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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Best Breakout Blog Nominee!

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED THE WINNER IS ALLURING READS

Here's how it's going to run down: there will be a poll at the bottom of this post and you simply just vote for your favorite blog out of all of these arguments! :) Each day, there will be THREE voting rounds posted, so you'll have to scroll down and see all the posts for yourself. Each voting round lasts for exactly a week and once every voting round it done, winners will be announced, and prizes (if you would like to donate contact us. Please remember that if we don't get enough prizes we won't be giving ANY out at all) shipped out—that is, if the winner wants a prize.

For the Well-Known nominees, we asked for: unique pageviews per month, followers, average comments, a little about their blog, the blog's start date and the type of content you post.

Cuddlebuggery
Cuddlebuggery Book Blog
  • Unique page views per month: Within the last three months we have had a steady average of around 30,000 unique visitors a month.
    Average amount of comments per book review/post: This one is hard. Depends on the post and day, but I want to say an average of at least 10-20 comments on reviews and 30 or more on discussion posts.
  • Followers
    • Twitter: 1,295
    • Email Subscribers: 356
    • Networked blogs: 129
    • RSS: around 500
  • What type of content you post usually: We post reviews, giveaways, our discussion posts (Musing Musers) and our signature story interviews
  • Blog start date: Our blog officially opened on Feb. 13th. So we *just* celebrated our 6 months mark this month. 
  • A little about your blog: We have a little story on how we became a blog, but we don't want to hog the blog post, so you can read it here. It may shock you to find out that Kat avoided my advances initially. And now at 6 months strong we've had over 200,000 page views to our site. Best decision ever!
    • Informal, yet slightly fabricated, response: We are just a few reviewers originating from GoodReads, where in one drunken shenanigan-filled night had the brilliant idea to start a book blog. Our only goal? To rock your face off.

    • Formal response: Kat and I started Cuddlebuggery when we both realized how incredibly hard it is to blog alone. Along the way our co-blogger, Archer, joined our ranks. The goal was to start a blog that was completely different, doing things you don't typically see on review blogs. But along with promoting great reads, we wanted to entertain people too. We strive to create unique, humorous and high quality posts each and every time. Also, we like gifs. ;D
Alluring Reads
Alluring Reads
  • Unique pageviews per month: According to statcounter my average is 4290.
    Average amount of comments per post: I average about 10 comments per post. Not including my replies.
  • Followers: 982 GFC, 98 RSS, 374 likes on FB and 709 Twitter followers.
  • What type of content do you usually post: I post mainly reviews of course, I try for at least 3 a week.  Other than that I participate in the meme's Waiting on Wednesday as well as Stacking The Shelves.  I also post the odd cover reveal here and there.
  • Blog Start Date: My first post was on February 6, 2012
  • A little about your blog: I started my blog because my kids had gotten a bit older and I had more "ME" time.  I am painfully opinionated and I love reading so starting a book review blog was the perfect marriage of my love for reading and showing my opinions down people's throats.  I try to post more reviews than anything else, because that's what the blog is for and I love getting feedback from readers (even if they disagree!)  I love the book blogging community and I'm happy that I have found my place within it!
Ana's Attic
Ana's Attic Sexy Tales and Toys
ABOUT: I review most types of romance books, but I am always on the hunt to help people find a book to read after Fifty Shades of Grey. So my blog focuses on erotic, BDSM and contemporary romance with some great "new adult" and paranormal romance thrown in. I love to write "Top Picks" lists and have many more in the works (I will try to post one per month). The most amazing feeling to me is when a person tells me they were turned on to a new author or fell in love with a book because I recommended it.

START DATE: My blog went semi-live April 15, 2012. I was embedding it within another site for over a month, and never got that working too well until, at the beginning of June 2012, I switched to putting the blog as a link from my website. The website is Ana's Attic (www.anas-attic.com), and the blog portion is Ana's Diary, (www.anas-attic.com/anas_diary/) but I prefer the whole thing to be Ana's Attic Sexy Tales.

History & Type Of Content: The blog started as a way to share books to read after Fifty Shades of Grey and books similar to it, as well as sex toys and advice. I also wanted to put series reading orders up because I often struggle to find that. My husband was into me selling the toys from Fifty Shades of Grey (figures, typical guy), so he agreed to do some of the graphic design (I can't do that stuff at all). Now that it is up and running, I am 90-95% talking about books, the rest about sex. I read all kinds of books, but prefer a HOT romance with an Alpha male.

