September 15, 2012

Don't Hate --- Appreciate!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week has just ended, but that doesn't mean the opportunity to show other book bloggers how much you love, appreciate or admire them has to end! My friend Estelle of Rather Be Reading and I were discussing how much we adore the book blogging community. It got to the point where we were sharing ways to concretely show our appreciation to other book bloggers, and we decided to share them with our readers!

Personally, I believe there are some very simple ways to show your fellow bloggers how much you appreciate them and their blogs. There are three ways that will be going up on Rather Be Reading, while I'll be posting two right here!

(1) Sharing is caring... so show some link love!

One of my favorite things to do is share the interesting, amazing and pretty darn cool posts that book bloggers, authors and other individuals in the publishing industry come up with. When I find a post particularly cool, a review very well-done or think that other people could benefit from reading it, I always find a way to share the post. 

I usually share links via my Twitter account (though I'm thinking about doing this on my Facebook page as well), and via my weekly Sunday posts, A Sunday Retrospective. And I'd like to think that by sharing these posts, I help spread the love for some of my favorite blogs and bloggers.

(2) Book bloggers don't bite... so don't be afraid to start talking!
Personally, one of my favorite things about the book blogging community is interacting with other people who love books as much as I do. There's nothing quite like a healthy discussion or forming new friendships - and sharing a love of books already ensures that you have something in common.

Whenever a blogger writes a post, shares a review or tweets something that I feel like responding to, I often do. I'll leave a thoughtful comment (which is basically one that shows you actually read their post) or tweet them a reply. Emailing other bloggers, or discussing things with them on chat, is also pretty fun!

Pretty easy, right? Apart from being easy and quick to execute, I love that doing these two things definitely has a positive effect on the relationships you forge with other bloggers!

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While I was discussing this with Estelle, the topic of being a new blogger popped up. She suggested that I include a little bit about it in this post, and so, here are my two cents.

As a newbie blogger, it's definitely easy to get intimidated since there are so many other book bloggers out there! I know it can sometimes be overwhelming, but I don't think it should put you off from trying to reach out to established book bloggers. Don't be shy about reaching out to your favorite bloggers if you're just starting out. They are just as excited to meet you and talk about books!

In general, it's always been important to me to reach out to newbie bloggers and make them feel welcomed to the community! Though I obviously can't do this for every single new blog that crops up, I do try to make my way around to newer blogs to say hi. It's also always a pleasant surprise when the opposite happens and newer bloggers come by my blog to visit!

So, those are two ways that I think bloggers can show their appreciation for one another as part of this amazing community, as well as a little bit dedicated to newbie bloggers. I hope this post helps inspire you to show your appreciation for other bloggers. Don't forget to visit the matching one up on Rather Be Reading today!

11 Comments:

  1. Sometimes I share posts but I really must start doing it more!

    It's always nice to meet bloggers, I'm always on the lookout for more bloggin friends.

    I COMPLETELY agree with this post, Alexa! Thanks for sharing and it's a great reminder to all of us to not be shy and to share posts we enjoyed reading :)

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  2. What a wonderful post! It is encouraging to hear you say not to be shy to talk to other bloggers. I can be very shy, and it can be intimating to try to talk to other bloggers. (although I think I am getting better, and it is kind of easier over the Internet),

    Thanks for this post. I am going to hope on over to Rather Be Reading to see what she's got there. :)

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  3. I think these are great tips! Especially about being a newbie blogger and not being afraid to introduce yourself to other bloggers. It took me a couple of months to actually get up the nerve to talk to other people, mostly on twitter, but I'm so glad that I did. I find that the longer you blog, the more confident you get in what you're doing and how things are working for you and it makes it a little less scary to make new friends. But I think that you do a pretty incredible job reaching out to new bloggers and making them feel welcome. You're so great at it!

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  4. Great tips, Alexa!

    I totally agree with sharing posts ... I try to do it when I remember and when I'm not too busy. I always love seeing other people share my posts, so it's always nice to reciprocate. I think the same thing goes with blog comments. I try my hardest to comment on blogs whose bloggers comment on mine. Especially people who comment consistently.

    I also love that you say bloggers don't bite! We don't! It can seem so intimidating as a newbie blogger, thinking that the bloggers who have been around for a while won't want to talk to you. I LOVE interacting with other bloggers! It makes blogging so much fun. :)

    Thanks for sharing this!

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  5. I agree with everything you just said! :) Especially the new blogger bit. It's so nice to meet fellow bloggers and I love to help those who are just starting out. And I love new bloggers who are not afraid to get in touch and find me on Twitter, etc. :) Great post!

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  6. Great advice, Alexa! I agree with you - it's always nice to interact with other bloggers, both new and old. Linking to other posts/reviews isn't something I usually do (unless it's on Twitter) but I do think it's a great idea! :)

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  7. Excellent tips! I love supporting new bloggers, as I remember how much I appreciated people supporting me when I first started out. I don't share posts very often, but am working on my commenting. Great food for thought!

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  8. I agree, thanks for the great post. I'm a semi-new book blogger. I started it for a class back in 2010, then stopped writing in it for a while, and now I'm back at it again. But it's great to find a community on book bloggers thanks to BBAW. I didn't know such a community existed till now.

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  9. I too love the link sharing. I'm not so good at it - but I can change that!

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  10. Great post Alexa! I love #1 and am trying to do this more and more - sharing IS caring :)

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