But before I get to that, I wish to share how disappointed I am in our on-going "blizzard." I can still find the barn without hanging on to the clothesline. My husband councils patience....so perhaps I will try again later in the evening.
Back to blogging.
So after six years, I have Changed.
Change 1. I am a calmer blogger. I have realized that there is no point in my trying to write Deep Reviews of Thoughtfulness, because in my limited time it is much more relaxing to dash off instinctive and impulsive reactions that I hope are sincere, but are rarely deep (partly this is because I am not sure what "deep" entails, and think it might actually be meaningless. Thoughtful, though, is generally recognizable and a quality to be admired in a blog....although I guess you can have thoughtful flippancy....)
Change 2. I am now more untrammeled by my early, passionate, desire for review copies--I get as a many as I need, and it's not like I don't have anything to read. This is good, because it seems as though hard copies of books are getting scarcer, and I have no interest in reading on an e-reader.
Change 3. And perhaps the biggest change is that no longer do I obsess over my stats in a fiercely competitive way.
Mainly this is because there is no point. My stats stayed essentially
flat all last year (the ten additional people following me in google
reader does not count as an uptick in any meaningful sense, and I see no way in which I can actually do anything to make it 20 more people in 2013) and I have decided that if one
blogs in a quiet sort of way about mostly middle grade sci fi/fantasy,
one is not going to have tens of thousands of visitors a month, and
there is no use in fretting over that. So I'm not.
But it would be nice if more people entered my on-going giveaway of The Madness Underneath. Thanks.
And thank all of you for reading!
Thank you for writing such insightful reviews! Whenever you review a book that sounds wonderful and my library doesn't have it, I forward them a link to your blog. They haven't refused a Charlotte-inspired acquisition request yet!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on six wonderful years.
Thanks lots for sharing that! It is rather nice to know. And thanks for reading!
DeleteHappy blogiversary, Charlotte! I've become a lot more relaxed about the presence or absence of review copies over the years, too. Some publishers send them. Great! I do tend to read more from those publishers, since the books are handy. Some don't, but if I really want a particular book by those publishers, I have ways to get it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as stats go, I personally value the way that you stay focused. If I want to know about what's going on in MG sci fi/fantasy, I know where to look, and that's helpful. I also appreciate how you round up the reviews that other people are doing in this area. I remember when the Kidlitosphere was small enough that Kelly Herold could do that with ALL of the reviews every week.
Good luck with the blizzard! I'm sure you have plenty to read.
Thanks Jen! I still think fondly of your own Books that Caught My Eye feature way back in the day--I got lots of good recs. from those!
DeleteI knooooow! When I moved to Wisconsin five years ago I was totally expected Little House in the Big Woods. I was all prepared to tunnel out and be snowed in...it's very disappointing, especially since our library Never Closes. Neither snow, nor sleet, nor dead internet, not sewage leaks...although we did close an hour early in January because all the power went out!
ReplyDeleteI am a faithful blog reader - I skim lots of blogs for collection development for the library, but your blog builds my own tbr pile! (plus books for the library too)
It's so annoying--the clothesline is there, reaching from the house to the barn just like in The Long Winter, and there is absolutly no call to use it. Not that I want to go to the barn right now, but still.
DeleteAnd thanks for being a reader!
I enjoy reading your calm, balanced reviews, Charlotte. I always feel if you say it's a good book, then yes, it's very probably a good book! Please keep writing them!
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am actually calmer than I think I am...thanks for being a reader!
DeleteCharlotte, I loved reading your reflections. I always find your reviews very thoughtful and I love that you focus on middle grade fantasy and SF. As an aspiring upper middle grad and YA author, I can tell you that middle grader authors who get less focus too appreciate those that review middle grade books.
ReplyDeleteI too got obsessed last year about getting ARCs. I'm still trying but I'm not so concerned. I can get the books I really want to read from the library if I don't get an ARC.
I think a lot of aspiring authors also don't see their blogs grow as much as they'd like so you're not alone. In fact, I'm seeing many not blog as much, visit as much, or stop blogging, which I think is a mistake. I'm noticing page views and comments are down. At first I was bummed, but I'm trying to take advantage of it and visit more book review blogs like yours.
Sorry to be so wordy, but I've been thinking a lot about what you're talking about lately.
No need to be sorry! Thanks for sharing your observations viz the authors--blogging is still, I think, in a state of youthful flux, although perhaps it will always be subject to periods of ups and downs! It surprises me every week how few mg sff reviews I'm able to find...even when I search for the relativly "big" releases, I don't find much. I think they get overshadowed by the YA books, and there's not as much crossover as one would think with YA readers reading mg.
DeleteI agree. When I see a middle grade review on a big YA blog, I try to comment. I decided to make my new project YA because it seems so much easier to get published that way and so many bigger avenues to publicize your book through blogs. But that's sad. They say that middle grade authors grow their following slowly and I suppose it's the same for middle grade bloggers.
