When I started this blog in 2012, things were hot and new in the Indie world and authors were connecting via both Twitter and their blogs. Blogger provided easy ways to follow blogs and events like the April A-Z Blog Challenge brought even more followers.
I was fortunate to have a lot of readers, albeit mostly other authors, but an active group. I received several different blog awards and have them posted on my
Awards page.
In 2013, I think, I decided to move my blog to one based on WordPress and hosted on my own domain. What a disaster! Way too many updates to keep up with, I kept losing my customizations, and hackings were rampant. But the worst thing was losing most of my followers.
I eventually moved back to Blogger.com and chalked it up to a bad decision - at least for me. But I have never recouped my reader following and have often considered dropping this blog completely.
And yet, I still plug away at it.
Why am I telling you this? Well, it appears bloggers are reactivating some of the old blog awards and I've found myself the recipient, again, of the Leibster Award, thanks to
Emily in Ecuador (please be sure to check out her great blog,
My Life in Ecuador).
Liebster Award
"Liebster" is a German word meaning beloved or dearest. It is an online recognition in form of virtual award which started in 2011 passed on by bloggers to fellow bloggers for enjoying and valuing their work. The idea is to recognize the effort and give credit.
The Liebster Award is interesting in that anyone nominated for it receives it by writing an acceptance post. The rules for accepting the award are straightforward:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Answer the 11 questions you were asked.
- Nominate 11 people and ask them 11 questions.
- Notify each of the nominees on their blog.
Through the years, the logo has changed as well as the suggested requirements to participate. Here is the
LINK to my old acceptance, with its requirements and here is the new logo...
...and here are the new requirements.
Nominees, should you choose to accept your award, here are your questions:
- What prompted you to begin blogging?
- Which language would you like to learn?
- What was your favorite experience in the past six months?
- What one location in the world you would like to visit? Why?
- Do you have pets? If yes, please introduce them.
- What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
- What is your biggest struggle while writing?
- Who would you like to receive a week of training/mentorship from?
- What is the first thing you drink in the morning?
- How many books do you read per month?
- What was your favorite time of year when you were growing up?
Because I've been given this award no less than four times, I'm going to pass on answering the questions, but I will nominate several other blogs.
- Denise Covey
- Yolanda Renee
- Donna/Dolorah
- Louise Barbour/Fundy Blue
- Talon Windwalker/1Dad1Kid
- Olga Godim
- D.A. Cairns
- Joan/SharkBytes
- Tamara Gerber
- Doug Bittinger
- Sue Ann Jaffarian
So again, thank you Emily, now I'm off to notify my nominees!
I've decided to celebrate the launch of my latest book, Almost a Touch (book #3 in the Klondike Mystery series), with a giveaway. It's easy to participate. Just buy the book, either now, as a pre-order, or after October 1st when it goes live.
