I've been Nominated!

A huge thanks and a big shout out to my fellow book blogger, Lauren over at Lauren's Book Addiction (https://laurensbookaddiction.wordpress.com/) for my first nomination for the Blogger Recognition Awards. It was a huge surprise and a very good way to start my Monday morning! Thanks Lauren. Big hugs to you!

RULES OF THE AWARD:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. 2. Write a post to show your award. 3. Give a brief story of how your blog started. 4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers. 5. Select other bloggers you want to give this award to. 6. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide a link to the post you created.

My Story

The Buzzing Bookmark is only 3.5 months old and so it's still a baby, but I've loved doing it and I'm happy to see the following growing steadily. I started the page so that I could share my love of reading with others and in an attempt to help casual readers find something gripping to read next. As a book blogger, your followers get to know your reading style and once they're read a few books that you recommended and should they agree with your review of the book, then they start to trust your recommendations. They buy books on the basis of what you suggest. I love this aspect of blogging and find it very rewarding.

I've been a serious bookworm all my life and in the last few years, my obsession has grown. For the last two years I've read over 80 books a year, and that's with a full time job. I always allow for an hour or two in the evenings to get some reading in and this is usually done snuggled up in bed, my favourite book reading spot. And of course I love weekends with no plans which means I can get to read until my heart's content.

Advice

My first piece of advice for first time book bloggers and those just starting out is pace yourself with your reading and subsequent reviews. If you register on NetGalley and you are lucky enough to be approved as a "professional reader", then start slowly. Don't request so many titles that you can't possible review them by their publication dates. My advice is to request no more than three or four books, read them, review them and then request more. It's difficult to do, especially at first because it feels like Christmas has come early, but do try.

My second piece of advice is to always write honest reviews. That means giving a negative review if you didn't like the book. Your followers want to be able to trust you and they can't do that if everything you read you love. Not all books appeal to all of us, and you need to be strong enough to write a negative review even if its for an author that you usually love.

And so with that, here are my nominees for the award:

1) Karen - http://www.myreadingcorner.co.uk/

2) Sue - http://sueandherbooks.blogspot.co.za/

3) Lynne - https://fictionophile.wordpress.com/

4) Amy - https://novelgossip.com/

5) Chelsea - https://thesuspenseisthrillingme.com/

6) Tracey Fenton - http://www.compulsivereaders.com/

7) Lorraine - https://thebookreviewcafe.com/

8) Sam - https://cluesandreviews.wordpress.com/

9) Gemma - https://gemmasbookreviews.wordpress.com/

10) Kate - https://bibliophilebookclub.com/

11) Jules - https://littlemissnosleep.wordpress.com/