Bloggiesta Update #3 - Crossing off the List Pt. 2

It's Day 2 of Bloggiesta and wow....did I take a lot of time on some things today. I actually didn't expect to spend so much time on my business card task, but I found a website called Zazzle that has fantastic business cards and bookmarks that you can customize for a fairly decent price. I spent many hours just working on my design which left less time in the day for things I should be doing--namely, writing backup posts. Oh well, it was fun to play graphic artist for the day and let my OCD get the best of me.



Here are the things I accomplished:

• I created a button for Shelfari that links to my Shelfari page (it's on the right hand sidebar near my Twitter button)
• I came up with an event primarily for bloggers outside the U.S. that will be a globetrotting book event (it will start in the U.S. though). Look for a post this upcoming week about it if you are a blogger from a country outside the U.S.
• I designed both a business card and a bookmark. Thanks to my fellow blogger/Twitter friends for looking at my bookmark, and a special thank you to Judith at Leeswammes' Blog for looking over my business card.
• I wrote a blog post ("Could Not Detect a Feed for This URL?!!"--That's Right, I Finally Figured Out How to Fix It!)about the RSS Autodisovery Fix for broken RSS Feeds. Thank you to Pete Freitag whose post helped me fix my RSS Feed that had been broken since February 2010.
• I wrote part one of a two part post about my trip to Fredericksburg, TX in April for Hugh Ambrose's signing of his book, The Pacific. I will post it in the morning!
• I entered my first mini-challenge: Bloggiesta Day Two --The Surprise Mini Challenge (I've decided that free-spirited people have more fun so I took a silly picture).
• Got both a gravicon and a favicon
• Found a guest blogger--Judith, from Leeswammes' Blog--to do a guest post on my blog. If you would like to do a guest post, just leave a comment and let me know! I'm pretty open about topics!

Still on my To Do List:

• Write a few backup posts
• Continue brainstorming on a series post that is not meme related

Mood Music

For your daily listening pleasure, I've chosen "Hey Baby Que Paso" by the Texas Tornados. Oh man....this brings back memories. My brother's band used to sing this all the time when I was growing up! Love it! Also, check out Suey's Bloggiesta Updates on her blog, It's All About Books...and life's other adventures too! She features a Nelly Furtado/Josh Groban song and an Enrique Iglesias song. I've listened to both MULTIPLE times on her blog!

"Could Not Detect a Feed for This URL?!!" -- That's Right, I Finally Figured Out How to Fix It!

Back in February I wrote a post about my blog roll problems in a post titled, "Blog Roll Problems Anyone?" because I received a few messages saying people weren't able to add me to their Blog Roll because they got this error message:

"Could not detect a feed for this URL. Blog posts and update time will not be shown. Add URL anyway?"

I had found a quick fix that involved giving people my actual Feed URL instead of just my Blog URL. If you are wondering what the difference is between a Feed URL and just a regular website or blog URL, here it is:

• Feed URL - http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
• Website/Blog URL - http://blogname.blogspot.com

This has been a known issue for Blogger for months and it doesn't appear that they've fixed it. I think the problem may come from using templates that are not from the Blogger website. My template comes from BloggerThemes.net. 

If you are having this problem, FEAR NOT! Through the wonders of Google, I found a website that actually fixes the problem permanently without having to tell people what your Feed URL. You just need to add this line of code into the HTML of your blog template:

<link href='http://littlebookish.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default' rel='alternate' title='RSS Feed for A Little Bookish' type='application/rss+xml'/>

• The above link tag should be added right before the </head> of your HTML
•  Change the "title" and "href" to fit your blog
• If you use Atom, change the "type" to application/atom+xml
• If you have multiple feeds, you can add multiple link tags

**Please note that I took this directly from Pete Freitag's website. I give his post full credit for helping me fix my problem and really appreciate his post! Please visit his website if you have any further questions (of course, I would be happy to try to help if you have having the same issue I did.

Bloggiesta Update #2 - Crossing off the List Pt. 1

It's only Day 1 of Bloggiesta, and I have most definitely have NOT been participating in siesta. I've accomplished quite a lot today partially because I am woefully behind on reading a few books and need to get back to it (if you are curious, I am reading Middlemarch by George Eliot in an informal read-a-long at Literary Lollipop, and I'm also trying to finish up The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose--non-fiction always takes me longer to read).



