Bloggiesta, Olé! It’s Bloggiesta Time Again Fall 2012

Bloggiesta weekend starts today! I’m going to be in Maine for all of Saturday, and have to work today, but we’ll see what I can get done on Sunday. Here’s my to-do list, short but extremely time-consuming. All but the first item on the list are repeats from my first Bloggiesta in the spring (#fail):

• Move to self-hosting on WordPress (Eek!)
• Start some personal “Best of 2012” lists (still undone from my spring Bloggiesta list)
• Catch up on reviews (maybe by doing mini-reviews) (ditto)
• Create a page of book lists and readalikes (ditto)

Bloggiesta is a weekend to devote yourself to spiffing up your blog. I believe it’s mostly book bloggers, but not restricted to book bloggers. Does it sound like fun? Want to join in? Sign up at There’s a Book.
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Ten Signs You’re Obsessed with Book Blogging and #Bloggiesta

Today is the last day of Bloggiesta, hosted by Suey (@sueysays) at It’s All About Books and Danielle (@the1stdaughter) at There’s a Book. If you’ve never heard of Bloggiesta, then you’re probably not obsessed with book blogging. But if you’re here today because of Bloggiesta, then see whether these signs of obsession apply to you. And, yes, #5 really happened to me this morning. (We haven’t been able to catch it, and the little thing gets bigger and more brazen every day!)

Ten Signs You’re Obsessed with Book Blogging

1. You couldn’t possibly finish your Bloggiesta to-do list in a week, much less a weekend.

2. You appreciate when authors use initials instead of first & middle names (e.g. NK Jemisin) because it’s Twitter-friendly.

3. You’ve started to #think in #hashtags.

4. When you see a new book cover, you think about how good it would look on your blog.

5. You sit still so long with your laptop, commenting on book blogs, that a mouse strolls out from under the chair beside you.

6. You’ve signed up for so many book blog challenges, it’s a challenge to keep them straight.

7. You’ve stopped being jealous of other bloggers’ Mailbox Monday and In My Mailbox posts, and are just relieved you don’t get as many books to review in a month as they do in a week.

8. You pore over blogrolls, hoping for the thrill of seeing your blog listed.

9. Your family doesn’t recognize you without the glow of the computer screen lighting your features.

10. You barely have time for reading books.

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Bloggiesta Time Again!

I heard about the last Bloggiesta from seeing a participation post from Zara at A Bibliotaphe’s Closet, so here’s my contribution to spreading the word this time around to anyone with a book blog who’s looking for an excuse a reason to spend more time working on it. Bloggiesta Fall 2012 is coming, the weekend of September 28–30!

If you decide to participate in Bloggiesta Fall 2012, you can expect:

• to spend time that weekend (as much or as little as your schedule allows) working on your blog
• to create a to-do list to share on your blog and link up with other participants
• to hopefully participate in several mini-challenges and learn something new
• to connect with other participants through blog-hopping or Twitter
• to make new blogging friends
• to come away at the end of the three days with a spiffed-up blog!

Originally created nearly four years ago by Natasha of Maw Books, Bloggiesta is co-hosted by Danielle of There’s A Book and Suey from It’s All About Books. Read more about Bloggiesta and sign up to participate at There’s A Book.

P.S. If you’ve been thinking about starting your own book blog, this is a great way to jump into the deep end and get your own blog up and running.

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Bloggiesta, Ole! — Update

My Bloggiesta to-do list isn’t looking as completed as a lot of the other book bloggers’ I’ve been visiting as part of this weekend-long blog fest. In fact, one of my crossed-off items I didn’t actually do, because I figured out it is part of the WordPress “theme” I am using, and there’s no way I’m changing that now. (It’s been fun to devote extra time to blogging, but guilt is starting to creep in.) I guess there’s always next year!

• Start some personal “Best of 2012″ lists
• Catch up on reviews (maybe by doing mini-reviews) – IN PROGRESS
• Catch up and comment on blogs I follow through Google Reader – DONE
• Create a page of book lists and readalikes
• Learn how to put a darn home page link in my WordPress custom header and remove my RSS feed option that doesn’t work! – NOT DONE & NEVER GOING TO GET DONE
  

On the plus side, I did meet at least two of the goals of Bloggiesta: 1.) to connect with other participants through blog hopping or Twitter and 2.) to make new blogging friends.

Here are a few of the blogs I’ve spent some time on during Bloggiesta:
A Bibliotaphe’s Closet – I don’t know where Zara gets her energy, but she has been bloggiesta-ing 24/7 this weekend from what I can tell. Her posts are amusing and informative.
Book Journey – Sheila’s posts are personal and funny. She inspires me with her daily posts. (And I see she was brave enough to mess around with her blog’s theme this weekend.) We don’t always like the same books, but always enjoy her opinions.
Care’s Online Book Club – This Bloggiesta update wouldn’t be complete without un saludo a Care (@BkClubCare) who is always so welcoming and friendly. She is also the only book blogger I’ve met in real life.
Everyday I Write the Book – Gayle’s reading recommendations are always worth paying attention to, and she hasn’t steered me wrong yet!

A big thank you to Suey at It’s All About Books and Danielle at There’s a Book for hosting Bloggiesta!

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Bloggiesta, Olé!

Why bother with spring cleaning this weekend when spiffing up your blog, reorganizing book piles, planning blog posts, and making book lists would be so much more satisfying? I’m signing up for my first-ever Bloggiesta blogathon March 30-April 1. According to Suey at It’s All About Books, Bloggiesta is a chance to:

• spend time that weekend (as much or as little as your schedule allows) working on your blog
• create a to-do list to share on your blog and link up with other participants
• hopefully participate in several mini challenges and learn something new
• connect with other participants through blog hopping or Twitter
• make new blogging friends!
• come away at the end of the three days with a spiffed-up blog!

I hope to spend quality blogging time in the company of other book bloggers who will procrastinate along with me on cleaning, laundry, and other projects (which can certainly wait another week or two) and STOP procrastinating on blogging projects.
My weekend is Sunday/Monday, so I may lag behind everyone else, or it might turn out to be more of a mini-blogathon for me, but here’s my to-do list for participating. (This means I’ve already accomplished one of the items on the above list!)

• Start some personal “Best of 2012” lists
• Catch up on reviews (maybe by doing mini-reviews)
• Catch up and comment on blogs I follow through Google Reader
• Create a page of book lists and readalikes
• Learn how to put a darn home page link in my WordPress custom header and remove my RSS feed option that doesn’t work!

I first heard about Bloggiesta from one of my new favorite book bloggers, Zara at A Bibliotaphe’s Closet, but I didn’t pay much attention until I saw it mentioned again at the Adventures of 2.0 blog. Does it sound like fun? Want to join in? Sign up here.
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