Ten years ago I took a leap of faith and with time on my hands and a burning desire to pass on my love of reading to a wider audience I took my first tentative steps into the world of book blogging. I had no idea of how to set up a web site and had no presence on social media but with fingers crossed and the help of a few like minded blogger friends I set up Jaffareadstoo.
Ten years later, we continue to survive and thrive in our little corner of the blogging world. Jaffa and I are both older and wiser than when we set out on this great adventure but what has remained constant throughout the years is my passion for sharing the book love to those who read my blog. With several thousand viewers a month stopping by to read my reviews, with over a 1000 following by email, and over 2700 followers on Twitter we can't be doing much wrong.
It's been a real privilege to interact with authors, publishers, publicists and blog tour operators and we have built a solid rapport with them and I like to think that our reputation, so carefully built over the last ten years, is what brings them back time after time. It's lovely to see authors revisiting us with news of their latest book, they are always welcome guests on the blog and being involved in promoting books on publication day or as part of a well organised blog tour is an absolute joy and is still something we never take for granted. However, it is the readers who make my day when they tweet, or message me, to say that due to reading one of my reviews they have gone out to purchase the book, or have discovered a new favourite author.
And as we go into our second decade I am still hugely excited to discover fabulous stories from talented authors and will continue to shout about them with as much enthusiasm as I did back in 2011 when Jaffareadstoo's grand blogging adventure was just beginning.
♡Thank you all for being part of our adventure ♡
Rather than hosting a giveaway I will make a donation to the National Literacy Trust
an independent charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literary skills to succeed in life.
I've found your blog a complete inspiration Jo and have followed you since I started 6 years ago. Huge congratulations on this milestone. Here's to the next ten years x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. You've always been such a good supporter of Jaffareadstoo and you're such an inspiration too !
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