Here are the things I've accomplished:

• Thought about the goals for my blog and have made a short-term and long-term list of goals. I have to admit that I am not super driven to chase down 1,000 followers, but my general goal would be to get people regularly reading and commenting on my blog (and not just memes--I like it when people read my reviews...hehe). 
• I have added RSS subscription and e-mail subscription to my blog on the right hand side of my sidebar at the top as well as changed my Twitter icon to something a little bigger and hopefully more noticeable.
• Added Google Analytics to my blog
• I organized my bookshelf and can now find all the books I haven't actually read yet (It's a lot! Does anyone else have this problem?)
• I have asked someone to do a guest post on my blog and hopefully I'll hear back from her soon.
• I have come up with an idea for an International Book Blogger event that I am going to organize. If you are interested, please comment here and I will add you to my list. 
• I only need two more followers to do my first giveaway (it will be books off my shelf and will be open to anyone in the world).
• I have found a few new book bloggers to follow (especially because I'm looking for bloggers outside the U.S. for the event). If you have a Twitter account, let me know. Recently, I've been finding it is much easier to read people's reviews if they post links on Twitter (and I like to comment on reviews!)

Still on my To Do List:

• Need to write a few backup posts for lazy days. I've come up with a few ideas, but if you have suggestions, please leave a comment!
• I still need to come up with a post that I can do on a regular basis...not a meme, but something that has the same theme from week to week.
• Write the post about fixing my feed URL problem. Apparently other people using Blogger have encountered this problem and I can now tell the world how to fix it (thanks to someone else who posted it first of course)!
• Look into doing business cards. I am not sure I will get this done this weekend, but I would like to consider doing it.
• Look into doing a gravatar and a favicon

Mood Music

...AND, I can't leave out something for your listening pleasure! Here's a song I grew up hearing my family sing at just about every family party I went to:

Bloggiesta Update #1 - My Goals for Bloggiesta!

UPDATE #1

It's the first day of Bloggiesta, so I decided to write a post about what I plan to do for the weekend:

• Write a few backup posts that are book related, but not actual reviews. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions for topics.
• Come up with a series post that I can do regularly between book reviews
• Find someone to do a guest blog post. If you are interested, please let me know!
• I would like to think about doing an International Blogger Event of some kind to promote community with book bloggers all over the world--possibly a read-a-long or a Sisterhood of the Traveling Book kind of thing (you send a book and local treat to the next person on the list)
• Come up with a "business" plan with some short-term and long-term goals for my blog
• Make some business cards
• Get 50 followers so that I can do my first giveaway.
• Write a post about the solution to my Feed URL not being detected so that other bloggers that have the same problem will know how to fix it!
• Consider dropping a challenge or two that I've signed up for so that I feel more free to read whatever books I feel like reading. 
• Consider getting a gravatar
• Network with a few bloggers that I haven't previously found through the Bloggiesta event
• Organize my bookshelf so that I know exactly what books I have that still need to be read.

What are your goals for Bloggiesta? Please leave a comment with your blog URL so that I can come check on your goals and progress! Good luck!

Some Mood Music for You!

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun (from their self-titled album, Rodrigo y Gabriela)

It's Time for the Semi-Annual Bloggiesta!

¡Bienvenidos! ¡Ya es hora de celebrar Bloggiesta!* This time around, Bloggiesta is scheduled between June 11-13. It's a time to evaluate your blog and think about what is working, what's not, and where you want your blog to go!

What is Bloggiesta?
According to Maw Books Blog, Bloggiesta is, "...a blogging marathon. An opportunity to cross those nagging items off your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two!"


