Morning Meanderings…. I BLEW UP The Blog

Wait for it…

Good morning.  In care you are wondering what happened around here…

I happened.

Give a girl a Bloggiesta weekend and well..anything can really happen.

I wont bore those of you who have already been here since Saturday afternoon but for those who have not here is the short version of what happened:

1. Went to change from 2 sidebars to one

2.  Seemed easier to change who theme to a single sidebar

3.  Became a CRAZY BIG project

4.  Changed theme.

5. Changed theme again.

(* note:  I may change it again, there is one more layout I want to look at so just bear with me while I go but more dynamite.)

 

Now – like the header, still trying to get used to the pink (not really me but it is not changeable except to powder blue), not sure I like the comment boxes either but I think it is growing on me.

There is the story.

A few of you have asked where Coffee Cup is (used to sit on the upper right sidebar).  I was actually going to switch out that blog widget BUT- now I am so impressed that a few of you asked about it and realized it was missing that I think tomorrow morning I am going to introduce you to the real Coffee Cup.  To the average reader that may just seem a little C R A Z Y, but hey, first of all don’t judge and second of all Coffee Cup actually comes with a great story… one so good, I think I will add it to my About Me page after that post goes up tomorrow.

Ok…. moving on… I need to announce winners from the Bloggiesta weekend.  Give it up for the winners of my mini challenge, using random.org they are:

$20 Amazon Gift Card:  alexia561

$10 Amazon Gift Card:  Tanya Patrice

next up… winner of the Descendent movie:

Pinkim35

and last but not least the winner of the YA choose what I read contest and win it for yourself:

Mary Preston

 

All winners have been notified by email and gift card winners have been sent out this morning. 

How super fun!  Congrats all!  I have work, and hopefully play, and then I want to READ. 

Bloggiesta Finish Line!!! WOO HOO!!!

*GASP*  *dragging myself across the finish line*   *raises a pinky to tap the finish line ribbon then passes out and trampled on by other Bloggiesta participants*

LOL

I am here! CHA CHA CHA!

What a weekend eh?  I logged in a whopping 27 hours on Bloggiesta.  (Pretty impressive as I only put in 5 hours on Friday and then was gone the rest of the day and evening.)

My to do list was:

1.  A new blog header

Done.  In fact you may come to Book Journey and go “OMG Becky, LOOK AT HER BLOG!” and uh…. yeah…. I pretty much changed the whole thing. 

2.  New blog widget

Not yet.  Not sure what I want to do yet.

3.  prep posts for upcoming reviews

I prepped 8 upcoming reviews, pretty much everything I have had my hands on this week and what coming next.

4.  Write posts for movie/book reviews that I have completed  

Done.  5 posts written and I have a few more ideas to create draft posts.

5.  Participate in mini challenges

I participated in ALL the new 2012 challenges (with at least a comment if I could not participate)

Promoting your blog on Facebook:  While I do not want a Facebook page for Book Journey, I did learn a few things about social media and put a LIKE Facebook button on my posts.

The Mr. Linky How To was great!  I use linky every week for the Monday meme but I know a lot of bloggers do not know how to use it. 

Top Ten Basics for HTML was very useful and bookmarked for the future.

How To Embed a YouTube Video, with wordpress.com I do not have any problems with that but it was interesting to see how it works for other platforms.

Themed Pages was BRILLIANT and I tool away a lot from this one.  I never thought about how those pages could be draws to my blog if named correctly.  My new layout allows me to add many pages in a “non cluttered” looking way so I will be working on this more later tonight.

The Pinterest challenge and how to use it with your blog intrigues me.  I asked Joy to hook me up with a Pinterest invite (something I have avoided until now due to I was afrad of the time suck and my body would be found years later stuck on a Pinterest page….) However, if it can promote Book Journey I am willing to take a look.

My own challenge, referring to increasing your blog traffic through comments is still going on here until midnight central time.  Throughout the weekend I have commented on at least 100 blogs.

  Twitter Me This and Blogging was a fun post.  I do have my posts linked to go to Twitter automatically.

Five Ways To Make Your Reviews Stand Out introduced me to Fyrefly which is pretty sweeeeet!  I totally saved that link too!

Windows Live Wire (or from this point forward known as WLW) looked really interesting.  I have not heard of that before.  I am going to check it out more later.

Get Noticed By Search Engines taught me a lot!  While it appears that SEO and wordpress.com are already bosom buddies, I did not know about tagging photos in the additional space or the importance of key words in our posts OR The Google ad words Key tool which like I said…. I learned a lot about this! 

