Over the last three years — and maybe the last year in particular — we’ve been asked a lot of questions about the logistics of blogging and making it happen. We’re not experts, but we’ve learned some things that have worked really well for us (and some things that haven’t). To kick off our anniversary week, we thought we’d offer up our insights on keeping this a fun thing that we really like and look forward to doing. We’ve taken turns sharing our thoughts here, so sometimes you’re hearing from all of us and sometimes, just one of us.

• You don’t have to review everything: We get this question a lot! We do not review everything  read, nor do we read everything that we get. Sometimes a book doesn’t interest us or sometimes we read something and don’t, for one reason or another, find it worth blogging about. It’s okay. We tend to take this philosophy not just toward the physical books that we receive or pick up, but we take the same approach with Netgalley titles.  

• Read what you like: (Kimberly here) This is a little bit of a personal elaboration on the first point. Just as you don’t have to review everything you read, you don’t have to read everything you’re sent, either! This was a small revelation for me at first – I was a bit overwhelmed by the unsolicited books I got, and a bit grateful too. I felt that if someone was kind enough to send me the book, I should darn well read it! I feel differently now. If the jacket copy doesn’t interest me or I start reading it and lose interest, I put it down. If I request a book or pick it up at a conference, I’ll certainly read it, but if it shows up on my doorstep unannounced, I’ll give it away to someone who will enjoy it. There’s no need to feel obligated to read something you know you won’t enjoy.

• Do what you want: This is our biggest thought on book blogging — there aren’t any rules about what you can and cannot do, so take chances. Write what you want to write. For a long time, we were reluctant to blog about “big issues,” thinking we should stay completely on topic with reviewing books, sharing book lists, and talking covers. But some of those “big issue” posts end up bringing about great discussion. They’re freeing and they serve as great reference points. More importantly, they help give your blog a voice. We’ve learned in the last year, too, sometimes being completely objective in blogging isn’t necessary. Sometimes talking about your own vulnerabilities or talking about the personal reasons why a book resonated with you is a good thing for both you and for people who read your blog. 

• Promoting your blog: All three of us use Twitter, but none of us uses it solely to promote our blog posts. Kelly’s general rule of thumb (personally) is to have the blog post tweet out automatically when content publishes, and depending on what the content is, she’ll tweet it once in the morning, once around lunch time, and once at dinner time or later. And that’s generally when we see spikes in our blog hits. If there’s a post we really want to draw attention to, sometimes she’ll tweet it one or two more times a day. Same with Kimberly and Jen. But otherwise? We use Twitter to develop relationships and to discover new things. Sometimes Kelly uses Twitter as a filter for what articles are worth reading, worth looking at again, what blog posts she should spend some time thinking about. Sometimes Jen uses Twitter as an extension of her Google Reader, as other bloggers can stumble upon articles of note in blogs she doesn’t follow. Mostly, though, we’re just us on Twitter. If people want to read what we write via Twitter or they want to share it? That’s just bonus. Our thought is it’s more important to be yourself and let people learn about you/what you’re doing on their own terms than to force yourself on them. 

• Exploit Your Resources: (Kelly speaking here) I hate e-reading, but I do it. (Jen piping in: I feel the same way, but eReading is often  much more convenient in certain situations, and often eGalleys are the only copies of a certain title that I can get.) It keeps down on having print books in my house, helps out the environment, and allows me to be much more selective in what I’m reviewing/reading/spending time with. Most people know about Netgalley already, but many people don’t know about another really worthwhile resource, which is Edelweiss. You can request review copies through Edelweiss, but that’s not why you should use it. You should use it for the simplicity of having (most) big publisher catalogs all in one place. I find this so helpful not only to know what’s coming out in the next 6-9 months, but I like checking them out and looking for what those big titles will be — and more importantly, what the midlist titles will be. The other thing you can do on Edelweiss is update titles with your reviews. I’m not sure the impact it has, but I do like copying those reviews on books I really enjoyed. It can’t hurt. Another thing I do is read a lot of industry news. Shelf Awareness has a great daily newsletter (they have three I read — the general one, the one for readers, and the “maximum shelf”), and Publisher’s Lunch is another daily read of mine. I also subscribe to a few of Publisher’s Weekly’s newsletters and School Library Journal’s.

