Interviewing Cassi of My Thoughts...Literally! - One Year of Blogging

Today I'm so excited to be sharing an interview I did with Cassi of My Thoughts...Literally! Cassi is an awesome book blogger who I've done several readalongs with and talked with for awhile. Her blog is really fun and she has very thought provoking reviews and great posts! Without further ado...

no. 1 - When did you start blogging?

My first ever post was November 6th, 2009. It's hard to believe that was five years ago. But I was really lax about it for a really long time. I forgot it existed and I would only blog if there was a specific book I wanted to talk about. But then I found the whole book blogging community last fall and my first post back was October of last year. That's when I developed my format of reading a theme each month. So I like to think I've been in an on-again off-again relationship with blogging for five years but it really stuck a year ago.

no. 2 - How did you come up with your blog name?

I wanted something that was a play on words with literature. And like the general population, I misuse and misunderstand the word literally. When I came back for good I thought about changing it but these literally are my thoughts and I'm so self-deprecating that keeping it gives me something to laugh at myself about.

no. 3 - What is your favorite part of blogging?

Definitely the community. I've met so many amazing people through blogging. The people I interact with on a daily basis either don't read or don't read as much as I do so it's great to find people who have similar interests. I love commenting on others blogs to share thoughts with one another, chatting with people on Twitter, and doing readalongs. I've even met a few folks at events and stuff. Plus I've found so many amazing books through recommendations from fellow bloggers!

no. 4 - What is the post you're most proud of?

I think the post I am most proud of is my review of The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman. It's the final book in a trilogy which I love, and I was so happy with the way I was able to gush about the book without giving too much away. Plus it was my first ever book review on BookTube. I have since fallen off the video-making train but I was really proud of myself for that video.

no. 5 - What is something you're looking forward to in your next year of blogging?

There are few things I'm looking forward to. The first is just continuing to grow within the community. To meet new people and to continue interacting with those I have build a rapport with this past year. But I am also really excited about redesigning my site. I've been thinking about it for awhile and I really want to customize things so it's more unique to me. I love seeing the creativity within the community and I really want to put my own spin on my site.

no. 6 - Author whose books you always want to pick up?

This would have been so easy a year ago (and a gigantic list) but I've picked up books by so many authors I had wanted to read this year. There are still a lot of Fantasy authors that I want to check out like Patrick Rothfuss, Garth Nix, and Robin McKinley. And very soon I will be taking Marie Lu and Gail Carriger off the list but they are still currently ones I want to read.

no. 7 - Cat person or dog person?

Cat person. I used to be a dog person but it was only because I never owned a cat. They're so much easier to take care of and when it is your cat they are incredibly affectionate. My cat is a little too affectionate sometimes! I'm pretty obsessed with her, it's a little sad! But I do still love dogs.

 no. 8 - Favorite music to sing along to?

My iPod is full of cheesy pop music, soundtracks from musicals, and Disney music. Those would probably be my favorite things to sing along too. Also I like to listen to music at work and tend to listen to 90's and early 2000's boy bands and bubble gum pop. It makes me feel very nostalgic.

no. 9 - Favorite series or feature on your blog?

 I think my favorite feature is what I call "Crossing Over" where I recommend an adult book based on a similar YA book and vice versa. I think there is too much focus on these age group specifications in the blogosphere but for me you can appreciate a book regardless of the way it's shelved at a bookstore. I haven't done one since July. Maybe I should do one this month!

no. 10 - If you could instantly be teleported anywhere in the world, where?

Where wouldn't I teleport? I've always wanted to visit Russia so I would probably teleport to St. Petersburg if given the chance. But with it getting colder by the day that may be pretty miserable. I'm always cold to begin with so maybe somewhere a little warmer. Peru, perhaps? I've always wanted to visit Matchu Picchu so maybe there.

Thank you so much for stopping by, Cassi! Definitely go visit her blog, she interviewed me awhile ago (complete with hilarious gifs and super cool blogger stuffs) and her blog is great. Thank you again, Cassi!

Guest Post by the Wonderful Rebecca of The Library Canary- Tips for Beginner Bloggers! - One Year of Blogging

Hi I'm Rebecca and I blog over at The Library Canary! First of all, I want to thank Violet for letting me invade her blog today and also congratulate her on her one year blogoversary! *throws confetti* One year of blogging is such a huge accomplishment! Violet is one of the nicest bloggers I know and I’m so happy to be able to celebrate with her. And now, for my guest post:

Hello new bloggers! Just started a book blog? Have a bunch of questions that you’re scared to ask or don’t know where to turn? I’m here to help! We all go through that new kid phase. The phase where you look around and everybody seems to know what’s going on except for you. You have a million questions floating around in your head, but you’re either too embarrassed to ask them or have no idea who would know the answer. Hopefully this post helps with some of those questions and always feel free to ask me or Violet!

What is an ARC?

