Guest Post: Perfect Blogger?

     I'd like to thank Audris for having me guest post on her blog. I've been contemplating doing this post for some time, and I'm kind of pleased to have an opportunity to air this topic. It's been on my mind a lot lately and it was kind of my hope to turn it into a discussion post.



     Ready? Okay, here it is:

     There's no perfect blogger. There are (obviously) some who come pretty darn close, and I'm definitely not one of them. I blog because I like it, and because it's fun (which is not to say that I don't have my hair-pulling moments). I value the friendships I've made with other bloggers almost (almost) more than the books I receive for review, but that doesn't mean I never compare myself to them. I so envy Jenny's sense of humor and her awesome Cover Critiques, Missie and her gorgeous buttonry (though NOT her appalling taste in vampires), Logan and her insightful reviews and general fawesomeness, Small her loyal followers, awesome commenting and generosity...the list could go on.

     At the same time, however, my friendships with these bloggers has helped me to realize that all bloggers have their strengths and weaknesses, just like in "real" life. We all have stuff with struggle with. I'm not going to go into my strengths (except to hope that I do have some) because I've always, always, hated the topic. I feel much more comfortable addressing the things that I'm self-aware enough to know I fail at. For example: Reading Challenges. My suckiness in this regard is infamous. No, seriously. People whisper about it when I walk down the street: "My two year old is better at hosting Reading Challenges than she is." It hurts.

     So, I guess you could say that I've come here today to embrace the ways in which I suck. Lucky for you, I brought a list:

1. Reading Challenges
2. Readathons
3. Book tours
4. Getting back to authors
5. Commenting on other people's blogs

     Okay, I've just realized my list could go on forever, so I'd better stop while I'm ahead. What's important here is that, having identified my weaknesses, I can now move forward. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? Oh, if only the rest of the steps were that easy! Fortunately, I already have a solution at hand for the first three. Are you ready for it?

No Longer Participating.

    See? Problem solved. I'm a Reading Challenge/Readathon/Book Tour-free blogger. Moving on to number four.

    For this one I really need a backbone. I hate saying no. Especially to independently published authors. I want to be able to read their books and I want to support them, but I don't have tiiiiime. I recognize that this is because I request far more than I can read, and despite what comes in my mailbox, I can't stop acquiring more books. So how do I avoid saying no? I, erm, fail to write back. Or else I don't do it until that shiny yellow "important" star starts to take over my entire computer. Yes, I'm an awful person, and now you know it. What have I done to redeem myself? Very little. Well, actually, I read Amanda's 5 Ways to Guarantee I Will NOT Review Your Book post and, as a result, created a review request form. So far that's allowed me one guilt-free query letter-ignore. Success!

     Now for number five: I'm a ginormous lurker. In fact, I lurked on the entire internet for years before I so much as took an online quiz. It's part of my essential shyness, I think. At least, that's the theory I'm sticking to Blogging in general has really helped with this, but I still obsess over each little comment before I'm able to press that submit button. In case you were wondering--yes, this does make commenting quite a chore. What have I done about this problem? Well, I did that whole #CommentPact thing, remember? I even made a button. And you know what? It's worked. My commenting has really increased. I'm not able to maintain 10 Comments a Day, but I sure do try. And it's the effort that counts. Someone told me that once. That, and my promise to myself to improve.

     Anyway, thus endeth my post on blogging weaknesses. I now invite you to share your own. I promise that it will be cathartic, that I won't judge you (how could I?), and that you'll probably feel better afterward. Plus, you might laugh. Why ask for anything more?