<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Blogads for opinion makers &#187; interview</title>
	<atom:link href="http://web.blogads.com/tag/interview/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog</link>
	<description></description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Dec 2013 21:24:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2</generator>
	<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Jim Romenesko of JimRomenesko.com</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/01/30/featured-blogger-jim-romenesko-of-jimromenesko-com/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/01/30/featured-blogger-jim-romenesko-of-jimromenesko-com/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homepage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6853</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those looking for thoughtful reporting of news in the media, then Jim Romenesko&#8217;s self-titled site is one not to be missed. Romenesko is a well-respected and highly influential thought leader in journalism and media circles. College Media Matters recently said that &#8220;Romenesko is fast becoming a social media machine,&#8221; so join Romenesko&#8217;s Twitter and Facebook following [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For those looking for thoughtful reporting of news in the media, then Jim Romenesko&#8217;s self-titled site is one not to be missed. Romenesko is a well-respected and highly influential thought leader in journalism and media circles. <a href="http://collegemediamatters.com/2012/01/24/10-early-observations-about-jimromenesko-com-journalisms-newest-destination-site-romenesko/" target="_blank">College Media Matters</a> recently said that &#8220;Romenesko is fast becoming a social media machine,&#8221; so join Romenesko&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/romenesko" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/JimRomenesko?ref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> following in addition to making <a href="http://jimromenesko.com/" target="_blank">JimRomenesko.com</a> one of your must-read sites.</p>
<p><a href="jimromenesko.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6855" title="JimRomenesko banner snip" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/JimRomenesko-banner-snip.jpg" alt="" width="992" height="142" /></a> <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>When and why did you start professionally writing?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;ve specialized in crime reporting, technology reporting and media coverage at various publications and websites.</p>
<p><strong>How would you describe the content of JimRomenesko.com?</strong></p>
<p>The site covers what&#8217;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&#8217;t work in the news business.</p>
<p><strong>What do your family and friends think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>They think it&#8217;s the perfect line of work for me! They know I&#8217;ve always been interested in the Internet &#8212; I first went online in 1989 &#8212; and that I was blog pioneer, starting my own site long before the word &#8220;blog&#8221; came into being.</p>
<p><strong>What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>I have dozens of them in my RSS feed and bookmarks folder &#8212; everything from Gawker to Slate to Gizmodo.</p>
<p><strong>How much time daily do you spend writing for the site?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>I get emails, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=636884368" target="_blank">Facebook</a> messages or <a href="https://twitter.com/romenesko" target="_blank">Twitter</a> DMs daily. Sometimes they&#8217;re sending tips, and other times it&#8217;s just a compliment or criticism.</p>
<p><strong>What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?</strong></p>
<p>I never guessed that I&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>What pains?</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>It&#8217;s my fault, but I&#8217;m rarely able to turn off the computer and take a vacation. I don&#8217;t feel I can let my sites go dark for an extended period of time.</p>
<p><strong>What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>I was a family newspaper publisher at age 8, and still have those &#8220;newspapers&#8221; in my archives. I lost a tooth while producing one of those papers, and there&#8217;s blood on the paper as evidence of it. (&#8220;Actual tooth blood,&#8221; the story states, with an arrow to the stain.)</p>
<p><strong>What&#8217;s been one of your favorite stories/topics to cover so far?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;s how the Los Angeles Times described my role in that <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jun/07/entertainment/et-jensen7">scandal</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS</strong>: For the next week, use <strong>Discount Code</strong> &#8220;<strong>Blogads50</strong>&#8221; to receive <strong>50% off</strong> a <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/jim-romenesko/between-1st-and-2nd-posts/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=0cf6dd9f4f31413a14db42578cd2f8c0&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">rectangle</a>, <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/jim-romenesko/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=637fbcc2f2e1ecde4088a5c965901ca5&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">sidebar</a> or <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/jim-romenesko/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=3f8f073ed2977cf712ab939aaa2f1ca6&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">square button</a> ad on JimRomenesko.com!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/01/30/featured-blogger-jim-romenesko-of-jimromenesko-com/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Bruno Bornsztein of Curbly</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/16/featured-blogger-bruno-bornsztein-of-curbly/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/16/featured-blogger-bruno-bornsztein-of-curbly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:37:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6627</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the holidays just around the corner, Bruno Bornsztein and the team at Curbly have been providing great DIY and crafting ideas that are perfect for seasonal home decor. No matter what the season, though, Curbly is always featuring inspiring and innovative home improvement &#8220;how-to&#8221; ideas. Stay connected with Curbly on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the <a href="http://www.curbly.com/section/Holiday" target="_blank">holidays</a> just around the corner, Bruno Bornsztein and the team at <a href="http://www.curbly.com/" target="_blank">Curbly</a> have been providing great <a href="http://www.curbly.com/section/DIY" target="_blank">DIY</a> and <a href="http://www.curbly.com/section/Craft" target="_blank">crafting</a> ideas that are perfect for seasonal home decor. No matter what the season, though, Curbly is always featuring inspiring and innovative home improvement &#8220;how-to&#8221; ideas. Stay connected with Curbly on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/curbly" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/curbly" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://pinterest.com/curbly/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, too!</p>
