— blogger tag, book tag —

Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag

July 17, 2018

I came across this tag on Twitter because one of my mutuals liked a tweet posted by Maddie @ Munch Reviews! It was the eye-catching header that first snagged my attention, because it’s so accurate for book bloggers, and because it also made me laugh. I just had to click the link to see what this tag is all about. Once I read through the post on Maddie’s blog, I just knew that I had to complete this tag, even though I wasn’t tagged by anyone! (P.s. This header was made by Maddie, so please be sure to credit her and have a link to her blog in your post if you decide to use this header as well!)

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been running this particular blog for 2 years and 3 months (I started off on a free WordPress site, and then bought my own domain late last year)! Since I was a teen, I’ve made multiple LiveJournal and Tumblr accounts, but haven’t kept any of those going for very long except for my Korean and Japanese drama one! They just didn’t hold my attention, and I felt no motivation to keep them going. I cannot see myself letting this blog die anytime soon though!

2. At what point do you think you’ll stop blogging?

Wow. It would take something pretty like … life-altering or just bad. I love blogging, and I’m pretty good at giving myself a break when I feel like I might get overwhelmed or burned out. I don’t even want to think about how bad the situation would have to be for me to quit blogging! And I mean, usually when bad things have happened, I have used blogging as an escape. So, it would taking something quite specific and awful to make me quit.

3. What is the best thing about blogging?

All of the people that I’ve met in the bookish community and being able to talk about books with them! Some of my real life friends read, but they almost never read the same books that I read (and even if the do, they don’t read them anywhere around the same time as I do). It’s been so great to talk to people about our common interest, and I’ve just always felt so welcome and appreciated too! I love you all so much!

4. What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

I’d have to say that the worst thing is how much pressure I put on myself sometimes, and those times when my brain tries to mess with me by trying to make me believe that I’m awful at blogging, and photography, and everything. Also, Bookstagram has become very difficult to do and feel good about ever since Insta introduced the new algorithm. And the way that I make all of this feel more okay is by taking a step back, taking a deep breath, and reminding myself of how many people are kind to me every day and how they appreciate me and my work! Your likes and thoughtful comments keep me doing what I do!

5. How long does it take you to make/find pictures to use?

It depends! Sometimes I’ll sit down and shoot pictures of like 5-10 books and products in one go, and be happy with all of them. And other times, I’ll have no inspiration to photograph anything for a few days in a row (something which has actually been the case for the past 1-2 weeks, sigh). If I force myself to take photographs when I’m not inspired, I usually end up hating every single one. Hahahaha.

6. Who is your book crush?

Oh my goodness, I may have to list several! Kaz from Six of Crows, Michael Phan from The Kiss Quotient, Mehmed from And I Darken and Now I Rise, Prince Kai from The Lunar Chronicles, Legend from Legendary, Neil from From Twinkle With Love, Jack from Song of Blood & Stone, Dev from My So-Called Bollywood Life, Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, Levi from Ace of Shades, Sam from Emergency Contact, Tybalt from the October Daye series, Tyrus from The Diabolic, Thomas from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, Harte from The Last Magician, Darien from Geekerella, Doyle from Rebels Like Us, Merik from the Witchlands series, and The Darkling from the Grisha series! I’m sure that I’m missing some, but I won’t keep listing them for your sakes, hahaha.

7. What author would you like to have as a guest on your blog?

Oh boy. There are so many to choose from! Maybe Leigh Bardugo? Nisha Sharma? Holly Black? Mackenzi Lee? Ashely Poston? Mary H.K. Choi? Kiersten White? Amanda Foody? Justina Ireland? Jay Kristoff? Shea Ernshaw? S. Jae-Jones? Adrianne Finlay? Seanan McGuire? Maggie Stiefvater?

8. What do you wear when you write your blog posts?

Well, I’m usually at home or over at my sister’s apartment puppy sitting when I’m blogging, so I’m normally in yoga pants and a comfy t-shirt or sweater, oooor I’m still in my pjs. It’s very rare that I’ll feel comfortable enough to sit and write blog posts when I’m wearing “outdoor clothes” or work clothes, hahaha.

