Friday, August 10, 2012

Follow Friday #7


Wow, it's been a long time since I did one of these!  Anyway, this week's Feature & Follow Friday (hosted by Alison at Alison Can Read and Rachel over at Parajunkee) asks bloggers this question:
"What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch?"
My answer?  I kind of already started over, in a way, when I completely revamped my blog.  I finally thought of a name and a theme I loved, and was kind of surprised I hadn't thought of it sooner...I'm terrible like that when it comes to naming things, though.  Since I'm still a relatively young blog, as far as post count goes, I felt it was safe enough to change things up without confusing anyone.

It was easier than I thought it would be to change my username and email account on all the different social media networks, so that was a convenient surprise.

Anyway, if I were to go back in time or something and start my blog knowing what I know now, I would have probably tried to do a little more research and put more thought into the setup and such - I went in thinking no one would ever read this except me and maybe a couple bored people on my Facebook friends list, so I figured I'd just put whatever and it wouldn't matter.

I'd also spend more time on some of my earlier reviews.  I'm not completely happy with some of them, especially some of the sequel reviews.  For me, reviewing a sequel is a little tricky, because no matter how old a book is, there will always be someone who hasn't yet read it, and I worry about inadvertently posting spoilers.  So my earlier sequel reviews were very brief and not nearly as thoughtful or potentially helpful as I would like; I think I've gotten a bit better with this particular thing, but there's still definitely some room for improvement.  Maybe someday I'll go back and review those ones again, but we'll see...after all, I have SO many books I haven't even had a chance to open yet!

What about you?  Is there anything you'd do differently if you were to start your blog again from scratch?  Leave me a comment or a link to your own FF post and let me know!  And don't forget to check out the "features" in Feature & Follow, Michael at The Bookshelf Review and Mandee at Compelled By Words.

And now a shameless plug:  I have a giveaway going on that will end on 18 August!  In celebration of the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Hunger Games, I am giving away a prop replica of Katniss's mockingjay pin!  

In a couple of days I will be able to know if I can add to this prize the winner's choice of one of the books from the trilogy!  So if getting only the pin doesn't interest you, just check back in a day or two.  This giveaway is open internationally.  Just click the word "giveaway" in the above paragraph, or follow the button in the sidebar.  =]


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16 comments:

  1. Great answer! I always think it's so brave when people restart and revamp their blogs! It looks great so far and I love your title.

    New follower via GFC.

    Ensconced in YA
    http://cahreviews.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks! I'd like to get a more interesting and personalized template from a blog designer, but that's more than a little out of my budget at the moment.

      I'm pretty pleased with the simplicity and color scheme I've got right now, though, so it's not a big deal to me. =]

      Thanks for stopping by and following!

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  2. Changing everything early is the best way! Otherwise it is confusing. I did the blog name change within the first two months of starting. I still find places that have me linked up incorrectly today.

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    1. I know how that is; the Book Blogger Directory still hasn't taken down my old link and put this new one up.

      I might just submit a new request soon. I imagine they get a lot of emails and submissions to sift through.

      Thanks for coming by!

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  3. Great answer! I kind of had the same feelings when I first started out, and wasn't sure if anyone other than me would ever read my posts. Looking back, those first ones of mine were awful!

    Thanks for stopping by this weekend!

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't happy with their earlier reviews!

      haha, thanks for coming by! :P

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  4. Hopping by and now following, too! I totally agree with you - when I started blogging I didn't think anyone but a few of my friends would be reading my posts. Turns out you and me are both wrong! You have a lovely blog and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews :)

    Happy blogging,
    Ms. C
    http://coffeetalereviews.blogspot.ca/2012/08/follow-friday.html

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  5. new follower through GFC as lucyatmax-no pix. Please visit me at bethartfromtheheart.blogspot.com
    Hugs
    Beth

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for the Goodreads and Facebook adds, too!

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  6. Hi! New follower! Great answer!(: I'm learning a lot from everybody's answers since I'm a new blogger!(:

    http://simple-books.blogspot.com/2012/08/follow-friday.html

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  7. Love your blog name and theme - so jealous, lol!
    Thanks for stopping by and I'm following back.

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  8. Ha! I love your header! Thanks for coming by my blog. When I tried to follow back, I already was! You must have changed something recently because I would have remembered that title! (and now that I actually read your answer, you did!) congrats, it looks great!

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    1. haha! Thanks. :) I'm so much happier with my blog now than I was when I first started, definitely.

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  9. I really love your theme! I am a new GFC, NB and Linky follower : ) Here is my FF

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  10. I hope the new blog works better than the last one. My blog is also kind of a start over one. I hated it before. New Follower.

    http://starrystorm.blogspot.com/2012/08/feature-follow-1.html

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  11. I still feel sometimes like I need to work on reviews. I think it depends how much time I have to review, or how much of a hurry I'm in. Also how much I liked the book, and how much it made me think! Great post! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I'm following you back now.

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