DeleteI think it's hard, too, for the middle grade bloggers because our target audience (adults who read middle grade and the mg Gatekeepers--mg librarians, teachers, etc.), aren't really groups who seem to read many blogs, and there is no easy way to reach them!
DeleteI hope your YA project is going well!
YA definitely seems to be more "shiny" when it comes to galleys and reviews. A lot of my middle school patrons read middle grade as well as young adult books, and patronize both floors of our library, but there always seems to be more publicity for teen books. Possibly because so many adults are reading YA now.
DeleteThere's a logic in the shiny-ness of YA, of course, because teens (and adults) are more likely to spend their own money on them. I wonder if the adults reading the YA these days will work their way on down!
DeleteI have had quite a few adults read MG - Angie Sage, Brandon Mull, Rick Riordan, those Disneyland fantasies I can't remember the name of at the moment, but I think there's a lot more stigma attached to reading younger books, even among librarians.
DeleteI will admit this to you: I recently cleared about 90% of the book blogs I was following from my google reader. I kept subscriptions to those blogs I always go to on a regular basis for book ideas and fun posts. You are one of the 10% that stayed. I don't have time to comment much anymore, but I read everything you write and you're one of my favourite blogs and bloggers to read. So I am thankful that you have been around 6 years and you blog the way you do. You're a real go-to reference place for me and I send people here for good MG ideas too. Thank you ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!!!
DeleteHappy blogoversary! And here's to change, as well. And to being one with our piles of books.
ReplyDeleteAnd to many more years of this!
viz being one with our books-- I will probabably have enough tbr books still undread in fifty or so years to make a nice coffin--it will be one of those viral book photo things and will bring me fame. Note to self--inform husband.
DeleteWow six years! Thank you for existing and sticking with this for so long. You are one of my favorites and consistently wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your disappointing blizzard. (Think that's the first time I've ever said anything close to that.)
My expectations were perhaps too high. It's not over yet, but I'll be in bed for rest of the fun....oops. The power has started flickering....
DeleteHappy blog-birthday!
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting lost in the blizzard?
Only, not too lost, because I still want to see more blog entries from you in the future.
Happy bloggy birthday! And many happy returns of the day!
ReplyDeleteHappy 6 years! I, too, enjoy reading all of your posts, even if I don't often comment.
ReplyDeleteI trust your reviews. You are very funny.
ReplyDeleteWhat else is important?
(Also you are an archaeologist who loves children's fantasy novels so both my child-self and my adult-self think you may be the coolest human in the world.)
Congrats on six years. Here's looking forward to 6 more:)
ReplyDeleteThank, you all!
ReplyDeleteI love your thoughts on how you've changed over the years (six!). It reminds me of how I've changed (or how I want to change still). Love what you do - keep doing it!
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogversary. I am on autopilot in terms of giveaways; I don't sign up for them, because in my head, I'm still overseas. I'll get better at it, I swear.
ReplyDeleteI think "deep" in this blog review thing sometimes is What I First Think. Sometimes your thoughts are just going to be deeper than others. But I do think it is good that you're calmer. (Please note that I snicker quietly at the idea of you as less competitive, but yeah, okay. I can see you trying.)
I have decided to compete only with myself, and in so doing become Better Person and Blogger :) or something....
DeleteHappy, happy blogiversary! I try to think of blogging like high school-- I didn't have many friends, but the ones I had cared about what I said. I think you have a good niche, an absolutely solid blog, and an enormous breadth and depth of knowledge about MG Fantasy. Why both of us aren't on the cover of, say, School Library Journal is just one of those imponderables, like why do the cheerleaders in our high school want to friend us on Facebook NOW? Here's to many, many more years of your great blog, especially Time Slip Tuesday, so I have an excuse to read more time travel!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is true that my high school life is very much like my blogging life! I had my circle of five friends, and that was actually enough for a happy life (which was about ten percent of my class, and I figure I maybe am friendly with more than ten percent of the children's book bloggers (at least the ones I know about), so actually I am more social in blogging, which is nice).
DeleteHappy, happy blogiversary! I track down books from your blog more often than any of the others I read, and send your reviews on to our youth fiction librarian if we don't already have them.
ReplyDeleteI'm amused at the blogging=high school metaphor. I've been thinking that very thing of late.
Happy Blogiversary. I always enjoy reading your reviews, and have found quite a number of great books here. Your Sunday roundup posts are great. I'm glad you've become calmer, calmer is good, as is acceptance. I write a small blog too, we have our place, but it keeps me happy and off the streets. Stats checking is still fun though- I didn't know there were stats on google reader- will have to try and check that out.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's not exactly stats on google reader, but if you search for your own blog, you can see how many subscribers you have...
Delete