I've been blogging for 5 years now and, well, I've been through a lot of different feelings about blogging. Today I'm sharing with you the 5 major phases I've been through (let's be honest, if I was counting mini-phases, there would probably be about 20 of these). I hope you don't judge me-- I'm a competitive person and can't help being envious sometimes!
Phases of Book Blogging
UNAWARE
- I'm just going to make a blog so I can keep all my reviews together-- you never know, Goodreads might go away and then what?? I'll just keep them all here so I can read through them if I want to.
REALIZATION
- Oh, so this is how it is. Other people read blogs??? Like, someone might actually read my reviews and thoughts and stuff?
- And look at those pretty blogs!! They get like 50 comments per post!! And they have all the newest books before they come out. How is that possible?? I need to get to work!
- Should I start a blog related Twitter? YES!! And what's this BOOKSTAGRAM thing?? I want to do that too!! And I should probably post once a day. That's what all the blog advice posts say!
ENVY, JUST STRAIGHT UP ENVY
- I'm doing all the things, and nothing is happening!! How come [insert popular blog name] just started their blog and BOOM, 3,000 followers? What am I doing wrong? Why doesn't anybody like me?
- Look at all those ARCs. How will I ever be able to get those?
EXHAUSTION
- I can't keep up with [insert popular blog name here]. I can't post everyday, I can't post 5 x's a week even!! I'm sooooo tired.
- My eyes hurt from staring at Twitter. I shouldn't be on social media this much!
HAPPINESS/ACCEPTANCE
- You know what, I'm just going to do my thang, and do what I can when I can, and be happy. I'm NOT going to be competitive (even though I'm a super competitive person), I'm not going to be jealous-- I'm just going to blog and visit blogs and accept where I'm at in this crazy blogging world. I'm going to be HAPPY!
I feel like it's inevitable that you'll go through phases if you blog long enough. These were mine. But I truly feel like after 5 years, I've finally gotten to a place where I'm happy. I'm happy with the amount of interaction I have with book peeps. I'll always think I can do better, but I'm in this place where I think what I've got going on is acceptable for me. I'm never going to be one of those MEGA big successful blogs-- and I'm okay with that. I'm me :)
Let's Talk:
What phases of blogging have you been through?
I can relate to allllllll of these! I'm in a happy place too! It's nice.
ReplyDeleteYAY for the the HAPPY PLACE!!
DeleteThis is so relatable...I'm coming up on six years and I've gone through all these same phases. And I'm at the same place as you now. Just doing what I can, when I can, and I'm so much happier than when I was stressing over the whole thing. =)
ReplyDeleteIt's weird how stressed out blogging can be if you let it!! I'm glad to be in the happy place :)
DeleteI definitely went through all of those phases! haha. I like doing whatever I want and not worrying about the rest.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to get to this point, but I'm happy to be here!
DeleteHAHAHAHA YUP. This is so accurate!
ReplyDeleteThis is so accurate and hopefully Goodreads will not disappear forever. Also, lol to the Mean Girls GIF.
ReplyDeleteLOL I had to put that in there!! And OMG Goodreads better always be here!!
DeleteGreat summary. I'm in exhaustion right now. Not because of pressure I feel to keep up with other bloggers, but because I'm trying to keep up with myself. I'm very behind on reviews, and finding it hard to find the time in my life because of other priorities right now. But I want to be blogging more. Ya know?
ReplyDeleteI HATE when I get behind of reviews. It's the hardest thing ever to get me to write a review for a book I read beyond 2 weeks. Good luck with that!
DeleteLove this!! I feel like Im parts 3/4/5. I still get a little twinge of envy every now and then, still get exhausted keeping up with everything but am ultimately happy with my blog and interaction.
ReplyDeleteYou're blog is FANTASTIC!! I think you're doing a fab job.
DeleteI've been blogging now for 5 years too and yes, I have gone through pretty much all 5 phases you have too. So, I can relate to your post as well.
ReplyDeleteYay for 5 years!!! It's so weird how blogging phases go, isn't it??
DeleteThis is such a great post! I go between stages 2, 3, and 5 - most days I love what I'm personally doing on my blog, but then there are days when I definitely get envious of others, and how great their blogs look, and how awesome their discussion posts are, and how many followers they have...
ReplyDeleteI definitely regress into the envy phase at times. But then I always try to remind myself that the book will come out, that I don't need 999 comments to have a good time with my blog, that I can come up with cool content if I just think about it for a while-- it's something I struggle with for sure!
DeleteHahahah. I am going through this painful journey. Right now, I alternate between jealousy and acceptance. This post gave me hope! I'm glad to know other people feel like they're doing something wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think we all feel like we suck at one point or another-- but just keep doing what you're doing and it'll all work out :)
DeleteHaha, I also had the same phase 1. The first reason I started considering starting a book blog was just to keep all my reviews in one place. And then yeah, I was like, oh wait, people actually read these? There are more posts than just reviews? There's a whole community?! And don't worry, I've also wondered what the seemingly magical X factor is that some bloggers have that I don't when they've been blogging for a year and have a thousand followers already, but I'm not a particularly competitive person, so it's more like confusion than jealousy lol. Like I don't know what we're doing so differently? But I'm happiest just being myself and doing my blog in whatever way I want!