Sidebar Help chewed me up and spit me out the other side.  (Thus the major blog changes)    Actually this challenge pointed out what I already knew… I had too much going on taking away from the blog itself.  I cut from two sidebars to one and tonight I will be organizing them yet more and making pages for those who do not need to be on the sidebar…. clean clean clean!!!

Five Tips To Writing Fast Reviews, gave me tips on how to be more proactive in my writing and cut out the distractions.  This is something I need to continue to work on. 

Eight Ways To Freshen Up Your Content reminded me that it is ok to bring up those old posts again that drew in great discussion. AND she mentions J Kaye… who was awesome.  And a true blogger icon that I learned a lot from.

MOBILIZE!  Says Florinda and I have been interested in knowing more but not sure if I am there yet.  I am going to go back to this post again but I think wordpress has a widget that links you right up.

Social Media Icons hooked me up with some pretty cool buttons that I downloaded and plan to work on later tonight for the sidebar

Plug Ins and Widgets for WordPress sites is mostly (plug ins) for wordpress.org but interesting to know what i would be dealing with if I ever decide to self host.  Widgets however… I love. 

Goodreads challenge was a reminder of all of the awesomeness of Goodreads.  I use that and liked hearing more about it.

What Is Rafflecopter?  This challenge not only let you know all about it, you are linked to how to use it… which I did.  Which was fun. 

Blog events anyone?  This was a smart idea for a challenge.  We were asked to connect to an upcoming bookish event and there were choices.  I chose Book Chick City’s 100 Books in A Year Challenge, signed up and I am in.

Policies!  Always important, I learned about these on the first Bloggiesta but we do need to be rmeinded to update them to current every few months or so.  Also the idea of a giveaway policy I found to be very helpful.

Back Up That Blog!  Another great reminder.  Easy to do on wordpress.com (a button and a download!) but looks pretty easy on other platforms too.  Read this post and you will want to be sure you are backing up that blog!

6.  Clean up/update side bars

A work in progress, thanks to the mini challenge on this as well I received some great ideas!

7.  Send out author chat questions to 3 authors

Did not happen… not sure when it will honestly.

8.  Prep a blog survey to use in April

Not yet but this is staying on the to do this week.

9.  Draft some fun discussion posts (one drafted… two more ideas formed….)

I drafted two ideas and have written down three more.  Excited to move on these.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the results of Bloggiesta spring 2012.  I did more than I planned and I am walking away with a totally different looking blog.  During my visits to other blogs I picked up some pretty sweet ideas I hope to implement and plan to go forward with a neater more organized, easy to follow blog.

Did you participate in Bloggiesta?  If so what was your favorite part?  If not, looking at my links above so any of those topics interest you?

Morning Meanderings… Sunday Salon Bloggiesta Style!

WAIT!!!!!!  Don’t go!  It’s me Sheila!  You are at the right place it just looks different around here.  Ummm…. here is what happened. 

So I am doing Bloggiesta this weekend and if you don’t know what that is it is a weekend set aside to catch up on reviews and bloggy maintenance type things as well as learning new things like SEO and HTML, and how to bring traffic to your blog.  What happened was I was going to clean up my sidebars, you know… take out old things, put in new, update…. stuff like that.  Something I have been meaning to do for a while.  I then thought, are two side bars too much?  Is that too busy?  A lot of blogs I read have one sidebar…. so I chose a new theme…. that really goofed things up for a while and I am still not happy with where my header lies, and I still have to update the sidebar.

*sigh*

The mad side of Bloggiesta…

So anyway…Good morning!  WOOT! As you can tell from what I have said so far the weekend has been busy – but fun.  I love going around and seeing what other bloggers are doing.  I love participating in the mini challenges and learning new things.  My own mini challenge, which is about driving blog traffic, is still active for the rest of today.  Stop by, check it out… you may find something useful as well as the other challenges too.

As for what arrived bookish like this week, that is a two-part story.  Below are the books, and the DVD I received in the mail for review:

Yes.  That is Alvin and The Chipmunks, Chipwrecked.  Do not judge.    And the creepy cover of Thirteen calls to me… so what does that say? :LOL:

The second half of this story is I received a SWEET box of YA books from a publisher this week that had me dancing around the house.  I posted about this on Friday and you can check it out, shooose what I read first and you could win it!     Seriously!  Go check it out. 

As far as today, I have church here in about mmmm….. 15 minutes.  And then I am coming back to Bloggiesta until late morning when hubby and I have to deliver a trailer to another town so I will be MIA for about an hour… but then back to the blog.  Things I still want to accomplish today.

What is your Sunday plan?  Are you on the Bloggiesta wagon?  If so what are you LOVING?  If not, watcha doing today?  Anything fun?

