Hiya Bookworms!
Today marks my 50th post on Words for Worms (applause.) I’m not a licensed Joy-ologist, but, um YAY! Right?! This post is going to take a look back, because I want to celebrate and I can’t think of an appropriate book for my 50th post.
THAT’S a licensed Joy-ologist.
10 Things I’ve Learned Since Starting This Blog:
- Shoosh Already! Save some ideas for later! My early posts were chock full of bookish goodness. So much so, that I chewed through an awful lot of what could have been great reviews in hastily compiled paragraphs. Some of the early posts reviewed a ton of books all together. Had I more foresight, perhaps I’d have saved some of them to discuss later. C’est la vie.
- Gaining an Audience is Harder Than it Looks. I’ve tried to whore out this blog on all sorts of social media platforms. I have a facebook page (like me, please!), a twitter account (@katiebelle1121if you are so inclined), Stumbleupon, Pinterest… I was even blacklisted from posting on Reddit because nobody was reading anything I posted. I have like, negative Reddit karma. Or something…
I feel like this most days…
3. A Lot of Bloggers Are Nice! Seriously, they are. I mean, I’m sure there are plenty out there who are sucky douche canoes, but the ones I’ve engaged in conversation with have been really awesome. Special shout outs to my gals Lauren at Filing Jointly…Finally (for not being creeped out by me and giving me my biggest blogging opportunity thus far) and Joules at Pocketful of Joules (for being my personal Blogging Yoda and answering all my how-to questions and, um, Twitter solidarity.) And obviously, my real life butter-churning-best-friend-from-a-past-life, Chrissy from Quirky Chrissy. Oh! And Lyssapants! She was my first follower I didn’t know in real life, and writes a pee-your-pants funny blog called Psychobabble. This also doubles as my Oscar acceptance speech.
4. Even Super Famous Bloggers Are Nice! So yesterday, you may have heard a screech somewhere around 10:15 am. I’m quite certain it reverberated from the mountaintops and onto the moons of Jupiter…That was me, squealing because The Bloggess followed me on Twitter. The Bloggess! She writes books and is dripping in awesomesauce. She gets like MILLIONS of views per month, and she’s following my stupid rants on Twitter. I’m… Flummoxed.
5. I am Not Going To Make Zillions of Dollars Blogging. And that’s okay. Because it’s FUN! I like to talk to people about books and make lame jokes about them. Now, I have the ENTIRE INTERNET to talk to. I hope you love me, Internet, because I love you!
6. Jim Kelly Thinks I Should Blog About Him Exclusively. He really does. I watch him sometimes and I can see the gears moving in his head to come up with something hilarious and quote-able. He’s also been really supportive of this whole venture- he’ll even listen to me read things aloud and make suggestions. The suggestions are usually things like “it needs more absurdism! Throw in the video of the Tro-Lo-Lo guy just to confuse people!” He watches too much Family Guy. While he’s watching it, he makes suggestions to the TV for gags. He’s something else, that husband of mine…
90% of existing photos of Jim look something like this…
7. I Think I’m Part Bear. This has nothing to do with blogging, but it’s worth mentioning. Every fall my inner cavewoman comes out and DEMANDS that I pack on some fat for the winter. I am hungry ALL. THE. TIME. It’s annoying, especially this year, because I’ve been trying to lose weight and was feeling pretty successful. Until the bear in me decided I needed to consume every calorie I could find in order to survive my winter hibernation. As if dieting wasn’t hard enough, BEAR! You just had to show up and make me want to eat the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Jerk.
Don’t feed the bears! Or the Katies.
8. I’m Bad at Blog Hop Etiquette. I’ve mentioned how it’s hard to build an audience, right? There are MILLIONS of bloggers all trying to build audiences at the same time. A lot will hold “blog hops” or “follow for follow” events where a bunch of bloggers post their blogs and they all follow each other. It sounds cool in theory, but like, I don’t really want people to follow me if they don’t like reading books and/or find my jokes amusing. Similarly, I don’t want to follow a blog that doesn’t interest me. I don’t like the idea of being forced to ‘like’ each other. It seems disingenuous. That said, if you are reading this and we found each other on a blog hop, then yay for us! Because if you’re ACTUALLY reading one of my posts, you’re the follower I want to have. I love you to tiny blogging binary ones and zeroes!
9. I Have No Idea What I’m Doing. I’m pleased that I’ve managed to fool people into thinking I have even half a clue.
10. Just Because I *Know* My Blog Won’t Make Me A Zillionaire Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Wish That It Would. Truth.
Quirky Chrissy
I love you. I am also with Jim Kelly in that I want you to write solely about me. But my book hasn’t been written yet. 😉
Words for Worms
LOL don’t worry Bean. I have PLENTY of stories about you.
Brittany
Congrats on 50 posts!! I’m glad I started following you! It’s so much fun chatting with you on Twitter (and I just liked your FB by the way). And I know what you mean…. Isn’t there ANY way I can blog as a career?? haha. Of course I do it because I enjoy it, but I think I should be able to turn this into some kind of job, right?
I totally did that too – There was one day I posted three different reviews and then I was like, “OH I can schedule things?” haha. I still post almost every day (whoops) but at least I’m spacing them out to once a day (usually?) – I guess I just have a lot of things to say about books!
Words for Worms
Thanks Brittany! Seriously, if you figure out how to make this blog-for-a-living thing happen, let me know LOL. Oh, and thanks for the facebook like. I’m going to feel very important now.
Quirky Chrissy
You can, actually, blog as a career…you just have to get into online copywriting 🙂
Daddio
Youse guys …
Words for Worms
Dad, maybe I should start writing about you and your obsession with baking sourdough bread. I am surrounded by brilliant material!
Quirky Chrissy
Dad! Can you bake me sourdough?
didibooksenglish
I haven’t been following you that long but I love what I’mm reading here. Hilarious, If I must say myself!!! I understand about pimping the blog out on social network platforms. I was thinkng of doing a FB page but I really don’t have the enrgy to mess anymore with FB at least not for the moment. Felicitations on your 5oth post and I am looking forward to your future comical posts. They make my day. 🙂
Words for Worms
Thank you dear! I always look forward to hearing from you. I’ll check my stats and see France and I’m like ooooh! Didi was here! Yay!
didibooksenglish
Mais oui cherie, je suis là. 🙂
Liesel Hill
Congrats on 50 posts! Great list! These are things all bloggers learn at the beginning, I think. I definitely did. 😀 Thanks for this. It made me chuckle. 😀
Words for Worms
Thanks Liesel! 🙂 Now, if you have any advice on how to turn my bear-like hunger off, I’d be very grateful!
Sarah
I love reading your blog every day! I havent been reading long (I heard about you from filing jointly), but I love that you post every day! congrats on 50 posts… my blog lifestyle was very short lived!
Words for Worms
Lauren’s a peach 🙂 Glad you stopped by and that you’re enjoying! Sometimes I wonder if I can keep up with a daily post… I make no promises. But dagnabit, I will try!
Meg
Nodding my head, nodding my head, nodding…mmhmm…
Oh, except I’m not a bear. I’m like the opposite of a bear because I get all hungry and pig out right before summer and then spend the summer all bloated and yucky and come autumn I don’t feel like eating a thing and I’m rail-thin by Christmas. What hibernates in the summer? Alternate universe bears? That’s me. I’m an alternate universe bear.
Words for Worms
Alternate universe bear sounds good. Maybe even interplanetary time traveling bear. That would be cooler.
Sami
I love your blog and eagerly look forward to your posts. You make reading sound like fun and and explain them in a humorous way. Sadly I see less and less people who read books (ebooks count)! We just need to get more people who think reading is fun instead of a chore. Keep up the good work!!!
Words for Worms
Aww Sami, you’re making me blush! Reading should be fun. Perhaps I’ll become a one woman literary crusader! For that, I will require a cape… Thank you so much for reading and commenting! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Sami
A bear in a cape sounds awesome
Lyssapants
You write about books so I don’t have to read them (or re-read them).
And you write about them in a funny way sos I can laugh about The Color Purple and not feel guilty.
I like our relationship.
Words for Worms
I DID manage to make a joke about The Color Purple, didn’t I? I kind of want to give myself an award for that. Ah. Good times.
Adam S
Jim Kelly, as in the ex-football player, Jim Kelly? I love the poster too haha!
Words for Worms
Totally. We got a discount on our cable because he laughed at there very joke when the cable guy told it.
Mandy Boles (Well-Read Wife)
The joy-ologist was one of my favorite SNL skits and I LOVED Molly Shannon as Sally O’Malley! I cracked up laughing when I saw the title of this post!
I’m with you on #8. Follow for a follow makes me queasy. People need to find blogs they enjoy in an organic way. It takes a really long time to develop a following, and it’s really frustrating at first. I am so glad you commented on my blog today. I love your writing style and I’m psyched I have a new blog to visit!:)
Words for Worms
Holy Crap, it’s the Well Read Wife! She’s giving me compliments. Oh man. Paper bag. Breathe, Katie, breathe! I want to join your book club! Ahhh!