Beyond the Blog

Design by: Nina Reads

Day four of Armchair BEA is upon us. I'm sad I haven't managed to get any of the other topic posts up, but I'm still glad to be a participant nonetheless. Without further ado, today's topic: Beyond Your Blog; Opportunities Provided to You Outside the Blogging World by Your Blog

To be quite honest, the combination of my blog being just shy of a year and my introvert tendencies means I haven't really gotten any "real-life" things out of my blog. That is to say, invitations to special events, other reviewing opportunities, etc. Don't take that to mean I've gotten nothing at all out of my blog, though. Nosiree, I promise I've gotten plenty :]


I never really knew about author signings or things like that so my blog introduced me to a whole new level of bookish love. Since I moved up to Seattle I've gotten the chance to attend a few signings which I'm really thankful for. I got to meet Cat Patrick and Kimberly Derting and this Saturday I'll get to attend the Fierce Reads Seattle tour stop. 
Which reminds me...

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Sadly, I didn't really know much about John Green last January when him and Hank came through on the Tour De Nerdfighting, BUT I've now been introduced to the awesomeness that is Nerdfighteria and I never in a million years would have found that without blogging :D


Another major thing I've gleaned through blogging is more confidence in myself. Being able to put my thoughts and feelings out there and have people come and read them because they actually want to just blows my mind. In a good way, of course.

The mantra of an introvert.
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The final thing that blogging has provided for me is friends. I'm just terrible at making friends in real life. I get all awkward and I say weird things so that people end up kind of edging away from me trying to politely escape my scariness (oh, the life of an introvert). The internet has helped me feel just a little less awkward and the mutual love of books has provided me with a great platform to meet other awesome bloggers. "Meet" being a relative term since I haven't actually met any of them in real life :P 


So, that's my poorly worded thanks to my blog and all it's given me. What kind of opportunities has your blog provided you? Or, if you're not a blogger, has your love of books gotten you anywhere?