Hi everyone! As usual, I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across this this really interesting book tag about the Secret Life of a Book Blogger. While it looks like this tag is a little older, it still sounded like a cool idea and the questions are ones that I think could be fun to answer and give people a better idea of how I blog! Plus, I need some filler for #blogtober2020.

How long have you been blogging?

I’ve been blogging for just over 3 years, my blogiversary was at the end of September! It’s crazy to me that it’s been that long, especially knowing that I have a tendency to give up on hobbies quite frequently! I’ve also just recently switched over to a hosted version, so now I’m officially meltingpages.com!

At what point do you think you’ll stop blogging?

I don’t see an end to this anytime soon, I enjoy writing posts and interacting with people online! I never thought that I would be here three years after I started this blog, but here I am! I’m excited to see what the future will bring for me and Melting Pages!

What is the best thing about blogging?

Other than interacting with people that I don’t think I would’ve met without blogging, I love that it has introduced me to more books and authors than I ever would’ve found without the world of blogging. I also love that blogging has increased the number of books that I read in a year, and by extension I love the stats that I get from the books I read!

What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

There aren’t many things about blogging that bug me, however the one thing I find that I struggle with the most is how much time it really takes to create a blog that people will want to visit. This started out as just a place for me to put my thoughts out into the world, but has evolved into a way for me to get others excited about books and to have dialogue with other book lovers, and that’s what makes it all worth it!

How long does it take you to find/make pictures to use?

For my blog, it doesn’t take me long at all. I usually use the free photos you can get through WordPress for a lot of my posts, and then for posts where I want the book cover, I just grab photos of the cover from google and then use an app on my phone to combine them for posts like wrap ups and TBRs.

Who is your book crush?

I don’t think I really have a book crush! The only two that come to my mind are Hunt and Rysand from SJM’s books, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have a crush on them or anything like that. Maybe that makes me strange for a reader, but I don’t think I fall into any “fandoms” either. I’ve just never been extremely vocal about individual characters that I like or anything like that.

What author would you like to have on your blog?

Hmmm…this is a tough one because I’m not sure how I feel about author interviews to begin with. I don’t feel like I have any unique questions to ask an author, and I’m nervous as hell asking other bloggers questions for interviews so I can’t even imagine how anxious I would be asking an author! Especially in this day and age where many authors answer questions for fans on Twitter, I don’t know if I could choose someone and come up with meaningful questions!

What do you wear when you write your blog posts?

Well first I get out my Sunday best, curl my hair….just kidding, usually I’m wearing my normal clothes, which usually consists of running shorts and a t-shirt in the summer, or sweatpants/leggings and a hoodie in the winter!

How long does it take you to prepare?

It doesn’t usually take me too long, especially if it’s a post that I already have templates for like reviews and releases. Honestly, deciding what I want to say is usually what takes me the longest, and I don’t often go through and make edits to any of my posts after I’ve typed them up unless I feel like I’m missing something. Usually what you read is what I write on the first pass!

How do you feel about the book blogging community?

In general I think the book blogging community is so welcoming and friendly! There are times when book twitter can get out of hand, and a lot of the people there are book bloggers, but I personally have never had any personal issues with anyone. Of course, if you aren’t welcoming or inclusive, then I probably won’t support you, but the internet can move so quickly sometimes that it’s hard to keep up with who isn’t being the nicest person. It’s also tough when you want to discuss touchy subjects but are afraid of saying the wrong thing or wording something incorrectly.

What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?

Well, success is something that’s personal when it comes to blogging. Do you think you’re successful if you have 10 subscribers? 100? 1,000? Or maybe you measure your success by being consistent with what you’re doing and the subscriber count doesn’t matter to you. Or maybe you think you’ll be successful once you start earning money. No matter what your definition of success is, I think the one thing you should do is just go for it! I recently posted 7 Tips & Tricks to Starting Your Own Blog, and I think those would also apply to having a successful blog.

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What are some other things that you would want to know about me? I’d love to share more about myself with all of you!