Q: When and why did you start Dogshaming?

A: I started Dogshaming in mid-August. It all started when my fiance, Mike, and I caught our more mischievous dog under the bed, chewing on Mike’s underwear. There was only the elastic band left. After laughing so hard that we cried, we started to get concerned. Was he going to be okay? Then he threw up part of them and the rest…well, you know. So Mike thought it would be funny to shame him, so he took a picture of Beau, which I posted on my personal blog. Within 12 hours, we’d amassed over 600 likes. So we started up Dogshaming, and the rest is history.

Q: How many picture submissions do you receive on average?

A: We receive probably over 500 submissions a day.

Q: From those submissions, have you found that any particular breed tends to be more frequently shameful?

A: Oh, yes: pitbulls, wiener dogs, labs and weimaraners are some of the most submitted.

Q: What pets do you have? Have they been featured on the site?

A: I have two weenies. They’ve both been showcased numerous time on the blog.

Q: What do your family and friends think of the site?

A: Everyone thinks it’s so funny. I’ve been really fortunate to have received very little backlash from this blog.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: I read quite a few personal blogs from friends, but the popular ones I check are The Frogman, CuteOverload, Buzzfeed (we were featured in the 54 Best Tumblrs Started in 2012) and Awkward Family Photos.

Q: How much time do you spend on Dogshaming daily?

A: I spend approximately 6-8 hours a day working on submissions, Adoptable Fridays, correspondence, charities, etc. I’m a one-woman show, so it’s a full-time job!

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: I try to respond to all inquiries on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr within 12 hours. I am very active as our readership is the reason we’re still in business. Often, our readers have good ideas on how to improve the site.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started the site? What pains?

A: The Adoptable Fridays is definitely the most fulfilling part of the blog. Being able to help these wonderful dogs who have no permanent home definitely makes up for the less fun parts. Every once in a while, I’ll receive a lude picture as a submission, or someone will tweet us about how terrible our site is and that we should quit Twitter. But then I realize, I have 18,000+ Twitter followers for a reason, and more than how many people read our blog every day? One person who hates our blog vs. hundreds of thousands who love it. Makes it easy to get past the negative.

Q: Which post has made you LOL the most?

A: Having seen close to 50,000 submissions, it’s hard to remember the ones who make me laugh. I think this one is probably one of the funniest, though.

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When and why did you start professionally writing?

I started working at the Milwaukee Journal after graduating from the Marquette University College of Journalism. From there, I went to Milwaukee Magazine, where I was senior editor. I’ve specialized in crime reporting, technology reporting and media coverage at various publications and websites.

How would you describe the content of JimRomenesko.com?

The site covers what’s important and interesting in the media world, from my perspective. I try to make it of interest to both journalists and media consumers who don’t work in the news business.

What do your family and friends think of your blogging?

They think it’s the perfect line of work for me! They know I’ve always been interested in the Internet — I first went online in 1989 — and that I was blog pioneer, starting my own site long before the word “blog” came into being.

What blogs do you read?

I have dozens of them in my RSS feed and bookmarks folder — everything from Gawker to Slate to Gizmodo.

How much time daily do you spend writing for the site?

I am generally at my computer by 7 a.m. and try to shut it off at 5 p.m. I then switch to casual browsing on my iPad. If I see something that *has* to be tweeted or posted, I turn my computer back on and go to work.

How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

I get emails, Facebook messages or Twitter DMs daily. Sometimes they’re sending tips, and other times it’s just a compliment or criticism.

What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?

I never guessed that I’d attract such a large following; I remember (in the late 1990s) when I was happy to get 100 visitors a day. I now have over 41,000 Twitter followers.

What pains?

It’s my fault, but I’m rarely able to turn off the computer and take a vacation. I don’t feel I can let my sites go dark for an extended period of time.

What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

I was a family newspaper publisher at age 8, and still have those “newspapers” in my archives. I lost a tooth while producing one of those papers, and there’s blood on the paper as evidence of it. (“Actual tooth blood,” the story states, with an arrow to the stain.)