<p><a href="curbly.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6647" title="curbly" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/curbly.jpg" alt="" width="267" height="98" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: I&#8217;ve been blogging since about 2002. I was in journalism school at the time and wanted a way to &#8216;practice&#8217; 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!</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst home-improvement blogs?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;t be found anywhere else.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: I think they think it&#8217;s great, but kind of mysterious. People are always really curious; especially about my work/life schedule. The question &#8216;But, how do you make money off that?&#8217; comes up a lot.<span id="more-6627"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: Tons. Mostly I read through my feed reader, Twitter, and Facebook, so it&#8217;s not always a set group. But as for design/home bloggers, I love DesignSponge, all the ApartmentTherapy blogs, Core77 and DesignMilk.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Probably one or two hours. I&#8217;m also the technical person for our site, so I spend a lot of time on that as well.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned site since it started?</strong></p>
<p>A: This is currently our third (and, I think, best) design. We worked with an amazing artist named <a href="http://turnofthecenturies.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kirsten Sparenborg</a> 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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>A: A lot; in addition to answering every e-mail that comes in to our <a href="support@curbly.com" target="_blank">main address</a>, I also monitor our <a href="tips@curbly.com" target="_blank">tips line</a>, 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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>A: Joys: seeing the impact that Curbly has had on other people, hearing people say &#8220;I love coming to Curbly every day&#8221;.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: I wear those embarrassing breathe-right strips at night (yeah; they look ridiculous, but they help me breathe!)</p>
<p><strong>Q: What has been your favorite DIY project? </strong></p>
<p>A: I think everything from our <a href="http://www.curbly.com/make-it-hardware-store-decor" target="_blank">Make It: Hardware Store Decor eBook</a> was awesome, especially Chris&#8217;s light-up letter.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS:</strong><strong> </strong>Use discount code &#8220;<strong>Blogads50</strong>&#8221; for the next week to receive <strong>50% off</strong> Curbly&#8217;s <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/curbly/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=6282420887b15d493716405b74d0421e&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_price" target="_blank">160&#215;600 sidebar ad</a>!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/16/featured-blogger-bruno-bornsztein-of-curbly/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Alex Balcerski of Ride the Pine</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/08/featured-blogger-alex-balcerski-of-ride-the-pine/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/08/featured-blogger-alex-balcerski-of-ride-the-pine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:02:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6482</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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! Q: When and why did you start blogging? A: I started blogging and developing Web [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.ridethepine.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6485" title="Ride the pine logo" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Ride-the-pine-logo.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="150" /></a></p>
<p>Blogger Alex Balcerski features the lighter side of sports on <a href="http://www.ridethepine.com" target="_blank">Ride the Pine</a>. The site brings energy and fun to sports news with entertaining posts and videos added each day. Keep up with the latest updates on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ridethepine" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/rtpsports" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, as well!</p>
<div id="attachment_6483" style="width: 262px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.ridethepine.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-6483  " title="ridethepine" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ridethepine.jpg" alt="" width="252" height="336" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Ride the Pine&#39;s Alex Balcerski</p></div>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst sports blogs?</strong></p>
<p>A: The most unique thing about <a href="http://www.ridethepine.com" target="_blank">RideThePine.com</a> 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 &#8220;New and Noteworthy&#8221; podcast.  There is not another sports blog out there that does a video show like ours.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: I was explaining to my mother the other day how the site has just exploded over the past six months and she said, &#8220;I always knew you would be famous.&#8221;  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.<span id="more-6482"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: For sports, there&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging and watching sports?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></p>
<p>A: I think 4 or 5 times, I would be embarrassed to look back at some of the earliest sites.  Right now, I&#8217;m using WordPress Themes from Elegant Designs and they are top notch and at a great price.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;t come back, I would be writing to no one!</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: My full-time job!  I&#8217;m keeping that a secret.  Other than that, I&#8217;m an open book.</p>
<p><strong>Q: Which sport are you most passionate about? Any favorite teams?</strong></p>
<p>A: I grew up in the South Jersey/Philadelphia sports area so I&#8217;m a long-suffering Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and Phillies fan and even though the Philles won the World Series in 08&#8242; they should&#8217;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.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS: </strong>For the next week, target Ride the Pine&#8217;s audience using discount code &#8220;Blogads50&#8243; for 50% off your purchase of a <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/ride-the-pine/premium-on-individual-post-page-next-to-content/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=f7c4a4387afacb0ef2d7428205e27e6f&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">sidebar </a>and <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/ride-the-pine/125x125/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=76bb13c5dd557c760920135d19b7eb8b&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">125&#215;125 ad</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/08/featured-blogger-alex-balcerski-of-ride-the-pine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Alan Colmes of Liberaland</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/23/featured-blogger-alan-colmes-of-liberaland/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/23/featured-blogger-alan-colmes-of-liberaland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:39:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6328</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In addition to being a Fox News contributor and hosting &#8220;The Alan Colmes Show&#8221; on FOX News Radio weeknights from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. EST, Alan Colmes covers the latest newsworthy political issues on his blog, Liberaland. You can also keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter! Q:  When and why did you start blogging? [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In addition to being a Fox News contributor and hosting &#8220;<a href="http://www.alan.com/category/radio-show/" target="_blank">The Alan Colmes Show</a>&#8221; on FOX News Radio weeknights from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. EST, Alan Colmes covers the latest newsworthy political issues on his blog, <a href="http://www.alan.com/" target="_blank">Liberaland</a>. You can also keep up with him on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AlanColmes" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/alancolmes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</p>
