Wow! I didn't even know it was Columbus Day until I glanced at the calendar. I caught a cold over the weekend, which probably had a little to do with rainy weather, so I accidentally slept in this morning. Yes, I'm well aware that it's no longer in the morning, but I wanted to get this "news" post written and published for all my followers.
Book Blogger Hop News
The Book Blogger Hop is going really well, despite the fact that I haven't been participating much in my own meme. Hopefully, that's going to change. I spent some time on Saturday visiting everyone's blogs and replied to my blog's comments (more on the comments later in this post). I believe there are three or four more participants, so I'll try to get to those blogs sometime today.
There have been quite a few new questions sent in for 2019. However, there are still several weeks that needs to filled, especially for next's year's "Halloween Edition." So, make sure to send in your questions.
Each week's hop question will now be located in the top of the sidebar. Or you can just visit the Book Blogger Hop page or my weekly post.
There's a New Comment Box!
If you're wanting to comment on the Book Blogger Hop post from last week, you can't anymore. All previous comments on all posts are no more. Starting yesterday, all new posts will now use the InstenseDebate comment box! Why the change? Well, I get way too much spam in the old comment system and I just didn't like the layout. To use the InstenseDebate comment system, you can either make an InstenseDebate profile or sign into your Wordpress account, or sign in as a guest by using your email.
(Well, actually you can still comment on last week's post, but all previous posts have been removed. You now have to use the InstenseDebate comment system.)
New Social Icons and Post Headers
It seems my blog designer disappeared last year, so I made some much need fixes to my blog! Three of the social icons next to the "Contact Me →" area no longer exist, so I had to learn how to make three replacement icons. And I believe I did a pretty good job. I now have icons for YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest!Also, I have made brand-new post headers for Fall Reads, Winter Reads, Spring Reads, Summer Reads, DVD Reviews, Blu-ray Reviews, Music Reviews, and Monday Morning Madness. I made the headers with the Canva Graphic Design. Considering I know very little about graphic design, I think the headers look really good.
New Memes!
If you've been following this blog for the last two years, then you would know that I've participated in many (and I mean many) book tours. Well, I've made the decision that this blog will no longer participate in book blog tours!
Why the change of heart?
There are several reasons why I have made this decision. For starters, it takes too much of my time. Originally, I thought the idea of joining book tours were great because it put constant content on this blog. The two book tour programs that I'm still a part of, I'm stuck in the "gold." What do I mean by this? Well, I'm automatically signed up to be a part of almost every tour, which are mostly html "book spotlights" and "book cover reveals." Now, I was alright with this in the beginning, but when I'm assigned anywhere from five to ten tours a day, enough is a enough! Yes, one would think that copying and pasting a simple html would be easy, but that isn't the case. Many of these html codes have been wrongly formatted, which takes me between 30 minutes to an hour to fix each one, and even then, the post will still have dozens of errors in it.
I don't know how many times I have heard that joining book blog tours will help your blog's pageviews. Well, that is a lie! If anything, the pageviews have tumbled since I started participating in these tours. Earlier this year, Wordpress started banning book tour bloggers who have a free blog because to them it was considered spam. (Though if you have your own domain with Wordpress, you can do whatever you want.)
Some of these book tour kit emails don't arrive in my inbox. Many of them end up in the junk folder and a few never even arrive to me at all. This results in a few authors harassing me about where their book spotlight was at. At first I did communicate with a few and ended up publishing a post for them, even though I never received the original tour kits, but then I had to start ignoring the others who were harassing me on Facebook. I understand that they paid for these book tour services, but I'm just a blogger, which means I don't get paid for being a part of book tours.
Typically, at the end of the year, I will receive an email where I can sign back up for these programs, but I'm not going to join them. Until January 1st, there will still be book tour posts being posted several times a day. Keeping up with all those posts has been really stressful for me. Blogging should be a creative outlet for me, not a stressful, full-time job that I don't get paid for.
Upcoming Holiday Events
Once again, I will be doing a Halloween event, titled "13 Days of Halloween." Sorry, I didn't make an announcement this year, but the event is already filled. You can find the schedule here. I will announcing this year's Holiday Gift Guide tomorrow, so keep a lookout on that post.
BookLook Rejection
I've been a part of the BookLook blogger program (formerly called Booksneeze) since I first started this blog, but my account is currently suspended. I had signed up to review two books in January, but due to my depression and few other personal issues, I didn't get around to reviewing the books until late summer. Bloggers in the program has to review at least one title within 90 days to stay "active." I knew I would have to reapply because I had been inactive for too long, but my application was rejected for some weird reason. This blog has plenty of readers & followers, so I wouldn't have been rejected for that reason. The only thing that I can come up with is that they must have saw too many Book Tour posts and rejected me on that reason. Which is another reason why I'm ending the Book Tour posts on this blog. I'll try to get my account reinstated in 2019!
Final Thoughts
Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer will no longer be a part of any book blog tours in 2019! I'm sorry for any new followers who like the book tours with giveaways, but it's too much of a hassle for me. I want to get this blog back on track and that starts with me being "happy" about blogging. I can't accomplish that without getting rid of my stress!
My reasons for creating this blog in the first place was so I could share my love of reading with others. My goal for the rest of 2018 is to try and restore this blog to its former glory. Yes, I will probably lose a few followers in the process, but that doesn't matter to me anymore. This blog's main focus will be on books, DVDs, Blu-rays, and anything & everything else that I like. And, of course, I will be posting ramblings and sponsored posts (it keeps the blog running).
I would love to hear your thoughts on everything. Please leave your messages down in the new comment box!