What’s been one of your favorite stories/topics to cover so far?

The  Jayson Blair/NYT saga was very interesting because it toppled Times editors and, quite frankly, put my site on the map in media circles. Here’s how the Los Angeles Times described my role in that scandal.

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Q: When and why did you start blogging?

A: I’ve been blogging since about 2002. I was in journalism school at the time and wanted a way to ‘practice’ what I was learning. I started out by setting a goal to write something (anything) every single weekday for six months, and I was able to do it!

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst home-improvement blogs?

A: We sit at an interesting intersection between do-it-yourself and design. Our readers love seeing the latest trendy designs and inspiration, but they also want to know how to make things themselves that are truly unique and express their own personality. We try to address that by doing a mix of content: curating what we think is good from around the web, and creating original projects, tutorials and roundups that can’t be found anywhere else.

Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?

A: I think they think it’s great, but kind of mysterious. People are always really curious; especially about my work/life schedule. The question ‘But, how do you make money off that?’ comes up a lot.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: Tons. Mostly I read through my feed reader, Twitter, and Facebook, so it’s not always a set group. But as for design/home bloggers, I love DesignSponge, all the ApartmentTherapy blogs, Core77 and DesignMilk.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?

A: Probably one or two hours. I’m also the technical person for our site, so I spend a lot of time on that as well.

Q: How many times have you redesigned site since it started?

A: This is currently our third (and, I think, best) design. We worked with an amazing artist named Kirsten Sparenborg to come up with the look and feel. She does really cool historical architecture sketches, and we thought the style really fit what we were going for.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: A lot; in addition to answering every e-mail that comes in to our main address, I also monitor our tips line, respond to comments on the blog, and help out with the Facebook page. I think people are sometimes surprised to get a personal response, but I try to answer all e-mails from readers within 24 hours.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: Joys: seeing the impact that Curbly has had on other people, hearing people say “I love coming to Curbly every day”.

Pains: staying up till two in the morning fixing a broken website on the day before a big promotion, or fretting about our traffic numbers when they mysteriously fluctuate.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: I wear those embarrassing breathe-right strips at night (yeah; they look ridiculous, but they help me breathe!)

Q: What has been your favorite DIY project?

A: I think everything from our Make It: Hardware Store Decor eBook was awesome, especially Chris’s light-up letter.

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Blogger Alex Balcerski features the lighter side of sports on Ride the Pine. The site brings energy and fun to sports news with entertaining posts and videos added each day. Keep up with the latest updates on Facebook and Twitter, as well!

Ride the Pine's Alex Balcerski

Q: When and why did you start blogging?

A: I started blogging and developing Web sites back in 2005 when I was the co-host of the Scotty and Alex radio show.  I developed our website and wrote the daily recaps of our show with pictures, links, etc.  The engagement with our audience over the web was somewhat rare during that time in radio so it helped us achieve success at our first station in Atlantic City, NJ and generated enough of a buzz to grab the attention of the brass at CBS Radio and eventually landed us at WYSP in Philadelphia doing 4-hours of talk every weeknight.  I loved every second of it, we talked pop culture, news, sports, worked with all the major Philly sports teams and interviewed some really cool celebrities.  When the talk radio landscape started to shift in 2007, I found myself without a job and struggling to find a creative outlet.  It was only natural to head to the internet and I developed a couple of websites including RideThePine.com.

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst sports blogs?

A: The most unique thing about RideThePine.com is our video show (creatively called) Ride The Pine.  I originally started the Web site to feature this 3-5 minute show that would focus on the lighter side of sports, the best videos of the week, and my (poorly crafted) jokes.  After just a few weeks, it was featured in iTunes as a “New and Noteworthy” podcast.  There is not another sports blog out there that does a video show like ours.

Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?