ARC stands for advanced reader copy. These are copies of a book that a publisher prints prior to the release date and prior to the final editing process. That means that you may find a few more typos in them and things may change slightly in the final copy. These books are printed for promotional purposes and typically distributed to bloggers (that’s you!), librarians, book sellers, etc. You may have heard the term galley thrown around as well. They are the same thing.

How do I get ARCs?

There are a couple of different ways to request ARCs. You can email the publisher requesting a physical copy of the book. Usually these emails are found on the publisher’s website within their publicity section. Or you can get on Netgalley and/or Edelweiss and request digital review copies. These are ebooks that will be sent to your e-reader if you are accepted for a copy. Finally there are book conferences like BEA (see #3) and ALA (American Library Association), among many more.  

What is BEA?

Another term us book bloggers use a lot. BEA stands for Book Expo America. It’s a conference held once a year at the end of May, typically in New York (though I believe they are moving it starting in 2016). BEA is a magical place where you can meet all your blogging friends, network with publishers, meet your favorite authors, and get lots of ARCs. It’s a book lover’s paradise. If you can make it happen, I highly recommend going. It is an amazing experience!

What is a meme and should I be doing them?

Memes are these things like Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and Waiting on Wednesday hosted by Breaking the Spine that book bloggers can participate in. Basically you write a post based on whatever that meme’s topic is (some change week to week like TTT and others stay the same like WoW). Then you go back to the host’s blog and add your link to the linky. The purpose of memes is to participate in the community. They are a great way for new bloggers to drive traffic to their blogs and a way for you to get to know other bloggers in the community. That being said, I encourage you to only participate in one to two memes per week. Any more than that and your site starts lacking original content which is what a lot of people are looking for.

Blog Tours, Cover Reveals, Book Blitzes, etc.

I remember when I was a new blogger and I first heard about blog tours. I thought, “let’s sign up for all of them!” Wrong, wrong, wrong. If you want to be part of a tour every once in a while that’s fine. Cover reveals and book blitzes (which is basically where you just put up the cover and synopsis on your blog) every once in a while, fine. But please, whatever you do, do NOT make this your only content. These are the posts I skip over the most when going through my reader. Especially cover reveals and book blitzes. They’re just boring, to be honest. I want to read reviews or discussions or other creative content. So please, if you’re going to do them, keep them to a minimum.

Which social media sites should I use?

Twitter. Hands down, Twitter is the best social media site to use when it comes to promoting your blog. Every month, I get the most traffic to my blog from Twitter. But it’s not just about that. Twitter is a great way to make friends with other book bloggers! See a conversation going on between some bloggers you follow? Jump in! This is how I made most of my blogging friends. Don’t be shy! We don’t bite, I promise.

Other than Twitter, I have a Facebook page and I also utilize Pinterest which drives some, but not a lot of traffic to my blog. I also have a Youtube channel that all my vlogs get posted to.

How can people follow my blog?

This is important. There’s a lot of different ways for people to follow you. There’s RSS feed, email subscription, Bloglovin’, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. The list goes on and on and on. I try to give people as many options as possible. So I recommend getting these things set up. Make it easy for people to follow you as well. I have social media buttons on my blog so all people have to do is click once and they’re good to go. Don’t know how to make one? There’s TONS of tutorials out there. That’s how I did mine!

Which brings me to the next question I know you all have. 

How do I make my blog pretty?

Blog design. Not my strong suit. BUT there are tons of bloggers who are very good at it and are nice enough to put up tutorials and blog tips for us like Ashley @ Nosegraze and Stephanie and Jessica @ These Paper Hearts. And when in doubt, Google it. Seriously, there are so many tutorials out there. It might take some time to figure it all out (god knows how many hours I've spent cursing my computer or trying to figure out how to write one tiny line of code), but it’s doable.

And my last and final tip for you: have fun! This is a new hobby of yours. Hobby being the key word there. Don’t make it feel like work. Make friends, read good books, gush over said books with said friends. Keep it chill. If you don’t feel like blogging or you don’t have time, don’t stress over it. It’s your blog. Make it your own, be yourself, and the rest is sure to follow. Hope this helped you all! Happy reading and happy blogging!


Thank you so, so much to Rebecca for guest posting on the blog today! Rebecca is an absolutely fantastic blogger who posts wonderful reviews, thought provoking discussions, and so many other wonderful posts! Be sure to check out her blog, and thank you again to Rebecca for stopping by! Your post is so thoughtfully written and definitely helpful!
-Violet

Looking Back at the Letter

Back in February, I participated in the absolutely wonderful Book Blogger Love-A-Thon and wrote this letter to myself for when I've been blogging for one year. And I'm not going to lie, writing it, I wasn't even sure I would be blogging for a year. At the time, those few months had felt so much longer than they actually had been, but in an amazing way. I was unsure of the future and what it would hold, but that event made me love blogging even more and really appreciate the book blogging community. So, here's my letter to my One Year of Blogging Self - 
Dear Future Self,

Hello! How has the blog been going? I can't believe it will have been a year of blogging once you read this! Right now, I'm writing this for the Book Blogger LoveAThon, and so far I've participated in several blogging events. I stayed up for 24 hours reading, I've done Bout of Books, and I'm so excited for everything else that's to come. 