<div id="attachment_6329" style="width: 222px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.alan.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-6329     " title="Alan Colmes Radio Photos" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Alan-Colmes-Radio-Photos.jpg" alt="" width="212" height="318" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Liberaland&#39;s Alan Colmes</p></div>
<p><strong>Q:  When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst political blogs?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What do your family and friends think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>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.<span id="more-6328"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: Taegan Goddard, Greg Sargent, Steve Benen, Glenn Greenwald, Global Grind, Think Progress, RightWingWatch, to name just a few.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></p>
<p>A: We started using blogger, and then developed the first version of <a href="http://alan.com/" target="_blank">alan.com</a>. We’re currently on version two, and our next iteration is set to debut in the new year with some very innovative features.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: They probably already know more than they wish to.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What political issue are you most passionate about covering right now?</strong></p>
<p>A: Obviously, the presidential election, and the latest not-Mitt-Romney.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS: </strong>Don&#8217;t miss out on <a href="http://www.alan.com/" target="_blank">Liberaland</a>&#8216;s <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/liberaland/top-of-right-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=5c71ee5cb9ccbec7b08a300ae078cf39&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">Rectangle</a> and <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/liberaland/bottom-leaderboard/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=7f79b4e5c947b4cd1374b8a505ad137c&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">Leaderboard</a> advertising spots!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/23/featured-blogger-alan-colmes-of-liberaland/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Alexandra Stafford of Alexandra Cooks</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/10/featured-blogger-alexandra-stafford-of-alexandra-cooks/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/10/featured-blogger-alexandra-stafford-of-alexandra-cooks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:25:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Alexandra Stafford is the blogger and chef behind Alexandra Cooks.  In addition to sharing her delicious recipes, Stafford draws in food lovers with captivating photography of her creations in different stages of the cooking process.  Work up an appetite on her site, and then go join her on Facebook and Twitter! Q: When and why did you start blogging? A: [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Alexandra Stafford is the blogger and chef behind <a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/" target="_blank">Alexandra Cooks</a>.  In addition to sharing her delicious recipes, Stafford draws in food lovers with captivating photography of her creations in different stages of the cooking process.  Work up an appetite on her <a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/" target="_blank">site</a>, and then go join her on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandras-Kitchen/152588711442394?ref=mf" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/alexandracooks" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</p>
<div>
<div>
<div id="attachment_6228" style="width: 340px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-6228 " title="alexandracooks" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/alexandracooks.jpg" alt="" width="330" height="220" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alexandra Stafford of Alexandra Cooks</p></div>
</div>
<div><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></div>
<p>A: I started blogging in 2006 when I started working as the food editor for a small Philadelphia newspaper. I wanted to keep track of all of the food I was discovering in the city as well as at home, and blogging seemed like a good way to chronicle everything.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other food blogs?</strong></p>
<p>A: Gosh, I don&#8217;t know. For awhile, I was very focused on the local-food movement and shopping only at farmers&#8217; markets and buying only humanely raised meats and dairy products. Now, I&#8217;m still focused on supporting the local-food movement, but care most about featuring in-season ingredients. There are so many good food blogs out there, and I can&#8217;t really pinpoint how mine stands out — perhaps too many photographs <img src="http://web.blogads.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> ?</p>
<p><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: My family, my mother in particular, are my biggest fans. They all subscribe to the email feed and couldn&#8217;t be more positive/encouraging/<wbr>enthusiastic about every post. When they don&#8217;t receive an email for a few days, I get emails asking, &#8220;What&#8217;s going on?!&#8221;</wbr></p>
<p><strong>Q: Where/how did you learn to cook?</strong></p>
<div>A: My mother taught me to cook. I grew up eating homemade everything. My mother considers all things bottled — salad dressings in particular — repulsive. I learned to make homemade bread in elementary school. I was spoiled for sure. After college, I worked at a catering company outside of Philadelphia — Peach Tree and Ward — which was a blast, and then at a restaurant — Fork — in Old City Philadelphia. That&#8217;s where more than anything I became a more efficient cook. I loved my time in a professional kitchen but it wasn&#8217;t something I could do forever. I have such respect for kitchen workers — tough work, long hours.</div>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: I probably spend about three to six hours a week blogging? I&#8217;ve never kept track. That&#8217;s terrible. I don&#8217;t blog every day, and I suppose every week is different. Some recipes take longer than others. Sometimes I take a million process shots, and editing those shots is time consuming. But between cooking, photographing, writing, and responding to readers, I would say six hours a week is about right.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: So many! My favorite food site right now is <a href="http://food52.com/" target="_blank">food52.com</a>. And I love my daily <a href="http://lunch.thecanalhouse.com/" target="_blank">Canal House Cooks Lunch</a> email.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>A: At the very least, I try to respond to every comment that is a question. When I share the same enthusiasm for a comment, I often respond as well. When readers email me, I always respond.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>A: I did not expect to receive so many emails from readers who share my enthusiasm for certain foods or recipes. It brings me such joy to read an email from someone who has had success with a recipe and who has brought joy to his/her family or friends or significant other or just for his/herself in the process. Nothing makes me happier, truly. The pains I have experienced are pretty trivial overall. Sometimes I feel torn between blogging and the other priorities in my life, and sometimes I feel stressed when I can&#8217;t find the time to blog during the week. I&#8217;ve learned, however, that when I start feeling this way, I just have to step back and keep perspective. Readers likely aren&#8217;t as concerned about not seeing a current alexandra&#8217;s kitchen post as I am.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: Hmmm. I just had a baby&#8230; haven&#8217;t gotten around to blogging about it yet, so I suppose few readers know that. What else? My husband is an officer in the Marine Corps. I didn&#8217;t grow up in a military family, so moving around the country and enduring deployments was new to me. It sounds silly, but having a blog helped me so much during deployments. I spent time in the evening writing, photographing, editing, posting — not worrying/thinking about my husband. More than anything, life in the military has taught me to cherish our moments as a family together.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What are some of your favorite recipes that you&#8217;ve featured on Alexandra Cooks?</strong></p>
<p>A: I have so many, but here are a few of my favorites:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/08/11/pizza-margherita-homemade-tomato-sauce-homemade-ricotta/" target="_blank">Homemade Pizza</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2010/10/18/fresh-corn-polenta-%E2%80%94-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/" target="_blank">Fresh Corn Polenta</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2010/04/08/the-easiest-best-ribs-you-will-ever-make-delicious-buttermilk-cornbread/" target="_blank">Easiest/Best Ribs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/10/05/when-people-come-to-visit/" target="_blank">Homemade Granola</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/06/29/buttermilk-blueberry-breakfast-cake/" target="_blank">Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/03/31/buttermilk-scones-%E2%80%94-tartine-has-done-it-again/" target="_blank">Buttermilk Scones</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2009/09/21/tomato-corn-cheese-galette-%E2%80%94-a-favorite-summer-meal-%E2%80%94-with-a-chocolate-chip-cookie-for-dessert/" target="_blank">Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2009/04/26/hearst-ranch-grass-fed-steaks-oven-roasted-potatoes-all-time-favorite-brownies/" target="_blank">All-Time Favorite Brownies</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2008/10/29/orange-olive-oil-cake-perhaps-for-election-day/" target="_blank">Orange and Olive Oil Cake</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/08/11/pizza-margherita-homemade-tomato-sauce-homemade-ricotta/" target="_blank">Homemade Tomato Sauce</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/08/11/pizza-margherita-homemade-tomato-sauce-homemade-ricotta/" target="_blank">Homemade Ricotta Cheese</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandracooks.com/2010/06/07/overnight-french-toast/" target="_blank">Baked Overnight French Toast</a></p>
<p><a href="http://chez%20panisse%20eggplant%2C%20caramelized%20onion%20and%20tomato%20pasta/" target="_blank">Chez Panisse Eggplant, Caramelized Onion, and Tomato Pasta</a></p>
</div>
<div><strong>ADVERTISERS:</strong> Target foodies, and purchase a <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/alexandras-kitchen/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=31189373739381542f2ae30194819f98&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">sidebar ad</a> on Alexandra Cooks for <strong>50% off</strong> using discount code &#8220;<strong>Blogads50</strong>&#8221; for the next week!</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/10/featured-blogger-alexandra-stafford-of-alexandra-cooks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Andye of Reading Teen</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/03/featured-blogger-andye-of-reading-teen/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/03/featured-blogger-andye-of-reading-teen/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:20:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6072</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; 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 [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.readingteen.net/" target="_blank">Reading Teen</a> 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 <a href="http://www.readingteen.net/p/current-giveaways.html" target="_blank">giveaways</a> in addition to finding your next page-turner!</p>
<div id="attachment_6073" style="width: 243px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a rel="attachment wp-att-6073" href="http://blog.web.blogads.com/2011/11/03/featured-blogger-andye-of-reading-teen/reading-teen-andye/"><img class="size-full wp-image-6073   " title="reading teen andye" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/reading-teen-andye.jpg" alt="" width="233" height="299" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Reading Teen Blogger Andye</p></div>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: I started blogging in February of 2010.  I began blogging to reach people about the Web site I had started (<a href="http://parentalbookreviews.com/" target="_blank">Parentalbookreviews.com</a>).  I had been reading Young Adult books for awhile, and parents were always asking, &#8220;Is this book suitable for my child?&#8221;  I saw a need to provide information, and a blog was the best way to spread the word.  Since then, it&#8217;s grown into something much more than just a content site.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other book blogs?</strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;ve become known for.<span id="more-6072"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Most of my family, with the exclusion of my husband, actually blog with me.  My 16 year old writes for <a href="http://www.readingteen.net/" target="_blank">Reading Teen</a>, and my younger kids write for <a href="http://readingtween.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Reading Tween</a>.  My husband is very supportive, and loves that I&#8217;ve found something I&#8217;m so passionate about.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: I mostly read Young Adult book blogs.  My favorites are <a href="http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mundie Moms</a>, who have all the latest Mortal Instruments news, and <a href="http://parajunkee.com/" target="_blank">Parajunkee</a>, who always has fantastic advice about how to better your blog.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Since there are 6 of us, my time varies.  I used to spend a lot more time, but now I&#8217;d say I spend 30 min some days, up to 3 hours other days and even more if I&#8217;m editing a video.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started? </strong></p>
<p>A: We&#8217;re constantly making little changes here and there, but as far as massive overhauls go, we&#8217;ve redesigned three times.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>A: Quite a bit, whether on <a href="http://twitter.com/ReadingTeen" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reading-Teen/311799821491?ref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, email or responding to comments.  I try to respond to everyone who talks to me.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>A: I didn&#8217;t expect the huge blogging community, the friendships, the support and the excitement.  It&#8217;s all been so overwhelmingly awesome!  The pain I didn&#8217;t expect would be the huge time commitment.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: I only started reading a couple of years ago.  Literally.  I didn&#8217;t read growing up, I haven&#8217;t read any of the classics.  I never, ever read for pleasure, and barely for school.  It wasn&#8217;t until <em>Harry Potter</em>, and then <em>Twilight</em> that I discovered my love of reading, and that my genre was Young Adult.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s your personal favorite book?</strong></p>
<p>A: Besides the <em>Harry Potter</em> series?  It would have to be <em>Graceling</em> by Kristin Cashore.  I think I could read that book over and over again.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS</strong>: For the next week, receive <strong>50% off</strong> purchasing Reading Teen&#8217;s top right <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/reading-teen/main-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=b76c1cd4f1cbc65a245eee3090462261&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">300&#215;250</a>, <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/reading-teen/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=def131addbee801a8b75597c18d29b1f&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">160&#215;200</a>,  right sidebar <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/reading-teen/large-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=ebd4e4b6968735825440144027850af7&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">300&#215;250</a> and <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/reading-teen/small-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=0a94937d24329ea6132a04bd38e347d8&amp;persistent_ref=&amp;link_name_snag_space" target="_blank">160&#215;100</a> ad units using discount code &#8220;<strong>Read Teen</strong>.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/11/03/featured-blogger-andye-of-reading-teen/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Bloggers: Ana Grilo and Thea James of The Book Smugglers</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/28/featured-bloggers-ana-grilo-and-thea-james-of-the-book-smugglers/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/28/featured-bloggers-ana-grilo-and-thea-james-of-the-book-smugglers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5987</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ana Grilo and Thea James, the partners in crime running The Book Smugglers, share reviews and recommendations for fictional and Young Adult novels. Their passion for reading is proven by the sheer volume of books they&#8217;re able to read and write about. Stay up to date with their latest reviews by checking out their blog, Facebook and Twitter [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ana Grilo and Thea James, the partners in crime running <a href="http://thebooksmugglers.com/" target="_blank">The Book Smugglers</a>, share reviews and recommendations for fictional and Young Adult novels. Their passion for reading is proven by the sheer volume of books they&#8217;re able to read and write about. Stay up to date with their latest reviews by checking out their <a href="http://thebooksmugglers.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Book-Smugglers/263214684266?ref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/booksmugglers" target="_blank">Twitter </a>pages!</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-5988" href="http://blog.web.blogads.com/2011/10/28/featured-bloggers-ana-grilo-and-thea-james-of-the-book-smugglers/book-smugglers/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5988" title="book smugglers" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/book-smugglers.png" alt="" width="978" height="204" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>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 &#8220;Fans of Lost&#8221; (the TV show), and that&#8217;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.</p>
<p>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!</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other book blogs?</strong></p>
<p>A &amp; 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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Well, my family is from Brazil and they don&#8217;t speak a lot of English, nor do they like to read (shocking!) so they don&#8217;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.</p>
<p>T: My significant other is also a non-reader, so he was actually quite peeved when The Book Smugglers began to take off &#8211; not because he was angry at the success of the blog (he&#8217;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 &#8211; and hand-me-down books &#8211; from it, which is pretty awesome.<span id="more-5987"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>T: My feed reader is seriously out of control with blog subscriptions! Off the top of my head, I&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A&amp;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 &#8211; not to mention the reading of all the books for the aforementioned reviews and posts! &#8211; we probably spend the majority of our free time blogging.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></p>
<p>A&amp;T: We&#8217;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&#8217;ve reinvented our look yet again, though we&#8217;ve kept our logo and custom header.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>A&amp;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.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>A: To be honest, I didn&#8217;t expect a lot when I started blogging other than having a good time with Thea, possibly because I didn&#8217;t know what to expect. The first time we ever got an email from an author was a shock – we didn&#8217;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.</p>
<p>T: The fights over books can get pretty intense &#8211; 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 &#8220;ARC&#8221; &#8211; I seriously spent about an hour on google trying to figure out what an &#8220;ARC&#8221; was and if, in fact, we wanted one. So that is a huge perk &#8211; 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&#8217;s pretty freaking sweet.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>T: I&#8217;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&#8217;s degree in digital publishing. (It goes without saying that I am also very tired!)</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s your personal favorite book?</strong></p>
<p>A: My personal favorite book is <em>The Sandman</em> collection by Neil Gaiman. The series is so mind-blowing awesome it makes my head spin.</p>
<p>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 <em>The Dark Tower Series</em> by Stephen King (as deeply flawed as the series may be, I love it completely). My favorite YA novel is <em>Mara Daughter of the Nile</em> 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 <em>Warm Bodies</em> by Isaac Marion, <em>The City In The Lake</em> by Rachel Neumeier, and <em>A Long Long Sleep</em> by Anna Sheehan.</p>
<p>How &#8217;bout them apples?<br />
&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS</strong>: For the next week, use discount code &#8220;<strong>BlogadsQADis1Wk</strong>&#8221; to receive <strong>50% off </strong>of their <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/the-book-smugglers/top-of-sidebar-2-rightmost-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=5f3c19a653978d3c19414f27b3a46a3a&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">160&#215;200</a>, <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/the-book-smugglers/top-of-sidebar-1-leftmost-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=89019625752b371f2cc8431b5200112b&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">160&#215;600</a> and <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/the-book-smugglers/top-of-both-sidebars/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=f101e3913bac6deec6a28317dcd16f9c&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">300&#215;250</a> ad units!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/28/featured-bloggers-ana-grilo-and-thea-james-of-the-book-smugglers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Sheril Kirshenbaum of Culture of Science</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/19/featured-blogger-sheril-kirshenbaum-of-culture-of-science/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/19/featured-blogger-sheril-kirshenbaum-of-culture-of-science/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum provides unique insights in the overlap of science with other parts of our lives.  Her blog, Culture of Science, connects wide-reaching science issues to seemingly unrelated topics for her readers. Join her in connecting the dots on Twitter and Facebook! &#160; Q: When and why did you start blogging? A: November 7, 2006. [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum provides unique insights in the overlap of science with other parts of our lives.  Her blog, <a href="http://www.cultureofscience.com" target="_blank">Culture of Science</a>, connects wide-reaching science issues to seemingly unrelated topics for her readers. Join her in connecting the dots on <a href="https://twitter.com/Sheril_" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheril-Kirshenbaum/110268299079325" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_5904" style="width: 217px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.cultureofscience.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-5904  " title="SK photo - Version 3" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/SK-photo-Version-3.jpg" alt="" width="207" height="337" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Culture of Science Blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum</p></div>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<div>A: November 7, 2006. When I left graduate school the previous year, students I had been working with wanted to continue our seminar on the way science and policy interact. I didn&#8217;t know much about blogging at the time, but finally agreed to begin *if* the Democrats took back the House and Senate. I didn&#8217;t think this was likely at the time and they remembered the following year. I launched a private blogspot shortly after the election.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other science and environment-conscious blogs?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: One thing that stands out about Culture of Science is that many capitol staffers read it regularly, so I often cover timely policy topics. I have a very unique background with graduate degrees in marine biology and policy followed by working in the Senate on energy, ocean, and environment. From there I joined Duke University&#8217;s science-policy institute and now I&#8217;m at UT-Austin&#8217;s Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy.&nbsp;</p>
<p>My goal is to improve public understanding of science because it&#8217;s central to our lives and so I aim to move the discussion past advocacy and lip-service, to get to the heart of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. On the blog highlight practical solutions that involve politics, economics, and most importantly, people. Culture of Science is a forum to explore all sorts of topics, but the primary focus is the interdisciplinary nature of understanding our world.<span id="more-5903"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: They think it&#8217;s great. Blogging taught me how to write for broad audiences, and I&#8217;ve gone on to publish two popular books as a result.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: I enjoy several blogs on the Discover network (where I used to blog before going independent). Not Exactly Rocket Science by Ed Yong and Bad Astonomy by Phil Plait are fun. Carl Zimmer&#8217;s The Loom and Razib Khan&#8217;s Gene Expression are some of my favorites because I always learn something new.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: It depends on the day, if I&#8217;m traveling, and whether I&#8217;m teaching or writing other articles. I usually post ~4 times a day.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: After the initial blogspot, this blog has existed in some form at Scienceblogs, Discover, and Wired until I decided to host it independently in 2011.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: Every day. The aim of Culture of Science isn&#8217;t to lecture readers, but rather build a constructive dialog and community through conversation.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: I never imagined I&#8217;d become an author and travel internationally to speak to audiences about science. Speaking at this year&#8217;s TED Global meeting has been a highlight of 2011 so far.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Blogging can also be challenging at times as a woman because it&#8217;s such a public forum. However, I also feel it&#8217;s important to continue because we need more visible women in these roles to encourage girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. While not the central issue of my blog, <a href="http://www.cultureofscience.com/2010/07/19/under-the-microscope-feminism-scientists-and-sexiness/" target="_blank">occasionally I write about it</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
</div>
<div>A: In my early 20s, I was a radio disc jockey for a cumulus media station. I also played percussion in a few bands over the years.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s your personal favorite blog post?</strong></p>
</div>
<p>A: That&#8217;s a difficult question and depends on the topic. I&#8217;m proud of the way I&#8217;ve been able to use blog over the years to do more than share information, but also organize. In 2007, I co-founded ScienceDebate &#8211; 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 &#8220;To restore science to its rightful place&#8221; in his inaugural address. He also appointed some of ScienceDebate&#8217;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.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ADVERTISERS</strong>: Target Culture of Science&#8217;s audience for <strong>50% off</strong> for the next week by using discount code &#8220;<strong>Blogads50</strong>&#8221; when purchasing the <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/culture-of-science/top-right-ad/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=cd142a9268caaea2cd226bc374ce5bc8&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">top right sidebar</a> or <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/culture-of-science/vertical-right-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=a114d3a01bec1ad28978e0252aff152a&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">lower right sidebar</a> ad units!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/19/featured-blogger-sheril-kirshenbaum-of-culture-of-science/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Bloggers: Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead of Fit Bottomed Girls</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/13/featured-bloggers-jenn-walters-and-erin-whitehead-of-fit-bottomed-girls/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/13/featured-bloggers-jenn-walters-and-erin-whitehead-of-fit-bottomed-girls/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5721</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fit Bottomed Girls is a one-stop shop for getting healthy.  Bloggers Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead cover topics including  motivation, nutrition, exercise, fitness equipment/accessories and even workout playlist recommendations! They&#8217;re the fun, friendly fit experts we&#8217;ve always wanted and now can have thanks to their site! In addition to their blog, keep up with their fitness news [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-5722" href="http://blog.web.blogads.com/2011/10/13/featured-bloggers-jenn-walters-and-erin-whitehead-of-fit-bottomed-girls/fbg-final-logo-no-tag/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5722" title="fbg" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fbg-final-logo-no-tag.jpg" alt="" width="194" height="226" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://fitbottomedgirls.com/" target="_blank">Fit Bottomed Girls</a> is a one-stop shop for getting healthy.  Bloggers Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead cover topics including  motivation, nutrition, exercise, fitness equipment/accessories and even workout playlist recommendations! They&#8217;re the fun, friendly fit experts we&#8217;ve always wanted and now can have thanks to their site! In addition to their blog, keep up with their fitness news on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/fitbottomedgirls" target="_blank">Facebook </a>and <a href="http://twitter.com/fitbottomedgirl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_5723" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://fitbottomedgirls.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-5723 " title="Jenn-Erin" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Jenn-Erin-small.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="268" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Fit Bottomed Girls Founders Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead</p></div>
<p><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Erin Whitehead and I created Fit Bottomed Girls almost three and a half years ago, when we set out to help women realize that working out could actually be fun &#8212; and make your life totally awesome. We love to blog about fitness, obviously, but also a lot about body image, nutrition and really anything that we think will improve our readers&#8217; lives. From creating workout music playlists to reviewing workout DVDs and fitness products to sharing healthy recipes, we like to get readers motivated to be healthy in any way we can. A little more than a year ago, we launched <a href="http://www.fitbottomedmamas.com/" target="_blank">www.FitBottomedMamas.com</a> to bring that same message to motherhood.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst other health blogs?</strong></p>
<p>A: There are a lot of fabulous blogs out there. We think ours stands out at first because of its name (gotta love Queen references!), but then it hooks people in because it&#8217;s objective, honest, down-to-earth and real. We tell it like it is with any review we do, and we are quite public about our own struggles and triumphs with working out and eating healthy. With some humor, sass and a conversational tone, we&#8217;ve heard readers say that reading Fit Bottomed Girls is like talking to their funny best friend who knows a thing or two about fitness. Best compliment, ever.<span id="more-5721"></span></p>
<p><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: Erin and my husbands are super supportive. My husband Ryan has even written a few posts for us for our annual Fit Bottomed Dude&#8217;s week. And although they weren&#8217;t clear on what blogging really was three years ago, now my parents and even my grandmothers are down with FBG. One of my grandmothers even rocks an FBG sticker on her car and wears a shirt with &#8220;Fit Bottomed Girl&#8221; on it.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></p>
<p>A: I could spend all day just reading blogs. Dooce and Go Fug Yourself are two of my faves. As are FitSugar, Diets in Review, Healthy Tipping Point, Carrots N&#8217; Cake and Shape magazine&#8217;s blogs.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></p>
<p>A: FBG is all I do besides freelance writing, so a minimum of four hours a day. And usually I&#8217;ll work on FBG on the weekends, too. A true labor of love!</p>
<p><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></p>
<p>A: We&#8217;ve had just one major redesign, although we&#8217;re tweaking things almost all the time it seems. Gotta keep up with all the cool new design stuff out there!</p>
<p><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></p>
<p>A: We read every single comment, respond regularly and Tweet and Facebook with readers every single day. We also almost always email readers back when they contact us &#8212; on average we get about an email every day.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p>A: I don&#8217;t think Erin and I realized just how many opportunities and experiences we&#8217;d have from blogging. Starting FBG took me from working a full-time job in a cube to working for myself and writing for Shape magazine&#8217;s website, among other online publications. It&#8217;s also allowed us to travel to places we probably wouldn&#8217;t normally go. And, from a fitness perspective, I probably never would have run two half marathons and a full marathon if it wasn&#8217;t for FBG. On the flip side of all that, I don&#8217;t think that Erin and I realized just how much hard work and how many hours would go into something as &#8220;simple&#8221; as a blog. In the end, it&#8217;s all worth it though because we know we&#8217;re actually making a difference.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></p>
<p>A: Gosh, they know so much. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever told them I&#8217;m an only child&#8230;I like to think I don&#8217;t fit the stereotype. <img src="http://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f609.png" alt="😉" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></p>
<p><strong>Q: What&#8217;s your personal favorite blog post?</strong></p>
<p>A: Hardest question ever! We recently did a series of posts on our &#8220;<a href="http://fitbottomedgirls.com/2011/09/the-fitness-truth-will-set-you-free/" target="_blank">Fitness Truths</a>&#8221; that sparked great discussion with readers. It was really empowering, so I&#8217;ll go with that.</p>
<div><strong>ADVERTISERS:</strong> For the next week, use discount code &#8220;<strong>Blogads50</strong>&#8221; to receive <strong>50% off </strong>on purchasing Fit Bottomed Girls&#8217; <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/fit-bottomed-girls/middle-of-right-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=3f2018ce35ac8018b2efc54c60eec450" target="_blank">160&#215;200</a>, <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/fit-bottomed-girls/top-of-right-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=2f9fa97828442b82e06a3cc6114f6159" target="_blank">300&#215;250</a> and <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/fit-bottomed-girls/bottom-of-right-sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=e239d87621bdfaf3bdd2eac76df6ae57&amp;persistent_ref=" target="_blank">125&#215;125 </a>ad units!</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/13/featured-bloggers-jenn-walters-and-erin-whitehead-of-fit-bottomed-girls/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Featured Blogger: Jenny Hwang of Geek in Heels</title>
		<link>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/05/featured-blogger-jenny-hwang-of-geek-in-heels/</link>
		<comments>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/05/featured-blogger-jenny-hwang-of-geek-in-heels/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Paige Wilcox]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Bloggers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5576</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Geek in Heels is a blog that highlights blogger Jenny Hwang&#8217;s interests ranging from gadgets to motherhood. The site reflects her diverse interests, which means she&#8217;s always posting new and interesting content. Make sure to also keep up with Hwang on Facebook and Twitter Q: When and why did you start blogging? A: I started [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.geekinheels.com/" target="_blank">Geek in Heels</a> is a blog that highlights blogger Jenny Hwang&#8217;s interests ranging from gadgets to motherhood. The site reflects her diverse interests, which means she&#8217;s always posting new and interesting content. Make sure to also keep up with Hwang on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/hyojin" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/geekinheels" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div id="attachment_5577" style="width: 269px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.geekinheels.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-5577  " title="geek in heels" src="http://blog.web.blogads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/geek-in-heels.jpg" alt="" width="259" height="389" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Blogger Jenny Hwang of Geek in Heels</p></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: When and why did you start blogging?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: I started blogging in 2001, simply because all my friends were doing it! I have kept diaries and journals for as long as I could remember, so blogging came easily to me as I began to think of it as a way of sharing a piece of my life with the world. Unfortunately, most of my friends have since quit blogging, but I kept up with it over the years.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: How do you think your blog stands out amongst blogs of the same genre?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: To be completely honest, I don&#8217;t think that my blog has a specific genre. In addition to the happenings of my life, I also share funny and interesting tidbits I find on the web. I am a geek and so I write about tech and gadgets and the web, but I also devote a lot of space to motherhood and to my relationship with my husband. So I guess that my blog is different from many of the more popular blogs out there in that it is niche-less.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: What does your family think of your blogging?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: My family knows that I have a blog, but they do not make a big deal of it. My husband sees it as a hobby, as something I do to maintain my sanity and to vent and share. My parents do not know much English, so while they know that I have a personal website, I&#8217;m not sure that they know what a blog is!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">That being said, I <em>have</em> gotten in trouble in the past for over-sharing parts of my life that my loved ones prefer to keep under wraps. As such, I am much more careful these days when blogging about situations that involve others, or I will ask their permission first.<span id="more-5576"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: What blogs do you read?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: How much room do I get for this answer?  <img src="http://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f609.png" alt="😉" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />  I currently have a little under 1,000 blogs on my Google Reader and I try my best to read them all, every day. They range from big-name blogs that are read by millions a day to small, personal blogs that get 10 daily visitors. I try my best to keep my blog subscriptions as diverse as possible so that I — as a stay-at-home-mom and a hermit — do not feel so disconnected from the outside world.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I must, however, admit that I tend to favor blogs that are more personal in nature. I have made many blogging friends over the years, and we frequently comment on each others&#8217; blogs. I also love to visit the blogs of those who comment on my own blog so that I can feel more connected with my readers.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: How much time daily do you spend blogging?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: I used to devote at least an hour a day blogging, but this has become difficult with an almost-1-year-old and another baby due in just a month! So these days, I try to spend whatever free time I get to writing, researching, and editing posts. This can be as little as 10 minutes a day, or as much as 3 hours. And I try my best to write as many posts in advance — sometimes as many as 5 in one sitting — so that I will have entries ready to be published even on days when I only have 5 minutes of extra tome, or when I am feeling uninspired.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: How many times have you redesigned your blog since it started?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: I have used 5 different blogging platforms (Xanga, Blogger, Movable Type, Squarespace, and WordPress) since I first started blogging, and each came with a new design. And each platform has had at least two different designs. So while I can&#8217;t give you an exact number, I can safely say that it is at least 15.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: How much do you correspond one-on-one with readers?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: Whenever I get some extra time, I like to respond to comments that are particularly interesting, or have caught my attention in other ways. If the reader also blogs (and links to their blog via the comment form), I will try my best to visit their blog and leave comments as well.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">I also keep my blog&#8217;s <a href="http://www.facebook.com/geekinheelsblog" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a> active and try to keep my readers engaged that way. I used to use <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/geekinheels" target="_blank">Twitter</a> a lot too, but I haven&#8217;t been using it quite as much these days due to time restraints.</div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: What joys did you not expect when you started blogging?  What pains?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">A: I never expected to personally touch others&#8217; lives. I have received many emails over the years, thanking me for my honesty, or even to ask me follow-up questions on a problematic situations I have written about in the past. I have even been recognized a few times — at parties, on the subway, and even on the other side of the nation!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">As for pains, I guess that the biggest lesson I have learned from blogging is that you can&#8217;t always please everyone. And that is especially true when you write about more controversial issues such as religion, racial identity, and parenting. Strangers have cussed me out and called me names, and I have even disassociated myself from a few people I used to consider friends. I used to be a lot more sensitive to this, but I have grown a thicker skin over the years and just shake my head at those who judge a blogger for what he/she chooses to share online.</p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: What&#8217;s something your readers don&#8217;t know about you?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: I have never, ever, in my life had macaroni and cheese. I only just realized this last month and I&#8217;m willing to give it a try&#8230;but I am too lazy and uncomfortably pregnant to cook it from scratch. If anyone can recommend a good brand of instant macaroni and cheese, I&#8217;d love to hear it!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Q: What&#8217;s your personal favorite blog post?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><strong><br />
</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">A: This is a tough one. If I <em>had</em> to choose just one, I guess it would have to be <a href="http://www.geekinheels.com/2008/8/6/top-5-star-wars-designs-and-what-inspired-them.html" target="_blank">Top 5 Star Wars Designs and What Inspired Them</a>, due to the amount of research that went into writing that post, the attention it received (it was featured on a couple of very big-name blogs), and&#8230;well, it&#8217;s <em>Star Wars</em>.</div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>ADVERTISERS: </strong>For the next week, save <strong>50%</strong> by using discount code &#8220;<strong>NEWAD50</strong>&#8221; on the Geek in Heels <a href="http://web.blogads.com/advertising/geek-in-heels/sidebar/adspotsfolder/ba_adspotsfolder_revision_create_shortcut?persistent_uid=58d9c8ca3e44e4b61482696b9c025975" target="_blank">sidebar ad</a>!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/05/featured-blogger-jenny-hwang-of-geek-in-heels/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
