The greatest benefit of joining up for events like Rach Harrie‘s Write Campaign and Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo, has to be the people you meet. I so love the kid lit world. One of the awesome bloggers I met during the Write Campaign is Laura Barnes. She is quite a marketing whizz, and with a little trepidation I signed up to have my blog critiqued by Laura, so here it is. Do browse through other critiques on Laura’s site, as I confess I have been improving my blog over the past few weeks simply by applying what I was learning there.
Thank you so much for this series, Laura!
In my 20's, with only my guitar and a rucksack, I wandered the continents, immersing myself in the lives of some wonderful people, projects and stories, which changed the way I view my responsibility to others and this earth. Right now I'm a European transplant in the US who writes books for children and young adults. Stories can help us not only navigate our world but can connect us to others, and allow us to inspire and help each other. I believe that equity and empathy should be at the core of our all actions, words, and stories.
I am also a school librarian and I get a kick out of book-matchmaking! And I use the pronouns she/her.
What a great idea — and what an awesome critique response you received, Joanna! I thoroughly agree with the critique. Your blog (and I have been reading it since its beginning) is impressive, professional, and focused. Add to that the facts that it’s a delight to the eyes, and you have a natural and approachable writing style, and voila — a great blog!
I am going to delve into Laura’s advice as I work at making my blog the best it can be (one of my goals for the coming year).
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Beth. I am sure you will have noticed me tweaking the blog over the past few weeks. Well it really is thanks to what I have been learning on Laura’s blog!
Congratulations! You float on water today! I saw the review and was impressed with what they do. I agree with their comments — it is a beautiful, user friendly blog. I have the e-mail sign up on my blog. Thanks for adding one, because I received confirmation I will receive your blog again. Pat
Thanks so much, Pat, and glad the email sign up seems to work! I love how much we can learn from other bloggers so willing to share their expertise!
I’m using Laura’s checklist on what you do right — to make sure I’m doing it too. I really like the critiques.
It’s great how we are all learning together!
Wow! You are so brave, and you received a fab critique! I will definitely check out Laura’s tips since I am so new to the blogging world. Way to go, Joanna!
Kelly, I was nervous, especially when I started reading the critiques about 6 weeks ago. Coming at the end of the list has been a distinct advantage. Laura has great insight also on many other aspects of building one’s platform. Her blog is worth following.
Congrats of a great blog critique, Joanna! I thought I commented here yesterday, but I guess I did it on Laura’s! Anyway, as a devoted follower, it was no surprise to me that Laura loved your blog. Great job 🙂
Wow! Lovely feedback for you Joanna. I have certainly noticed your tweeking over the last few weeks, very impressive.
I have been thinking of changing my own blog around for some time, although wary of the problems I had setting it up had hindered me from making the changes thus far. May look into this next year.
Now I have independent confirmation: I always knew this was a great blog! I made quite a few changes after getting my critique from Laura too; her advice is invaluable. Just stopping in to say hi now that NaNo is over: phew! I’ll be back more often now.
@Diane, @Susanna, @Gail Thanks dear fellow bloggers! Gail Bravo you for even doing Nano!!