How Often I Post: I try to post on the blog at least once per day. I have 138 posts total as of 8/20/12, (3 were backdated to before April 15 so I wouldn't look so new), but I post way more on Facebook and Twitter. I review 3-4 books a week, plus add series reading orders, new releases, author news and freebie lists.

Followers: I am not sure how to count followers on the blog because it is self-hosted wordpress, though I just added linky and have 26 followers. I have 401 twitter followers and 270 Facebook followers as of 9:00am 8/21/12.

Unique Page Views: The only full month I have stats for is July, 2012. I didn't put statcounter on until mid-June when my free clicky account filled up. I work very hard at SEO to get visitors to my blog, and come in high for a lot of keywords, but I am not that well known in the blogging world yet.

Stats for July 2012 are:
53,078 unique page views
37,039 unique visitors
2,694 repeat visitors from June
August is running a bit lower with 27,988 for the month through 8/20.

Comments: I have this spam-free filter that has filtered out over 1000 comments, but I don't know how many of those were good ones or not. I would say I average 3 responses per post on the blog, 10 on Facebook.

Little Read Reading Hood
Little Read Riding Hood
My name is Laura, and I have been blogging since the end of March. I started blogging because I LOVE to read, as I am sure most of you do as well. I don't have many "real life" friends that obsess over books like I do, so I was thrilled when I came across Goodreads. FINALLY, I had a place where I could meet like-minded people, who share my stalker-like obsession for authors and their books. (Note: I am not really a stalker, that would take entirely too much time and energy!) At the time I was reading the most wonderful series ever by the lovely Stacia Kane. If you have not read the Downside Ghosts series, go. Do it now, I will wait. *taps foot*

Anyway, there was some sort of contest to win Sacrificial Magic early, and one of the ways to enter was to talk about the book on your blog. Well, I had been thinking about starting a blog for a while. Unfortunately, I didn't get it up in time to enter the contest, but it was the push I needed. Now, the best moment of my blogging life happened not long after I got started. I had a post where I discussed what I was currently reading (Sacrificial Magic, duh) and I got a notification about a comment. When I looked, STACIA KANE HERSELF COMMENTED! Seriously, I called my mom crying. I am a giant, giant fangirl and nerd. It is ok.

Since then, I have met so many wonderful people, authors and bloggers alike, that I can count as real friends. It is a wonderful community where everyone is so helpful. If I have a question, I know someone out there will help me. I can only hope that as I continue to do this, that I will be as knowledgeable so I can in turn, help the other up and comers.
  • Unique page views per month It has been a slow increase, to just over 1300
  • Average amount of comments per book review/post Depends on the book. Some get only 1, but most get between 1 - 5 on average, my posts that are not reviews usually get more!
  • Followers 63 email, 220 Twitter, 273 Facebook, and 169 Linky! I am pretty proud of all that
  • What type of content you post usually Book reviews for YA, Paranormal, Fantasy and all combinations of them! Also participate in memes when my work schedule allows me, I also LOVE doing Book Tours and Cover Reveals; even if I don't like a particular book, there is someone out there that will, and I want others to read it!
  • Blog start date (When you started your blog) My very first "Welcome" post was March 25th. I didn't really "start" blogging on a more regular basis until April/May :-)
  • A little about your blog - see above :-)
Kindles and Wine
  • Unique page view a month: Hilariously, being new to blogging and all, we didn't set up Google Analytics on our blog until about a week ago. So we'd rather not prorate and make up this stat, if that's okay. :-)
  • Average amount of comments per book review/post: Our highest comment count was 65 for an ARC review and giveaway. We average 36 comments on our review posts.
  • Followers: As of today (8/20), we have 59 subscribers.
  • What type of content you post usually
  • We are a book blog. The official description on our site says: Kindles & Wine was founded by Kindle Gal and features five of her book-loving gal pals. Here, we rant or rave about our latest reads. Our goal is to provide honest reviews of books covering nearly every genre. So far we've posted 9 book reviews in 5 genres. Some of our posts have included exclusive author interviews (unique to our blog, not published/reproduced anywhere else) and giveaways. We have featured/reviewed New York Times bestselling authors, debut authors, and self-published authors. We will also begin hosting guest blogs written by authors starting later this week.
  • Blog start date: Our first official post was on June 26, 2012:
  • A little about your blog: This might be best explained with an excerpt from our first blog post: I created Kindles & Wine out of pure selfishness. I wanted a place to discuss books I like with people I like. In fact, I have bribed five of my über-bookish friends to join me on this journey into blogdom ... Together, the six of us will fawn over or critique to death books from nearly every genre. We sincerely hope you will grab a friend or two (or five!) and join in the discussions. The more interactive, the better! And just for fun, we will also provide a suggested wine or other beverage pairing for each book reviewed. Please drink and read responsibly! (Note: You do not have to be a Kindle owner or wine lover to enjoy this blog. We do not discriminate on the basis of preferred book format or beverage type.)
 (click to enlarge)

