~MY VERY LENGTHY ONE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY POST~09/06/13

Happy One Year Anniversary to Kindlehooked!! 

& HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SUE STEWART!!  If it is your birthday today too then HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AS WELL!!

I hope all of you are ready for this very long blogiversary post lol.  I tend to get a little passionate about what I love :0)  I do hope you will read it and I will try my best not to bore you!

It was in September of 2012 when I first decided to start my blog.  How exciting, right?  Yes & Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!  I thank God for blessing me with this thought and my creativity!!  Go me!

I had lots and lots of questions though and completely no idea of where to start to get them all answered.  *Light bulb*  Well you know that saying "GOOGLE IT"?  Yep, that's the one and it is 2013, so where does one get their questions answered?  Why, Google, of course!  Google is my/your friend!!! 

Did you know that anything and everything you ever want or need to know can be Googled, of course you did so with the help of said Google, God bless those smart people, I read and read and read, clicked and clicked and clicked and I researched like a mad woman.  Then I asked some people/other blogs questions and with the help of my boyfriend/author/talk show radio host/electronics whisperer/paracord survival bracelet maker, Kevin A Kierstead, I was able to proceed on with my new adventure.  Once I had my name picked out, my notes made and of course Google, I was on my way!!  choo choo chugga chugga choo choo

I then began designing my very own blog, with blogger of course and during this process it was very trying I tell you, but in the end I was extremely proud of what I had accomplished.  *pats self on back*  There were times when I had to walk away and then there were times where I was extremely determined.  Lots of faces were made.

While you can pay to have your blog designed, god bless the people that can and do this for a living because it takes A.LOT.OF.PATIENCE.AND.TIME.  I did not have the money to do this and quite frankly I just wanted to do it on my own.  Shortly after I had the blog up and running with a few posts, blogger thought I was spamming so they took it down GASPS *insert devastated, frustrated, upset and annoyed look here* well you get the idea.  So with that I had to go through the process of getting it back up and finally I did.  THANK GOODNESS!!

Through all of this I learned that we live in a world where, if you want to be successful, you have to push through the good and the bad things.  Take the good with the bad, learn from it and move along.

I continued to post every day and tried to encourage more people to follow me and thankfully they did.  I have all of you now *insert big cheesy happy face here*  My subscribers and followers continued to grow while I continued to read and research.  I created a Facebook page and a twitter account to increase my fan base.  I mean let’s face it, social media is the bomb, right?  

For me it was not just about getting people to follow me but it was also about sharing my love of books, authors, giveaways and sales with others.  Pretty much anything to do with the book world.

As time went on I tried new things, blog hops and giveaways then on to blog tours.  This was becoming a job in itself but I loved and enjoyed every minute of it and I still do!  I did have someone help me for a short time but she decided to move on.  It was a very friendly decision and so then there I was by myself again, but never, not even once, did I stop reading and researching.  

I.HAVE.LEARNED.SO.MUCH!!  Some of the things I have learned are positive and some are negative.  That is all part of life.  One huge thing I have learned is I CAN'T DO IT ALL!  No one can.  I have learned there are not enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do!!

Anyway one thing led to another and another and another.  My Facebook likes increased, my followers and subscribers increased and I became even busier, scrambling to find what worked, what didn’t and how to manage it all.  Can I say that I manage it all perfectly?  Oh, Hell No, who does?  There are a gazillion things in the book world!!  I manage my time and blog to the best of my ability and what works best for me because I also work full time.  It's a challenge but an awesome and rewarding one, nonetheless!!

I would not trade ANY of it, nor give it up and quit doing it.  I will blog for as long as I can because I enjoy it!  The day it becomes stress/panic induced or just not enjoyable to me anymore, will be the day I stop.  Sadly in the blog world, I have seen what I consider to be competition among some bloggers and THIS is very sad to me.  It tells me one thing, you are doing it for the wrong reasons!!

I have learned from observing, listening, chatting, etc., that the larger a blogger's fan base grows, for some, this in particular can diminish their friendliness to others.  Bloggers and authors included :0(  It’s no longer about your love of books and blogging, but plain falt out ugly competition, how many arc’s you can get, special, exclusive excerpts you can get, signed books by authors etc etc.  and why? I mean considering how many books/authors are out there in the world as well as the population, this really shouldn't be an issue.

