The Evolution of Novel Heartbeat ~ A guest post by Jessi!

Posted November 17, 2013 by Octavia in Features & Spotlights / 0 Comments

The evolution of my blog

Visually

My blog has changed a great deal in my 2 years of blogging. First of all, it started out as Auntie Spinelli Reads, and is now Novel Heartbeat. That’s one of the biggest changes. My design has also changed – many, many times! I get bored very easily, so I need to change it up every once in a while and go with something fresh. Here is a visual of all the changes:

October 2011

November 2011
January 2012
May 2012
After the discovery of Artisteer
July 2012
My first attempt at vector design
October 2012

January 2013

March 2013
Switched to WordPress

Now!
Changed blog names

I’m sure I’ll be ready for another change in 6 months or so!

 

Content

I used to post a review as soon as I had it written. I never used the scheduling option in the first year or so of blogging. I do now! I rely very heavily on scheduling now. I have set days for my reviews, and I post everything right at midnight EST. I try to get a week of posts scheduled instead of doing everything last minute. I also used to participate in way more memes! Too many, in my opinion. Now I only have one a week and that’s my weekly book haul. I grew out of the meme stage!

I also used to review adult books like paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It’s not that I don’t want them on my blog anymore, but rather that I don’t read them anymore. I’ve migrated primarily to YA only these days, because that’s what I love!

I do discussions now, which I never did in my early days as a blogger. I try to get out in the community more than I used to. I talk to more people, go to more author events.

 

Review copies

When I first found out about Netgalley, I went on a downloading spree (totally regret that decision, by the way). I accepted every single review request from every single author I got. I have definitely learned by now that this is NOT the way to go! I was so swamped with review copies that blogging became a chore. Now, I am SUPER picky about the books I request and download. If I’m not dying for it, I don’t get it. I do request ARCs from the publisher now, which I never did before. I no longer accept requests from authors I’ve never heard of. I try my best to keep my review pile fairly manageable (although it’s still up higher than 25 books) and my Netgalley ratio is 88% instead of 30% or whatever it used to be.

All in all, I feel as if my blog has grown phenomenally! Not only in followers and traffic, but in content. I have more original content now than I used to, and it’s higher quality. I hope to continue moving forward in the future!

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