What to do During Bloggiesta

• Write reviews
• Write backup posts for a rainy day
• Write that great post idea from three months back
• Work on series posts
• Write guest posts
• Put out invitations for guest posts
• Conduct and edit author interviews
• Create template posts for your future reads (i.e., title, images, linking, tags, etc.) so you can open up, write the review and post it without being bogged down with technicalities.
• Clean up your tags, archives, books reviewed list, etc.
• Create a text file (or Google doc) of cheat sheets (html codes, post url's, etc.)
• Improve your blog template, clean up sidebars, add a favicon, install those plug-ins you've been meaning to.
• Add or edit your About Me page, review policy, disclosure policy, privacy policy, create landing pages (for example--an About Me page for Twitter readers page) or any other pages you might have
• Any bloggy type housekeeping that you've been neglecting
• Clean up and update your challenge lists. Link up your posts with hosts.
• Make sure all of your social network profiles are up to date. Brand yourself through those profiles with color schemes, images, etc.
• Go get a gravatar
• Visit the Blogging Tips Group on the Book Blogs Ning Network and find ways to improve your blog.
• Work on any specialized projects you may have going.
• Clean out and organize your feed reader and blog subscriptions
• Create an elevator pitch.
• Make business cards
• Find a blogging buddy
• The sky's the limit!

How to sign up:

• Go to Maw Books Blog and read her Bloggiesta post
• If you decide to join, clink on the Mister Linky she has posted on her page
• Be sure to check out the mini-challenges she has posted as well. They include some great tips and discussions on book blogging.
• She says there will be prizes if you're one of those people that needs extra incentive!

To get you all in the mood to fiesta for Bloggiesta, here is one of my favorite Spanish language songs:

Gloria Estefan - Mi Tierra


*Thanks to my friend James for giving me a little Spanish opening. He is headed to Monterrey, Mexico next month for work and has been working hard to become fluent in Spanish!

Blog Award! The Versatile Blogger

SenoraG, from Reading, Reading, and Life visited my blog today and awarded me The Versatile Blogger Award! I really feel honored and excited that she thought to give me this award because she is a new follower on my blog. 

The rules of The Versatile Blogger Award are:

• Thank the person who gave you this award
• Share 7 things about yourself
• Pass the award on to people who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason (...in no particular order)!
• Contact those you have chosen to receive the award.

Seven Things About Myself

1. I am a co-admin for two groups on Shelfari (Fantasy/Science Fiction Book of the Month and Anne McCaffrey and All Her Worlds.
2. I am unemployed, seeking employment, and passing the time by blogging about books I read.
3. I never knew networking with other bloggers and sharing our love of books could be so much fun (There are very few people in my life that are readers so blogging and Shelfari have been wonderful).
4. I would really like to do a solo trip to another country someday!
5. One of my goals in life is to become fluent in another language (preferably Spanish since it's so useful where I live).
6. My favorite movie of all-time is The Goonies. A few years ago I vacationed in Oregon and made a special detour to Astoria just to do the self-guided Goonies tour and take lots of pictures!
7. I went whale watching last year and saw a group of humpback whales that came very close to our boat. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Passing the Award On...

• Leeswammes' Blog - I discovered her blog recently and follow her on Twitter. She is a blogger from The Netherlands that enjoys reading and cooking. Her reviews are thoughtful and her recipes look fantastic!

• Iris on Books - I discovered Iris' blog at about the same time as Leeswammes' blog. She is also a blogger from The Netherlands and I also follow her on Twitter. I enjoy reading her reviews. Recently she has been talking about organizing a UK/Europe Book Bloggers get-together and also is participating in a Japanese Literature Challenge

• Literary Lollipop - I found Literary Lollipop by chance. She is currently doing a read-a-long of Middlemarch by George Eliot on Mondays. A Shelfari friend and I had decided to read the book together and we have been posting on Literary Lollipop (we are a few weeks behind her). Her summaries and thoughts on the book are well done and I'm really enjoying it. I had given up on Middlemarch a few years ago. I think I'll make it through it this time!

I also want to thank SenoraG from Reading, Reading, and Life for giving me this award. Please check out her blog and follow her on Twitter!

Teaser Tuesdays - June 8

Taken from Miz B.'s, Should Be Reading blog:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B. of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just click the link for Teaser Tuesdays and you can find out how to participate!

Here is my teaser for the week:

"She sank into the chair, and for a few moments sat there like a statue, while images and emotions were hurrying upon her."     ~p.580, Middlemarch by George Eliot

New Review Posted: 
Storm Front (Book 1 of The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher

What is your teaser for this week? You can post a link to your blog in the comments, or if you don't have a blog you can post your teaser in the comments. Happy Tuesday!