My Secret Romance
  • Unique page views a month: It's hard to give an exact number. I use a site that pumps out anything I post, a lot of bloggers do, and I believe it opens my blog's page each time. If not, then I am in shock at the page views I get! LOL Whenever I'm asked for a monthly number of views, I usually cut it in half. So this month after it was divide in half it would be close to 11,000 page views.
  • Average amount of comments per book review/post: It can be anywhere from 6 - 60. It all depends on the post truthfully.
  • Followers: 211 Google Friend Connect, 70 Linky followers, 306 Facebook, 444 Twitter
  • What type of content you post usually: Romance reviews, giveaways, interviews, spotlights, and blog tours
  • Blog start date: November 2011
A little about My Secret Romance and how it came to be: I had been contemplating about starting my own blog for a few months before I finally found the courage. It came after two authors, who I adore, made comments about my reviews. Their input helped me realize that my opinion mattered…not just in the minds of other hardcore readers like myself, but to the writers themselves. Clearly I had the push I needed to get started. I was ready to go…but I needed a name…

One night while lying in bed, reading of course, my husband turned to me and said, "Taryn, must you have sex with your books every night?" I laughed until I cried! He was right and there was no reason to deny it. My husband is well aware of my obsession with reading and buying books, hot and steamy books. So long as my husband was happy, there was no problem with my obsession. In fact, it helped spice things up.

That same night, I had told him I wanted to start a blog but needed a name. He turned to me and said, "You should call it My Secret Romance." And so I did. I felt like it was the perfect title for my blog. A sexy secret relationship- with books. Let's face it…every romance reader has a deep relationship with books that consume them. No need to deny it...it’s the truth.

Within a month of starting My Secret Romance, I had E.L. James scheduled to be on for her Fifty Shades Freed Blog Tour. I freaked out! I hardly had any followers at the time, no idea what to post or even how to interview an author. I decided since the trilogy was making waves and so many readers had questions for her, I thought it would be fun to have the readers interview her too. So that's what I did...and I think it came out great! Here is my first big post. Since then I've gotten the chance to interview best-selling authors like Eden Bradley, Maya Banks, Tiffany Reisz, and Kelly Jamieson. I've also had the opportunity to interview self published authors who are quickly rising to the top like K.A. Linde, Tarryn Fisher, SS Hampton, and Carole Bellacera. I love being able to have the chance to interview authors and post it for everyone to see. It makes blogging and reading so much more special.
My Secret Romance could not have come this far without the help of my wonderful reviewers. There are eight ladies who read and review books, and a few of them help with interview authors to post. I love them and appreciate all that they do. If it wasn't for these woman, then My Secret Romance wouldn't have gotten this far or had so many posts. xoxo

Buffy's Ramblings
  • Average amount of comments is 0 on reviews, but can usually get a couple on author posts. 
  • 154 followers via GFC
  • Content is mostly book reviews with at least one author spotlight a week, whether it's an interview or guest post.
  • Started posting reviews in March and progressed from there.
  • Blog Blurb: Just a little blog run by me, myself, and I. I post frequent reviews, at least 2 a week, and I love to spread the word about authors so I post at least one guest spot a week which is usually an interview, but sometimes guest posts or character interviews. There are often giveaways from those authors, and I do biweekly weekend SWAG giveaways to share the love. I can also generally be found along a blog hop once a month or so! Perhaps taking a back seat is that I'm also an aspiring author, so there's pages with WIP info, and I post a weekly Flash Fiction as well based on input from readers! Please feel free to stop by and show some love :D

