Once you are nominated, if you wish to accept your nomination, you must follow these rules:
- Generate a post about the award.
- Thank the blogger who nominated you, and provide a link to their blog.
- Write a brief story about how your blog began.
- Provide two pieces of advice to newbie bloggers.
- Select 15 blogs to nominate.
- Comment on each nominee’s blog and provide a link to the post that you created about the award.
About Once Upon a Spine
I started this blog last year while I was in the midst of a divorce. After getting separated, changing jobs, moving into my own apartment, and making various other changes to my life I felt like all of creativity had gone out the window. Progress on the book I had been working on came to a halt and I had a really hard time getting back my writing flow. I had pretty much stopped reading for a while at that point, as well. I started this blog as a way to motivate myself to get back into the habit of writing and to encourage myself to read more. I’m so glad I did, because my obsession with all things books came back pretty quickly. Plus, I’ve been able to connect with so many other like-minded people, which is super awesome.
Advice for Newbies
- Don’t compare yourselves to other bloggers. I’ve read so many posts from other people saying that they don’t know if they should blog anymore because they don’t have many followers, or saying they don’t feel like their blogs are good enough, or apologizing for not getting to post every single day. Don’t do this. Trust me, I know it’s easier said than done, especially when you’re starting out. Doing this will only cause stress and take all the pleasure away from blogging. Try to remember why you started blogging in the first place. Was it because you just wanted to talk about books with other people? Was it because you liked sharing your book reviews? Was it just for the enjoyment of writing? Don’t let yourself get so wrapped up in followers and post counts. Do it for you.
- Show your real self. At the end of the day, my blog is essentially a place to talk about books, but at the same time I feel like it’s important for my readers to get a glimpse of the person behind the blog, too. I don’t hide my dorky/silly side when I am excited about things. Sometimes I talk about real, serious stuff, like my mental health issues. I share pictures of things other than books, like my craft projects and my animals. You might not be completely comfortable sharing info about your personal life on the internet and that’s totally fine. Just let your personality shine through in your writing. People will feel like they can relate to you better and find your blog more interesting that way.
The Blogs I’m Nominating
- The Introverted Book Nerd
- Darque Dreamer Reads
- Kristin Kraves Books
- Captain’s Quarters
- Literary Dust
- adoptabookaus
- Spine Cracker
- Book Princess Reviews
- Adventures of a Bibliophile
- CJRtheBrit
- Caitlin Stern Writes
- Bookworm Ink
- Ally Writes Things
- YA and Wine
- Naty’s Bookshelf
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