Comments on: Audience and Writing for Readers, An Unconventional Tour

By: Liz B

Liz B — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 11:53:57 +0000

Shelves — yes! Once one starts, it can become such a part of you that stopping just isn’t thinkable. (is that a word?) And it is ultimately all about the books.

By: Shelver

Shelver — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 20:37:06 +0000

I blog because I figured I’d go crazy if I didn’t.

I’m obsessed with books, and that means I can’t stop talking about them. I want to squeal over them with others, and it wasn’t enough to me to just lurk in the comments of other blogs. I wanted to say what I wanted to say without feeling like I was hijacking someone else’s conversation.

Then, as I researched how to make a good blog, I read that having a hook to define one’s blog from another’s is a good thing, so I started talking about working in a bookstore. That naturally leads back into talking about books, so it’s this gorgeous cycle of gabbing about books ALL THE TIME. A lot of the time, I’m not sure anyone even actually reads my posts, but that’s okay. It’s all about the books.

By: Liz B

Liz B — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:06:49 +0000

Pam, it’s funny, people think “oh you work in a library” but don’t realize someone may be the only person working in children’s or teens.

tanita, people who care: YES

Doret, while diversity has gotten better, its still got so far to go. I just realized how few my diverse reads have been. And I noticed that most of the reviews I found for the whole story of half a girl were from blogs with a specific diversity focus. sigh.

Tara, it is hard to find a bookish crew like this in real-life. I imagine it may be different in NYC.

Kelly, you come for the books, you stay for the community!

Stacy, it’s so about the connection! We would never have met in real life if it weren’t for blogging.

Edi, I think a good number of us may self identify as introverts. I know I do.

Susan — self expression is so important and blogs are a great way to do that.

Danielle, that’s terrific! And yes blogging makes the book world bigger for us, with authors becoming more than names on covers.

Jess, thanks, and yes — love book culture!

rockinlibrarian, it’s great to have a place to speak, and then to listen.

Lisa, thank you so much! that means a lot! and i’m now inspired to do a follow up post in the next few weeks more about reading blogs.

By: Lisa Schroeder

Lisa Schroeder — Thu, 31 May 2012 18:44:23 +0000

Liz, I’m taking this opportunity to tell you that I read your blog often, but rarely comment. I have always enjoyed how you put together your posts. Thanks for all you do to get books into the hands of readers!

By: rockinlibrarian

rockinlibrarian — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:44:44 +0000

I’m somewhere between Susan and Jess– I have gotten a LITTLE more conscious of my audience being people-who-don’t-actually-know-me, and I’ve given my posts a little more thought than I used to at the beginning (before, my LiveJournal was clearly more of a LiveJOURNAL– now I’m leaning a bit on the bloggier side). But I haven’t gotten to the point of actually focusing on any one topic. I write about whatever I want to write about, just to share my opinions with the world… or at least whoever’s listening. But I love to read other people’s more focused book blogs just for that sense of community!

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:18:04 +0000

Like Susan said, I started with “pure unadulterated self indulgence” in mind, and that of course included writing about what I was reading, in addition to lots of other things – much more like journaling. When I started library school and started trying to write about books in a way that’s closer to actual reviewing (although still pretty loosy goosey sometimes), I found books taking up a larger and larger amount of space on my blog. One day I realized that I rarely blog about personal stuff anymore, and that I think of blogging more as part of my professional development as a librarian.

I will say that I started reading a lot of other book blogs to feed that need for ‘book culture’ – to find like minds who were as passionate as me about children’s books and book culture (love that term!)

By: Danielle (The1stdaughter)

Danielle (The1stdaughter) — Wed, 30 May 2012 03:51:15 +0000

My reasons for blogging centered entirely around my children, my son specifically. We lived in a very small town when he was born and at 18 months he could already read. The small town had next to no funding for the library and only a small bookstore. I wanted and needed to connect with other book lovers, parents, librarians and others to not only find more books to share with him (and later my daughter), but to also share our experiences searching for the books he would treasure.

It’s been an adventure and I’ve certainly found a tremendous well of knowledge to learn from. Even after three years I still feel like I have so much to learn, but I love this community and the opportunities it’s provided not only me with but my son as well. He’s loved interviewing and meeting authors, and to me that’s worth all the hard work. I love it!

By: Susan Robinson

Susan Robinson — Wed, 30 May 2012 03:41:20 +0000

Thanks for the info. I love to read books, but do not review them. I write my new blog because, it’s high time that I express myself before I fade away into the darkness. I have something to say, I think I am creative and I want to entertain and impress others with my humor and the clever ways that I express myself… pure unadulterated self indulgence with no apologies.

By: Edi

Edi — Tue, 29 May 2012 23:22:56 +0000

I started blogging because I have a passion for books and literacy. I was so tired of people always saying they could never find books for teens of color and they’re always right there! As a librarian, I come across so many sources of information that build literacy, I wanted to a platform to share all that so that hopefully, students won’t have to struggle quite so much. In the meantime, I discovered what blogging really meant and all the work involved in networking, I’ve made numerous friends and know that I’ve learned way more than I’ve shared.
It’s an interesting experience for this little introvert!

By: Stacy Dillon

Stacy Dillon — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:41:23 +0000

I started blogging (booktopia) for my own love of books. I continued and narrowed with Tweendom to help folks find middle grade / tween books and to explore more of that age range. I love to talk about books I liked, and connect with readers, authors, librarians about shared reading experiences.