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.
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?
- 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!
Hi, Donna! It's 1:30 am, and I've been making the IWSG rounds! After a loonnngggg day in Victoria. Thank you for the lovely surprise of nominating me for a Leibster Award. I don't participate in passing on awards, but I'll answer your questions:
ReplyDelete1. Blogging ~ a friend pushed me into it, and I haven't stopped since.
2. French ~ I had to learn it when Canada went bilingual, had a terrible time, I had to take it by correspondence, I'd like to slay that dragon!
3. Going to my first great niece Ella Grace's (on my side of the family) 100 Day Celebration. Her mother Jeannie is Chinese, and my Scottish family is loving the joy of Ella Grace, but also of embracing Jeannie's big, loving family and culture and traditions.
4. One location??? My best friend and I are planning a visit to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu in the near future ~but it is only one of so many places I still want to see!
5. No pets ~ I lost my Scottie MacBeath in 1984, and I've missed him every day. I'm too much of a Rolling Stone to take on a pet.
6. Seal flipper pie in Newfoundland
7. Time is my biggest struggle in writing! In life!
8. I'd like to spend a week studying with Pema Chodron at the Buddhist Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
9. Coffee with lots of cream!
10. Usually two books a month. I wish I could squeeze in more!
11. I loved all of the seasons, but if I were forced to pick one I would pick ... How can you choose the magic of snowflakes falling from the sky, over the wonder of bees buzzing in apple blossoms, over the joy of frolicking in the waves, over jumping in piles of colored leaves??? I can't ...
Happy writing in September!
Wow, that was a fun read...so different from what I've come to expect from us native USA folks. Thanks for sharing...and just a side note, my paternal grandmother & family are Nova Scotia-ites. Clan MacQuarrie.
DeleteOh, and I still prefer fall...LOL!
Nice to get an award now and then, isn't it? Blogging has changed quite a bit since I started too. And so has my blog, and the amount of time I have to spend on it. But hey, we're still here, right? A to Z is my favorite blog season. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are so right...we keep plugging away. Once I get through my current WIP, I may take a look at Wattpad. Another novelty?
Deletehi- thanks for the award. I think this is one I actually never got! But it's sure been a while since any have made the rounds. I will play along and acknowledge in a couple of days. I have big activities coming up in the next few days, but I won't forget.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a while - this is my second recent nomination but I ignored the previous one. LOL! Needless to say, no rush!
DeleteDonna, what a surprise and honor! Truly! Thank you!
ReplyDelete1. I started blogging when I started having books published. It was my way of connecting to my readers. Now it’s my way of connecting to anyone who wishes to read my blog.
2. French.
3. Turning in my last book under contract, which was my 23 contracted book spread between two publishers in twelve years. After writing a couple of books a year under tight deadlines, I look forward to being an indie author.
4. Alaska. Friends just got back and their photos make me drool for the same experiences.
5. I have a very fluffy and opinionate cat named B. She just turned 19 years old.
6. Crickets in a stir fry.
7. Staying focused on the current project for long periods of time. I always have several ideas for new books floating in my head, and I want to work on them instead of what I should be working on.
8. Charlaine Harris.
9. Cold water.
10. This depends on my writing. I read more between writing books. But I try to read at least 3 a month.
11. Fall. I spent my early years in New England and you can’t beat their fall weather and beauty.
Great list! Thanks for playing along.
DeleteWow, four times nominated for the Liebster Award. That sounds like quite the honor. :-) I've received it twice as well, with many years in between, and have yet to accept it this second time around. So much to write about already.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your hassles with WordPress. My first blog was on Blogger (about our sailing life for eight years), but my current one is on WordPress (with my own domain) and I have been quite happy with it.
Since my career was in IT, I should be able to deal with the updates, etc. quite easily. Not so...I'm too old to enjoy messing around with it, I guess. LOL!
DeleteThanks, Donna! I got one a couple of years ago: http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-coveted-liebster-award.html
ReplyDeleteI'll try and put together a new one incorporating your questions :-)
Here's a preview, #9: coffeee. Duh!
LOL! I love your posts and following you in FB. Thanks for joining in the fun!
DeleteDear Donna, this projects still sits in my drafts folder, and I have decided to finish and post it at the end of June, because that's when my blog is celebrating its 6 year anniversary. How about that?
DeleteFunny how we can let things sit on the back burner sometimes and then the perfect opportunity arises.
DeleteDonna, it's published: https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2018/06/liebster-award.html
DeleteThanks again :-)
Blog disasters seem to be the price of having one. I've had similar problems, and yes, still try to keep plugging away. This year the distractions of life have interfered but I keep telling myself I'll change all that, turn it around and get back to the fun. That's yet to be the case, so it was truly lovely to get an award!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will post my answer and follow the rules soon. I'll let you know when. Perseverance is the key - isn't it?
Life does indeed get in the way, but that's an important feature of being. ;) Keep on plugging away...that's all we can do sometimes.
DeleteI think blogging comes and goes in waves. I've seen some bloggers who gave up blogging returning to it. I attempted Wordpress, but I just prefer Blogger. I find it easier to use.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I much prefer Blogger and agree, it's so much simpler. ;)
DeleteHi Donna- accepted the award today. It was fun, and I'm glad I'm getting to know you better. http://myqualityday.blogspot.com/2017/10/an-award-and-goal.html
ReplyDeleteHey Joan, I don't know why I missed seeing this. Thanks!
Delete