Today’s Topic: The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things you are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.

Tried and True Practices

Be genuine. No one likes a fake person in real life, and that goes double online. You don’t have to share all of yourself on your blog, but be sure the parts you do share come from the heart. Similarly, be kind. You may not always agree with others, but engage people with a sense of kindness rather than anger. It helps.

Reach out. Like I said earlier in the week, it takes reaching out to find community. You can write amazing posts on your blog, but if you don’t do some work to help other people find you, no one will read them. It’s just a fact.

Ask questions. This is true both in blog posts and in the broader community. I love ending my blog posts with a question because it gives people a place to jump off if they’re not sure what to say. And some of my most interesting blog posts have been short pieces that just pose a question or dilemma for readers.

Outside blog posts, don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t know something. If it’s HTML, what an acronym means, how to contact a publisher… really, anything. Just ask. Book bloggers are generous people and will help if they can.

New Trends or Tools

Google Docs. I live in Google Docs. I draft most of my posts there because it’s easier to write without being distracted. I have shared spreadsheets with more people than I can count to keep blog projects organized. Google Forms are great for hosting contests. Learn to use Google Docs, it’s amazing.

Slaughterhouse 90210. Umm… this probably doesn’t count as a new tool, but maybe a trend? This Tumblr account mixes pop culture and books, combining quotes from classic literature with photos from tv, movies, and other media to make some pretty awesome commentary. I still don’t quite know what to use Tumblr for, but this blog has found a perfect niche.

W3 Schools. If you have any questions about HTML or CSS, W3 Schools is the place to go. They have amazing tutorials and resources to help you teach yourself HTML basics and play around with new tools. This if the first place I stop when I can’t figure out how to make something on the blog look or work they way I want it to.

And Thank You!

Yesterday they announced that Sophisticated Dorkiness was voted Best Nonfiction Book Blog this year. Thank you so much to everyone who nominated and voted for me — it’s a huge honor. BBAW always makes me more inspired and excited about blogging, and winning an award just makes it a little sweeter 🙂

And congrats to all of the other winners this year. There are some great blogs on the list. And thanks to Amy (My Friend Amy) and all of her helpers for organizing BBAW again this year. You guys rock.

Today’s Topic: Book bloggers blog because we love reading. Has book blogging changed the way you read? Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging? How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? Have you made new connections with other readers because of book blogging? Choose any one of these topics and share your thoughts today!

I started out not knowing the answer to this question. Obviously, book blogging has impacted my reading in some way — how could it not? But I started writing this post with no idea how much.

My first impulse when I went to answer that question — How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? — was to go to my master list of books read in 2011 and see which ones I could directly attribute to blogging. I got through April before I realized this was going to take forever and probably be impossible because, at this point in my reading life, almost everything I read is a recommendation from somewhere.

Certainly, it’s not all bloggers. I picked up quite a few review copies from publisher pitches and recommendations, but I wouldn’t get those if I didn’t have a book blog. I get others from professional reviews or book sites, but I probably wouldn’t be reading those if book blogging hadn’t made the book publishing world so interesting for me to read about all the time. It seems impossible to split out my reading like that.

However, I can look at the list and come up with at least  few books that are directly attributable to individual blogger’s reviews or recommendations:

• Blood Work by Holly Tucker — I read this one for a paid review, but I connected with Holly over an interest in medical nonfiction on Twitter first, which put her book on my radar in the first place. .
• Reality Bites Back by Jennifer L. Pozner — I read this one because Cass (Bonjour, Cass!) made it sound amazing.
• The Convert by Deborah Baker — I read this as part of Jen (Devourer of Books) and Nicole’s (Linus’s Blanket) BOOK CLUB, which I joined because Jen reached out and said she thought I’d be interested in the book.
• Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind by Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley — I read this one because Rebecca (The Book Lady’s Blog) had such an enthusiastic review about it.
• The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty — Melissa (The Betty and Book Chronicles) was excited about this book and pointed me to it when it was on sale.
• Up for Renewal by Cathy Alter — Meg (Write, Meg!) recommended this one after I wrote a post about how much I love stunt nonfiction.
• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin — Lots of bloggers (and non-bloggers) have raved about this, but I finally got my kick to finish it after Trisha (eclectic/eccentric) started posted about her progress reading the book and inspired me.

Like I said, that list really is a lot longer because of how much book blogging has impacted my reading. I can hardly go into a bookstore anymore and not see dozens and dozens of books that I’ve read a great blogger review of. It’s amazing my TBR shelves are not fuller than they actually are.

That said, I want to turn this post around a little bit: Readers, are there any books you’ve picked up specifically because of a recommendation that I made (either personally or just a review here on the blog)? I really curious about this one!

Today’s Topic: The world of book blogging has grown enormously and sometimes it can be hard to find a place. Share your tips for finding and keeping community in book blogging despite the hectic demands made on your time and the overwhelming number of blogs out there. If you’re struggling with finding a community, share your concerns and explain what you’re looking for–this is the week to connect!

Being part of a community takes work. That’s true in real life, and it’s true in blogging. You don’t get comments without leaving comments, you don’t get followers without following others, and you don’t feel part of a community until you do some work to participate that community.

That said, I do think there are some ways to feel connected more quickly than others, at least from my years of experience as a blogger.

Think Outside the Blog

First, leaving comments is still, I think, one of the best ways to help grow your blog in the long-term. However, it can be time consuming and the results aren’t always immediate, which I think can be discouraging. So, my first piece of advice is to reach out to others through other kinds of social media like Twitter for a more immediate impact and as a way to connect with a different group of bloggers.

