Making Changes

After book blogging for almost five years, writing online articles, beta reading, proof reading, taking on a personal assistant roll with an author, forming a promotional company and running author services, and wearing so many hats that I sometimes forget where I've lain them all - it's time to pull back. In fact it's probably time for a well earned vacation, but for now it's time to reel everything back in.

When I first started out with My Book Chatter, it was just about the joy of reading. Of finding a great book and telling the world (or my little slice of it) all about it. Of finding new authors, talking to like minded friends, discussing and sharing thoughts and ideas... but things changed some time ago, and not necessarily for the better.

The way we blog in general has changed, just about everyone is talking about, blogging about, social media-ing up the same book, movie, the next best-thing. It's as though bloggers now have set in stone rules to follow, a kind of conformity which in turn is making us all robotic - it just seems all the same; everyone is reading - blogging - doing the same damn thing!

And while I'll never loose my love of books and reading, I've definitely lost the passion for almost everything else. Some of that can be attributed to outside influences, innumerable new authors and books flooding the market, but mostly I'm just burnt out... and bored. And boredom is pretty much a death knell for a book blogger!

So it's time to make a change... and the time to make those changes is now!

From September I will no longer be jumping on every cover reveal, book blitz and blog tour that comes my way. I will be shutting the doors on Book Chatter Promotions (except for a couple of tours I've committed to later this year). I will no-longer accept any books for review (unless it's from friends who know I'll always read their work) and I'll start removing all tabs on the blog pertaining to those things.

I'm stripping My Book Chatter back down to it's original bones.

A place for me to periodically post book reviews and randoms thoughts about books.

Simple - unfettered by outside influences - my own thoughts in my own words.

I never started out to be the same as everyone else and yet, that's exactly what happened.

Hopefully by doing this, I'll again find my true voice, rekindle that love of reading and reviewing, of sharing my sometimes too close-to-the-bone opinion. And that in of itself is exciting - I've missed that part of me!

Do I expect to loose friends and followers etc... of course.
But that's how you find out who your true friends are, they stick by you when you need them most, when you're at your most vulnerable, your most unattractive.

So there you have it - the demise of a bog standard book blog and (hopefully) the re-awakening of a solitary voice in an over-crowded room.