Beginner bloggers should be judicious about what books they commit to reviewing and also realistically ask themselves: “Will I really read this?” When your blog develops more of a presence online, you’ll begin getting inquiries from publishers, and its easy to think to yourself gleefully “OHHH!! Free BOOKS!!” No, you must stamp those unrealistic impulses out, and try to only commit to reviewing books that you really believe you might like. Realistically, even a novel’s premise may be unsatisfactory and is not a good judge on whether or not you’ll actually enjoy the book because the writing itself might be riddled with errors. That is inevitable;therefore, its best to try to set achievable book review goals. You are bound to despise some books. I’m a very picky reader and can tell that I won’t enjoy something by approximately ten pages. Remember, publishers and authors are depending on you to help promote a forthcoming release, thus its polite to try and review their books that you reply in return with absolution. At the beginning of blogging, I was far too disorganized and a bit trigger-happy. I tended to say “Yes” to everything. In the last year, I’ve striven to “politiely” say no, and bid the author good luck on their book release.  While everyone should have fun blogging, it still requires responsibility, and I’ve recently been trying to “atone” for my blogging related sins.

      Recently, I feel like I don’t do enough of the former, but I’m trying to reach out more. In the last two years, I’ve been sharing my Anne Rice-related blog posts with members of her Facebook page, and I’ve been indebted to Anne Rice’s active presence with fans for keeping things here enlivened. My book blog, at one point, nearly went extinct, until I find myself remembering that blogging is not stringently attached to how many followers or comments one compiles. It is about stretching yourself creatively and having the opportunity to be able to autonomously maintain your own media space of sorts. Be yourself when blogging, and never succumb to outside pressure to have a blog that is uniform, and not unique! Also, do what you feel is most comfortable with your schedule. Oftentimes, I drastically slow things down during my college semester because I’m a writing tutor/full-time college student outside of blogging. Blogging might remain a summer activity for now. 

Anyways, my first year of Book Expo America was pretty overwhelming, and taxing. I literally dragged four bags of books home on the Amtrak train. Again, I had a little too much fervor about Book Expo America, and took one too many ARCs. You should always be judicious when choosing ARCs, and realistically think about how you’ll transport them home.  Otherwise, the experience will be marred by the long trek from the Javitz Center to Penn station or elsewhere. 

   When you’re in the doldrums, don’t keep burying yourself further in the pit, but find creative ways of getting yourself out! We all get discouraged sometimes, and therefore it is best to just keep pushing yourself and set achievable goals for yourself. If your blog is something that is not daunting, but is something that is individualized and creative, blogging will not become the drudgery that is can become if you don’t constantly remind yourself that “the blog is your property, but its also somewhere where you share in the love and promotion of literature!”