How My Blog Has Changed Over The Years #BookBlogger #BookReviewer #BookLove

Good morning everyone and happy Sunday. There’s a challenge going around Instagram at the moment to show how your Instagram has changed over the years and I thought it might be interesting to do it for my blog too.

Starting Out

I starting blogging nearly ten years ago as something for me to do for me after having my eldest kid. At the beginning I was purely a Netgalley reviewer and joined after hearing about it on a Facebook page. I can still remember the excitement of getting approved for my first book after stupidly checking my phone in the middle of the night and then being unable to sleep.

I would post my reviews to Goodreads and then post the link to Twitter which drew the attention of the lovely Lorraine from The Book Review Cafe who took me on as a guest reviewer and ultimately persuaded me to start my own blog.

I’d just lots my second son Christopher and I wanted to name my blog in his memory. I have a thing about Robins, especially with the belief that Robins are people from heaven saying hello. I almost called my blog Robin Reviews but thought it would confuse people into thinking my name was Robin.

First Blog Posts

My First blog post were very basic and I remember feeling very nervous posting them. At the beginning I mainly posted reviews or book spotlights for blog tours only, using pictures given to me by the organisers or taken from Amazon.

I slowly started to increase my confidence in posting on Twitter (which I still find nerve wracking at times) and commenting on twitter posts from publishers offering proofs. I’ll forever be grateful to the lovely Alison, Hannah, Rachel and Rosie from Penguin for taking a chance on a new blogger as well as the lovely Anne Cater for letting me onto her blog tours.

To Present Day

My content has definitely changed over the years and I feel I post much more variety now. I’ve grown in confidence and feel happy posting shorter posts or challenges when I wouldn’t have before. My time on Instagram has also made me more confident in creating my own pictures so I tend to use photo’s I’ve taken on my blog now rather than generic ones.

I don’t do as many blog tours anymore as with the kids and work I find it difficult to stick to a schedule.

I’ve also become braver at posting pictures of myself in here and doing write ups of events I’ve been to. I’m slightly dyslexic so I find writing difficult sometimes and worry it doesn’t make sense but people still seem to like the posts so I’ll keep going!

The Future

I’m definitely planning on continuing to blog for many years to come. I really enjoy it and I feel that I’ve made some lovely blogger friends on here. I’m going to continue posting a variety of different content as I like sharing different things. I’m not going to stress myself out by trying to post everyday but rather I’m going to post when I’ve got something good to share!

One thing that has definitely changed since I’ve started blogging is my taste in books. I have definitely branched out and read much more variety now. I’ve got into fantasy and romance books more which I’m really enjoying reading.