Jill's Book Cafe

My First Blogiversary

A year ago today I decided to take the plunge and made my first post on this blog, a review of the wonderful The Hidden Legacy by G J Minnett. Although I have been reviewing since Feb 2014 my posts were restricted to Goodreads, Amazon and NetGalley but I decided I wanted somewhere that brought them all together under the Jill’s Book Cafe banner.

I still view myself as primarily a reviewer, rather than a blogger though recently I have ventured to post items other than just reviews so I’m getting there. My Time and Place feature with Simon Michael  was my most viewed post when it went live so thanks Simon for being a great guinea pig and giving me the confidence to take it further. I already have more authors lined up.

What I have found in my first year is that the blogging community (as I’ve experienced it) is friendly, supportive and helpful. A far cry from what I felt might be a competitive arena to venture into. I’ve discovered that most author’s are also normal, approachable and friendly, though I still get very fan girl when some reply and still have some on pedestals (no I’m not saying who!)

My reading preferences have certainly changed over the period. I’ve discovered that some genres I would have said I liked in the beginning I’m starting to think I don’t (psychological thrillers) and the quirky, fun and original form a bigger part of my preferred reading.

So at the end of my first year I made 151 posts, had 1988 visits with 5608 views and attracted 124 followers. I’d like to thank all those who drop in and read my posts; and my regular band of blogging friends who comment, re-post on Twitter and generally make it a less insular place to be. Last but not least, thanks to all the authors without who there’d be nothing to read and review and life would be far the poorer.  .

43 comments

  5. What a lovely celebratory post and I am so pleased you decided to start a blog, I love coming to read your opinions. Interesting how blogging has made you branch out in genres too – this happened to me too, some books that I would have passed by previously, now sound far too good to miss!

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  7. Happy blogiversary, Jill. I love reading your posts and it’s really down to my interaction with you that I decided I quite fancied starting a blog of my own, so thank you for helping me branch out. Here’s to the next year!

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  8. Happy blogiversary! I never knew that your first blog post was reviewing ‘The Hidden Legacy’ – I not long ago won a signed copy of this via a Twitter competition, but haven’t gotten around to reading it. But I definitely will soon!
    I’m relatively new to blogging, and I really hope I make it to a year! Love your blog 🙂

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  15. Many congratulations Jill on your first year as blogger-reviewer! I’m very glad I came across it – you’ve introduced me to some interesting reads. Also as an author it’s great to feel part of a bigger blogging family, as it can be a very solitary experience otherwise! Here’s to a fun and enriching second year! 🙂

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    • Thanks Janet – always happy to increase someone else’s book pile as well as my own! You’re right it is great to be part of a wider community that brings writers, reviewer and readers together in a very personal way to share the love of books. The internet may have it’s faults, but it’s also a great medium for meeting like minded people and bringing them together. 🙂

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  19. Congratulations, Jill – I’ve only just discovered your blog, but that’s down to the (as you describe it) supportive blogging community (particularly book bloggers, I think).

    I liked your comment about psychological thrillers! Only the other day I was looking at the endless range of “a psychological thriller full of suspense (the author/publisher put(s) this in the title so that it hits the top of the list of three search keywords, btw) with an awesome twist that will keep you guessing for a thousand years and totally blow your mind”. Seems those that are marketed this way have lots of less than complimentary reviews, while the quieter ones look like better choices. If you can find them amongst the huge pile of the more sensational!

    Although I’m a writer more than a reviewer, I love my book blog too. I only started it because I wanted a place to put the reviews I did for Rosie Amber as part of her team, then I started to enjoy doing it so much.

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    • Thanks Terry, I think my profile increased when I bit the bullet and joined in on Twitter. Still hit and miss with it, but I’m getting there. I like my little blog. because it’s not dictated by social media and just features what I’ve been reading, acquiring and things that interest me. While it didn’t start wit the intention of gaining followers,it’s lovely that other people like it enough to drop in.

      It wasn’t until I thought abut what I wanted to say about the blog, that it really started to dawn on me how much my reading choices had altered and I’m far less influenced by hype than I use to be. Of course some books are worthy, but it needs to be the reader not the publisher that creates it.

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  20. Well done on reaching this milestone. Like you I was surprised to find how supportive other bloggers are and generous with their advice – without them I would have floundered.

    Thanks for following me today – I am returning the compliment!

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