Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Out of Coffee, Out of Mind's First Blogversary: Here, Have a Giveaway


Via Pixabay
 
Technically, my actual blogversary is tomorrow, but tomorrow happens to be a Thursday, and I don’t post on Thursdays. Which means I’m celebrating today. And just as a warning, this post will probably be a little long, but it’s my party, so I’m allowed.

When I started out last year, I wasn’t sure what I was doing or where this whole blogging thing was going to go. On the one hand, I didn’t know if I wanted to pursue blogging in the long term or if people would even be interested in my random yammerings.

Some of you may not be aware that my blog initially went by another name for a grand total of two weeks before I came up with Out of Coffee, Out of Mind. And if you want to know the only-slightly-but-not-very interesting story behind that, here’s a link to the explanation.

I’ll admit, I think I got stage fright trying to figure out some of this stuff, because the first few months pretty much went by in a haze of blind panic. Now that a whole year has passed, I still haven’t gotten the hang of everything (or much of anything), but I will say that I love blogging so much more now than I did even six months ago. Also, I just want to thank everyone who has taken the time to comment on my blog—it means so much to me. For the first two-and-a-half months, I wasn’t sure if anyone was actually interested. I mean, I got page views, but I figured they were probably from lots of disappointed people wondering how they’d found a link to a site about coffee that wasn’t really about coffee. Sorry, not sorry.

Starting out I was also, unfortunately, rather ignorant of blogging etiquette. But that’s no excuse, really, because I could have researched or used common sense or whatnot. So for an embarrassingly long while after I started getting comments, I blithely answered them and ignored the rest of the blogging community like a spoiled little princess. So, to any of you I ignored—I really wish that I had gone back and commented on your blogs to show my gratitude, and I promise I’ll make that effort from now on. I’ve only recently begun to realize that more than half of the fun comes from interacting with other bloggers and reading what people have to say in their own little corners of the world.

Anyway, enough with the boring stuff. Now I’m just going to throw a bunch of links at you, like, for instance, these blogs I’ve especially enjoyed over the past year (in alphabetical order, of course, because I could never order them by preference—I love them all):
 


I’ll admit, often when it came time to post, I didn’t feel like I had much to offer—I just grabbed at the first idea that came to mind and went with it. There were days when I worried I’d offend someone or make everyone hate me. But there were other times when I felt confident about what I was doing, times when I was surprised by how well-received some of my posts were.

According to the stats, these were my reader’s top ten favorites for the year:
 

And these were my top fifteen favorites (in alphabetical order):



And now for the giveaway!

I’ve mentioned on several occasions how much I love Ray Bradbury. So I’ve decided to give away a copy of his brilliant novel, FAHRENHEIT 451. This 60th Anniversary Edition includes an introduction by Neil Gaiman, essays by the author, and lots of other fun stuff (along with the actual story).

 
So here’s how you can win:
 
If you follow Out of Coffee, Out of Mind, you get an entry.
If you comment, you get an entry.
If you share this post via Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc… and provide proof that you’ve done so, you get an entry.
If you tell me how you came across my blog, you get an entry.
And if you tell me your favorite post(s) of the year, you get an entry.
WHICH MEANS…
All in all, you can get as many as five entries.
Note: This giveaway is open to all residents of Earth.
 

The giveaway runs until September 15th. I will notify the winner via email on the 16th. If you do not have Google+, please include your email address in the comments.

 

Thank you again to all my readers, new and old! You make blogging ten million times more enjoyable.

22 comments:

  1. Happy blogversary! (Like, how do you even spell that? I don't know anymore.) I really enjoy reading your blog even if I'm the worst at commenting on blogs sometimes, and I'm glad I found it -- thanks for the mention, too! :) Here's to another year of awesome blogging.

    *nervous look because my blogversary is coming up also*

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    1. Thank you! (I don't even know how to spell it--I've seen blogversary, blogoversary, blogaversary. It's so confusing. I basically just decided to pretend I knew what I was talking about.) And thanks--I'm glad you enjoy reading it. And don't worry about not-commenting often--I can be horribly scatter-brained or busy or just not in the mood or whatever, so I'm often not on top of things like commenting on other people's blogs. Take your blog, for instance--I love it, and every post is marvelous, but I've commented like, what, five times? *shakes head at self* And you're totally welcome--people should know about your blog. :)

      Happy blogversary to you too! (Our blogs are close to the same age, aren't they?)

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  2. Happy blogoversay! That's super exciting. It's been great to see how your blog grew and changed as well. And thanks for the mention!

    A giveaway?!?! Yay!! I will do all things.

    The link willl go up in my next post, I found you through Heather and my favourite posts were Uses for Books and most of the ones you did about NaNoWriMo (sorry I can't remember any specifics I just remember they were good) and The Inner Editor's Monologue. I hope you get lots of entries! (And would you be shipping internationally?)

