By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Starting a Book Blog #BookBloggerHop #coffeeramblings

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog.

Quick Note

I’m going to be trying something new. I met a local teen (the daughter of a friend) who is very interested in book blogging. So I’m going to sort of be mentoring her, and I offered her the opportunity to post her reviews on Tessa Talks Books on Saturdays. I’m working on her graphics so that it is easy to distinguish her posts from my posts – plus she will be listed as the author. So, be aware that I won’t be the only one posting but I have limited her posts to Saturday to minimize any confusion and allow her to learn how to create her own identity in this lovely and supportive world. The feature photo will look something like this (below):

Thank you, in advance, for joining me in supporting a young blogger as she finds her way around this awesome community.

Why did you start a book blog?

(submitted by Julie @ JadeSky)

Like with many of the best things in my life, I just kind of fell into book blogging.

Events Leading Up to the Blog

In 2017, I was a high school counselor. I worked with seniors (the last grade of US public education) and everything and anything college-related. The high school principal also put me in charge of a new program for college-bound students, grades 9-12, but didn’t take anything off my already crowded plate.

In my third year of doing this, all of a sudden, my health failed. It took doctors five months and multiple diagnoses of Pneumonia to figure out my heart was failing. And, my body was riddled with blood clots, including two rather large ones in my right lung and one more recent one that developed in my right arm from shoulder to wrist. The two conditions were not related but they had no idea why either was happening. The cadiologist, because of my young age (for heart failure) and my overall health, believes a virus attacked my heart but as to the blood clots – who knows?

The only thing my family and I could figure out was that there was a very real chance that the overwhelming stress I was under caused this. We all know that stress can do weird things. So as a family, we decided that for my health and literally my life, I needed to resign from my counseling position. Then I would stay at home and work on my health, which ended up entailing so many doctor’s visits – it was unreal.

All is great now. My health is back to normal. And I’m still on an indefinite sabbatical (since I’m not old enough to retire, I call what I’m doing now an indefinite sabbatical). But what to do during this sabbatical? I thought – hey, I always wanted to write novels, so what’s stopping me from doing that now. Absolutely nothing.

The Blog

Everything I read said that authors need a blog, so I started one, but then I had to figure what to put in it. I finally decided, because of my love of books, to make my blog about books. I have learned about everything as I’ve gone along – NetGalley, blog tours, social media, and all that goes with a book blog. It has definitely been a labor of love and I’m always looking for ways to make it better, because that is very much a me thing. I knew nothing – less than nothing – about the book blog community and about book blogging when I started this and it’s been through help from you all and the support of the community that I have figured it out along the way.

That’s my story but now I really want to know why you started your own book blog?

29 Replies to “Starting a Book Blog #BookBloggerHop #coffeeramblings”

  1. kat says:

    What a fantastic thing you’re doing for her, and I can’t wait to see what she has to say!

    That sounds like a really scary health journey, but I’m glad you’re well now and enjoying a more stress-free life. I’m also really glad you started blogging; I really enjoy your reviews and visiting your blog always feels like a nice trip to the beach, which is especially fun during the winter when it’s too cold to actually go.

    My own story is boringly simple: I simply fell into it, both the blog and, specifically, book blogging. I didn’t even know what a blog was when I started it, but it’s probably the most fun accidental thing I’ve ever done.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Awww…thank you 🥰🥰🥰 I love counseling but I also love book blogging, my wonderful blogging friends, and all that comes with it. Every time an author notices one of my reviews or follows me on social media, I get absolutely giddy. It’s a much more relaxed but still busy lifestyle.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. nickimags @ Secret Library Book Blog says:

    Wow what a way to start a book blog Tessa! hope you health has improved loads, what a scary time that must have been! My story is very tame and was a suggestion from my son when we were home schooling. This is my third book blog and the most successful. I started off on Weebly, moved to Booklikes and then settled here on WordPress five years ago. Love the graphic for you mentoring and look forward to lily’s posts!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I love your story. Your son is a very intuitive as you are awesome at bookblogging.
      When Covid first started we went to the cardiologist for a let’s be real conversation to discuss what all better meant. Is my heart really back to normal or is it just in a better place than it was? And he assured me that my heart was completely back to normal, so I didn’t need to worry anymore than him about the virus. Though he did go on to ponder that if the virus that he believes attacked my heart was of a similar strain as Covid that could be a problem. Which kind of took away from my being reassured 🤦‍♀️ I’ve been careful from the get-go though, even though I’m not in a high-risk category.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      It was an absolutely surreal experience. I am one of those never sick people, so to have that happen out of the blue was just crazy.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Jonetta (Ejaygirl) | Blue Mood Café says:

    Thanks for sharing your amazing story, Tessa💜 Those health issues were beyond scary! Stress is such a dangerous thing for our physical and mental health.

    Kudos to you for mentoring Lily! It’s a perfect way for her to experience this community and decide what she wants to do.

    About 8 years ago, I joined another blogger as an associate reviewer and did that for about five years. We had very different reading tastes but it kind of worked for us. She decided to end the blog and I was unsure about going it alone. I’d been caring for my dying mother and was leveled when that day came. After about six months of not knowing what to do with myself after a year of taking care of her, I remembered I’d set up a WordPress account years before. I spent the next four mornings fiddling with a design and by that Friday, I’d created my blog! I just jumped in and started experimenting with different content. But, my biggest discovery was this community.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      That’s such a touching story, Jo. So sorry to hear about the passing of your mother, but I am very happy to have you as a blog friend.
      With the wonderful community and endless books to read, a bookblog is a great way to find a new purpose. Everyone, including my doctor, worried about me not having the purpose a job brings to your life but since I started this blog, I never once have been bored or stressed. So the doctor had to admit, there is a life outside the traditional job.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Teri Polen says:

    Adore the graphic for your young teen friend, Tessa. And so glad your health has improved! That’s some scary stuff. I started my blog for a reason you mentioned – I wanted to write and needed to build up a social media following. The benefits are more than I ever imagined, “meeting” and making friends with readers from around the world. We really have a supportive blogging community. Have a great weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Louise H says:

    Wow – that is definitely the best story, and I’m so glad to hear that your health issues are behind you! I can’t wait to see Lily’s Saturday posts – is she starting them tomorrow?

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Kelly says:

    Kudos for getting your health back on track, I know it’s not an easy thing to do. For me, I dunno, I fell in love with reading again, started following bloggers and authors on Twitter, started following blogs and it just seemed like a fun thing to do so I decided to give it a whirl.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I’m so glad I was able to bounce back once they identified the major issues and treated them.

      I like that you went in knowing what you were getting involved with. That must have made it so exciting.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Kelly says:

        Actually doing it turned out to be a lot different from looking at it from the sidelines, but I loved it and I still do 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  12. WendyW says:

    That is so cool that you’re sponsoring/mentoring a book blogger! I will be sure to check out her posts. Wow, what a scary health scare. Stress is so damaging, I retired almost 2 years ago, and feel so much better and healtier. I’m glad your health issues are back to normal now.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Thank you! Me too! It was a very surreal experience, but I learned a valuable lesson about pushing yourself beyond your limits.

      Like

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