Welcome to Bookish Blatherings, a Bad Bird Reads feature where I ramble about bookish or bloggerish things and hopefully you will join in on the discussion.
Since I have reduced my posting days from 6-7 days a week to 4-5 days a week because of my busy schedule, I’ve been wondering more about blogs with multiple bloggers. I don’t think I’m ready to share my blog quite yet, but I’m not completely against the idea of bringing someone else into the Bad Bird world at one point, maybe in a year…or five. 😀
There are some pros and cons obviously. I love the idea of having my blog being a 7 day posting blog again. On the flip side, would my blog really be MY blog anymore? I don’t like the idea of sharing something that I started from scratch and nursed all on my own. What if I wanted it back to myself one day? Is that even possible? What if I ended up disagreeing with the person I co-blogged with? Awkward! Then again, what if I became best friends with them and I found an awesome buddy to share the book blogging experience with? That sounds fun.
Then there’s the readers’ views. Sometimes I don’t like having to scroll through multiple blog posts from different bloggers to find the one blogger I actually want to follow and converse with through comments. Too many bloggers on one blog can make things a little jumbled, in my opinion. However, I love that co-blogging blogs are so diverse. Not just the same person’s opinion over and over again. Ugh, I am so back and forth on this.
I see the good and bad of co-blogging just like I see the good and bad of single blogger blogging. Obviously, nothing is ever perfect and I am so not judging because I’m all about embracing differences in opinions, blogging styles, and personalities. I just thought it would be fun to hear what you all think. How do you feel about multi-blogger blogs? Yay or nay? What makes you feel that way?
I would really love to hear from the bloggers who share a blog right now. How has your experience been so far? Do the goods outweigh the bads? What would you have done differently? Any tips for us interested in co-blogging?
What’s your opinion on Co-Blogging?
Modified banner photo credit: Wurzeltod via photopin cc
Ashley
Co-bloggers aren’t in the cards for me. 😛 I’m kind of a control freak when it comes to my website. I like things done a certain way and would start feeling way too antsy if I had to let someone else come in and do things differently.
Plus, like you said, my blog is me. I’m not sure I want that to change. I’ve definitely followed blogs before that I loved, then they brought on a co-blogger and I just wasn’t interested in that other person’s posts. Nothing personal – they just weren’t for me. But I then had to constantly ignore that one person’s posts just to see the other person’s lol.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
That’s my biggest thing, this blog is ME and it wouldn’t be if I got a co-blogger. I think I would always be bothered by that.
kindlemom1
I’ve thought a lot about this as well mostly because I too haven’t had as much time lately and have been struggling to stay really active some weeks. I think there are both good and bad to it and I think I’m still not ready to share my blog either but maybe some day.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I’m not either. I just love my blog being my blog too much. Maybe in a few year or maybe never. Who knows.
Jaclyn Canada
I’m definitely not able to post every day. As a full time working single parent, I just have way too much going on. I have a best friend that posts random reviews when she wants to on my blog, and then Matt also posts reviews on my blog as well. Their genres are so different that it helps throw something out there besides the same fantasy reads that I have all the time. It’s still ‘mine’ though and 90% of the thoughts there are mine so it works for me. I can also tell them, hey I don’t need your reviews anymore and it would be fine.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I like that you still have control of your blog. I wouldn’t mind that as long as I could tell them to take a hike when I wanted. 🙂
Northwoman
Hi! I am another type of commenter here. I got asked to join a blog a couple years ago. My friend, Julie, had been blogging for a few years and hers was the only blog I followed religiously, Yummy Men & KickAss Chicks. We liked the same kind of books but she was generous about letting me review what I wanted. I posted reviews once a week, sometimes 2, but after a year she decided she didn’t have time to blog anymore with other important things in her life. I was sad both because I enjoyed blogging and I love Julie. We still chat but not every couple days as we used to do. Then a week later I got asked to join as a reviewer on a new blog, The Book Nympho. There are 4 of us. Jennifer is very open to whatever I want to review. We all have some ups and downs schedule wise so that works out to keep posts daily. Sometimes twice daily which seems like too much. I moved more into fantasy and science fiction over the last year and a little less with romance which was fun and fit well. We all are fans of urban fantasy. I still review once a week and now I’m learning to format my own posts in Jennifer’s style. I rode my Harley to go meet her last fall from North Carolina to Arkansas, which was great.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
Sounds like you had a great time co-blogging. It’s nice when you like the same types of books. It’s nice to meet bloggers in the flesh.
