• Books,  Favourites

    Why I cancelled my readathon last year // Why it’s back!

    As you might have noticed by my pinned current tweet on my Twitter, I have advertised my month-long readathon, that I created September last year.

    I came up with the idea while trying to think of a book series I would like to read, along side a children’s series. “The Chronicles of Narnia” does both.

    I decided that over the space of a month it is plenty of time to read the short 7 book series and it will get people reading again as it is a simple level to start back up reading.

    Sadly no one was able to join in or promote my readathon, so I shelved it for the year. But as it’s been a whole year already, I thought I would try and bring it back this year. Hopefully a few if not a lot of people will be interested in trying it this year.

    Not only will it give my blog more publicity. It will also encourage new and old readers. ????

    I hope you join me this year and I look forward to us all completing the NarnAThon challenge by 30th September.


    Here is my original post: NarnAThon #Readathon

    Happy Reading!

  • Blogging,  Favourites

    Social Media – Good thing or Bad?

    Social Media is a high priority to anyone into blogging or other internet based ventures. It is such a success that if you hope to become well-known on the internet, Communities recommend you create multiple identities on sites such as Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter to get noticed.

    Do you use Social Media often? Are you confused by Social Media?

    Examples of how Social Media works you post on Instagram a photo with various comments relating to the photo. Food bloggers would have a photo of tasty and good-looking food, Fashion bloggers would have a photo shoot or pretty jewellery…etc. Underneath the photo will have “Hashtags” which relate to the photo such as “FoodofInstagram“.

    This works if you have over 1,000+ followers, which means over 1,000 people will see your post and possibly share with their other social media or word of mouth – this gives the company in the photo publicity. The more followers you have the more chance a brand or company or place will work with you to create a post. This is because whoever is sponsoring the photo will hopefully get people to see and use the product.

    I personally choose to delete my Instagram [I HAVE SINCE REMADE INSTAGRAMS – Aug, 2018] both personal and blog related. I didn’t have many followers and I didn’t see the point in putting out posts that no-one’s interested in. If no-one visits your Instagram for example and you have under 50 followers, is it worth keeping? I say no as I can invest my time in places where I am continuing to grow my brand (which is my blog).

    I have decided to use my blog for posts and I will use my trusted personal Twitter profile to publicise all my blog posts. I use Twitter basically every day and I have a small but reasonable following over nearly 750 followers which is increasing all the time. This makes me happy to see.

    I also tweet more popular accounts that I am getting familiar with to boost my tweets, give out advice and also I may get some new followers. As they are not new to Social Media & Blogging they have lots of useful advice to give to me. The best thing about the blogging community, in particular Twitter, is that people are friendly and there for whenever someone is struggling .

    There are many different sides to social media. One pro of social media is having a possible career if you are good enough or motivated to create constant good content. One of the main negatives known is when random people on the internet tear you down or insult your content.

    My aim for when I get above 1,000 Twitter followers is to create new contacts and be friendly to those who are new or struggling. Eventually I want to start giving advice on how to use Twitter but that’s for another blog post!

  • Blogging

    My favourite blogs 2017

    This is a post dedicated to my favourite haunts on the internet that I view regularly.

    I will give you an idea of their content, where to find them and social media links. Some of these are quite new to the bookish community (like I am) but some have been around for years!

    So in no order (as they are all fab bloggers!) …here they are:

    Sarah in wonderland

    • Name: Sarah
    • Blog: www.sarahinwonderland.co.uk / www.fromsarahlex.co.uk
    • Twitter: @Wonderlandblogs / @fromsarahlex
    • Content: Disability, beauty, lifestyle.
    • Note: She has since rebranded to “From Sarah Lex”.

    Writing wolves


    No safer place


    The fiction life | Olivia


    So this concludes my list of bloggers I admire & been viewing their sites often.

    Is there any bloggers that I missed that I could add to my annual list in 2019? Am I on yours? Do you frequently view these blogs?

    Let me know in the comments!

  • Blogging

    Social Media anyone?

    I think Social Media is important for keeping in touch with friends and family but this generation would be lost & confused if the internet broke or 4G didn’t on our phones. Social Media is also used a lot in the blogging community to promote posts and connect with like minded people

    Social media is used for a lot of different things…

    To contact people, you can use Facebook. For your Job-searching, you can use LinkedIn to find employers, or they find you.We also use search engines such as Google and our emails daily without even batting an eye. You can create a brand with professionally made blogs, on sites such as WordPress.Com and Blogspot.

    Although sometimes I think people can share too much with others. We are all now at so much suc

    h risk of being victims of cyber-crime. With so much going on, we just need to be vigilant in keeping safe online – don’t give out personal data (such as addresses), use different passwords, etc. Don’t be caught out – keep safe!

    Here is a My Social Media: Twitter | Bookstagram | Goodreads | Facebook

    (DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored post. There are many different types of Social Media.

    Share your thoughts with me:

    Do you utilise social media well? Are you scared of Social Media? Do you only use social media for your blog? Is it a tool to keep in touch with friends & family?

  • Books

    About unpaid books online,

    Well, this topic has recently come to light. How do you free about sent copies of books online? Are they worth it? How do you get them? I have found out the hard way, via Facebook, how controversial this subject actually can actually get.

    I asked an innocent question “how do you get free books and how long does it take you read them. I had over 130 comments ranging from”good luck with your blog, it takes time” to “I think you’re blogging for the wrong reasons” type thing.

    I then went out there anyway and just asked for one – YES, it is worth trying.

    I have recently joined up on NetGalley and got 9 online e-books in the last month. The idea is that I go on to give full feedback & publish a review about how the book was. This has made me feel honoured as a new blog reviewer that they would allow me the opportunity to do a good service and be trusted to follow out on my review.

    On top of that, I saw by chance a new up-and-coming author on Twitter showing her new book and read an excerpt. I was hooked. I found out by browsing her tweets that she was giving away a load of ARCs from USA so I messaged her my address to send me the book (bear in mind I live in the UK) and she said Yes.

    I have never felt more humbled that she said yes to me out of anyone, but then again I think it was “first come, first serve” kinda thing. I am so excited to receive this book, read it and then review – it’s crazy. The thing is I still don’t know if I’m going to receive it. I guess I just need to be patient and wait it out.

    ISN’T READING, WHAT BOOK BLOGGING IS ALL ABOUT?

    My main query is: are “sent” books really acceptable? is it rude to ask? & should you just stick to book sales or the libraries?

    What are your opinions? Let me know!

    • Would you ask online for a copy?
    • how long did it take you to your 1st?
    • Have you regretted ask/reading?
    • Do you find ask/receiving ARCs offensive?

    ALSO – Are e-book better than paper copies?

    EDIT: I now have a review policy for authors who wish to send me a copy of their book to read and review. This is at their discretion – I reply with either yes or no – also depending on whether it hit my criteria for a book I would read normally.