I’ve been on Twitter for a long time, and while my addiction to Twitter goes in fits and spurts, I’ve found it to be a great way to connect with other book lovers — especially people with blogs that I don’t find much to regularly comment on.

When I’ve asked for advice on Twitter, I’ve almost always gotten a series of great responses. And when I answer questions or offer advice, I’ve felt more connected. One blogger I’ve had some great conversations with on Twitter is Jenn (Jenn’s Bookshelves or@jennsbookshelf), even though I’m not much of a commenter on Jenn’s blog. I also participate in a variety of Twitter hashtags like #fridayreads and #IndieThursday. Friday Reads is also on Facebook and has a blog, so you can find that community all over the place.

Twitter seems intimidating at first, sort of like jumping into a giant conversation and not knowing where it starts or ends. But most book bloggers are incredibly generous, and if you reach out to them (sent an @ reply or something), they’ll usually respond back and you can get into the conversation.

Make Your Own

As a blogger who — until recently anyway — mostly read and wrote about nonfiction, I always felt a bit on the outside of the larger book blogging community. Not in a serious or detrimental way, but just in the sense that I found myself skimming over a lot of reviews in my Google Reader in lieu of more discussion or personal posts from bloggers I like to read.

At BEA this year I was sitting on the steps of the US Post Office with Ash (English Major’s Junk Food), Amy (Amy Reads), Cass (Bonjour, Cass!), and Anastasia (BirdBrain(ed) Book Blog), and I made some comment about wishing there were more people who loved nonfiction and it was easier to find them. I think I must have been the one that suggested some sort of society for nonfiction lovers, and over a terrifying cab ride out to a party, the general idea for the Bloggers’ Alliance of Nonfiction Devotees was born. I have so many ideas for what BAND can be, and I think with time (whenever it gets found) and effort, we’re going to make it great. I hope others will join in!

This isn’t a unique idea or anything — plenty of blogging groups and projects pop up as bloggers within our huge community want to find a way to connect with each other. I’d venture to guess things like Armchair BEA, the Classics Circuit, and A Year of Feminist Classics, all came about from that same impulse to connect over some shared reading passion.

So I guess my other piece of advice for finding a community within the community, if you’re struggling, is to think about making your own. It doesn’t have to be huge: ask another blogger if they want to do a read-a-long with you or decide to host a challenge about your favorite books and get it posted at A Novel Challenge. If you reach out a little bit, you’ll start to find community where you may not expect it.

Bottom line: it takes reaching out to build community. A community is not going to just come to you. While I still think leaving comments is huge in terms of finding other bloggers, sometimes it’s the other things — saying “Hey!” on Twitter or just sending a personal e-mail with a compliment to a blogger you like — that have a bigger impact in a shorter amount of time.

The BBAW Interview Swaps are some of my favorite things to read during Book Blogger Appreciation Week. In 2010 I interviewed Donna of Holocaust Resources and in 2009 I met Michelle of GalleySmith during the interviews.

This year I interviewed another new-t0-me blogger, Alysa at everead. Although it looks like we read pretty different books, Alysa did just recently post a review of Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, a book I also read and reviewed awhile back.

For the interview, Alysa and I decided to come up with a list of common questions and both answer them. So if you head over to her blog today, you’ll see my answers. Below is what Alysa had to say!

How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging in June 2007.

Why do you blog?

I blog because I love the social side of reading — it’s not enough for me to love a book, I have to talk about it with other people. Simply put, I can’t shut up about books! The first blogs that interested me were author blogs and review blogs, so blogging felt like a natural way to run my mouth about books.

If you could meet any author, which one would you want to meet and why?

Ooh, I don’t know! I’ve already met my favorite living author, Shannon Hale, many times. Maybe Gene Stratton-Porter. No wait. Jane Austen? Ok c’mon let’s be practical, they’re dead. It would be awesome to meet J.K. Rowling. But I have no idea what we would talk about. I definitely hope to meet Laini Taylor someday, since she already feels like a friend.

Where is your favorite place to read?

In the waiting room. When I was pregnant last year, books transformed the time that I spent sitting in the clinic from an annoyance to a luxury. Plus whatever book I brought in gave me and the doc more to talk about than my body. More than once I had to ask the front desk if I missed my name, since I was so absorbed in my reading.

What is one challenge you frequently face when blogging? How have you tried to overcome it?

Fitting blogging into my schedule. Though, as a full time mom, my schedule is very flexible, it is also very full. I’ve got two boys, ages 1 and 3, who keep me busy from morning till night. Once they’re in bed, blogging is only one of the million things that I didn’t get to during the day. I combat this by jotting down blogging ideas during the day. If I’ve got a little slip of paper with a starter on it, I am much more likely to 1. remember to blog, 2. feel like I have something worthwhile to blog about, and 3. think of blogging as fun.

What is one book you wish everyone would read?

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. I credit this retelling of a Grimm fairy tale with turning me back on to reading.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three books would you want with you?

• A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter, because it would remind me to pull myself up by my bootstraps, and help me embrace the native fauna.
• Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt, because I love it and want to study it in depth. So crisp! Not a word wasted.
• Lastly, one of the 21 fully intact originals of The Gutenberg Bible. Those (big) babies are worth 25-35 million. Even if nobody’s looking for me, someone’s gonna be missing the book.