Melanie Simmons @mlsimmons
Like Northwoman, I’m in the same boat of being asked to blog on someone else’s blog. I actually review on two different blogs. Rabid Reads for UF/PNR/Fantasy/Sci-Fi and Hot Listens for audiobooks of any kind. Sometimes I wish that I had my own blog. There are books I read that don’t fit on either blog, like erotica or romantic suspense that isn’t on audio. Plus, having everything on one blog would be easier. Plus, I can’t always do everything I want. The formatting isn’t always the way I want. But I also don’t have to pay for hosting, plugins, etc. So there are pluses and minuses. Mostly, I get to talk to other people about books I love and I that is why I do this. I can’t ask for anything else.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
That does sucks not to have your own blog, where all your posts are in one place, but you are right, it’s cheaper. lol. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Braine
I post once a day and I have a co-blogger. When she reviews something, that day is hers to avoid that scenario you mentioned about scrolling down and shit. I also don’t do promo posts like I used to so that cuts the multiple postings. As for owning your blog, I think if you set some ground rules from the beginning, there won’t be any confusion down the line.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
So ground rules from the get-go. Got it. 😀
Christy LoveOfBooks
I considered it at one time, but nah. I post like 2-3 times a week and I’m fine with it. It doesn’t hinder me with publishers or anything, so less stress for me. You could start out with someone guest posting 1-2 times a month to see how it goes. Baby steps. lol.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
True, I would have to start out with baby steps because I might freak out at first. I am such a control freak.
Melliane
I think it’s nice and it helps, I have a co blogger Inessa but she hasn’t post in years, so I take some guest reviewer once a week. I’m too busy with ph.D to post all the time
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I like the idea of a guest reviewer.
Lover Of Romance
I have similar thoughts on this topic. There are some blogs out there that I like both and some I just like to follow one. for me, my blog is mine and I would wonder if the content would change if I added on a person. It would help with the workload, but would it be worth it in the end? Great topic to discuss.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I am learning towards it not being worth it in the end. my blog is mine and I want it to stay that way.
Kristin
I tried doing the co-blogger thing twice at two separate times with two separate people. Both times was with good (personal) friends of mine. Both kind of sorta dropped off on me due to personal things going on. Basically, they didn’t realize that there’s more to blogging then just reading a book once every few months and writing a one sentence summation of your thoughts. Both understood when I took their names off the blog because I was getting too many review requests for the specific books they’d typically read. I was a little irked because their name was on my blog but they weren’t contributing anything. So, I get what you’re saying, it would be nice to have someone help with the load of work but I like doing it all myself. I don’t have to depend on anyone. Ask them why they haven’t read a review book in the slotted time frame that they were supposed to, or worry about being disappointed again. :\
As for blogs with other bloggers in it, I’ve read some and sometimes I like the variety that they offer and will go through reviews but most of the time I read blogs that have one blogger attached to them. 🙂
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
Wow, that sucks it didn’t work out both times. Seems people have had good and bad experiences. I guess it’s the luck of the draw.
Melissa Hayden
I’ve thought about doing co-blogging too. But I just can’t completely hand it over yet. I have two people that stopped by to post, but I have talked with them for years in the blogging world and trust they will stay in guidelines like I do. It’s hard to share my blog full time with another though. I just don’t know… maybe one day?
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
That’s what it is, sharing my blog just scares me.
Bookworm Brandee
Great topic, Jennifer. There are many times when I’ve thought having a co-blogger would be wonderful simply to have someone to share the load with! *ha* But I’m like you in that my blog is my ‘baby’ and I don’t know that I really want to share. I’ve cut back my number of weekly posts recently just because I can’t keep up and I want to keep blogging fun for myself rather than making it something I stress over. I envy blogs with multiple bloggers because those blogs can manage posts every single day. And I don’t think I’ve found any blogs with multiple bloggers that I’ve taken issue with. It’s probably because they all review the same types of books. So I guess on other blogs I can only see the positives whereas with my own blog, I ‘feel’ the negative (losing ownership). *haha*
In the summer, I do have my kids post reviews. It’s a nice way to freshen things up on my blog, take some pressure off me, and make them work for those new books. 😉
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
In the beginning, I had a 14 year old lined up to review once a week for YA type books. It never worked out but that’s the closest I got to co-blogging.
Olivia Roach
I did consider it at one point myself. But I’ve worked so hard on my blog myself and I was worried that I wouldn’t like this additional voice that would join in… and things would change of course. What if they did things a different way? But my main issue was that my blog is called Olivia’s Catastrophe ahaha and I would need to change the whole name of the blog xD But if I do ever feel lonely enough blogging, I will probably make the change for it.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
LOL, yeah, your a bit stuck with that name.
Liza @ Classy Cat Books
I’ve been considering co-blogging myself. I just can’t decide if I want to FIND a co-blogger for Classy Cat Books, or if I want to BE a co-blogger and not have to worry about as much of the admin/cost side of maintaining my hobby. Or if I just want to stick with doing my own thing as time allows and view-count be damned if I’m not consistent or particularly engaged with social media. :/
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
Right now, I don’t mind that I don’t have a huge amount of views or comments. I can barely handle what I have now. lol