A: I was explaining to my mother the other day how the site has just exploded over the past six months and she said, “I always knew you would be famous.”  My mom always thought my radio show was a little too dirty and constantly ignores the fact that our show reached millions of people every night in Philly.  On the other hand, my wife can never understand why anyone even goes to my site (haha), but she is unbelievably supportive and puts up with a lot of ESPN watching.  My friends just keep getting annoyed that I clog up their Facebook feeds with my links, but there is nothing more satisfying than putting out an article that gets a lot of likes and comments from my friends.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: For sports, there’s none better than Deadspin.  They are constantly breaking news and write some amazing featured articles.  I also check out Barstool and Terez Owens for some of the gossipy stuff.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging and watching sports?

A: The first thing I do every day is watch Sportscenter and I record PTI (Pardon the Interruption) every night.  Tony Kornheiser is endlessly funny and entertaining.  If I have a day off during the week, I always watch First Take on ESPN 2.  Skip Bayless is the best.  When I get home at night, I always have a game on in the background (doesn’t matter which sport, as long as its live).  I always try to be the first to write about a crazy play, breaking news, or take a screen capture of a hot spectator in the crowd.  But purely blogging and working on my site, I would say between 2-3 hours a day.

Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?

A: I think 4 or 5 times, I would be embarrassed to look back at some of the earliest sites.  Right now, I’m using WordPress Themes from Elegant Designs and they are top notch and at a great price.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: Everyday. I respond to every comment on my site, on Facebook, Twitter and email.  Building the relationship with the audience is the most important part of what I do.  If they didn’t come back, I would be writing to no one!

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: The joys of blogging takes me back to my radio days and developing creative material that will engage an audience.  I just love getting the feedback about how good (or bad) one of my episodes are of the Ride The Pine show!  The hardest part about blogging is that first year.  People always tell you that you have to struggle through your first year before you start developing an audience.  I remember spending hours coming up with material and than getting about 20 visitors a day.  But it is more than just writing articles, I spend the majority of my time promoting through social media outlets like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: My full-time job!  I’m keeping that a secret.  Other than that, I’m an open book.

Q: Which sport are you most passionate about? Any favorite teams?

A: I grew up in the South Jersey/Philadelphia sports area so I’m a long-suffering Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and Phillies fan and even though the Philles won the World Series in 08′ they should’ve won at least ONE more by now.  Now, I live in the Boston area so I follow a lot of the New England teams.

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Liberaland's Alan Colmes

Q:  When and why did you start blogging?

A: I began blogging on a lark during Thanksgiving weekend three years ago. I had a free day and thought it might be a way to spend an afternoon. I never thought it would evolve the way it did.

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst political blogs?

A: Hard to describe a flavor, but we work to aggregate some of the best stories on the web. Our goal is to be quick, timely, and engaging, not full of long, dull political commentary. I like to think if you come to us, we’ll give you some of the most important and best liberal stories and content at any moment, then we’ll send you on your way.

Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?

A: Thankfully, my family and friends have accepted that I have an obsessive personality, and I’m always all-in. They tolerate it, and me.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: Taegan Goddard, Greg Sargent, Steve Benen, Glenn Greenwald, Global Grind, Think Progress, RightWingWatch, to name just a few.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?

A: Blogging isn’t an isolated activity. Blogging is also a way of preparing for my radio show and television appearances. As I’m gathering material and writing about it, I’m studying the issues and developing my point of view.

Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?

A: We started using blogger, and then developed the first version of alan.com. We’re currently on version two, and our next iteration is set to debut in the new year with some very innovative features.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: We have a chat room which is most active during my radio show, and I jump in there when I can during commercial breaks. Because my posts go to Facebook and Twitter, I also communicate with my readers on those platforms.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: The biggest thrill is having an idea and being able to immediately push it out to the world. Within seconds, people are commenting on what we’re doing on the site itself, and on Twitter and Facebook, which then brings even more people back to the site. The pain involves technical glitches. I’m a content creator, not a techie, but when there is an issue that needs immediate attention or a longer-term technical problem, it takes away from where I want to be focused.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: They probably already know more than they wish to.

Q: What political issue are you most passionate about covering right now?

A: Obviously, the presidential election, and the latest not-Mitt-Romney.

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Reading Teen blogger Andye is a true lover of reading and the Young Adult genre. Andye is accompanied by a handful of other contributors, all varying in age, to review books for teens and parents looking for the best YA recommendations. Make sure to check out their site for great giveaways in addition to finding your next page-turner!

