ArmchairBEA: Blogging about blogging.... from one blogger to another

ArmchairBEA, Day 5: Today is the last day of a great week. It's been amazing to be part of ArmchairBEA 2011! So many people worked like crazy to make this a fun week for all of us who weren't able to make it to NYC for the Expo. I can't thank them enough for all they have done.

Today's topic is all about blogging about blogging. Some of the best advice I can give anyone is, if you're thinking about starting a blog, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. What are the right reasons you ask? Well, in my honest opinion, one main reason would be to make sure you're doing it for you and your passion for books. Share what you love about books and authors in honest reviews and content that means something to you. If you're honest and excited about what you choose to talk about on your blog, people who visit will see it all come through loud and clear. Because in the end that's a huge part of what book blogging is all about.

Honesty, excitement and passion over reading.

Another thing is not to get discouraged. I think we've all been through that from time to time. While it's a huge, EPIC community to belong to and you'll meet amazing people, far and wide, it takes time and sometimes hard work to be a book blogger.

None of us are paid for what we do. Well, in a way we are. We're paid in comments and friendships and the excitement when we find a new book or author... we're paid in the chance we get to have with talking and sharing about a book with others. Because, lets get back to basics here... book blogging is all about just that, the books. Your love of books and it's where it should stay the whole time you continue to be a book blogger.

Sorry if' I'm sounding preachy here, it's not my intention at all. It's a truth you'd hear from a majority of bloggers out there.

Now, I do have something else I'd like to talk to you about. This is something I've talked about before and to me it's something I'm sure not everyone who's a blogger knows about.

Comments! Yep, let's talk about comments. We all love them. Yes, we sure do. I'm a lurker, I'll admit it, but I have plans to change that. I need to come out of my shell more. But, I'm getting off track here, sorry!

So, comments. I have them emailed to me, whenever you leave me one. It's through those emailed comments that I respond. Yes, you can respond that way, but only if the person who's commented has done a couple quick steps to make it all work. Magic, right? Yes, I think it is. Here's how you fix your blogger and or google account so I can respond to YOU! First, here's an easy fix for my fellow bloggers out there.

Step to you need to know:

Go to your dashboard, and then to Edit Profile.
You'll see there, Share My Profile - click that box.
Then click on the box for - Show My Email Address.

Just remember it does NOT show your email address anywhere on your blog. You must have both of those boxes checked for this to work. HOWEVER, if you don't want a "Profile" or "About Me" section to your blog, then this isn't for you because it will add a profile section to your blog to make this work. So, just keep that in mind.

If you DON'T have a blog:

You need to be sure that you have your email address added to your Google Account and then make sure it's in your profile page as well.

Having your comments that are left to you on your blog emailed to you is easy. Here's how to make it happen for you:

In your Dashboard, click on Edit My Profile.
Scroll down a bit and you'll see Edit My Identity
You'll see where it says Email Address. Enter in there what email you'd like your comments sent to and it'll happen.

A couple of quick tips about comments: If you're worried about Spam, moderate them. It happens throughout everyone’s blog, some more than others. If you moderate them it gives you a chance to delete them before they post to your blog. It doesn't take long at all. I moderate mine here. Word Verification is up to you. I don't use it because I figure having moderation set kind of takes care of that. Word Verification can be a HUGE pain in the rear, so think about it and choose what’s right for you. It's all a matter of what you want in the end.

Another thing I use here with my comments, I have them Embedded in the post. All that means is that you won't get a separate pop-up window when you want to leave a comment here. Again, it's all what works for you and how you want YOUR blog to run.

I think that's all for me for now, hopefully this was all easy to follow and someone learned something new. I might post some other tips and tricks for bloggers in the future, so keep an eye out. If anyone has any questions, I'm always more than willing to help you out - feel free to email.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by. Thank you to everyone behind ArmchairBEA 2011. You guys ROCK! A Hello and welcome to all my NEW and OLD followers. If there's something you'd like to see here on the blog, drop me a comment or email and I'll see what I can do to continue to add new and exciting things here.