• Read how you like: (Kimberly here) I hate e-reading, so I don’t do it. For some people, such as Kelly and Jen, it’s the lesser of two evils: you either read the book electronically or you don’t get to read the book at all. For me, reading a book on a screen is so unpleasant that I’d just rather not read it. I feel this way for a variety of reasons: I need to curl up with a book in order to become engrossed in it, and a computer doesn’t let me do that (I don’t own an e-reader); I need a page that isn’t backlit because it gives me a headache; I need the feel of the pages in my hands; and so on. This all may sound a bit backward or like I’m just echoing one of those annoying people who says “Oh, but it’s just not the same,” and it is a little bit of that. But I will tell you that part of the reason I love one of my favorite books is because of the way it smelled when I first cracked it open, so there you go. In this way, e-reading is something that I believe impacts my assessment of the novel in an unfair way. If I read your book in book form, I’m more likely to enjoy it, and I want to give every book I read a fair shake. Because of that, it’s important to my blogging that I read the book in print. But I think my point here is that no matter which side of the fence you fall on, it needs to work for you.

• Be “on” even if you’re “off”: A lot of times people ask how we keep ideas flowing or how we come up with things to write about. (Kelly talking) Mine is pretty straightforward: I not only give myself periods of time during the week to brainstorm, but I always have a notebook around me (or maybe my favorite — I keep my email open to write up draft emails). Whenever an idea strikes me, I write it down, even if it’s completely undeveloped. If I read something that gets my mind going, I make a note of it. And this goes along with the last point: keep your eyes peeled for what’s coming. It’ll help you figure out if you have something to say. Jen: I work similarly, even keeping a pad of paper next to my bed to jot down notes that may occur to me before bed or first thing in the morning.

• Staying organized and motivated: I think I’m lucky in that I blog with two ladies I love working with and with whom I share a lot of similar beliefs. We keep each other motivated, and we have a system where if someone’s too busy to write something, someone else will pick up the slack. (Jen adds that Kelly and Kim were quite accommodating during my blogging maternity leave!) It’s not a big deal. If you’re curious about logistics/the behind-the-scenes stuff at STACKED, here it is: usually on Friday, we email one another and decide what days we want to claim for our own posts. Then we write them and schedule them for whatever days we claimed. We don’t read one another’s posts before publishing them and we don’t usually run topics by one another (unless we’re brainstorming). Once in a while we’ll ask for someone to read something we’ve written to make sure it makes sense or is well-written, but otherwise, we tackle our own ideas on our own. As far as personally, I tend to write my week of posts on Sunday mornings, carving out a few hours early in the day. It takes the pressure of writing something the night before, for me anyway! That’s not to say I don’t blog during the week; I’d guess I probably blog a little bit of something every single day, even if it never actually makes it to a final post. It keeps me fresh and keeps me engaged and passionate. Jen: I tend to plan out on Friday what post(s) I’ll be writing the following week. I used to write them up on Sunday morning, as Kelly mentioned, but now, with a baby, it’s more that I fit in in when I can find the time! Kimberly: I blog in bits and pieces throughout the week, usually in the evenings after work. It’s rare that I sit down and write an entire post in one sitting. I like to jot a few sentences down, let it percolate, and then come back to it.

• Maintain control: It’s our blog and no one else’s, and we make all of our decisions through that lens. We don’t worry about participating in the latest or greatest promotions, even if we feel pressure to. We allow ourselves to make review decisions based on our feelings and on nothing more objective. Does it mean we might miss out on traffic? Sure. But we blog because we enjoy doing it, so we’re going to do it the way we want to do it.

• Build and cherish relationships: Something I never expected with blogging was actually developing some pretty meaningful relationships. Part of making this happen is putting yourself out there, going to events, introducing yourself to people. Part of making this happen is being a good member of the community and taking the time to talk back to people who talk to you (and I will forever be grateful Blogger finally let us have threaded comments for this very reason). Part of this is conversing on Twitter, promoting other blog posts, and sharing ARCs. Part of making this happen is having a voice and being less-than-objective in what you do. In exploiting your resources. In doing what you want to do. In being on even when you want to be off.  In being passionate. You don’t have to make your world your blog, but sometimes your world gets richer because of the relationships you make through it. One of my big rules of thumb about this, though, is keeping those relationships separate from the blog, unless it’s necessary to mention it. Why? Because they matter more to me than content. My friendships are more than a book or a blog, and I know that those with whom I’ve forged real relationships with feel the same way. I feel lucky everyday having found this community, but I feel more lucky in having established relationships that help make me a better person.

Stay tuned the rest of this week to get to know the ladies behind STACKED . . . but maybe not in the way you’re expecting. We’re taking you back to our high school selves, our teen experiences, and what we were reading back then.