Blog Improvement Project » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

2009 BIP Week 7: Comments

Posted by Anastasia on April 8, 2009 2 Responses »

Apr 082009

New BIP I’ve, er, missed the last two Blog Improvement Project assignments but I’ve latched on to this one! Here’s what’s up this week:

Week #7 is going to be all about making your blog more comment friendly. During the goal setting project (Week #1), a lot of people made it a goal to leave more blog comments. This is important, but I think it’s also vital that once you get a new reader at your blog it’s easy for them to engage with you by commenting on your posts.

* Take an inventory of your blog comments. Write down how many comments you have as of today, then track how many comments you get per day over the next two weeks (I’m curious how well all of this is going to work).

* Pick 3-4 of the techniques from the articles to implement over the next two weeks (or more, if you’re ambitious). Print out the posts or write down a list of techniques to leave by your computer so you’re always reminded of them while you post.

So yeah, this’ll be a lot of fun! I’ll post more about this challenge once I actually read the articles.

Two things:
1. Thank you to everyone who comments on my blog; you really make me happy to check my email every day and I adore all of you. <3

2. How do you keep track of comments you leave on other people’s blogs? Do you bookmark posts that you want to check back on? Do you use something like BackType? Do you sign up for email notifications when new comments are posted? Or something else entirely?

2009 BIP: Week 4

Posted by Anastasia on February 19, 2009 No Responses »

Feb 192009

bip This week’s Blog Improvement Project project is one that I am always worried about: maintenance and information location/availability.

I’m horribly worried that I don’t have info available that people need, or that I’ve inadvertently hidden some important information somewhere. I also worry a lot about my sidebar, and tags, and categories. So basically, I worry a lot about how my blog looks and how easily people can find what they want. (Luckily I don’t worry so much about the content.)

For this week’s Project, Kim wants us to improve/update parts of our blog that may need it. Here’s the tasks:

* Write (or update) your “About Me” Page — Make sure you can see your About Me from the main page of your blog because someone just arriving at the site should be able to easily see a little information about you

* Update your contact information

* Add some sort of picture of yourself (if you’re comfortable with that)

* Update your Blogroll — Blogging Startup has a good series on blogrolls starting with “Does My Blog Need A Blogroll?” — check out some of the other entries, they’re pretty short and interesting

* Create a link to your Archives on your front page (there are a lot of widgets for this, or you can find other ways to do it — either way, it’s important to do so people who want your archives can find them to get a sense of what they can expect from your blog)

* Add a link (or make sure a link is there) so readers can subscribe to your blog via RSS

* Get to work on other basic blog maintenance you’ve been meaning to do

I’ve done a few of these recently, actually, but it wouldn’t hurt to see if I can make them even better. Of course, some of them I can’t really do– I already have an Archive widget up, for instance. However, my blogroll needs a lot of work, so that should keep me busy for a while.

What are you planning to update on your blog? What sort of maintenance are you planning on undertaking?

10 YA Fantasy Novels Everyone Should Read (Yes, Even You)

Posted by Anastasia on February 6, 2009 13 Responses »

Feb 062009

10yafantasyv2
I love all of these books for different reasons, but one similar reason is that they’re awesome. I’d heartily recommend them to anyone, including those who hate YA and/or fantasy books.

10 Young Adult Fantasy Novels Everyone Should Read (Yes, Even You)*
In no particular order:
1. Coraline – Neil Gaiman

In Coraline’s family’s new flat there’s a locked door. On the other side is a brick wall—until Coraline unlocks the door . . . and finds a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only different.

The food is better there. Books have pictures that writhe and crawl and shimmer. And there’s another mother and father there who want Coraline to be their little girl. They want to change her and keep her with them. . . . Forever.

2. Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones

Cat doesn’t mind living in the shadow of his sister, Gwendolen, the most promising young witch ever seen on Coven Street. But trouble starts brewing the moment the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Frustrated that the witches of the castle refuse to acknowledge her talents, Gwendolen conjures up a scheme that could throw whole worlds out of whack.

3. The House With A Clock In Its Walls – John Bellairs

Lewis always dreamed of living in an old house full of secret passageways, hidden rooms, and big marble fireplaces. And suddenly, after the death of his parents, he finds himself in just such a mansion–his Uncle Jonathan’s. When he discovers that his big friendly uncle is also a wizard, Lewis has a hard time keeping himself from jumping up and down in his seat. Unfortunately, what Lewis doesn’t bank on is the fact that the previous owner of the mansion was also a wizard–but an evil one who has placed a tick-tocking clock somewhere in the bowels of the house, marking off the minutes until the end of the world. And when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead on Halloween night, the clock only ticks louder and faster. Doomsday draws near–unless Lewis can stop the clock!

