Discussion Post: Who Am I Blogging For?

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 90 Comments

In some ways, thus post is a continuation of the one I wrote last week regarding blog posts I enjoyed as a non-blogger. Writing it made me re-evaluate why I started and continue to blog. According to WordPress, this will be my 100th post on the blog, so I wanted to recap and review my own journey as a blogger. As with all my discussion posts, I don’t have a concrete answer – but would love to hear your side of things, too!

It goes without saying that I blog for myself first and foremost. I initially started this blog as more of a book journal, one that I never expected or wanted anyone to read. It meant that most of what I wrote was book reviews, they were a way for me to keep track of the books I read. It also helped motivated me to read more books – I went from someone who read maybe 2 books a month to a crazed devourer of 4 books a week! Continue reading “Discussion Post: Who Am I Blogging For?” →

Hogwarts School Of Blogcraft and Bookistry: Divination

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 49 Comments

Hello class,

This is the third class in our BBCreativityProject’s Hogwarts School of Blogcraft and Bookistry series.

Although people like Miss Granger may try to dismiss my classes as hodge podge instead of real magic – I’ll prove disbelievers wrong with these set of predictions today.

As 2016 quickly approaches, one of the questions on everyone’s mind is ‘Which books should I preorder?’. In today’s class, we’ll look at forecasting the future bestsellers that you should add to your shopping cart promptly!

The new year also brings a new crop of bloggers. Our class will tell you the rising stars you should follow as soon as possible! Continue reading “Hogwarts School Of Blogcraft and Bookistry: Divination” →

Discussion: Posts I Loved Reading As A Non Blogger

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 74 Comments

Although I began blogging four months ago, it feels a lot longer, and the direction of my blog has changed a little. There are a lot of dialogue floating around about ‘blogging niche’ and ‘finding your target audience’. I’ve always written about things that directly interested me, which I find is increasingly more blogging-related rather than bookish-related. I started wondering if my past self, the non blogger – would even bother reading my blog if she stumbled upon it?

As bloggers, it’s very easy to get caught up in our little circle and forget about other potential audience. Today, I take a step back, for the sake of my past self! Continue reading “Discussion: Posts I Loved Reading As A Non Blogger” →

5 Signs Your Blogging Honeymoon Is Over (And How To Deal!)

October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 111 Comments

Joey promised me a couple of months back that my boundless enthusiasm for blogging was destined to wane. While I initially dismissed this as one of those crazy, irreverent fiction he likes to spout – I have to admit he’s right! My honeymoon period is coming to an end – no longer is blogging filled with all things shiny and good. I have to -gasp- put effort into my hobby now. Do you suffer from the post-honeymoon blues? Check below for the symptoms.

I. Most books you read seem a little lacklustre

Last week I DNF-d three books and wrote two 3-stars review. Now, my 3-stars reviews are usually quite positive, I aim to be nice and diplomatic – but I found myself exceedingly critical. I also felt I had little patience for less than stellar reads. I confess to having spent more time complaining about books on twitter, DM and Gchat than actually reading or reviewing them,

HOW I HANDLE IT: I stopped reading review copies for a week and started reading books I’ve had lying around on my Kindle for a while. Sometimes I even read with no intentions of reviewing the book, which takes the pressure of needing to commentate on every plot point a bit more bearable. Once my reading diet is healthy with 4 to 5 stars reads, I’d go back to conquering that ARC TBR. I want to put myself in a frame of mind where I am constantly grateful about reviewing, rather than seeing it as a chore. Continue reading “5 Signs Your Blogging Honeymoon Is Over (And How To Deal!)” →

Design Guide: 4 Apps for Design Success

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 74 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on how I do my blog graphics and which program I use. In reality, I use a happy marriage of Photoshop CS5 + Freepik + Creative Market. However, I am well aware that not many people have access to Photoshop. Today, I’m listing out a few apps I’ve used in the past to create graphics, for these, all you need is a smart phone or tablet! They are great because:

They’re easy to use, no more reading tutorials on Photoshop for hours!
You’re able to work on your blog anywhere, you don’t have to be limited by lack of laptop or computer, this will appeal to all your dedicated bloggers!
They’re (mostly) free!

Click On The Heading To Be Linked To The App Store!

Typography is one of my great weaknesses and I am trying to improve. With Word Swag, I can quickly whip up Tumblr worthy edits with time to spare.

PROS: Legible but aesthetically pleasing fonts, plenty of variety in terms of style, very user friendly. You can use both your own images or from a bank of photos with free royalty.

CONS: Some in=app purchases required, however there’s plenty of free content. Can’t add shadows or gradients to the text itself, limiting the variety of looks and sacrificing legibility at times. Limited to square crops. Continue reading “Design Guide: 4 Apps for Design Success” →

The Secret Life Of A Book Blogger

September 11, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 61 Comments

I’ve been seeing this float around on the blogosphere, and was really looking forward to doing this post. Thanks to the lovely Vane of Book With Chemistry for tagging me!

How long have you been a blogger?

I started blogging on the 13th of June this year, so by the time this is posted my 3rd month blogoversary will be just two days away. It feels like I’ve been blogging for SO much longer, though. I salute everyone who’s been doing this for a year plus, now that I know how much time and dedication this hobby require. Continue reading “The Secret Life Of A Book Blogger” →

Discussion: The Key To Beating Writer’s Block – The Book Reviewer’s Edition

September 7, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 71 Comments

Before I started writing book reviews, a quick browse on Goodreads assured past-me that it would be easy *laughs hysterically* What could be so hard about writing out your own feelings and opinion, after all?

Then I started blogging and was introduced to a new world of pain. While there were a couple of reviews that came to me very easily; for every one of those, there’s three that took me half of forever to type up. While I’m relatively new, so I only have about 40 reviews under my belt, here are some reasons why I find certain books more difficult to write about! (Also some suggestions on how to get over the writer’s block, for those who suffer the same predicament)

Continue reading “Discussion: The Key To Beating Writer’s Block – The Book Reviewer’s Edition” →

Tags: Blogger Recognition Award

July 26, 2015July 26, 2015 ~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 22 Comments

Thank you so much to the lovely Princessica of Books (edit: and Twins Turn Pages, just this morning, sorry it’s a scheduled post XD) for nominating me! I am so behind on all my book tags, I will try and slowly get through them soon!

Here are the rules:

Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to.

Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers.

Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing!

I have been a long time lurker of the blogging world. Since 2009, in fact! I had a blogspot account in those days, but I was very poor at maintaining it. That blogging stint lasted a total of 1 month, and I had 7 blog posts to show for it. Then I decided blogging wasn’t for me and was content to watch from the sidelines and just read reviews sporadically until June this year. As my real life schedule freed up, I found I had a lot of time to read books and wanted a place to document and motivate myself to conquer the TBR pile. Now that I’ve started interacting with the community, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop any time soon!

Here are my tips, but I am also a newbie at this, so take my words with a few tonnes of salt!

Be yourself & Find Your Voice are the most often quoted comments in Book Blogging Tips 101. There’s a good reason for that: the internet is filled to the brim with book blogs. Not only on WordPress, but also Tumblr, Instagram, Blogspot, Youtube, basically every corner you turn there’s a site dedicated to books. What makes your review stand out from the other thousands about the latest dystopian hit/terminal illness bestseller? The beautiful you! That is why it’s imperative you find your style and be truthful to your readers. It won’t happen overnight (and definitely hasn’t happened to me yet haha), but after writing a dozen reviews you’ll find your x-factor! Continue reading “Tags: Blogger Recognition Award” →