's not like I'm like (like like like like) 'Ah, I'm going to write a review. Let's put my blogging-armour on'. (I wish it was like that, though. How awesome does a blogging-armour sound?)

How long does it take you to prepare a post?

Okay, I have no idea, so let me just tell you what I do when I'm preparing a post:

- During the day, I always write down fun topics to blog about or amazing tags I come across so I won't forget, and I look at that list whenever I sit down to write a blog post.
- I take pictures and edit them (for some posts).
- I write and re-write the crap out of the blog post.
- I post the blog post and share it on social media. 
During this 'process' I'll probably get distracted a lot of times, and spend a long time watching booktube videos when I should be writing. 

How do you feel about the book blogger community/culture?

I love it and I think it's great, but I'm very intimidated by it. I just see so many people being able to talk to other people easily, commenting on other blogposts, talking to each other on Twitter and forming friendships, and I'm just not like that. I'm so shy. I never really know what to say, and I'm way to scared that other people might think I'm weird or they'd think 'oh man, why is this person even talking to me?'. I know I shouldn't care, and that if I talked to people they'd probably be lovely, but still. 

What do you think one should do to have a successful blog?

I'm going to be super cheesy and say that I don't think you have a successful blog if you have thousands of followers, and you get loads of ARCs and get invited to all these amazing events and be on panels and such. No, I think you're successful when you're having fun with your blog. If you enjoy what you do. If that happens to include previously named things, then that's great! But you don't need all that stuff to be successful. Just write and be proud of what you do. That's all. 

If you like these questions and would like to answer them yourself, then consider yourself tagged! 

How do you feel about the book blogger community?