Continue reading #4-10 below the jump!
Continue reading »

2009 BIP: Week 3

Posted by Anastasia on February 3, 2009 No Responses »

Feb 032009

bip This week’s Blog Improvement Project is a little different from the earlier weeks. Week 3 is BLOG POST BINGO!

Here’s the details:

* Take a look at the 10 types of blog post below. Over the next two weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as you can.

1. A Link Post – share a series of links your readers might find interesting
2. A Short Post – less than 200 words
3. A List Post – simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
4. An Opinion Post – take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
5. A Poll or Question Post – post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
6. A How-To Post – You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
7. A Long Post – more than 700 words
8. A Review Post – self-explanatory, I think
9. A Definition Post – show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
10. FREE SPACE – a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)

The person who finishes all 10 posts wins a fabulous prize, and obviously I want that to be me. Keep an eye out for the various kinds of posts I’ll be doing over the next week and a half. I’ll link my posts to the list below, so you can check them all out at once if you’d like.
1. A Link Post
2. A Short Post
3. A List Post
4. An Opinion Post
5. A Poll or Question Post
6. A How-To Post
7. A Long Post
8. A Review Post
9. A Definition Post
10. FREE SPACE

Completed: 7/10

Monthly Review: January 2009 Part 2

Posted by Anastasia on February 1, 2009 No Responses »

Feb 012009

This is Part 2 of a 2 part post about January 2009 on Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog. Part 1 was focused on book stats and reviews; this part is focused on my updates in the Blog Improvement Project.

I’m having lots of fun doing the Blog Improvement Project, and since I like reading other people’s updates on it, I thought I should do my own!

Blog Snapshot Jan 09 Blog Improvement Project 2009
Week 1: Wherein I make some goals
Week 2: Wherein I talk about brainstorming and where I get my ideas

So, how am I doing? Pretty good, I’d like to think. My goals for week 1 were to: get better at writing reviews, get more involved in the blogging community, start actively encouraging reader participation, and to turn my blog into something I would want to read if I wasn’t already writing it.

1. Get better at writing reviews.
I do think I’ve started getting better at writing my reviews more concisely, and making them a bit more interesting than before. I hit a snag earlier this week when I realized a lot of my reviews sounded the same– not the structure, per se, but the phrases and such. I realized I kept repeating certain words and sentences (“I liked the characters,” “the plot was engaging and interesting,” etc.), and it was driving me nuts. I didn’t want to get stuck in a rut, so I consciously made an effort to use different words, even if I had to go to a thesaurus. I think I’ve started to work the kinks out, and hopefully I won’t worry about repeating myself any time soon.

2. Get more involved in the blogging community.
When I first made this goal I meant more in the commentating area, but it turns out that there’s lots of other ways to get involved that I hadn’t considered before. I have made an effort to comment more (at least once a day, in fact), but I’ve also joined the Book Blogs community on Ning and have made some friends there, as well as helped other bloggers out. I also have started using my Twitter for more bookish/bloggish things (and not just my personal life), and I’ve been having lots of fun talking with book people and stalking Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry and so on.

3. Start actively encouraging reader participation.
This is a tricky one. I started adding discussion questions to the bottom of my reviews, but then gave it up when, er, no-one responded. I also hated trying to come up with them! (I think I’d be horrible in a book club.) Instead, I decided to do something else to encourage participation, which I’ll talk more about below.

4. Turn my blog into something I would want to read if I wasn’t already writing it.
I definitely like my blog now, and while it’s maybe not 100% of where I want it to be, I do think I’ve made some good improvements. I’ve fiddled with the layout a bit– you may have noticed the new header!– and re-organized the sidebar. I also asked for some critiquing on Book Blogs, and Natasha helped me out a lot with setting up informative pages and contact info. She also gave me the idea to make a Review Directory, where all my reviews are cataloged by title instead of date. (Thanks for all your help, Natasha!)

On the inspiration front, I’ve started keeping track of all the ideas I get, so I can start doing some non-review, non-eBook Wednesday, non-link posts, too! I’ve got some really good ones; I just have to start writing the posts!

Where do I go from here? I can always keep improving, and I even have a plan to do just that.

First, I want to amp up the reader participation here, so I’m going to do some discussion posts about books, blogging, or whatever I can think of. I’ll try to do one a month unless I’m feeling frisky.

