It’s been almost five months since my last blog post. So much for getting back into the groove! As you can see, yet another attempt to connect to book blogging turned out to be a failure.
When I started getting Bluehost’s nagging emails about my upcoming renewal date, I realized I needed to make a decision about my blogging future. Did I want to pay for another year of service? Did I want to keep my domain? Did I want to migrate back to a free platform?
Did I even want to blog anymore?
I started by analyzing the pursuits this blog is oriented around – reading and writing. Was I reading less? Definitely not. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I’m on pace to read far more than ever before. I’m devouring books and team challenges over on Goodreads like a maniac. Like a BOSS. I’ve read over 70 books already, and we haven’t even reached the halfway point this year.
Okay, so what about writing? That one is a slightly different challenge in that I already have avenues for that separate from this blog, from my in-person critique group to online communities like The Writing Sidekick. I have no desire to cross post my hand wringing and teeth gnashing here.
Book reviewing started out as a way for me to meet other readers and writers who loved to talk about books, and I’ve discovered some truly incredible bloggers who inspire me with their wit, dedication, and passion. I will be eternally grateful for having been a part of the book blogging community, if only for a few short years. (That may sound like a long time to some, but many of you have been doing this 4EVAAAHHH.)
The real question then became: Do I want to book blog anymore? Based on my lack of consistency and interest, the answer is clear. No, I don’t.
What, then, should I do with this site?
I couldn’t bring myself to cast away my domain and the blog entirely. I would like to hold on to my reviews and recaps and features and leave open the possibility that I may come back to them periodically when the mood strikes me. It’s not that I’m reading and writing less frequently, but that I am writing about reading and writing less frequently.
I put a lot of hard work (and money) into this blog – switching platforms and hosting companies multiple times, getting multiple designers to help me with my themes and headers, and hosting events and giveaways – and I’d hate to see it all disappear. Having made up my mind, I decided to find a cheaper web host (Who also migrated my site for free in under an hour! Thank you, A Small Orange!) to minimize my maintenance costs as I move forward with this blog/site.
I may not have as much interest in reviewing books or discussing my writing process, but I do want to have an online presence outside of social media. Ideally, I’d like a place to talk about my wide range of hobbies and interests, beyond just books.
So what happens now?
Essentially, this will become a personal blog. I’m taking a workshop on HTML/CSS and hopefully will be able to put some of that knowledge into use to revamp this site a little. Things will probably look a little different around here very soon.
I’m sure I will be discussing books from time to time, and most likely sharing occasional race reports, and definitely talking about an exciting career change I am pursuing. For now, I’m comfortable simply leaving the pressure of maintaining a book blog behind me and moving on to more varied topics. If that at all interests you, I hope you’ll stick around.
Logan E. Turner 