Blogoversary » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Happy 2nd blogoversary to me!

Posted by Anastasia on November 10, 2010 14 Responses »

Nov 102010

Previously: Year One

Part One: A Survey

Since for my first blogoversary I wrote about why I started my blog (see link above if you’re interested), and since I do monthly “where is the blog going and where has it been” posts, I thought for this one I’d do something different. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and I’ve finally got my act together and did it. I’ve made this:

Birdbrain(ed) Readership Survey!

For my readership to fill out, you see. I hope it’s not too long, and I hope it’s something that y’all are willing to fill out, because while I have SOME idea of where I-myself am personally going (bookwise, at least) in the upcoming year, I have no idea what y’all expect me to go, or if you have any ideas of where I should go. Because, y’see, a blog isn’t just one person. It’s me, yeah, but it’s also you folks. You’re my readership, and I want us to be partners in this blogging enterprise. Sure, it’s split more like 80-20 instead of 50-50, but it’s still a partnership.

So! I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to fill it out for me. Thanks so much if you do! I’ll post the result in about two weeks, I think.

Part Two: Things I Have Learned Over the Past Year

1. I am more susceptible to flattery that I realized.
2. Posting every day isn’t that hard if I make an effort.
3. I can’t please everyone.
4. I’m (still) not very good at keeping up with comments, although I AM trying.
5. Twitter is fun but it is not the best for some things, and it’s probably okay if I’m not on it every minute of every day.
6. Trying new things is fun but time-consuming.
7. The OED is FTW.
8. I can’t stop myself from buying books even if I don’t have any money.

Part 3: In Other News

In order to meet my goal of reading 251 books this year (the amount I read last year plus one), I need to read almost 40 books in a little less than two months. Can I do it? Maybe if I stick in a lot of graphic novels…
The sign-ups for the Book Blogger Holiday Card Swap CLOSE TOMORROW. So sign up now if you want to participate!

Here’s to a great third year of blogging at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog! I’m sure it’ll be amazing!

It's my 1 year blogoversary!

Posted by Anastasia on November 10, 2009 No Responses »

Nov 102009

My first successful header

It’s been exactly one year since I started Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog, and I’m so proud of myself for sticking to it for so long. I read somewhere that the average blog only lasts about six months, and sure enough I felt like quitting six months ago. Of course, six months ago was also around finals week, so I’m not entirely surprised I wanted to quit blogging then. But! I didn’t quit, and I kept going, and I’m proud to say that I made my blog even better since then. I’m really happy with my blog and where I plan to go with it, and I’m looking forward to celebrating my 2 year blogoversary next year.

So, in celebration of this blogoversary, I thought I’d write a little bit about why I started my blog. I write a lot about what I want my blog to do in the future, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone into any detail about why exactly I started book blogging.

A somewhat embarrassing history…

Okay, so when I first started this blog I distinctly remember it was meant mostly just for memes and reading challenges, with reviews a distant third. In fact, I only started this blog because I wanted to participate in memes and reading challenges and needed some place to put them. Luckily I didn’t stick with that plan for long, and I actually changed my plans because of Kim‘s Blog Improvement Project. (Thanks, Kim!)

Once I joined that, I started thinking of my blog less as a hub for memes and more like a reading journal. (This would have been around January, btw.) I think it also helped that I started getting more comments and visits to my blog at that time, and so I started feeling more energetic about having a blog that people wanted to visit and read. I wanted to post more things that kept bringing people back, and so I posted more and more reviews. So, thanks, all you early visitors! You helped me stay motivated, for sure.

And so here we are!

And now it’s been several months later and one year after starting, and I’m super happy with how far this blog has come. I’ve started some memes, I’ve hosted two challenges, I’ve made lots of friends and I can’t wait to see what’ll happen in the next year.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me over the year! I hope I’ve made you proud.