Reading Teen Blogger Andye

Q: When and why did you start blogging?

A: I started blogging in February of 2010.  I began blogging to reach people about the Web site I had started (Parentalbookreviews.com).  I had been reading Young Adult books for awhile, and parents were always asking, “Is this book suitable for my child?”  I saw a need to provide information, and a blog was the best way to spread the word.  Since then, it’s grown into something much more than just a content site.

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other book blogs?

A: Firstly, we provide a service that has been very useful for parents, teens and surprisingly many other bloggers who ask us to read certain books so they can decide if it is suitable for them/their child.  Secondly, there are six of us, all at different ages, blogging together, so we reach a wide audience.  We have a 50-year-old grandmother, two 30-somethings moms, two teen girls and a teen boy who each have a specific day that we write.  We also do a lot of audiobook reviews, which seems to be another things we’ve become known for.

Q: What does your family think of your blogging?

A: Most of my family, with the exclusion of my husband, actually blog with me.  My 16 year old writes for Reading Teen, and my younger kids write for Reading Tween.  My husband is very supportive, and loves that I’ve found something I’m so passionate about.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: I mostly read Young Adult book blogs.  My favorites are Mundie Moms, who have all the latest Mortal Instruments news, and Parajunkee, who always has fantastic advice about how to better your blog.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?

A: Since there are 6 of us, my time varies.  I used to spend a lot more time, but now I’d say I spend 30 min some days, up to 3 hours other days and even more if I’m editing a video.

Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?

A: We’re constantly making little changes here and there, but as far as massive overhauls go, we’ve redesigned three times.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A: Quite a bit, whether on Twitter, Facebook, email or responding to comments.  I try to respond to everyone who talks to me.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: I didn’t expect the huge blogging community, the friendships, the support and the excitement.  It’s all been so overwhelmingly awesome!  The pain I didn’t expect would be the huge time commitment.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: I only started reading a couple of years ago.  Literally.  I didn’t read growing up, I haven’t read any of the classics.  I never, ever read for pleasure, and barely for school.  It wasn’t until Harry Potter, and then Twilight that I discovered my love of reading, and that my genre was Young Adult.

Q: What’s your personal favorite book?

A: Besides the Harry Potter series?  It would have to be Graceling by Kristin Cashore.  I think I could read that book over and over again.

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Q: When and why did you start blogging?

Ana: I discovered the world of blogging toward the end of 2007 when I started to look for reviews online and fell in love with the idea of writing reviews as a means to keep tabs on what I was reading. That was really the impetus behind setting up the blog. At that time, I was a member of an online forum for “Fans of Lost” (the TV show), and that’s where I met Thea whom I used to talk about books with. In one of our chats, I brought up the idea of starting a book blog and invited her to join me and she said yes – the rest, as they say, is history.

Thea: Yup. Ana and I are huge nerds when it comes to pop culture and books, so when Ana propositioned me with the opportunity to start a book blog with her I was thrilled. Of course, I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined that an innocuous little book reading hobby could turn into something that is now such a huge part of my life!

Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other book blogs?

A & T: This is a really tough question to answer because there are so many outstanding book blogs out there! If there is one thing we do pride ourselves on, though, it would have to be our brutally honest and in-depth reviews.

Q: What does your family think of your blogging?

A: Well, my family is from Brazil and they don’t speak a lot of English, nor do they like to read (shocking!) so they don’t actually read the blog per se. However, I do tell them about it and about all of the cool stuff that has happened since Thea and I have started blogging and they are very proud of our accomplishments.

T: My significant other is also a non-reader, so he was actually quite peeved when The Book Smugglers began to take off – not because he was angry at the success of the blog (he’s very supportive in that regard!), but because the sheer volume of books increased exponentially and in direct proportion to the more followers we gained! As for the rest of my family, my youngest sister (a tween) absolutely loves the blog and often gets recommendations – and hand-me-down books – from it, which is pretty awesome.

Q: What blogs do you read?

