Categories
About Toi AdventuresNBlogging

#Giveaway Winner Announced & the #BloggerAmbush Blitz

This is an unexpected Monday post for me. Usually, I leave this day open to reblogs and promoting others but since I wasn’t booked and realized I had way too much content to stuff into my IWSG post on Wednesday, I thought, ‘Why not do a Monday blog?’ It’s not that unusual for me… In any case, here’s what I got.

I had a rough birthday this year, but there were some highs that made it all worth it. Oh, and I have a winner for my birthday, Top 5 Angel books, giveaway.

Sherry Fundin
 I hope you enjoy this prize!

Now let’s talk about one of my current pet projects that means so much to me, the Blogger Ambush Blitz, hosted over at #ReadingIndie.
The idea of this blitz isn’t something I came up with, by far, but it’s an idea that I thought was great the first time I saw it and think it’s worth giving a go time and again.

The original idea was for bloggers to unite to visit and support one blogger among the group all at once to give them a boost, engagement, and simply make their day. It was such a good idea that the blogger list grew to outrageous proportions. While I loved getting the notification that it was time once again to spotlight someone, I think many became defeated with the notion that their turn would never come. Plus, the spotlights were sporadic, not giving members a sense of routine or stability. I’m not sure if this original blitz is still going on.

My idea for the Blogger Ambush Blitz is simple. We ambush one random blogger from the list of members each week until everyone gets a turn. Our aim is to grow the list to 25 members, offering each member a chance to be ambushed (or spotlighted) twice a year. For me, I personally hope the idea catches on and grows to the point where I can set up multiple blogger lists. I can imagine having Blogger Ambush Blitz’s for major fiction genres, just for writers, just for inspirational quotes, and so much more. With the blitz only requiring members to visit ONE blog a WEEK, I don’t see why this can’t be the next step in blogger support and networking.

At least, that’s my dream 😀 .

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
AdventuresNBlogging

Why I unfollowed over 100 blogs?

adventures in blogging
Haven’t seen this image in ages. May be time for an update.

I don’t know just how many blogs I follow, or at this point, followed, but it was too many for me to keep up with on a regular basis. Between my WordPress Reader, Feedly, Bloglovin, and the Feedburner digests, my head was spinning.

With my WordPress Reader, I get to decide whether I want to receive posts instantly, daily, or once a week. The only problem is, I don’t get to choose the day of the week. I end up with 70+ blog posts in my inbox every Monday. Feedly and Bloglovin don’t have these options, but their format is a bit different. They are already digest platforms so I guess I could simply take the time to pick and choose the posts I want to read. Then there’s Feedburner. They don’t give you any options. You get an email each time there is a new post.

It’s all just too much.

So, I unfollowed A BUNCH of blogs.

FIRST, one thing you must know, I unfollowed blogs that hadn’t posted anything in the past 3-4 months. They aren’t currently an issue, since they aren’t posting, but in the spirit of keeping things nice and tidy, I figured why keep these around? Outside of those, I still had to unfollow about 50 blogs.

SECONDLY, before you think me a bad person, I have a plan to continue supporting these blogs in my own special way. I’ve been making an effort to leave a comment every time I read a blog. I’ve already made the habit of sharing posts I read on social media, always Twitter, and sometimes Google+ if I remember. Since I’m already going weeks, at times, not visiting some blogs because I’m so overwhelmed, I’ve decided to schedule my blog visits.

I’ve created a spreadsheet with most of the blogs I currently follow. I have a four-week rotation of Monday thru Saturday blog visits. Most blogs, I’ll simply visit once a month, some twice. Even though I won’t be visiting as much, when I do visit, I’ll be commenting, liking, and sharing. On this spreadsheet, I’ve even scheduled days to check my Feedly and Bloglovin feeds. I’ll only be making a point to read the most recent posts and then moving on.

LASTLY, there are some blogs that I thoroughly enjoy to the point that I will read them every day if they post daily. Those blogs will remain as they are. Plus, I’m joining a new blogging group, an opportunity I almost messed up (more on this in a bit) and I want to make sure I have adequate time to participate with it and still keep up with my new writing schedule.

Sooo, back to how I almost messed up an opportunity. There’s a blogger group I really wanted to be a part of. I was supposed to have sent them some information last week after reviewing some of their work… To be honest, I felt inadequate and intimidated after looking over their work. I know their accomplishments should have no reflection on my ability to contribute to the group, but I felt like a small fish in a big pond… In any case, I reached out to them and was honest with them about my actions, stating clearly that I had no good excuse for not sending the requested information sooner. Luckily, they still gave me a chance. 😀

I’ll be making a few changes to this blog soon in the areas of how I format my posts. My post schedule won’t be changing, but it will become more solidified. That’s all I got for today. If you’re up for it, I could really use some support for my Thunderclap.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
About Toi AdventuresNBlogging Holiday

Happy 3rd Blog Anniversary!

anniversay

It still blows my mind that I’ve been here at the ToiBox for only three years, especially since I know my blogging history goes further back than that. Still, the ToiBox is my home on the web and all those other adventures are just memories now.

Speaking of memories, it’s time to take a look a back. But first I need to recognize someone special to me. On August 21st I forgot to recognize Abraham, the main supporting character of my novel Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel.

Abraham-bk

Happy Belated Birthday Abraham!

This past blogging year has been interesting to say the least.

I participated in some really cool blog hops.

I stopped participating in a few memes.

I participated in the 31 days challenge, but not this year. I’m holding out for the A-Z.

I did a better job of recognizing holidays.

Tried some new things that worked and bunch that didn’t (this blog has been restructured way too many times and I’m not done yet.)

I got a little personal talking about the transition of leaving be a publisher and embracing complete indie status.

I caught up with a few previous guests to this blog.

I received a few blog recognition awards, the most I ever have (You like me, you really really like me 🙂 )

I started hosting for virtual book tours to fill in blog gaps and boy am I glad I did.

I started writing and posting short fiction.

I revamped my newsletter and am still struggling to truly connect with my subscribers; but hey, like everything else, it’s a work in progress.

And I posted my first piece of fan mail.

The last thing I’ll leave you with isn’t about this blog at all but about me, the author of this blog. A few months back I received a quote in my local newspaper after attending a mini-Con. I never shared it them, but just felt like it today.

newsarticle

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords