Just checking in.

Hey, guys!

If you haven't already gone and subscribed to the new site, you might wanna head on over: www.thegrammariansreviews.com.


Hope to see you there!
 

It's official: Check out the NEW site!

I'm proud to say The Grammarian's Reviews has a new home (click! click!). And it's quite beautiful, all thanks to Cialina. I never thought switching from Blogger to WordPress would be so easy, but aside from some very minor setbacks the transition has been painlessly smooth.

And let me just say that I'm already in love with WordPress and its features. Really, guys. Things are much more seamless over there. Editing is so much easier, updates are quicker, and importing took a matter of seconds. Remember when I wasn't 100% sure about the switch? Well, I'm here to say that I'm sold. I wish I'd made the move sooner, actually. You never know what you're missing until you gather up the nerve to try.

Things are still a bit rocky as I get settled over there, but please take the time to go and subscribe to my feed. It's also best if you leave all comments over there, too. Any comments made here now will not show over at WordPress.

This blog will still be available to view, but mainly to redirect visitors and old followers to the new site:

www.thegrammariansreviews.com 



Thanks for sticking with me, guys. I hope you'll continue to do so.

Making the Switch - Blogger to WordPress.

I suppose this is an official statement of sorts, as well as an impromptu and unbiased voice of reason regarding Blogger and WordPress platforms.  You see, I'm here to say that The Grammarian's Reviews will be switching to WordPress.

I know Blogger users are asking Why? and What's wrong with Blogger? and What's so great about WordPress? And I'm here to answer those questions:

Why?
While blogging is fun, I've always felt the need to treat it in a professional manner. I want TGR to reflect this sense of professionalism; I want TGR to take the next step. While 500 followers may not seem like a big deal, I do think it's a step in the right direction.  TGR can continue to grow, and I want it to be able to do so.

What's wrong with Blogger?
I'd be lying if I said nothing was wrong with Blogger. The truth of the matter is that I've been using Blogger for over a year now and have become comfortable with its design, posting and dashboard elements. Any bumps that come along in the road I've always blown off with a nice Twitter-rant session. At the end of the day, Blogger was still the Blogger I knew well and that was good enough for me. 

But thinking back on it, Blogger has been problematic. From posting to commenting troubles, I've had my fair share of freak outs over the complications.

What's so great about WordPress?
In all honesty, I'm still figuring out the answer to this one. It's a learning process. After asking around on Twitter, a lot of the responses said WordPress has better SEO.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization = "the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines." (thanks, Wiki!)

What does this mean? It means WordPress improves the chances of your blog showing up in results on search engines like Yahoo or Google. Which means your blog may stand out against others, which also means more readers and notoriety.

I don't know about you, but it sounds like a sweet deal to me.

But SEO is only one of the great things about WordPress. After playing around on a test account I discovered several nifty features, including a Copy Post option (which would be awesome for memes), easy widget tabs and areas, and a Links tab to compile all the links you may use on a day-to-day basis on your blog. I'm also a fan of the way it tracks comments and provides site feedback.

I could sit here all day and try to tell you the pros and cons, but when it comes down to it, I think it's best for you to take the time to explore WordPress on your own. Even if you're entirely lost from the moment you sign up.  Click around.  Read the "Help" tabs.  And most importantly, don't be afraid. I know a lot of bloggers, myself included, express fear over making the switch.  Nobody wants to lose all of the sweat and tears that have gone into the making of their blog. But there's nothing to be afraid of. There are guides all over the net to guide you in the exporting/importing process. And the best part? You can import your blog to WordPress and not lose any of the content that's already on Blogger, so the move can be slow and steady.

I hope these answers clear up some of the confusion pertaining to making the switch from Blogger to WordPress. If they don't and you still have some questions, feel free to ask in the comments or on Twitter (@thegramsreviews) and I'll do my best to help or just give a fresh perspective.  Just keep in mind that I'm not a WordPress pro; much of what I've discovered has been through my own exploring and help from my good blogger friend, Amanda.

Blogging Slump!

Hello, bloggers!

I bet you thought I disappeared again. Wrong!

I'm very much still here - and on my Winter Break!  What does this mean? It means I have a lot of time to dedicate to reading, reviewing and catching up with all of my blogger friends.  I missed you guys!

There's just one problem: I'm in a blogging slump. I don't have much to read at the moment, and what I do have is just odds and ends (books I've had but never been tempted to read). At the moment I'm in the middle of Ditched by Robin Mellom, but let's just say that I'm feeling like I know why it was ditched.

So I need some help. What do you think I should read?  Have any favorites lately?  New releases? Comment and let me know about it! I wanna get back into the swing of things ASAP!

Wanted: Guest Posters!

Remember when I said I was going to be busy with school in the upcoming weeks? Well, school's about to become a bit more hectic for me. Paper due dates are looming, job interviews are right around the corner, studying cannot be put off, and summer work needs finishing.

I realize most people in my position would take a break from their blog, but I'm not willing to do that. So how am I going to keep The Grammarian's Reviews running?

... Guest posts, of course!

It makes perfect sense to me. While I can still post some days, all of you fabulous bloggers can help me to fill in the rest (and gain more recognition, to boot!). I'm all for promoting other bloggers, and I have to admit that I do need a little help here.

You're probably wondering how this works. Am I assigning topics or letting you run freely? Just imagine your lovely post sitting right here:

Are you imagining it? Good.

If you can see it, I will post it.

However, I do have just a few requests:

Keep it YA! - While I have talked about Adult fiction on this blog, it is primarily a YA haven. So please keep that in mind.

I love grammar. - If you haven't yet noticed, I do a feature very near and dear to my heart, called Grammar Bit (link!). I haven't had one in a while, but there are currently 13 bits available to help people with their grammar woes. My point: If you'd like to do any sort of post pertaining to grammar, I'd love you forever.

Please be respectful. - I'm more than willing to promote your blog on my own blog, but please be respectful of the books or authors or whatever mentioned in your posts.

Basically, anything goes. Have you been wanting to discuss your favorite cover but it won't fit into your own blogging schedule? Do it here! Want to get the word out about a book you think deserves more recognition? Do it here! I'm open to your ideas - after all, it's going to be your post!

If you're still interested, fill out this form.

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Many of you keep asking me for topics, so here you go!

GRAMMAR

- Grammar pet peeves: which grammatical mistakes bug you the most?

- Come up with your own Grammar Bit!

- Why do/don't you care about grammar?

BOOK TALK

- Favorited/Hated cover(s).

- Promote a book you love that you think doesn't get enough recognition.

- Book peeves: What are some of your biggest book peeves when it comes to YA books?

- Books that have really good sequels.

- Talk about a specific genre you really enjoy and want others to know about; why should they give it a try?

- Versus: Vampires vs Unicorns, Love Triangles vs Single Relationships, Insta-love vs Actual Romance, etc.

I'm featured!

Today you can find me over at Amanda's blog, On a Book Bender, for her very first Who am I Stalking? feature. Come check out my answers to her bookish/grammar questions!

Don't worry. She's not really stalking me. I think.

Vlogging: This is How We Roll.

A vlog, or video blog, is a blog post that contains video content. Sounds simple. Making one? Not so simple.

But vlogs are invading the book blogging blogosphere (Say that 3x fast!) like crazy. They come in handy for talking about all things related to books - and for sharing squeals of excitement, bloopers and even pets (I've seen some really cute puppies.).  Mostly they're used for memes such as, and most notably, In My Mailbox. You know you've seen 'em or have made one.

I haven't taken that extra step yet. I actually haven't been convinced that vlogging is the way to go. Is it necessary? Do other bloggers prefer it to regular posts? Why?

So that's where you guys come in. I wanna know: do you prefer vlogs to regular posts? Why or why not? (I know, that sounds like an essay question. Ew.) 

*As if it wasn't obvious enough, I'm trying to decide whether I should incorporate vlogs on the blog. I'd really appreciate your feedback!

Top Ten Tuesday: Why I Love Book Blogging.

Top Ten Tuesday is brought to us by The Broke and the Bookish.

TOP TEN REASONS WHY I LOVE BOOK BLOGGING

1. The books. No, I don't mean the free ones. I mean all of the books introduced to me through all of you fellow bloggers, tours, memes, etc. My TBR list is very long because of this - and I love it; I will never not have anything to read.

2. The people. Seems obvious and generic, right? But truthfully, we all know book bloggers have their little niches. And I'm so happy to have gotten to know some of you. I hope it continues.

3. The practice. Not only do I get to better my writing, but also my blogging skills. And that entails everything from publicity to HTML.

4. The authors. When I first started blogging, I had no idea authors were so receptive to the book blogging community. But after hosting several interviews and giveaways, I now know that authors ROCK. I've come across some of the kindest people, easily approachable and ready to share their work with their readers.

5. The discussion. If there's one thing I LOVE, it's talking about books. Anything and everything related to books. This is the ultimate book-talk forum.

6. The versatility. I know. This one's a weird one. But really. Where else can you discuss, give away, tour, celebrate and tweet about books?

7. The change. Another weird one. But honestly? You all have helped me get into books I never would've considered reading otherwise.