 

Morning Meanderings… My VERY OWN Book Fairy!!!! + Giveaway!

Good morning!  *yawn*  How we all doing today?  I missed the afternoon and evening of Bloggiesta yesterday as I was trying to get some errands done, then came home, changed and we had dinner with friends and then Hunger Games (yes, a second time!) and home around 11 pm.  Then…. I slept a little later than usual but I am here now and I have exciting things happening here. 

About a month ago I was contacted about the book club I am in by a publishing company.  They had read my Making Of A Book Club post and were bouncing ideas off me for a YA on line book club.  I was happy to help as Sheila + talking books = Happy Sheila. 

We had some conversations back and forth where we discussed ideas, promoting, etc… and in the end she offered me some books as a thank you.  I chose three from her list but she added to it and my very first mystery box of books arrived yesterday on my door step:

 

and in this group would be the very first April on Line Book Club pick:

Are you just LOVING that cover?  I am!!!  SO more on this hopefully going into this next week… I will give you info on the book club, the who, the what, the when…. I am just waiting on an email first to make sure they are ready to launch!

 

 

AND in honor of Bloggiesta happening right now this weekend (info below) I would love you to tell me which of these gorgeous books to read first and then I will read it and send it to one lucky random.org winner.  Yes, you pick the book for the picture above, I read, then send to you. 

 

This year Bloggiesta is being hosted by It’s All About Books and There’s A Book, and you can see all the mini challenges here - and there are giveaways! 

Here is my “work in progress tasks for the weekend” :  (which I will cross off when I complete them):

1.  A new blog header

2.  New blog widget

3.  prep posts for upcoming reviews

4.  Write posts for movie/book reviews that I have completed  (five written and drafted!)

5.  Participate in mini challenges  (three done!)

6.  Clean up/update side bars

7.  Send out author chat questions to 3 authors

8.  Prep a blog survey to use in April

9.  Draft some fun discussion posts (one drafted… two more ideas formed….)

Happy Bloggiesta!!!  Don’t forget my mini challenge this weekend with gift card giveaways  

Morning Meanderings… Bloggiesta KICK OFF!!!!

Good morning!  Happy Bloggiesta!!! Doesn’t that make you just think of great things like nachos and taco’s and enchiladas…. hmmmmm.. maybe it is too early to think of those things.

Bloggiesta is an event that was started by Natasha from Maw Books in 2009.  It was designed as a time that we as bloggers can learn more about our blogs, how to make them look appealing, how to drive traffic, HTML, side bar links, post writing,social networking, embedding pictures and video, search engines, how does your blog rate… and more!

Bloggiesta holds a special place in my heart as it was June 2009 when I started blogging and well… I knew nothing…. NOTHING about blogging.  A week after I started book blogging, the first Bloggiesta was happening and I jumped at the chance to participate.  Bloggiesta really saved me.  I signed and participated in every mini challenge.  I learned so much that weekend, and from the start of Bloggiesta to the end, my blog looked completely different. I was thrilled. 

Now here we are in 2012 and I am so excited to not only be participating in Bloggiesta, but I am also a Mini Challenge host.  This year Bloggiesta is being hosted by It’s All About Books and There’s A Book, and you can see all the mini challenges here - and there are giveaways! 

For the kick off, I am posting my weekend to do list :  (which I will cross off when I complete them):

1.  A new blog header

2.  New blog widget

3.  prep posts for upcoming reviews

4.  Write posts for movie/book reviews that I have completed  (as of noon on Friday three written and drafted!)

5.  Participate in mini challenges  (two started)

6.  Clean up/update side bars

7.  Send out author chat questions to 3 authors

8.  Prep a blog survey to use in April

9.  Draft some fun discussion posts (as of noon on Friday one drafted… two more ideas formed….)

Hope to see you on the blogosphere this weekend – and stay tune, not only am I offering the giveaway involved with the mini challenge, but I also am planning giveaways all weekend long as part of the Bloggiesta Fiesta!!!  OLE!!!  Find me on Twitter at:  bookjourney

Are you participating?  Let me know and I will be sure to stop by and cheer you on! 

Bloggiesta Mini Challenge!!!! May The Odds Be Forever In Your Favor!!! March 30 – April1

How to Build Readers for your Blog through Commenting

 

Hi Bloggiesta people!!!!  Lets give it up for all the hard working behind the scenes people making Bloggiesta possible this year!  WOOT!  WOOT!

My mini challenge here is about building a reader base and seriously, don’t we all want that?  I mean there is one thing I see book bloggers say all the time, they do like comments.  It has even been said that comments are the heart of book blogging…

we do like to discuss books don’t we? 

