Feature & Follow, #29

It's time once again for the Feature and Follow Blog Hop hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read? The Feature and Follow Blog Hop is an excellent chance to connect with other bloggers and answering questions about our favorite books. Here's this week's question:

Confess your blogger sins! Is there anything as a newbie blogger that you've done, that as you gained more experience you were like - oops?

There have been a few things that I've done that I realized afterwards I shouldn't have. The one that caused my biggest anxiety was using a picture for my header that weren't mine. I just did a general search for images, found a cute hat image and used it in my header. I did a cursory search to try to find who owned the image and used it without specific permission. I realized pretty quickly that I needed something of my own and came up with the idea for my new header and commissioned a terrific artist to bring it to life.

The other thing that I've really learned from was to do some research before accepting a review request. When I first started (and I'll admit even now) I would get so excited when I was contacted to do a review and I would pretty much say yes to everything without knowing anything about the author, genre, book, etc. I don't think I gave some of those early reviews the justice they deserved because they were in a genre that I don't usually read. When I get a review now, I do some research and determine if it's a good fit for my blog.

What about you? Have you made any oops?

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.