This was our first year blogging and so far
it’s been an amazing journey! The blog hasn’t changed much since we first started back in March, at least not in terms of content, but we did get a
makeover.
 |
| Remember our old look? It was too pink but I miss it. It took blood, sweat, tears and a lot of cursing to get it to look like that... Good times! |
Personally I believe that I have slightly
improved my reviewing skills, I think I’m this close to figuring out how to use
commas and I don’t fight with Blogger as much as I used to.
We made almost $4 thanks to Amazon Associates, or I should say thanks to the people who bought book through our links (the bestseller was Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis, a book we didn't review but featured here). If this keeps up I’ll be able to buy a house in 300 years
(hopefully by that time it will be a floating house and I will have a pet alien/dragon to keep away the unwanted visitors from Venus).
I got to interview some of my favorite authors
like Marie Sexton (she was my first!), Leslie Parrish (she was the first author
to offer us a review copy!), Thea Harrison (the first time I felt brave enough
to contact an author’s publicist) and Louisa Edwards (the first time one of
ours reviews got quoted in a book!).
Another perk of having the blog was that I got
lots of free books, most of them before release date. That is mind-blowing to
me because I never thought it would happen, at least not so soon. Thanks to
that I have saved some money which in turn went into the blog for giveaways and
the redesign.
Our most popular post was Marie’s review of
Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts, followed by some of our giveaways and
interviews, and everything Robyn Carr, seriously, people love her, so far we
have reviewed two of her books and they get hits every day.
Next year I hope to start adding some opinion posts
because I love discussions and I have several topics in mind, in fact I have
one post ready to post in January, is about sex scenes and sensuality ratings,
and you can expect it during the week of our Shameless Giveaway Hop. Speaking
of which, if you have a blog there’s still time to sign up. It’s a man-titty (and
woman-titty) friendly hop, which means that if you like your books on the steamy
side then this hop is perfect for you.
And last but not least, I want to take some time
to be sappy. The best thing about blogging is all the people I have met so far.
Some of them, like Kathleen O, are regular commenters that don’t even own blogs
–as far as I know- and that’s just awesome. The rest are fellow bloggers that
have been with us almost since the beginning, either commenting or just through
Twitter, and I want to say thanks to all of them. I’ll probably leave someone
out but I want to mention Jade (Sort of Beautiful), Alexis (Reflections of aBookaholic), Jen (Red Hot Books), Rebecca (Kindle Fever), Dixie & Maggie
(Gone Pecan), Maldivian Book Reviewer (Maldivian Book Reviewer’s Realm of Romance)
and Jess (Gone With the Words), and more recently Jay (Joyfully Jay), Nath (Books,Books and More Books), Mandi (Smexy Books -all the reviewers in this blog are awesome-), Ann (Under the Covers Book Blog), Christine
(The Happily Ever After) and Kenda (Lurv a la Mode and Full ForkAhead –you have to see this blog, is about food and the pictures are
incredible!). They all have been supportive, have great blogs and are very cool
people to talk books and drool about hot guys. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop
by and read our reviews. Can’t wait to see what the New Year will bring.
Thanks Brie! I agree one of the best (and most unexpected) benefits of blogging has been getting a chance to meet so many of my fellow bloggers out there. Everyone has been so nice and helpful.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great year for you all, especially since you just started in March. Have a great holiday!
P.S. Maybe if we pool our associates money together we can get that house in 150 years! I have $9, woo hoo. Or maybe we'll splurge on drinks!
What a great post, Brie!! It's been so great getting to know you too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a wonderful holiday and continued success with the blog in the new year. You deserve it!
A great post Brie! I might have to steal the idea at the end of the year, if it's be okay. ;) Haha! Oh, I love seeing recaps of the year and it's even more fun when I've been there to see the big changes!
ReplyDeleteAww, I remember my first layout as well and how hard I worked to get it the way I wanted. And of course the first author interview, author contacting me and when I contacted someone the first time myself. I couldn't believe I'd get so many review copies either. I didn't even know you could when I started, so it was quite the shock! It's been an amazing year and it's been wonderful getting to know certain truly awesome bloggers that have become good friends!
You're both awesome and I love your blog, even if I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been an active commenter all the time. Now lets hope next year will bring just as much joy and awesomeness with it! And discussion posts are a great idea to add; I always find them interesting!
Happy holidays to both of you! *hugs*
Thanks Brie! You are so sweet. Your post made me feel all nostalgic. Lol. Looking forward to another year of you and Marie :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for including me!! :) I'm really happy to have "met" you as well :) Your blog is awesome and while the look was cute before, it was indeed a bit pinkish LOL.
ReplyDeleteI always say the best about blogging is the people you meet and that's why I keep on blogging :)
Thank you so much guys! I can’t wait to see what this year will bring to all of us in terms of books and blogging!
ReplyDelete