The Teen Book Guru
  • Unique page views per month: 600-800
  • Average number of comments per post: 15-30
  • Followers: GFC-1150 Linky-280
  • What type of content you post usually: Reviews, Memes, Interviews, Giveaways
  • How long you've been blogging: 5 1/2 months
Hey guys! I'm so honored to have been nominated for the Best Breakout Blog category. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for The Teen Book Guru. You guys are my faithful readers and followers, and honestly, no statistics or numbers will ever be able to even compare to the love you guys shower me with.
And a huge thank you also to the Bloggy Awards crew. The people who made the awards possible. I really appreciate everything you do for us, and the Bloggy Awards are truly a fabulous way to spread blogger love. <33

So, I'd like to give you guys some daisies and hugs. You guys rock so hard!
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Even though I've only been blogging for 5 or so months, I feel like I've been immersed in this wonderful blogging community forever. That's because you guys, all you bloggers, and readers out there have made me feel like I belong here since day one. Your comments, tweets, and just over-all love and support makes me feel at home. If I wasn't blogging, I don't know what I'd do.

So, a little about my blog...

The Teen Book Guru started, in April, as a way for me to share my love of books with everyone (at the time, I didn't think anyone would be reading my blog, only my mom :P). So, in around June, when things started picking up, and my blog started getting noticed not only by fellow bloggers and book-lovers, but by authors and publishers, I was flabbergasted, but also really proud. Here was my baby, (very pink, baby might I add), getting thrown out into the world!

I was really excited, and as you might guess, a little nervous. While I loved the attention, a little voice in the back of my head kept nagging me and saying 'What if they don't like what they see?? There are SO many better blogs out there!' I think every blogger has had that moment. That 'why me?' moment.  And I'll tell you why. After almost half a year of blogging, I've come to realize that every blog is special and unique in their own way. Guys, we are all AWESOME. In our different ways, so lets not ever change? <33 You don't have to be the most fancy, or technologically advanced blog to be amazing! I think what is just so great about our little blogging community is that we are all so diverse and different, yet merge and get along together SO DAMN WELL. 

Over the last few months, as you might've noticed, I've changed the look of The Teen Book Guru quite a bit. Although, throughout all the changes, all the ups and downs, one factor has remained. Pink. Pink is something that describes my blog very well. Being my favorite color, ask any of my friends to define me with one word, and chances are, they would all say PINK. There's something so girly, and feminine, yet so confident and empowering, so epicly great about the color pink. Wouldn't the world be a better place if everything was pink?? :P

However, just because my blog is pink, doesn't mean you should underestimate it. I've got some serious stuff going on there! From reviews and interviews, to memes and giveaways, I try to cover them all, although I try to post more reviews than anything else. My blog is, first and foremost, a YA book review blog, after all.

So, I think that sums up my blog and I in a nutshell!

Now... as for why you should vote for me, when I'm up against so many amazing bloggers?? To be honest, I don't know. I think everyone's great, and everyone deserves to win an award. But, I guess, since you have to vote, I would really, really appreciate and like it if you voted for me, but I totally understand if you don't. Either way, I'll still love you guys. So, VOTE VOTE VOTE! 

Thanks for your time, my lovelies!

Peace out! xxx
Love YA Books Forever
I have a total of 998 page views last month. I would say I have about 10 to 12 comments per week.  I have 39 followers from Blogger but I also have Twitter and Facebook.

About me: I absolutely love to blog it is my way of sharing my love for books. I usually post reviews about books I like.  When I obsess over a story I would go all fangirl and spread le love via twitter, facebook and my blog. 
In the beggining I felt like I was sending my thoughts to a black hole but as time when by I started feeling the love.  I have slowly gained new followers and I absolutely adore it.  I like to show my appreciation with monthly giveaways.  Blogging is actually a stress reliever for me something to express myself and it is the best feeling ever to have my followers interact with me.  It is amazing to know that someone out there took the time to read my thoughts.

After voting, make sure to scroll down to the next two categories!
 
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3 comments:

  1. I've had a wonderful experience with Alluring Reads and Cuddle Buggery.

    What a great way to recognize talent in the book blogging world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CuddleBuggery followed by Alluring Reads

    ReplyDelete