Blogger Interview
Today we are featuring our online friend Marisa Bradley who tells us with a grin on her face, "I was born with a book in my hand, and you'll never find me without one." Her blog was already in process when her husband noticed that her new initials spelled out Mcfly. Sorry, no connection to the movies. She lives in Oxnard CA, (USA) with their cat Patches. Visit her on FaceBook or drop by the McFly's Book Bliss Blog (http://McflysBookBliss.com)
Q: When did you get the idea to launch your very own blog?
A: Back in 2017 I was encouraged by multiple friends to create a book blog. I loved the idea and immediately ran with it. It turned out that I jumped in too quickly and ended up stoping this first blog after only a year. Then in early 2020 I decided to try again, this time I would take my time, go slow and make sure I was prepared. So, Mcfly's Book Bliss went live in December 2020.
Q: It sounds like you learned a lot from your first blogging experience. You mentioned taking your time so that everything was in place before launching the second blog... How did you go about starting the McFly's Book Bliss blog?
A: I started my blog using the advice another blogger posted on her Twitter account. I didn't start by designing my page, or by choosing the blog's name. I started by writing 10 pieces that I wanted to publish on my blog. Once I was finished with those 10 posts, I gave my blog a name that I felt reflected what I had already written and also suggested where I planned to go from there. Mcfly's Book Bliss was named almost 8 months after I began the work and just one month before the blog officially published its first post.
Q: Why does this blog matter to you?
A: My blog matters to me for so many reasons that I can't list them all, but when I'm asked what some of them are I usually choose to mention a few reasons more than others. A big reason my blog matters to me is that I've successfully managed to create a safe space for people of all ages to come explore and discuss all things bookish. My blog also matters to me because it allows me the opportunity to meet authors and fellow readers, and discuss something that I'm passionate about. A third reason my blog matters to me is that I've created a place that encourages me and my readers to consider books that we may not have considered before. We are not influenced because of how it was - or wasn't - publicized.
Q: What is your favorite task involved with managing your blog?
A: At first, my favorite task was the actual reading of the books that I selected to review. I still love this part a lot but I have grown alongside my blog and now my favorite task is deciding which post I should use to best showcase each book. I love that I can choose from a review, an interview, a cover reveal, a spotlight or a guest post - having so many choices allows me to show the individuality of every book that I choose to show on my blog.
Q: How much time do you dedicate to your blog?
A: I work on my blog in some way every day. The amount of time varies from day to day. It's determined by how I'm working on my blog. Some days I split my time between working on posts and reading my current books. Most days are focused on reading whatever books I'm currently reading. I frequently read two books at a time. On the days where I split my time between the two tasks, I spend a combined total of around 3 hours working on my blog. If I plan on just reading, I aim for 2 hours, but the time ranges from 30 minutes to all day - depending on how much free time I have and how much I'm enjoying my current book selection.
Q: What do you look for when it comes to guest queries or networking opportunities?
A: For me, the first thing I look at is if their initial communication demonstrates that they actually checked out my blog prior to contacting me. I've found that people who visit my blog before contacting me are more likely to do two things I like first. They provide me with enough details about their book that I am not only able to decide if I will accept, or decline, their request, but I'm also able to suggest the types of posts that I think will best highlight their book. Secondly, they are more likely to present me with a request I can confidently accept. I've started noticing that a large portion of the requests I decline are being declined for reasons that Ih ave stated on my blog as possible reasons for declining a request. I also look for people that are open to the possibility of being actively involved in creating the post about their book that I'm featuring on my blog. I've found that the people willing to collaborate are the same people that end up telling me my post did a fantastic job of showcasing the book in a way that accurately supports what the author wants their readers to take away from the book.
A: In the last 15 months my blogging skills have improved by leaps and bounds, but I'm still far from perfecting my blogging experience. I'm always learning about new ideas and tools that I can apply to my blog. There's one contingency plan I have in place that has saved me a couple of times since I started, so I've continued to maintain and add to it over time.
At any given time I have 7-10 partially completed posts on bookish topics that I have no immediate plans for. These can not only be scheduled for blog posts, they are also created with the intention of sitting on the shelf for and undetermined amount of time, waiting for a time when circumstances prevent me from creating the desired post. By having finished posts available that don't need to have a date attached to be relevant, I have successfully managed to avoid having any long periods of time where I didn't publish something to my blog. All of my unscheduled posts are designed to be relevant to my book blog as a whole and it doesn't matter what topics were covered just before or after the upcoming publication date, because each one is meant to be a stand alone piece.
Q: What, in your opinion, should every new blogger know?
A: My advice would be never rush the creation of your blog. As I mentioned earlier, write 10 or more completed posts before you start working on the design of your sight. Not doing this contributed to my first blog being unsuccessful. I had all kinds of ideas about what my first blog was going to be but I couldn't create my vision because my lack of planning preventing me from seeing all the flaws until it was too late to correct them. By creating your posts before you design your site you're giving yourself an opportunity to check your work and make sure it's plausible so you don't commit to something that is set up for failure.
Creating the posts first means you can adjust things to compensate for things you won't discover until you written multiple posts. I for example, discovered while writing my posts that I was going to need to add a lot more types of posts in order for my blog to become the site that I was striving for. It can just as easily to the other way and the posts you wrote can show you that your current topic is too broad and you need to narrow it down in order for your blog to succeed. So, by writing the posts first you are preventing the possibility of having to redo your entire blog, because you were blinded by excitement and did not see potential flaws.
Q: We often tell people, Marisa, that it is so important to take the time to learn new skills, discover new tools and develop in your field. How do you go about improving your skills?
A: I use a lot of different tools to help me continually improve the skills I need, but I'm only going to mention 2 here. I've found that one way of improving the quality of the writing of my posts is that some of the types of posts I use can be presenting the finished post to the person who requested it prior to publishing it to the blog. I regularly request my contact's approval and this has resulted in a steady decline in the number of suggested changes after publications. I can then recognize when I am repeating certain bad habits and then avoid those things going forward. A second way I've been able to improve my skills is by talking to other bloggers who focus on a similar topic as I do. To begin with the other bloggers can tell you what their experiences have been and whether it was successful or not. You can also ask fellow bloggers to go to your blog specifically to critique it, other bloggers see your blog for what it really is but will be inclined to be gentle in how they express changes that they think you should make to improve your blog. I've met a lot of fellow book bloggers through FaceBook groups created specifically for us, so I suggest that new bloggers do a search on their topic to find blogger group with similar interest.
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Thank you Marisa for this valuable insight into what it is like to manage a blog in this genre :)
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