9. How long does it take you to prepare?

It really depends on the post! Sometime last year, I discovered that I could clone posts (facepalm), so that I don’t have to re-do the whole structure of a particular post anymore, but rather just clone it and then change some of the text. So, meme posts like #ARCstravaganza and Backlist Blast can go live pretty quickly (depending on whether I want to include my own photo for a book or not). While book reviews, for example, even though I can also clone those and not have to worry about the structure, can take a little longer since I have to really think back on the book, and compose a review that I am happy (or at least satisfied) with posting on the blog.

10. How do you feel about the book blogging community?

Oh jeez. I kind of ruined this question by talking about the community for question 3, didn’t I? But, I mean, I can’t say it enough! I loooooove the book blogging community. SO MUCH. I’ve been a part of a number of online communities since I discovered the internet as a teen, and I have to say that the book blogging community has been the most welcoming and just … amazing group of people that I have ever encountered! Thank you for everything, and please never ever change!

11. What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?

That’s a very good question! I’m not sure if I would consider my blog successful … but I mean, define “successful blog.” Do you mean a blog that gets a lot of (often one-time) visitors? Do you mean a blog that has a good amount of loyal followers? Or do you mean a blog that brings in the cash? For me, I believe, a successful blog would be option number 2. So, to gain a loyal following, I would say that blog hopping, and interacting with other book bloggers in general, is very very important. Relationships (especially long term ones) are a two way street, my friends! (It’s also important that you like interacting with other bloggers. Don’t do it just so that your blog can get more followers and views. Talking to other bloggers is the fun part, and more views is something that might happen as a bonus!) Also, I try to be as consistent as possible, and like to ask my following what they think of any of the new/different content that I post and then decide whether to continue posting such content based on their overall response. I will also look at the amount of likes on particular posts to figure out what kind of content is liked more than other content, and also to see when most of my viewers are likely to visit my blog to read a post or two. I believe that having a theme that is pleasant to look at and easy to use is also a very important factor. And lastly, have fun with it, and realize that it will not happen overnight! Having and running a successful blog takes time and is a lot of work, and I don’t think you’ll be blogging for very long if you absolutely detest blogging and/or the community!

I’m tagging:

I don’t do these tags very often, soooo I’m gonna tag a few of you, hahaha.

Lilly @ Lair of Books
Savannah @ The Book Prophet
Milana @ A Couple Reads
Darque Dreamer @ Darque Dreamer Reads
Katie @ Never Not Reading
Sophie @ Beware of the Reader
Sarah @ The Clever Reader
Victoria @ The Contented Reader
Breanna @ Paws and Paperbacks
Lili @ Lili’s Blissful Pages
Elise @ A Book and a Cup
Dani @ Perspective of a Writer
Dawlyn & Krista @ Litte Blind Book Finds
Shanah @ The Bionic Bookworm
Amy @ A Court of Crowns and Quills
Loretta @ The Laughing Listener

THANK YOU FOR READING MY BLOGGER TAG POST! THIS POST WAS DEFINITELY QUITE A BIT MORE PERSONAL THAN ANY OF MY OTHER POSTS. WHAT DID YOU THINK? DO YOU THINK THAT I SHOULD WRITE ABOUT THIS STUFF MORE OFTEN? OR SHOULD I JUST COMPLETE TAGS MORE OFTEN? IF YOU WEREN’T TAGGED, YOU’RE OF COURSE STILL WELCOME TO DO THE TAG! BUT, IF YOU DON’T PLAN ON MAKING A POST, HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER SOME OF THE QUESTIONS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

37 thoughts on “Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag”

  1. I loved reading this, and finding out more about you, Flavia! <3 🙂

    And I started out blogging (mainly for myself) on LiveJournal as well, and hearing you mention it gave me such a huge flashback to those years, haha. I love your answer to #11, and how you interpret a "successful" blog, and I agree with you completely on how the book blogging community is the absolute best!! :')

    Wonderful post! <3

    1. Awe thank you so much!!! ❤ And ahhh I’m glad to see another LiveJournal user from back in the day hahaha. And ahhhh yeah I was really nervous about posting my answer to question 11 so I’m glad that you agree! 😀 ❤

      Thank you so much for reading and for your kinds words! ❤❤❤

  2. oooooh I can totally see why you wanted to do this tag Flavia! It has fun and personal questions that really help us get to know the blogger behind the blog (which are fun and challenging for me to write so thanks so much for tagging me!) ❤️ I really loved reading your perspective about blogging and would love to hear more about your particular journey. Recently I’ve read a couple of posts about bloggers and their instagram photography and would love to read such from such a great design eye as you Flavia! Tags are also fun as we can see books you’ve read that we may have missed you reviewing or mentioning.