Some authors will then no longer look at the small blogs anymore, they look at the bigger ones because naturally the audience is bigger.  I get it and I don't blame them.  I will tell you this though, in my honest opinion, bigger isn't always better.  While I do understand most of this, it plays a huge role, especially with attitude.  Egos are boosted to the point people stop caring about what they do and why they do it.  They will step on you and do whatever it takes to get to the top.  This happens in the world though and we can't change it nor can we fix it.  We can learn from it and choose to do what is best for ourselves.

And then let us not forget DRAMA or we really can blech!!  Oh there is tons and tons of drama in the book world.  You can read my very long post on it here that needs one all by itself. 

MOVING ON......

Something else I have learned, your Facebook likes will come and they will go.  Your subscribers will come and they will go.  Your followers will come and they will go.  ALWAYS!  It's just the way things are!  It can be very disappointing to lose the above mentioned but we can't let it affect who we really are.  Some are going to like certain blogs better than others, certain authors better than others.  It's a fact of life.  Just like some people may like the color blue better than the color red.  I have seen this upset so many people.  Your true followers will stay with you and for the right reasons, trust me!

I am happy where I am whether I have 10 or 10,000 I will be happy because life is too short!  Do I/we want more followers, subscribers, fans?  Of course, we do!  It means we are doing this for something/someone and sharing a mutual love and passion for everything book/author related.  BUT, I want you to be a fan/follower of Kindlehooked/me willingly.  I want to make things enjoyable and fun for you all!  I don't want to force you!

Yes, I do make some things mandatory for giveaways, sometimes, like subscribing to my emails, but you always, always have an option to unsubscribe.  I hope that you don't of course.  I will do my best not to bombard you with emails and the most you will ever get in a day is 3 but this doesn't happen very often.  It just depends on my postings.  Email is a great, easy way to get you all informed.  I can't be on Facebook while I am at work during the day so this is my way of sharing with you all.

I may not make some people very happy by saying some of these things but I have seen a lot in the social media world and I will be honest about it.  Please keep in mind, once again just like any other post I write, these are my thoughts and my opinions only.  Some will agree and some will disagree. 

I understand everyone wants to be successful, authors included but how you treat people goes a long, long way.  I don't know about you all but I am a forgiver!  I just don't forget!

I was raised to treat people the way I would want to be treated!  This is embedded into my brain, my persona!  Do I have bad days?  Absofrickinglutely!  I am human!  

I would like to take a minute to apologize to some of the authors that I was unable to get to, such as reading and reviewing their books, because I wasn't aware how much time was put into blogging, reading and reviewing!  I got overwhelmed and didn't want to say no!  I don't like to say no but sadly sometimes I have to.  I am not a fast reader!  I read every word.  I don't skip, scan or speed read.  Yep this is me down there, get it? but I am getting better. Sometimes I think I have ADD my brain never stops!!

I also take pride in writing my reviews.  It sometimes takes me hours to write a review.  I won't however review a book that I don't like because quite frankly, if I can't get into it, I won't read it, therefore it isn't fair to write a review.   I want my review to be interesting and intriguing to the reader.  I typically don't write spoiler reviews either.  You can find all my reviews on the blog or Goodreads.

I have met some amazing people in the blogging world.  Awesome authors, awesome chat groups and awesome bloggers.  I have made some really great friends some of which I have become very close with and you know who you are.  

I choose to take all the positive I can from blogging and make Kindlehooked fun, positive, drama free and overall a great blog to share with all of you!

Well I believe this has been long enough and I am tired so I will call it quits but not before I say a huge 

from the bottom of my heart!  You all have no idea how much I enjoy and appreciate each and every one of you, your comments, your subscriptions, your thoughts, your book recommendations etc etc.

Much much love to you all and many many thanks to each and every one of you for helping me make what Kindlehooked is today!!

Love Always, Tanya 

As always feel free to comment, talk to me or share your thoughts :)