So while my mini challenge is not going to be technical about CSS, or about repairing broken links, or anything awesome like that… you need to realize established blogger or just starting out… comments are the heartbeat of the blogger, and sitting around waiting for them is not that way to build up your readers.

When I started blogging in June of 2009, I seriously did not have a clue as to what I was doing.  I knew I liked to write, and I knew I got excited when someone commented on something I wrote (shoot, I still get excited when people comment!)  I felt I could write a good review, I just had to figure out how to get people to find me and read them.  I was confident enough to believe if I could get people to come and check out my blog, they may find something they like and come back again… and maybe… again. 

To make this happen I started making it a point to go out and visit and comment on blogs.  I set a goal of at least twenty a day.  I found them through links provided by blogs I was already reading, and by people who commented on my blog.  I discovered quickly that when I went out and provided a real comment on a blog (Not a “I’m just hopping through”, “Nice post!”, or a “come and visit me too!”) often, these bloggers would come and check out my blog in return.

My commenting on other blogs provided a way for me to build my own reader base.  It’s true.

So here are a few do’s and dont’s  I would ask you to consider for commenting:

 

DO:

Leave a genuine comment that shows you actually read what the post was about, this along with questions to the blogger can create people clicking back to your blog

Share if you have read the book as well, or one similar, or plan to read it… it builds a common interest

End posts with a question to your readers, it encourages conversation

Respond to comments on your blog, it creates conversations and your readers may stop back again to see what you have said in response to their comment. 

DONT:

Leave comments with a link back to your blog, your name is already a link to your blog (*unless you have multiple blogs and need to link so people an find your posts)

Say you are “hopping through” unless you truly are on a blog hop and so is the blog you are visiting.

AND… post well.  When your readers arrive on your blog have something interesting for them to read about.  If you are new to blogging, check out closely the blogs you enjoy reading.  Why do you enjoy reading them?  Do they have interesting posts?  What about their writing appeals to you?  Do they have a lot of comments and conversations stemming from their posts?

Growing my readership was and still is a constant work in progress.  I love to comment, and yes, I know between reading, and writing posts, commenting is just one more thing…. but I know it works, and I know it is appreciated by all the hard-working bloggers just like you who are writing and reviewing and posting and building their own readership as well.

My mini challenge for you (if you choose to accept it) is…

1.  Go and comment on at least 20 blog during Bloggiesta and then come back here and let me know in a comment that you did AND

2.  in the same comment let me know one thing that you are hoping to learn or accomplish during Bloggiesta

The winners of my mini challenge will receive (using random.org) a $20 gift card to Amazon (available to anyone who can use an Amazon gift card (this will be delivered to the winner at close of Bloggiesta through email).

AND one runner up will receive a $10 gift card to Amazon.

This is a sticky post and will remain at the top of the blog until closing on Bloggiesta.  All new posts will be below.  Watch for additional giveaways below during Bloggeista weekend!

Bloggiesta Finish Line

*gasp!*

There it is!  No longer a mirage…. it is… it is…

the finish line.

So what happened here?

I cleaned up my sidebars, uncluttered and put into storage the old challenges, seasonal links, and tossed the outdated.

I took part in all the mini challenges which are always such fun

I prepped posts for upcoming reviews with cover pictures and synopsis of book to give me a jump-start when writing the reviews

I took the vacuum cleaner attachment to my tag list and blew away all the unused and no purpose

I created a scrolling blogroll of my favorite blogs to read – thank you Hannah at Wordlily for walking me through the process!

I prepped “rainy day” posts – fun topics, bookish thoughts for the days my brain says “you got nothin’!”

For a brief moment I thought I would color tweak again as that has become a Bloggiesta tradition but I am happy to say that I changed my mind and feel I have finally come up with just the look I want for this blog and I am happy to stick with it.

My only task I thought I would accomplish and I did not was I wanted to visit all the participants.  I did this the last Bloggiestas but there was no way this time.  The participants list is huge and I just did not get there. 

Total hours invested:  27

I am thrilled with the outcome.  It was nice to set aside a weekend and dig into the things that have really been bugging me but I did not have time to do anything about.

And so…. until we the next Bloggiesta…. So long, farewell….

Morning Meanderings… Bloggiesta Day Three

Good Morning! Hello to my little friend – COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE 

Yesterday was a pretty good day as well as I continued work on the Bloggiesta.  Between house cleaning, a little reading, and an afternoon movie – I managed to put in 6 hours for a total of 16 hours in the past two days.