ReplyDeleteRight?? Why do some blogs just TAKE OFF and then it takes me forever to get anywhere-- it's so hard to figure out. Not saying those blogs aren't really good, but there just doesn't seem to be one specific thing I can put my finger on. The weirdest thing that I had to learn about blogging is that it's a lot more like high school than I ever imagined. Popular people--- not so popular people. Cliques, bullying, jealousy, brown-nosing-- it's SO HIGH SCHOOL.
DeleteYou're doing wonderful, Michelle - your blog is always a fun place to hang out and I always enjoy chatting with you. We all go through phases and though, in general, I do think the blogging world is quieter than it once was (*sad face*), for those of us still here, it's a fun place. Love this community. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I love chatting with you too :) Also, it is kind of sad that blogging isn't as popular as it once was. It's weird when so many people have disappeared from the community, and I don't like change, so that's always something that makes me sad.
DeleteYou read my mind. The worst is when you're really proud of something you've created, like a review or a bookstagram post, and NO ONE looks at it. I go through all 5 of those stages at that moment.
ReplyDeleteOh jeez, that happens to me ALL THE TIME. I'm like this is the best picture EVER.... 20 likes. Then pictures I'm kind of embarrassed to post get 200 likes??? I don't get it.
DeleteThis is awesome. :) And so true! I thought reading this I'm still at #2 lol but then I got to the end and I'm like, yeah #5 for me too. I'm pretty happy with things. Seriously though great post! Although I'm still at #2 with Bookstagram ha ha.
ReplyDeletehahaha I can relate to all of these! I have only been book blogging since July 2016 but before that I had a fashion/life blog and I wondered stuff like this all the time. I feel like I'm much more relaxed with a book blog. I was already reading the books anyway, so it just made sense to start blogging about it (in my head it did, at least! lol!) Great post idea!
ReplyDeleteTotally been there with the envy thing, but I accept, my blog is small. I will NEVER get physical ARCs sent to me. I really hate Twitter; it's an ugly place, and I know this hurts me, but I just want to read my books and share my thoughts, and even if it's only one comment, I love reading and responding to it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteSam @ WLABB
YES. VERY ACCURATE! hahaha Seriously, I think so many of us can relate to these phases. I've only been blogging for 2 years and I've definitely gone through all of them. Phase 5 is kind of a new one for me lol
ReplyDeleteMolly @ Molly's Book Nook
This is so true. I went through all these stages, but my blog has become mostly for me and if other people read it that is great.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it makes sense with how you go through phases with your blogging. I am sure I went through quite a lot of these as well. At first I was just giving this whole blog thing a try as a co-blogger and then decided to start my own blog. And at times it could be so overwhelming to find your place in the community and get a hang of everything. And yes I can remember being very envious at first about how everyone would get all these arc's and review copies and I had no idea how to get there. And then after a while you kinda find your spot and where you want to go with your blog.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to most of this. I get jealous of bloggers with lots of followers, but at the same time I'm not here to become popular, I'm here to share my opinions because blogging is fun. If only 5 people read my blog, I'm actually okay with that, even though I would LIKE to have more followers.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I can really relate to the phases that you listed.
I love this post, Michelle! I can definitely relate to these phases, especially phase 4. Lol. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so accurate 😂! I only started blogging at the start of this year and I feel like I've been through all of these stages! I think I regress back to previous stages and then finally end up coming back to my happy place again. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is SO accurate. I've been blogging for almost 7 years and have definitely gone through all of these! I'm (mostly) at my happy place now too. I do still have moments of envy, but I really do think that's natural. Fun post! :-)
ReplyDelete~Marie @ Ramblings of a Daydreamer
PS: I'm following your bookstagram account now. So pretty!
DeleteThis is so relatable! I'm so useless with my blog related social media but I'm at the point where I'm not going to stress about it anymore. I blog for me so as long as I'm happy with what I'm doing and not stressed then that's good for me! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is so great! I have definitely felt all of these after 6 years. I used to post way more often, but that has slowed down, and I think I would also add an "is this right for me?" stage, because I know I'm not the only blogger who has stopped blogging and returned as the final stage you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha. I seem to alternate between happiness/acceptance and exhaustion. I committed to a few tours etc and this time of year is always crazy for me, so I'm in the exhaustion phase at the moment!
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics
The acceptance part of it is such a healthy attitude to have! It can sometimes be hard to stop comparing yourself to other people, but I'm definitely on the way there :D
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I totally agree with you. I think everyone goes through these phases, and lots of mini phases. And all at different paces. I have def had blogging envy more than once throughout my years of blogging and I have major conference envy. I have never been able to get time off fro school or grad school or work to go to BEA and I know I will super jealous again this year when it rolls around :( But The good parts of blogging outweigh all of the bad, so I keep doing it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Michelle @ Book Briefs