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Bloggers Recognition Award

10 May, 2019

Someday in April Shri @ Sun and Chai nominated us for this award which we are very grateful for & very honored by! Thank you, Shri! Shri is a big fan of fantasy books and specifically diverse fantasy books, so head over to her blog whenever you feel a void in your heart that a great sff book could fill!

And now quickly the rules:

  • Thank the blogger that nominated you.
  • Write a post to show your award.
  • Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  • Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  • Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
  • Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

Our Origin Story

This blog was actually Charlotte’s idea. One day she was like hey Anna, do you wanna run a blog with me but like… only about LGBT books and stuff? And who am I to say no to that question, right? Y’all are actually lucky I’m doing it with her and not someone else, because she’s the only reason we post (semi) regularly. To be honest I’m the one who has to stop Charlotte sometimes, since left to her own devices she would just post like three times a day…

But this idea didn’t just come out of the blue. Our taste in books is pretty similar and frankly, Charlotte is one of the very few people I trust to rec me good things to read or watch. So that’s why it was so easy to say yes to her.

The second and most obvious part of the story is: we are both sapphic girls. We both always try to read LGBT books, because those are the stories that resonate with us the most. So sharing our knowledge with others? It just seemed like a logical thing to do. Especially since LGBT media doesn’t usually have the kind of publicity it deserves, so word of the mouth is even more important.

And so here we are. Hopefully doing something for the greater good.

Our Advice to Others

Charlotte

“Don’t feel pressured to post everyday or whatever”. This is really something Charlotte just told me to write down as her advice. The girl who would likely post every single rec list she could think of on the same day. Oh the irony!

The truth is, though, Charlotte’s just really excited about books, so once she gets a post ready, she just wants to share it. So I would say it’s not so much pressure to post a lot in her case, but rather enthusiasm.

Plus she’s right. It’s your blog, in the end, and if you’re not up for it mentally or don’t have the time, or even if there’s no reason at all – you don’t owe anyone your time. Blogging is hard work that we are not getting paid for so really, if you need a few days to recharge, it’s your right!

Anna

I would say, figure out your brand. Your main focus. Most of us already have one, we just don’t realise it. So examine your reading habits to see what is it that you usually go for, what do you look for in books. Is it a particular genre, is it a specific represantation? In our case, clearly, it’s the LGBT rep. But this world is a diverse place and there are countless other options.

And once you know what do you enjoy talking about the most, it’s gonna be easier to think of posts to write and of books to recommend. On top of that, it’s also going to be easier for your readers to recommend your blog to others! Because again, we all need that word of the mouth, right?

Of course, this is not to say that if you decide to make your blog all about historical fiction, you can never post anything about a fantasy book or whatever else. It’s your blog, you set the rules! Just have fun with it!

And now for the folks we would like to nominate ourselves!

This was fun and a really lovely experience! Personally, I’m very into the idea of having an opportunity to just talk… Which reminds me that both Charlotte (mahitdzmare) & me (heresthepencil) have twitter accounts that y’all should definitely follow! And chat with us!

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