Secondly, I’m going to keep fiddling with the layout and sidebar. I’m sure there’s some things that are missing, and I know the blogroll has to be updated.

Thirdly, I’m going to do a book giveaway sometime this month! I don’t know for what, and I don’t know when, exactly, but I figure since it’s my birthday this month it’s as good an excuse as any to do one.

So that’s my January. How was yours?

2009 BIP: Week 2

Posted by Anastasia on January 20, 2009 No Responses »

Jan 202009

bip It’s week two of the Blog Improvement Project and I am still as excited to do it as when I first signed up. This week is about brainstorming and inspiration.

Here’s the thing: I never really have had any trouble coming up with something to write about. I do reviews and memes, and then I do my eBook Wednesdays posts. eWednesdays are my new feature for my blog; I’ve only done two of them so far, but it’s one of my favorite things to do and I’m definitely going to keep at it!

I don’t remember exactly how I came up with eBook Wednesdays. I think it was a mixture of wanting to have a new feature, plus my extreme interest in ebooks and the future of electronic publishing and reading. I wanted to write more about it, and thus: eBook Wednesdays!

I have about a bazillion topics I want to write about for eWednesdays, and actually I have a tougher time picking one thing. What I do is keep a list of all the subjects I think of that relate to electronic publishing, and then when I need something to write about I pick from that. It’s pretty easy for me to keep adding items onto that list, mainly because I try and keep up with what’s happening in the ebook world. There’s nearly always something new happening, be it free ebook giveaways or some new reader or what have you. The writing topics just seem to keep popping up, really.

(I do this same list-keeping with books I’m reviewing, too. I keep track of different feelings and thoughts and interesting things that pop up while I’m reading, and then use that list to help me write my review. They’ve come in quite handy, especially if i get stuck somewhere.)

The main thing I’m worried about now is being sure to encourage conversation and input from anyone who reads eWednesdays posts. I’m trying to maintain a balance of my own opinion and allowing room for other people’s, but, er, I don’t know how well I’m succeeding. Still, I’ve made Improvement my middle name and I aim to live up to it! I’m sure by the end of this year I’ll be the queen at writing about, uh. My own opinions. Ha!

2009 BIP: Week 1

Posted by Anastasia on January 5, 2009 No Responses »

Jan 052009

bip Today is the first day of the 2009 Blog Improvement Project, and the topic under discussion is what goals I have for my blog in 2009. I thought I had this figured out already, but Kim and the authors of some of the articles she links to have brought up a good point: it’s better to have quantitative goals than abstract, unmeasurable ones. Some of my goals fit into the former but then again, some of them were basically useless and fit into the latter. I ended up re-thinking my blog goals and I think I’ve gotten to a point where I can both accomplish them and measure them.

First, I want to get better at writing reviews. Don’t worry– I have a clear idea of how I’m defining “better,” and it even ties into one of my later goals! By “better” I mean I want my reviews to be something I’d be happy to send into a magazine for publication, and less like I jotted ideas down on a napkin and chucked it at the screen. I don’t want to lose any personal touches, but I do want to see my reviews grow into something more structured. The entails figuring out what I already like about my reviews (humor? detailed analysis of things besides plot), what I like about other people’s reviews, and how I can incorporate that into what I want my reviews to be. I’ve kinda already started doing it, but for 2009 I need to bump it up a notch or two.

Actually, maybe that one’s not so quantitative except in an abstract way (feelings! woh-woh-woh feeelings~), but, er. I’m keeping it.

My second goal is to get more involved in the book blogging community. I can (and will) do this by commenting more on others’ blogs, by hosting a book giveaway and by starting a reading challenge.

Branching off of this is my goal to start actively encouraging reader participation. I can do this by coming up with some– oh, horrors!– discussion questions regarding the book, maybe, or just something more general yet related to the book. For my review of The Secret Adversary, for instance, I could ask people to comment with their favorite inter-war detective novels, or with their favorite Agatha Christie character.

My last goal is to turn my blog into something I would want to read if I wasn’t already writing it. This includes everything: the posts, the design, the community, the activities, etc. I’ve already looked at other blogs and have started to figure out what it is I like about those blogs; now I just have to figure out how those things relate to me and my blog, if I can duplicate them or even improve upon them, and put them into action. This is tougher than it sounds, but if I combine this goal with my other goals, I should be on my way to accomplishing it.

I would also like to stop getting spam comments, but that seems an impossible dream.