Today being the big finale what I most want to do is visit other participants.  I love visiting new blogs.  I have a little more sidebar work to do and a couple of post ideas to finalize but I feel good about what has been accomplished.  I will post my wrap up tonight before I put up the Monday, What Are You Reading meme.

I hope everyone who has participated this time is having a lot of fun!  I think this time around is the first time I didn’t have a lot of internal work to do…. mainly, I have spent this Bloggiesta working on updating and future posts.  Two things I have wanted to be working on for a while now but did not have the time.

Now here is my early morning funny happening.  At 6:03 a, my cell phone rings.  It is in the kitchen on the counter but I can hear it from my bedroom.  I drag myself out of bed and fumble my way to the phone .  I check to see whose call I missed and it was my Pastor.  I dial back thinking something must be going on, first service starts at 8:15, maybe something is needed, there was an accident (my imagination is vivid!).  He answers the phone and I ask him what’s up.

He says, “Did I call you?”

“You did.”  I say.

“That’s weird,” he says, “this phone rarely does that, did I wake you?”

“Yes, but that’s ok, I thought maybe something happened.”

He laughs, “Nope…. sorry about that.”

I laugh and in a strained high-pitched voice I say, “Are you calling everyone?”

“Yes,” he responds.  “Just trying to drum up some first service attendees.”

LOL.  I LOVE my church.

Have a great morning everyone.  I am up now and going to make the most of it

 

 

Morning Meanderings… Day Two… Bloggiesta Update

Good morning!  Day two!  I had a great Bloggiesta day yesterday.  I managed 10 hours of updates and maintenance… I had on my workman overalls and I was right down in the midst of the blog engine…. tinkering, cleaning, a fresh oil change, tweaking the carburetor and I think I actually accomplished a lot.

Sure, when I was all done putting it back together I had a few parts left over… but I don’t think they are really needed… I am pretty sure in fact they are extra pieces…

which I just put under the rug.

 

Today I will continue on catching up on post writing and a few planned posts that I have been thinking about for awhile….I am hoping by the end of the weekend I will have Wordshakers up and running again too.

Game on! 

Morning Meanderings: BLOGGIESTA STYLE!

Good morning!  25 below zero this morning in Brainerd Minnesota …. a perfect day to BLOGGIESTA!!!!

This morning kicks off the 4th Bloggiesta weekend and I have participated every time Natasha at Maw Books has hosted this.  I have said this before but I feel it is worth repeating…  Bloggiesta is probably why I am still blogging today and loving it so much.

Here is the short version of that story:

When I first started book blogging on June 9th, 2009, my blog looked nothing like what it does today.  I knew how to basically put up a post.  That’s it.  I knew nothing about changing the background color of my blog, linking, copyright,drafting new posts for the future, RSS… basically – if it had to do with blogging, I probably didn’t know it. 

The first Bloggiesta (my post here)was 10 days after I became a blogger and I embraced it fully.  I wanted to know how to do the things I had seen on the other blogs.  I literally spent every free hour I had that weekend working on my blog, doing the mini challenges and learning as much as I could.  I came out of that weekend a better blogger and I know that has to do with everyone who participated in Bloggiesta and really helped me with all my questions.

Every Bloggiesta since I have participated and I have learned something new.  If you have not already signed up to participate – pop on over to Natasha’s and learn more about this.  You will not regret it.

My goals going into this challenge will be posted here and I will cross them off as I achieve them.  I am sure I will add to this list as I think of more:

Clean up my sidebars – I have some thoughts on this – just have not taken to time to do it

Participate in all the mini challenges

Go through and update my blog tags

prep posts to books I have started or plan to be reading soon with book cover, basic synopsis and notes to make things quicker when I do write the review

Clean up posts I need to write for book completed

Prep 3 – 5 “rainy day” posts for the days I literally…. got nothing.

Visit all participants – I love seeing the other blogs!

Possible color tweak… it is kind of a Bloggiesta tradition that my blog background changes but I am not sure about that yet. Changed my mind…. I like it the way it is.

On a side note, I was just thinking how I met Natasha at BEA this past May,  She was with Amy from My Friend Amy’s and it was great to meet them both because of what I see them do throughout the year to contribute to my favorite part of all of this:  The Book Blogging Community.  Both of these bloggers invest a ton of time into events like this Bloggiesta, and Amy hosts the BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Award).

Amy (My Friend Amy), me, and Natasha (Maw Books) BEA in May 2010

I will still be doing my regular reviews this weekend as well, I will just start each morning updating you on what is happening with the Bloggiesta! 

Ready?  Set?  Bloggiesta!!!!