8. The excitement. I know blogging can sometimes be hard work, but it's totally worth it. I love those moments when one blogger gets excited about a particular book and, in turn, makes every other blogger just as excited. There's always something to look forward to.

9. The challenge. Like I said above, blogging is hard work sometimes. But I love figuring out in what direction I want to take my blog.

10. The experience. From my first post up until my last (whenever that will be - hopefully never), I'll be able to say that book blogging has been one heck of an experience that I wish I'd discovered sooner.

*Happy one year blogoversary, TB&TB!

To my lovely commenters,

I'm currently experiencing severe Blogger Fail. And by that, I mean that Blogger will not allow me to reply to all of your wonderful comments - here and on your own blogs. It refuses to keep me signed in, and if your blog doesn't have a Name/URL or Intense Debate option available for me to use, I cannot comment.

It's more than unfortunate, but I just wanted to let you all know so you don't think I'm ignoring you and/or not caring. I care! And I really dislike getting backed up on commenting. However, I'm dealing with it the best that I can.

(This has been my mantra.)

* As a bit of a totally irrelevant side note, WHO'S EXCITED FOR POTTERMORE?
If you couldn't tell by the random CAPS, I definitely am. Any theories?

** And did I mention I have almost 400 FOLLOWERS?! You are all amazing. Cannot express how happy that makes me. Oh, wait. Yes I can. With a giveaway! Be on the lookout for the big 4-0-0.

Armchair BEA: Nurturing Blogging Relationships.

An at-home convention for bloggers

who can't attend BEA in NYC.

Nurturing Blogging Relationships

Maintaining a book blog is difficult, no question about it. Keeping up with the tours, trendy books, Twitter parties, giveaways and post ratios can be more than time consuming and headache-inducing. It almost becomes a cycle: one post leads to the second post, one tweet leads to retweets, and so on. It's mechanical, technological, and takes up a good majority of your time.

But you do it because you love it, because you love what you're talking about: books. But it's not just the topic.  It's not just the books.  It's the people you meet and/or get to know through those books, whether they're other bloggers, authors, publishers.

What would blogging be without them?

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I approached book blogging in the wrong way. When I first started The Grammarian's Reviews, I wanted to be nothing but professional, offering clean-cut reviews. I wouldn't mention "I think" or "Well, to me..." because I didn't want to mix personal with professional.

But after getting to know so many different blogs, I've realized that I can blog being both personal and professional. It's okay to mix the two.  If I get excited about a book, then I should sound excited. If I wasn't so thrilled, I can say why.  I don't need, or want, to sound like a robotic book blogger.

So I reach out. I do my best to return comments, and to comment on others' posts. I'm still learning the ways of Twitter, but I attempt communication through there, too. I join blog tours and contact authors for interviews - which, as a side note, is totally awesome and I encourage you to not be shy and get yourself out there; authors are pretty awesome and willing to work with bloggers!

But I tend to nurture my blog more than my blogger relationships, which is stupid on my part because I love getting to know other bloggers and getting in on book discussions. But as a new-ish blogger, there's always that hesitation, that feeling of Oh they've been doing this for a while - look at all of the followers they have - I'm just a number to them. So I tend to shy away, even though I know I shouldn't, and even though that's so unnatural for me.

-----

I guess the point of this was to say that I don't really have a set way to nurture my blogging relationships because I'm still figuring out who I am as a blogger and how I want to be that way. But I love all of the authors I've had the pleasure of coming in contact with, and all of the bloggers I've talked to!

I really appreciate the book blogging community.

So thanks, you guys!

Giveaways.

I think I'm ready to hop aboard the Giveaway Train; so many of my fellow, wonderful bloggers are hosting amazing giveaways, but until now I've always felt it pointless to throw in an entry. It's hard to feel like you have a fair shot when you don't have a Twitter account, or feel like spamming your blog with posts about such contests, to gain extra entries.

But now I think, Why not?

So although I will not spam my blog with multiple posts about each giveaway I come across, I will make a collective list of them here, on this very post - because we all could use some free books now and again, right?

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GIVEAWAYS


Amber, from Down the Rabbit Hole, is giving away a free copy of Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe. Check it out! Amber's an awesome blogger that has weekly interactive, discussion-based posts.

Bree, at Bree's Books, is giving away Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.

At Books, Boys, Buzz... you can win one of five copies of Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis.

At Little Squeed, you can win a copy of Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce.

Shut Up! I'm Reading is giving away a ton of books.

The YA Bookshelf is giving away 3 books! The Duff, Mockingjay, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

The Undercover Book Lover has an awesome giveaway going on, where you can win one of 4 prize packs, each with 3 books. Check it!