Hey Bookdragons! It's July 26th. On this day in 2015 I started blogging exclusively about books on what was originally called Taylor Fenner - Author and Book Blog. I was still switching over from my writing blog to a true book blog with reviews and all that comes with it. Then after being inspired by Katy in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux Series, Taylor Fenner - Author and Book Blog became Taylor Fenner's Bookish World.
This past year has been intense, so much has happened in so little time. My grandmother was diagnosed with spinal stenosis which has caused her to be in and out of nursing home rehab. I moved in with my mom. My boyfriend and I broke up and made up and broke up... well you get the picture. I published my first YA Fantasy to great success and am preparing to debut my New Adult Urban Fantasy, Headless, this fall. I finally sought help for my mental health issues. It's been a tough one but I'm strong, I'm still standing with the help of reading about some truly badass female characters in YA this past year. Book blogging has become my obsession, my therapy, my escape.
Over the past 3 years I've met some truly amazing book blogger, bookstagrammers, and booktubers in this community and I can't say how happy I am to have people who understand my love of books. The people in this community inspire me and drive me to keep going every single day.
I wanted to mark this "blogiversary" in a special way by spotlighting indie authors, hosting giveaways, and giving back.
I've learned a lot these past three years but one thing hasn't changed, my love of books and my loving of sharing with you new books to discover and love for yourselves.
A Look Into The Past Three Years...
~2015~
My First Book Review!
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh was the first book I reviewed on my blog. I'd been reviewing books on Goodreads since 2012 but this was my first time on my blog and my book blog actually started because I couldn't think about what else to blog about writing-wise and threw up this book review.. As you can see I hadn't started bookstagramming yet and I'm kind of ashamed of this picture.
~2016~
New Posts, New Ideas
In 2016 I grew as a book blogger. Beginning at the end of 2015 I started my "What I'm Reading"-Wednesday Posts, my Book Mail Posts, and other fun book-themed posts. I explored topics about bookish tattoos, whether parents needed to be more visible in YA novels, and why some books had similar cover art.
I also joined Netgalley during the summer in 2016 and got my first review copies from publishers!
~2017~
The Year of the ARC
In 2017 I had grown my blog enough to start getting a few physical ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) books from publishers. This year I also actively started bookstagramming, covered book controversies being discussed in the blogger community at the time, counted down my top 10 favorite couples in YA, started participating regularly in blog tours, started my Book Tag Saturdays, participated in the fall 2018 YASH as an author, and started doing Top Ten Tuesdays.
~2018~
Forging On...
This was the year I almost gave up. On blogging, on writing, hell at times even on reading as I let depression drag me down, down, down and dealt with the stressful changes in my life. In the beginning of the year I was blogging almost daily and giving myself an intense workload until I began feeling burned out and needed to take a step back. I've cleared things up now and I'm sticking to my review schedule and throwing in bonus posts, cover reveals, blog tours, and top ten Tuesday posts when I can. It's all about not overloading myself these days, taking it one step at a time and stopping to smell the roses.
Timeline of A Fandom
<-------------------------------->
| | | |
August 2015 December 2016 August 2017 April 2018
Got my 1st Bought my first Fell in love with Subscribed to
Funko bookish candle magnetic bookmarks. Fairyloot!
Don't forget about my current giveaways!
Kingdom of Ash Giveaway Rules...
📚 This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL (As long as Book Depository ships to you.)
📚 This giveaway ends August 1, 2018 at 12:00 EST
📚 No duplicate entries or giveaway accounts. You WILL be disqualified.
📚You MUST be willing to provide your mailing address if you win. It will not be kept for any purpose other than to ship your prize.
📚The winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.
📚 Since Kingdom of Ash doesn't release until October 23, you will receive your prize as soon as it releases and Book Depository ships it to you (usually takes 5-8 days to the US)
May the Book Gods Smile Down On You! 🍀
Are you a book blogger? How long have you been blogging? Do you remember your first post? Tell me about it in the comments!
