Newbie Bloggers: The feels you don't want to discuss...

 Are you a little jealous?

maybe a wee bit resentful?

demotivated? or...
at a loss for words?

Guess what!

You are not alone:)

That's right, all those awful feelings you've been having? Turns out they aren't that awful after all. Okay, so maybe they are a tiny bit awful but I promise you they are completely normal. I'm pretty sure all bloggers have felt this way at some stage of their blogging careers. Usually after they first started out their shiny new platforms! Wide eyed and chalk full of potential. Sigh, The mere sight of it would have melted your heart on the spot. Only something happens after two months, 25 posts and a mere 5 followers... 

Things start looking a tiny bit bleak. Why? Because you have some how convinced yourself that you are the most unproductive, uninformed, non-creative, creative person to have ever started a blog in the whole entire history of the world! And how exactly have you done that? You've been on a blog hopping spree..DAM-DAM-DAM!! Jip, you've been to every book blog you could find and read until your brain hurt. Only now, you're wondering...

Thou shall not compare aesthetics! 

The answer is without a doubt, no questions asked, every time ,anywhere, a clear and distinct NOTHING!

Nothing is wrong with you or your blog for that matter! So, maybe book blogger, 1013hashtagpizza, has the most gorgeous blog that you have ever seen and it's probably just as amazingly efficient as you think it is while yours is an unorganized, awkward mess. You're probably changing the way it looks every second week because you just can't seem to get it right... So bloody what? No one expects you to have a winner blog from day one. You're allowed to go through a few awkward stages before your ugly duckling can have its swan moment. Besides no one will care all that much about the aesthetic quality of your blog if you keep on providing quality book related posts and reviews. There are people who go for the shiny blogs with their ARC reviews, blog tours and original memes but those are just half of the book blog community! There are people who will eventually stumble onto your blog and actually like what you have to say and when that day comes you will know that you earned them:) I'm in no way saying that successful blogs are bad and superficial. I'm saying that they are successful because they took their time and found a way to have the perfect combination of content and shine which can only be achieved with age and experience. Which brings me to my next point!

Thou shall not compare followers

Of course followers are important, you're not here to talk about books with yourself are you?No, if you were you wouldn't have gone through all the effort of actually setting up your blog. You'd be sprawled out on your couch reading another one but no you had an intense desire to share the feels which is exactly why every other blogger is here. The thing is they've joined the party several years before you even knew what waiting on Wednesday even was. Realistically, I think it's safe to say that you are in no way on the same level. You still have a long way to go newbie (myself included). Yes it's not half as much fun sweating over a new post only to have it read by one person. It sucks but guess what?  You know how you can't create a second draft of a manuscript out of nothing? Well, same goes for audience. Followers don't just fall from the sky. You have to earn them either you do that through boosts or you write the crap out of that post and share it just about anywhere until someone sees it and loves it. Yay, a new follower:)

Thou shall not compare reviews

Now by comparing reviews i'm referring to the amount that is posted and the relatively new ARC reviews. First of all, no one expects you to read like a maniac! You're here because you love books and because you want to share your various opinions on those that you have read. Don't be too mad at yourself when you simply don't have time for reading. That is not your fault and you shouldn't be making yourself feel bad about it. Remember why you started your blog! Was it because it was something you enjoyed doing or because you needed a reason to turn reading into a chore? If so, delete your account, you came here for the wrong reasons. No one is forcing you to do anything much less making you turn the thing you love into something you hate... If you don't want to write a review don't do it, if you don't want to finish a book don't do it. Read something you want to read because you're wasting your time and giving yourself even more reason to think of blogging as a chore. The point is do what you want with your blog and your time. As you already know, time is something you won't be getting back.

Secondly, I want to discuss those lovely but mostly unattainable ARC's (Advanced Readers Copy). Oh boy, as much as I love reading about a book before it comes out, like everyone else I would prefer to have the privilege of reading it myself. However, this privilege is only extended to the more well known book bloggers. This makes it feel like there is no way of keeping up with those blogs but hey that's probably just temporary:) If you work as hard as those bloggers did there is no reason to believe that you won't be on Penguin's mailing list some day. The truth is it just won't be today but that's okay too because every book should have a chance to make it onto your blog and it doesn't really matter when it came out as long as it made you want to say something.

You don't have to feel inferior or less important when you're not in on the latest releases just think of it as something to aspire to not as hurdles being throne your way because at the end of the day it's not personal, it's business:) And if this is you right now...

I'm gonna have to agree with Nicole on this one

                                                                 
                                                                   Last but not least..

Thou shall not compare, period!

If you continue to have those tiny bit awful feelings we discussed earlier just remember the following:

You also have a banging blog! No amount of followers, likes, comments or views can change that:) So support your fellow bloggers, learn from them, talk to them and before you know it things will seem a lot less bleak!

Share your Newbie blogging experience down below. Have you ever felt this way?Did it get better for you? Let me know and we'll discuss:) I'm still very much green so I'll most probably be able to relate.