Blogging About Blogging

I've been blogging a lot longer than most people.  I started my first blog, This That and the Other Thing in 2005. I had no real focus (bet the title gives you some clue about that) but I liked to write and thought it was neat that I could put up a blog and people would eventually find it and read it.  My first readers were a few online friends who were also trying out this blogging thing.

In the Beginning

When I started blogging I had a dial-up internet connection, no digital camera and no real idea of how to format posts or do much of anything, and if you look at those early posts, it shows.  I posted sporadically in 2005 and 2006, sharing links to interesting websites, giving my opinions about current events or writing about my faith.  In late 2006 I discovered book blogging and I gradually became a book blogger, at least most of the time.

Much of my early on-line activity was with a Catholic moms group on AOL and while I've never been one of those bloggers who talked about faith in every post or really set herself up as an online religion teacher, I did (and still do) have posts about my faith and for over five years I hosted a Catholic bloggers link-up. 

Different Types of Blogs

Over the years I've participated in a lot of blog link-ups and other blogging communities.  I find it interesting to compare and contrast the various types of blogs I read. 

Book Blogs

While reading is generally considered a solitary hobby which is enjoyed by introverts, book bloggers are a very community-oriented group.  Many bloggers regularly participate in one or more of the "book haul" memes like "It's Monday, What Are You Reading", and  "Mailbox Monday" .  "Library Loot" is on Wednesdays.  If memes aren't your thing, maybe book challenges are.  Most of these start in January, but some start during other seasons.  Bloggers write posts about how many books of what type they will read, and link up their original posts and follow-up posts.  

Of course the main thing book bloggers write about is books.  Book review posts are mainstays along with author interviews, chapter excerpts and book spotlights.  

While book bloggers may have ads on their sidebars and Amazon affiliate links in their posts, most book bloggers are not in it for the money, they are in it for the books.  Anyone who has had a book  blog for any length of time and who has evidence that her (and most book bloggers are "her") blog is read by others will be able to get review copies of books at no cost.

While there are a number of programs and publicists which send out hard copies of books for review, more and more of them are moving to digital review copies.  While I sometimes miss the days when the mail carrier brought me two to three books a week, the fact of the matter is I now no longer have to figure out what to do with all those books.  While I could have sold some of them, from what I could see, the little money I would make was hardly worth the trouble.

While there are many self-hosted WordPress book blogs, there are plenty of us on Blogger and the free WordPress site too.  

Mommy Blogs

These seem to mostly be written by stay-at-home-moms of small children.  These bloggers seem pretty community oriented and tend to participate in link-ups.  Some are clearly just showing off their kids and trying to meet other moms.  Others seem to be trying to make money--or at least to score offers to review good products.  

By the time I discovered blogging, my children were beyond the super cute stage and I didn't want them to be embarrassed if a friend found my blog, so I haven't written a lot of "cute kids" posts though I have talked about my son's  struggles with autism and my struggles parenting him.

Financial Blogs

Financial Blogs are all about making money.  They have ads, sponsored posts and some of them seem written as much for search engines as people (nope, not naming names).  There are some link-ups, like Financially Saavy Saturdays on Broke Girl Rich and people do read a comment on each other's blogs but I don't generally see financial blogs (except some dividend investor blogs) that advertise other blogs on sidebars.  Financial bloggers do not seem as fond of link-ups and memes at book bloggers and mommy bloggers.

There are definitely more professional bloggers in this area tha professional book bloggers--unless you count authors who use their blog as a personal public relations page.  I suspect there are as many professional mommy bloggers as professional financial bloggers, its just that there are so many hobby mommy bloggers out there, whereas I'm one of the weirdos in the financial blogging world who has no intention of putting enough time or money into my blog to make it into the big time.

Religious Blogs

Depending on the people, I've found (and this is my experience which may not be true for all) religious bloggers to be some of the nicest bloggers, often rallying around each other and supporting each other's efforts or some of the nastiest.   

Why Do I Blog?

I blog because it is the ultimate in vanity press.  At no cost (because I'm one of the few financial bloggers who hasn't used on of those handy-dandy links on every financial blogger's "how to blog" post and gone self-hosted) I can write what I want, and hope someone reads it.  I like to read, I like to write and if I can make a few dollars (and yea, its a few) and get free books (more than I can read) then I'm happy.

How About You?

What kind of blogs do you like to read?  Are you a blogger?  Do you have more than one blog?  Why did you start blogging?  How long have  you been blogging?  Are you still blogging for the same reason you were when you started?