A: Too many to count! I have over 200 blogs on my feedreader. Some of absolute faves are Lady Business, Angieville and Bookshelves of Doom, just to name a few.

T: My feed reader is seriously out of control with blog subscriptions! Off the top of my head, I’m a big fan of Fantasy Book Critic (for upcoming SFF titles), The Enchanted Inkpot (for upcoming MG/YA fantasy books and author spotlights), and That Cover Girl (for the pretty covers). Of course there are many, many others.

Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?

A&T: Probably more time than we should. Between writing reviews, setting up posts, replying to emails and comments, all the organizing we need to do – not to mention the reading of all the books for the aforementioned reviews and posts! – we probably spend the majority of our free time blogging.

Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?

A&T: We’ve redesigned The Book Smugglers about 4 times since we began blogging. We started off with a freebie two column bloodspot template, then modified that to encompass a signature header and an added column, and then we made the wise leap to WordPress with a custom-ordered design template. This year, we’ve reinvented our look yet again, though we’ve kept our logo and custom header.

Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?

A&T: Interacting with our readers is definitely one of the coolest things about blogging. We try to reply to most comments left on our posts, engage as much as we can with our readers via GoodReads and with all of our lovely followers on Twitter.

Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?

A: To be honest, I didn’t expect a lot when I started blogging other than having a good time with Thea, possibly because I didn’t know what to expect. The first time we ever got an email from an author was a shock – we didn’t even know that things like that happened! So I would say that talking to the authors of some of our favourite books is definitely a joy I did not expect. The most painful thing about blogging is when Thea and I have to fight over a book we both want to read – our headquarters have seen many epic fights over the years.

T: The fights over books can get pretty intense – especially over the years as our tastes have morphed and become increasingly similar. When I began blogging, it was more of an outlet for expression (and, yes, for goofing off/obsessing with Ana). I had no idea that authors and publishers would contact us or offer us review copies of books! I remember the first time we received an email asking if we wanted an “ARC” – I seriously spent about an hour on google trying to figure out what an “ARC” was and if, in fact, we wanted one. So that is a huge perk – someone wants to give me a copy of a book that I am dying to read, and wants ME to blabber on about it for the world to hear?! That’s pretty freaking sweet.

Q: What’s something your readers don’t know about you?

A: I am not sure that the majority of our readers knows that I am originally from Brazil and that English is not my mother tongue. I also hate papaya and cheese – this is a very important piece of information in case someone wants to invite me to dinner.

T: I’m pretty sure that our readers have no idea that by day I create, design, and facilitate process of retailer distribution of eBooks for a major publishing house in New York City…and by night, I am a graduate student at NYU, working towards my master’s degree in digital publishing. (It goes without saying that I am also very tired!)

Q: What’s your personal favorite book?

A: My personal favorite book is The Sandman collection by Neil Gaiman. The series is so mind-blowing awesome it makes my head spin.

T: ARGH, I hate this question because there are so many different categories of favorites! I will cheat and give you three: my favorite series of all time is The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King (as deeply flawed as the series may be, I love it completely). My favorite YA novel is Mara Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (this was the first book I ever finished only to immediately begin the novel all over again). My favorite novel of 2011 (thus far!) is a three-way tie between Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, The City In The Lake by Rachel Neumeier, and A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan.

How ’bout them apples?
——-

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Culture of Science Blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum

Q: When and why did you start blogging?

A: That’s a difficult question and depends on the topic. I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to use blog over the years to do more than share information, but also organize. In 2007, I co-founded ScienceDebate – a non-partisan effort to encourage the presidential candidates to discuss science issues like climate and energy along the campaign trail. While there was not a televised science debate, both President Obama and Senator McCain answered 14 questions submitted about science. Business leaders, congresspeople, university presidents, and Nobel Laureates joined the initiative. And after his election, President Obama used our mission statement “To restore science to its rightful place” in his inaugural address. He also appointed some of ScienceDebate’s biggest supporters like John Holdren, Steven Chu, and Jane Lubchenco as his advisors. It was great to launch ScienceDebate using new media on the blog.

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