What's been your favorite read of the year? Have you had a good reading year? I know that I'm excited for more of blogging; meeting other bloggers and making friends, as well as sharing my love of books. So, I hope you enjoy your blog anniversary, congraulations on having come so far, and I wish you more happiness to come.

From the paper world several months back,
V

Looking back at this, it reminds me of all the fun blogging things that had happened in just those few months. I'd been lucky enough to read for hours on end with other bloggers, and to have read some wonderful books (even back then I knew I wouldn't be able to pick one favorite, but a few of my favorites have been Jellicoe Road, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, Anna and the French Kiss, and these books from My First Half of 2014 series). In general, I've had a good reading year, with some big life changes but a persisting love of books, albeit reading much more slowly now. I've also had so many wonderful opportunities to talk to other bloggers and do readalongs together. 

So, there's my letter to myself, a few months later, and one year later of blogging. What are your thoughts on how your first year of blogging went? Or, if you're still a newer blogger like myself, how has blogging been for you thus far? And if you're interested in the Book Blogger Love-A-Thon, Katelyn and Alexa hosted it in February and it was a lot of fun!

From the paper world,

V

The Struggles and the Fun

One of the reasons I love blogging so much is how it is multidimensional. There's the creative aspect, such as coming up with blog posts and writing them, and then there's technical aspects, like formatting, scheduling, and of course there's the social aspect of talking with other bloggers, etc. So, while we're still celebrating Paper Worlds being around for a year, I wanted to share some of the things I love about blogging... and some of the not-so-fun stuff for me.

no. 1 - Formatting
I had some notes jotted down for how I wanted this post to go, and under cons I had written 'Formatting. Formatting is doom.' I think that can summarize my feelings on the subject. I'm still not very savvy about the technical details about posting, which is why my posts lack gifs and more fancy add ins (If you're good at that sort of thing by the way, help the technological beginner?) but just figuring out how to lay out a post just so, including any additional things, these are the minute details that are probably not my favorite part of blogging.

no. 2 - Coming up with blog posts

This can be a super fun thing for me, and sometimes it can be staring at a blank screen. Am I the only one who has those days when I can't type out the blog posts fast enough and then has days when I sit there for thirty minutes and only succeed in logging on? However, coming up with something new makes the whole process worthwhile.

no. 3 - Scheduling
This is how most of my blog posts happen. During one of those creative, write-all-the-posts days, I'll normally schedule things out from a week in advance to a month. That way, when I can't figure out what to write or get super busy, I know that the posts are still written and created.

no. 4 - Talking with bloggers, authors, and book people

My. Favorite. Part. This is why I joined the book blogosphere, and I don't regret it. Interacting with other bloggers, having readalongs, seeing others' amazing posts and reviews and commenting back and forth have all been absolutely wonderful experiences I've loved wholeheartedly. Blogging has been so wonderful because of this.

So, there are some different aspects of blogging and my thoughts on them. Thank you again to you all for making this such a fantastic experience thus far, and I hope you all are finding wonderful books! I'll see you next time.

From the paper world,
V

One Year

It's amazing to think it's been a year already since this post went live on Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink. One Year. I can't believe how a year has already gone by. I remember messaging my friend talking about how I'd wanted to start a blog like this but never had the gumption. Finally, one day I just made the blog, and a few days later posted a wrap up of the books I'd read in October. It's definitely not the fanciest post I've ever written, but my excitement and enthusiasm couldn't be contained. I was so excited to join the world of book blogging.

And what a wonderful world it is! This year with Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink has seen me through some big changes and some wonderful times. I've had the opportunity to interact with other bookish people, and share my love for books with others. It's been amazing to just have others who share this excitement for reading, and talking about our favorite books, recommending some to others, and discovering new books along the way. I've found some truly wonderful reads through interacting with others through the blog, so thank you for that!

I have many, many more 'thank you's to say, but I'm going to save that for later on this month. I'll just say now that there are so, so many people who have done something to make my day as a blogger, or been truly helpful and thoughtful. I couldn't have imagined how there would be so many wonderful things to come from this blog. I think that this community is something special. Weekly features allow us to connect and talk about things we have in common, we can talk about how we buy far too many books, but find ones that we truly love and really have meaning for us, set goals and challenges for us to meet. Blogging has allowed me to celebrate reading with others, and it's been such an amazing experience thus far. I did not know if I would end up blogging a week, a month, however long. But I've loved being involved in the book blogging community and one year later, I'm so happy to still be a part of it. 

I hope you enjoy celebrating One Year of Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink with me, and stay tuned for more posts to come! 

From the Paper World,
V