    1. Right? It’s very personal but also very fun! And you’re welcome 🙂 I hope that you’ll have as much fun with the tag as I did!

      And oohhhh thanks for letting me know! I’ve been asked a few times to make posts about blogging itself and how I got started….and tips and stuff. Maybe I’ll start a series! ❤ Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Dani! ❤❤❤

    1. Hehe I’m glad you agree! I hope that you have fun with the tag if you end up wanting to complete it 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting!

  4. Yay! I’m glad you liked the tag, it was fun doing it and I’m glad you had a good time doing it!

    Loved your answers!! You should def do more tags! They are fun if you want a break from reviews or memes.

    Glad you found my blog & we were able to connect! ☺️☺️

    1. Ahhh I’m so glad that I found this tag AND your blog! 😀 So thank youuuu! I’ll try to do more tags and I’m glad we were able to connect too! 🙂 ❤

  6. Great answers! 😀 I’m so with you on the blogging community. I’ve been in loads of different types of communities over the years, and even within the bookish world, I’m in so many different circles, but the bloggers are, for the most part, one of my favorite social circles I’ve ever been in. I’ve met so many great people! And I’m also with you on not having an expiration date in mind for your blog. Sometimes I hear people say, “I’ll probably stop when I ____,” and it makes me so sad, because I honestly want to still be blogging 5, 10, 15 years from now.

    1. Thank you so much! And I couldn’t agree more with you! And ahhhh yeah that makes me sad too! I look forward to remaining in the blogging world with you for the next 5 to 10 to 15 years and more 😀

  7. This is such a great post! I love reading about peoples blogging journeys and how they came to love the book blogging community! I also love this community so much it’s so welcoming! I also agree that I would like to be blogging for many years to come and only take breaks when I need to avoid burn outs etc.

    1. Thank you so much! And awe I love reading about that too! I’m glad that you love the community as well, and that you won’t stop blogging any time soon! 😀

  8. Great answers Flavia! I agree that the community is the best, everyone is so supportive and welcome with each other! And I also agree about the pressure of stats and pictures, it puts me in a slump sometimes, just by thinking about them…

    1. Thanks so much! And yaaaay I’m glad that the community feels that way for you as well. Also yeah those pressures are no fun! Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! And that means a lot! I was very nervous about posting my answer to the last question 🙂 so that definitely makes me feel better. Thanks so much for reading and commenting! ❤

  10. Aaaw, I’m just seeing this… Thank you for tagging me Flavia, this is such a fun tag. ❤️❤️ And i’m the worst. I was reading your answers and really have many things to say because I really agree with your answers but then I saw Kaz’ name. oh well, my mind went blank and he’s all I wanna talk about… hahaha…

    1. Hahahahaha I can see how Kaz would have that effect on people! He’s so swoon-worthy! I need to read Crooked Kingdom like…yesterday. Hahaha. Thanks so much for reading, and Iook forward to seeing what you do with the tag! 😀

    1. Thank you so much! And hahaha I definitely feel blessed for being able to puppy sit! Especially with work being very slow right now. And oh my gosh that means so much about my answer to question 11! I was so so nervous about posting my answer for that one, and your comment brought tears to my eyes. Thank you! ❤❤❤

  12. Thank you for tagging me Flavia! I had myself a good giggle with the tag’s banner lOL! Loved your answers & I consider your blog to be very successful. You’re very consistent & fun to chat with which makes for such a welcoming visit. Genuine Interaction will always gain a loyal readership & I agree with you, that’s how I would measure my success. I’m so happy to hear you’re here to stay! <3 <3 <3

    1. You’re welcome! I can’t wait to see your answers! And awe thank you so much Lilly! I love visiting your blog too and would say that it’s very successful too! I hope that you’ll stay with me in the blogging world foreveeeeer ❤ ❤ ❤ hehehe

  13. I loved reading this tag <3
    I personally only just starting in the book blogging community but I love it already!!

    (evelynreads.com)

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