BBAW: Community Part 2.

In today's daily topic for BBAW, we are asked to talk about finding out place in this big community, as well as our tips for cultivating relationships with our like-minded book bloggers.

When I started my own blog, I knew nothing about the larger book blogging community. In fact, I didn't really consider myself a book blogger until I realized that I seemed to click with this amazing group of people!

At the start, I had a hard time determining where I fit in. I was originally finding a ton of YA themed blogs and my classics project didn't seem to fit in anywhere! It was only after quite a few months that I began to regularly seek out bloggers who reviewed classics (there aren't as many of us as there should be!). However, I am usually a pretty diverse reader in terms of genre, so there were a lot of bloggers I began to follow who have nothing to do with reading classics.

One of the things that helped me as a new blogger was joining in on certain memes. And while I have never been a huge participant, filling one out every once in awhile is a great deal of fun and the perfect way to find new bloggers to read. This definitely helped me as a new blogger.

But what really got me involved in the book blogging community was participating in some of the big events. While I was around for the October 2009 Read-a-thon, I was so new that I didn't know to sign up or anything. When April 2010 rolled around, I made sure to participate and visit other blogs. This really gave me the opportunity to branch out into reading even more blogs by the people who came and commented on my own posts that day. Since then, I make a concerted effort to participate in the 24 hour read-a-thon every time, and this past time, I even hosted!

I also joined my first readalong in April of 2010 (The Brothers Karamazov hosted by Bellezza). It was another way of communicating with bloggers with similar bookish tastes. It helped me meet a few other bloggers and become part of the community.

The other big event that I began to participate in on a regular basis was the Classics Circuit. This is probably my favorite "event" in book blogging, as it gives me a chance to explore writers with other people. I think it is a great way to promote what I find important, and I have participated in almost all of the tours since I discovered it.

Most importantly, however, I became a bigger part of the community by simply writing. Without real content on your blog, it is hard to form relationships with your readers. From the beginning, I wanted to speak from my heart and I try to remember that in each post I write. I have also tried to branch out to the community by hosting readalongs/group reads for classics, as well as being involved in other events as they pop up. I think that to feel accepted by any group, you need to be an active participant. I try to do this as much as I can around my busy schedule. Nothing bugs me more than when a blog is all filler and no substance. The number one way to get more readers is to read, then write about it. Memes, surveys, and the like are fun, but after a while, I want to get in your head about your thoughts on what you are reading. After all, isn't that why we're here in the first place?

In the future, I hope that more people will be inspired to start new events and things for bloggers to participate in. I love joining in on readalongs, featured series, group reads, and discussions. I am also hoping to discover more bloggers from my own state (Michigan), since I feel we are in the minority! But anyway, I love the interactive nature of blogging and I hope that we all strive to achieve more of it!

Be sure to head to the BBAW website to see what others have to say!