Miscellaneous

Recent Happenings and Book Blogger Tips

Alex @ The Scribe Owl

Hi everyone! It seems like so much has gone on in the past couple weeks for me! I just wanted to talk to you guys a little and tell you a bit about what’s been going on with me! You’ve probably seen a few of the changes, others you might not know!

I Joined NetGalley

Why on earth did it take me so long to do this? I’ve been on Edelweiss+ for ages, but I just joined NetGalley!

If you don’t know what NetGalley is, it’s a site for eARCs of books. ARCs are advanced review copies, which are books that you get free in exchange for a review before they officially come out. An eARC just means that it’s either an epub or a kindle book.

It’s so much easier to get books on NetGalley! I guess they have more stock there or something? Nevertheless, I’d advise you join too if you want easier ARCs! Edelweiss is fantastic too, but NetGalley is my new favorite.

NetGalley
Edelweiss+

I Changed My Posting Schedule

I used to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I’ve recently changed it to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I get the most views on the weekend when everyone is bored and scrolling through their phones, so it’s such a waste that I didn’t have new posts out on Saturday and Sunday!

I also changed what kind of posts go on what days! It used to just be anything on Monday and Friday and a Top 5 Wednesday post on Wednesday. Now I have a new schedule:

Monday: Miscellaneous (tag, award, haul, etc.)
Wednesday: Top 5 Wednesday
Friday: Book review/blog tour stop
Saturday: Book review/blog tour stop
Sunday: Miscellaneous (tag, award, haul, etc.)

I Signed Up For Blog Tours

I found some wonderful sites for blog tours: Rockstar Book Tours, YA Bound Book Tours, and Xpresso Book Tours! They all have really painless ways to join blog tours and have been excellent so far! Those of you who have been here for a while interacting with me probably know how badly I’ve wanted to do a blog tour for a while, and I’m so glad I can! By the time this post is up, I’ll have already posted the blitz for Ruinsong! I’m so glad I got the opportunity from Xpresso Book Tours, and you can be expecting a review soon!

Rockstar Book Tours: They have some really good books on here! I haven’t signed up for anything because nothing caught my eye, but I’m sure they’ll have something good!

YA Bound Book Tours: These guys have been my favorite so far! When I first went to their website I was a little overwhelmed, but they’ve been amazing on outreach and just amazing so far! I’ve already joined two tours!

Xpresso Book Tours: I had to do some looking for a book that interested me because the majority do not. But I found Ruinsong, and I had so much fun! It requires more picking and choosing, but they do have some excellent books!

I Made New Thumbnails

You’ve probably seen a few posts with that background of the stars with the purple and blue scribbles and plants by now! I decided I needed to start keeping my thumbnails consistent, so I created one I really liked!

But then I decided it was too busy and I changed it again.

I like this one much more. What do you think?

I Made Better Rating Graphics

I’ve long since been sick of closing my reviews with something like:

Rating: ★★★★★

And so I’ve decided to make graphics for it! For a blog that’s called The Scribe Owl, it’s seriously lacking in owls. So now I’ll rate with owls instead of stars!

I’ve Gotten More Organized

I’ve always been kind of all over the place when it comes to organization, but I’ve gotten better! I’ve started making posts weeks in advance so I’m not scrambling. I’ve even started planning out my schedule months in advance so that I can stay organized! It’s been a lifesaver for me, and I’d highly advise you put in a little work to save you from a lot of unnecessary work!

What did you think? Has anything big happened to you in the past couple of weeks?

Published by Alex @ The Scribe Owl

34 thoughts on “Recent Happenings and Book Blogger Tips”

  1. Ahhhh how I wish my blog could look so neat and nice…ugh my featured images are all over the place and just…everything is messy. I keep trying and it never seems to work. We’ll see if I can do anything that actually looks good.

    Anyways, great post! I loved reading about all your blogging happenings! Hmm, I have edelweiss and not netgalley….to join netgalley I’d have to ask my parents but I might do that since there does seem to be a lot more book copies there.
    Wow, you post a lot! I used to post like every day when I was a new and inexperienced blogger but then I realized that I literally could not do that so now I post like once or twice a week. But I look forwards to reading all your posts! (I’m not an expert at this at all, hence the only 45 followers, but I saw how you noticed people are more likely to check your blog on the weekend…maybe another suggestion is to post posts more in the middle of the day, for whatever timezone you’re in? Because that way more people are actually on their computers and might see it right away and if someone sees it right away they’re more likely to do something about it? I dunno, just a suggestion. I’m not very good at this.)

    Well, sorry for the absurdly long comment, but I love this post!

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  2. I LOVE the new thumbnails! I’ve been working on my own for the new year, since I only started my blog in August and it’s a bit all over the place. Yours looks so good and I too prefer the new one. I have to get netgalley soon, although I never get ARCs anyways.
    Your new schedule is amazing, I could never post that much!! I am going to have to get onto making a schedule soon, I just am not consistent enough for that 😅😭

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    1. Aw thank you! I used to never get ARCs either, but it’s much easier with NetGalley! One more tip: HMH Teen or Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will gives copies to whoever asks for them so you don’t have to be a crazy big blogger or something! And that’s on Edelweiss AND NetGalley.

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      1. Ooh! Thanks so much! I’ll definitely look into it, since I would love to review books from up and coming authors 💙😊

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  3. Ooo!! I love the rating graphics!! I have been on netgalley for a while…but then my account got deleted by mistake 🤣…so I joined again recently. I am on Edelweiss ..but it’s soo confusing!!! I have no idea how it works😅😅. I have always wondered how people signed up for blog tours …thanks for the information!! Yep!! A lot is really going on!! Plus u joined a book club!!!🥰

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  6. Omg this is AMAZING!!!😍 I LOVE your new thumbnail/graphics/art/rating/EVERYTHING😍 AHahaha I got Netgalley first and then when I joined Edelweiss after I realized that Edelweiss IS MUCH HARDER, so I stick to Netgalley all the time now.🤣

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  7. Hey, Alex do you mind telling me where you create your backgrounds and thumbnails? I’ve been trying to work on some new ones for my blog for the new year, but I haven’t really been able to find anywhere to do it. Anyhow I really love your new ones, and the owls are so cute 💖

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  9. Wow!!! So many cool changes 😄 You’re right about the owls and they look amazing!! And thank you for sharing a little about your posting schedule. I’m still struggling a bit with figuring out which days I want to post and I find it really helpful knowing which days you chose and why ☺️

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  10. Your graphics are really nice and I like the idea of a schedule although I have to have some things lined up before I begin that.

    I got Netgalley along time ago but I like reading physical books more and reading e-books irritates my eyes.

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