What’s In a Name?

On 02.10.10, In Book Blather, By Natalie

A year ago, I began toying with the idea of starting a book blog.  I had been life blogging for two years and had made several book blogger friends who introduced me to the world that is book blogging.

I started visiting book blogs and drew up a game plan for my new venture.  I used Wordpress to design a layout, Photoshop to create a header, and began reviewing books in a journal so I had some material to start with.

The only thing I was missing was a catchy name.

For an entire weekend I brainstormed to find the perfect balance–something catchy, easy to remember, no weird spellings, with a literary pun or reference.  I came up with two that I liked–A Novel Idea and All Booked Up–but both names were already being used on Wordpress.  Back to the drawing board I went.

I kept coming back to finding “a HOOK” for my title…and came up with Get Hooked on Books (also taken).  I was doodling pictures in my journal–the image of me sitting on a stack of books with the fishing pole on my sidebar was born that day* when the phrase ’she fell for it hook, line, and sinker’ popped into my head.  My voila! moment was changing hook to book, and that’s how my blog’s name was born.

I registered the name with Wordpress but eventually wanted to self-host my blog.  Someone was sitting on the domain name booklineandsinker.com and it wouldn’t be up for renewal until July.  The renewal date came and went and the domain owner had another 60 days to renew.  The second I was able to, I snagged the domain, uploaded all my Wordpress stuff, created a new header, ditched my training wheels, and never looked back!

Is there significance behind your blog’s name?  Did you have another idea that was already taken?  Tell me all about it!

*The image on my sidebar was reworked by my very talented sister-in-law who makes her living as an artist.  (She does some cartooning and caricatures on the side.)

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With A Little Help From My Friends

On 02.03.10, In Book Blather, By Natalie

When I started blogging in 2007, it never occurred to me that I would a. keep at it for so long, and b. develop great friendships with people I’ve never met.  My now semi-defunct life blog helped me find a group of friends who have stayed true even when I moved on to the greener pastures of Book, Line, and Sinker.

My post office box has witnessed the generosity of my blogging friends.  Not only do my blog buddies support me with comments and emails, but they also bake, make, and buy things for me.  Just the other day I swung by my post box on a whim, hoping to receive a book I’m dying to review.  I did have a package, but not the one I was anticipating.  Instead, the envelope bore the return label of my dear blogging buddy Dishy.

Dishy read about my recent rediscovery of Sweet Valley High and wanted to help feed my addiction with these two installments and a homemade CD of 80s music to help me relive the glory days of parachute pants.

So, thanks to my blogging friends for the comments, support, goodies, and love!  It’s been an unexpected but welcome treat to see that blogging really does create communities and friendships.

I know that my story isn’t unique.  How has blogging impacted you on a personal level?  Have you been on the receiving (or giving) end of kindness or generosity?  Have you made friends with bloggers–maybe met them for lunch or dinner?  Tell me all about it.

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Do You Have The Time?

On 01.25.10, In Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

Once upon a time, I would average three hours of reading before bed each weeknight; weekends were even better–four to eight hours of solid reading if my schedule was clear.  And then, along came the internet and blogging.  My reading time diminished as I heeded the siren song of the internet; I never looked back.

No one has a gun to my head forcing me to idle away hours on blogs and other sites, but after all these years I wonder just how much book reading time I’ve lost.  Oh, the irony.  I mean, here I am blogging about books but have barely any time to read them!

Am I the only book blogger who feels this way? (I need some validation, please.)

I attempted to make a crafty pie chart in Excel to illustrate my point but was forced to use Paint because I’m a doofus and couldn’t figure out Excel.

Behold!  My life pre- and post- internet and blogging as represented by  slightly tongue-in-cheek pie charts.

preblog

And with the advent of the internet and book blogging?

post blog

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Techie Tuesday: Blog Marketing & A Giveaway

On 11.17.09, In Book Blather, By Natalie

*The MOO business card giveaway is over.  Thanks to everyone who entered!  The winner is #13 (gasp!), Care!!  Congrats.*

I’m dipping my toes into something new today–a weekly feature called Techie Tuesdays.  The idea is for me to share a bit of techie knowledge in layman’s terms.  Essentially, I’ll share helpful websites or will distill technological information into user-friendly terms that you can apply directly to your blog (and daily life).  I gave it a go a few months back it was relatively successful, so I’m going to try it for a month and see how it goes.  Your feedback (including topic suggestion) is welcome and appreciated. 

During last year’s BEA, I remember reading about a few book bloggers who had business cards printed for the occasion.  They distributed their cards to publishers and other bloggers, an effective and professional marketing strategy. 

Then I started to fret, as I so often do.  Questions popped into my mind:

  • What if I don’t want to order 500 or 1,000 business cards? 
  • What if I don’t like traditional (read: boring) layouts?
  •  I love variety!  Could I stomach 500 of the same business cards?   
  • In this economy, who wants to spend a ton of money business cards?  

I scoured the web in search of a printing company with reasonable prices, ease of use, and design flexibility.  I kept returning to MOO, an English company that  just opened production in Providence, RI.  MOO has a terrific website–colorful, simple to use, and above all, it’s FUN!  I spent an easy hour designing business cards, postcards, holiday cards, and mini-cards.

My favorite thing about MOO?  For $21.99 you can order 50 business cards, each with a DIFFERENT design!  That’s right, 50 unique cards.  Say farewell to staid designs.  Bid adieu to uniformity!  Upload photos from Flickr, your computer, or a few other places, add your text, and presto!  Individualized and professional-quality cards!

To help celebrate the inaugural Techie Tuesday feature, I’m happy to announce that one lucky commenter will win one FREE set (50) of business cards or mini-cards (100) of their own design and choosing!  Simply leave a comment with the name of your favorite dairy product or recipe (MOO!), and you’ll be entered!  Winner (US or Canada only, sorry!) will be chosen at random and the entry deadline is Friday, 11/20 at 9pm EST.  For the record, I’m a fan of macaroni and cheese, myself! 

*I did not receive payment or free product to endorse MOO; I just LOVE their stuff. 

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