Top Ten Tuesday: Blogging (and bookish) confessions

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is ten blogging confessions. But the example post they gave is for bookish confessions. Because I doubt I can manage ten blogging confessions. Although maybe I can. Let’s see…

Sometimes I draft blog posts at work, although I don’t post them from there, because my employer’s firewall has a JUST SAY NO policy about social media, even blocking helpful blogs like Grammar Girl. Probably the most notable work-drafted post is this one: What not to say to your editor. Because I was very angry. (For the record, the writer I blogged about there is getting a tiny bit better … although this week he defended a word choice because he was using it in a “commonly understood way that any English speaker would understand”. Except me, apparently. But at least he says thank you now.)

If I buy an ebook and love it beyond all reason, I order the paperback afterwards. I just can’t help myself. I’ve got six full-size bookshelves that are getting very cluttered. And I love to look at my pretties. The only catch is that if it’s a POD release (via small press or indie publication), I usually wait till it’s available on The Book Depository. Amazon’s paperbacks might be cheap, but the shipping to Australia can double the price of a book from them.

I don’t blog about things I really want to share. Like most writers who are querying manuscripts, I’ve found there are various highs and lows on that journey, and sometimes I really want to do a virtual happy dance or cry into my WordPress pillow. That’s one of the reasons that writers who post saying they have an agent or a contract are so giddy about it. Because finally they can TELL PEOPLE. (See here. And here.) Even now, there are things I could blog. But I cannot blog the things. Perhaps one day.

Why can’t I blog the things? Because querying agents and publishers is like Fight Club. You don’t talk about it. If you’re not sure why, read The Art of Oversharing by Summer Heacock. It’s both educational and horrifying.

I signed up to a blog tour company’s promo emails to get extra content. The one I chose was YA Bound, as I’m sure regular followers of my blog will have already figured out, on account of their logo being splattered all over certain blog posts. That’s where most of my book blitz posts with excerpts and giveaways come from. But on the bright side, I’ve discovered some awesome-sounding books that way. Now to just find the time to read them all… (Note: they also regularly have slots available for reviews as part of book tours, so if you’re a baby book blogger looking to get your hands on more books to read, check them out!)

I almost never review books in exchange for free copies. I can only think of two instances where I have. One was Twelve Steps, by one of last year’s successful Pitcharama entrants, and one was Silver Tides, over at Aussie Owned and Read before we got our two book reviewers on board. The reason is that I have *counts* fifty-nine paperbacks or hardcovers sitting here waiting to be read, plus two I’ve ordered that haven’t arrived yet and a preorder that hasn’t been released yet, PLUS at least another twenty ebooks on my Kindle. At the speed I read that’s enough to get me through till at least Christmas 2015.

Assuming I don’t buy any more books before then.

Which I will.

As an aside, I have over 80 books on my to-be-read pile. And that doesn’t count the pendng releases I haven’t preordered. Holy crapbiscuits! That’s more than I was expecting.

I used to rarely review books at all, anywhere. But then a bunch of awesome writers I know and love from Twitter and Aussie Owned had their books come out and I know how valuable reviews can be for new writers trying to break through and make a name for themselves. (This doesn’t mean I lie in my reviews, mind you; I do mention any things I don’t like alongside the stuff I do.) Since then I’ve expanded it to include most books that I read.

Except for the children’s books. Because you probably don’t care much about my struggles to read The BFG aloud to my son. That dialogue was haaaaaaaaard, you guys.

I read a lot of blogs, but rarely comment. I know I’m not alone in this, given how many hits my blog gets a day relative to the number of comments. In my case, it’s because I use email subscriptions to keep track of my favourite blogs; I read most of them in my email client on my smart phone, which doesn’t make it very easy to write something in reply. I’m more likely to pin a post I love or tweet a link to it than I am to comment.

I try really, really hard to only use open source, free graphics. Occasionally I buy stock, such as that fireworks graphic I used on Saturday. But sometimes the desire for an animated Pixar or Doctor Who gif overwhelms me. I just hope that, if Disney and the BBC come after me, they decide it was more of a homage than theft. It’s not like I’m hosting entire shows here, after all. HOWEVER, I feel very strongly about stealing art for use on blogs. Don’t do it, kids. (Or if you do, at least link back to the artist’s page so it’s more like a free advertisement. They may forgive you, then. Of course, they may not — it’s always better to get permission. Be squeaky clean.)

I schedule almost all my blog posts. I expect most people do, so this may not be a shock. But the best time for me to post is in the morning, Australian time, because then that also catches the US evening crowd. And since by then I’m usually either on my way to or at work (with its unfriendly social media firewall), that means I have to schedule stuff.

On that note, it’s dinnertime and I’m hungry. 😉