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    1. Thanks! And it really is--I'm not even sure why, except that I guess it means I've survived this long. :P And thanks, I appreciate that--it actually might be beneficial for me to read all my old posts and see how I've changed and grown. And you're totally welcome--I love you're blog, and you're coming out of the gate way stronger than I did. *salutes you*

      Ooh, thank you for the mention. :P I wondered if you found me through Heather--I think half my followers and page views and comments have come through her promoting me. I feel like I should probably pay her. XD I'm glad you liked my pep talks and Uses for Books and The Inner Editor's Monologue (and don't worry if you don't remember specifics--there won't be a quiz or anything). Uses for books was actually one of those posts that I threw together in a mad panic because I had know clue what to write. Actually, come to think of it, all my favorite posts have come about that way.

      Thanks! I hope I do too. :P And yes, the giveaway is international. Sorry I didn't mention that--I'll add it to the post so there won't be any more confusion. (I knew I was forgetting something.) Thanks for pointing it out. :) And thanks for entering!

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  3. YAY YOU! :) I can't believe you've been going for a year! You seem so on to this whole blogging thing :)

    Coffee is amazing, am I right?! I wouldn't function without it. And your blog is amazing too :) Learning to Fangirl: Confessions of a Part-Time Vulcan is defiantly one of my favourites.

    To be honest, I can't remember how I found your blog, but it was probably through a link on someone else's blog. I can remember my first time landing on your 'home' page because I instantly looked for an about page, but there wasn't one :)

    I don't use Google+ anymore, so here's my blog email :) opalswirls@gmail.com

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    1. Thanks! Well, I'm a firm believer that often pretending you know what you're doing pretty much amounts to the same thing as actually knowing what you're doing. But yeah, the year's gone by really quickly--it doesn't feel like I've been blogging that long.

      COFFEE IS THE MOST AMAZINGEST THING EVER. I get so sad when they're no coffee on hand. And thank you! I'm glad you like it. I think Learning to Fangirl is what made me want to write book reviews, and I think it's helped me appreciate stories more. I'm glad you liked it too. :)

      I think you might have found me through Heather? (I'll still count it as an entry, since you at least tried to remember. :P) Haha, yeah, I should do an about page soon--I've been thinking about adding a few pages, but I'm still bouncing around ideas. Maybe you'll see something in a week or two. It's less about me trying to be mysterious or anything, and more about not really knowing what to say. :P

      Thanks for entering! :)

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  4. Happy blogversary! :D

    Oh, I did the same thing about not commenting back. :p At least we know better know, lol!
    And I love your blog name, btw! It's so creative and amusing. :)
    Also, all those posts look really cool. *determines to go back and read them when more time is available.* So if you end up with random comments on year-old posts, I will be why, lol


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbositybookreviews.wordpress.com

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    1. Thanks!
      Phew, well, I'm glad that I'm not the only one--and I'm glad that we know better now. :P
      Thanks! I like it too. :)
      I hope you enjoy them. And go ahead and randomly comment to your heart's desire (you know, if you want)--it would totally make my day. XD

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  5. (Oh goodness. I first started this out by saying happy birthday to you. I really am sleep deprived right now. :p)

    *ahem*

    HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY, LIZ! xD I'm a new follower, but looking forward to many more posts. And I super appreciate the comments over on my blog. I love that our blogoversary's (??) are practically on the same day. :D

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    1. :) I can totally see how that might accidently slip out, especially considering sleep-deprivation.

      Thank you! I hope the next year of posts won't be disappointing. :P And you're welcome for the comments--I love what I've seen of your blog so far. (Also, I super appreciate the comments over here, too. :P)

      Yes, and actually, our blogversaries (blog-whatevers) are on the same day--I just posted my celebration early because I keep to a strict Monday and Wednesday schedule. My actually anniversary is today. So, our blogs are twins. (I know the odds aren't great, or anything, but I still think it's funny/cool that we both started our blogs on the exact same day.)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY! I am muy glad that you have come to experience the delights of blogging, and building your own little blogging community here on this lovely forum of discussion. :)

    Like.... How did I find your blog? I think I might have seen you share the link on Go Teen Writers and then visited and was like, "Ey, I like this business. I'ma follow it." And I suppose the rest is history. I think that "Mind the Revolving Doors" was one of my favorite blog posts this year, just because superheroes are so fun. :)

    HAVE AN AWESOME BLOGAVERSARY EVEN THOUGH COLLEGE MADE ME RESPOND TO THIS LATE AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A CONTINUALLY JOYOUS BLOGGY YEAR AS IT NEXT COMES! :D

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    1. THANK YOU. :) I am very glad too, and I appreciate that you've been there for so much of it. :)

      I wondered if you'd maybe seen the link on Go Teen Writers, because I remember you started commenting and stuff shortly after I shared the link there. :P Superheroes are very fun, and I enjoyed writing about a slightly unintelligent, not-very-special superhero. I'm glad you liked it. :)

      Thanks, and don't worry about responding late--I do that all the time. And college is a very good excuse. I'm moving to Virginia to live with my sister soon, so I can't blame you for your business when I'm busy as well. :P

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  7. Happy blogversary! Thank you so much for the mention -- I'm so happy you like my blog, and I have to say, how could I not love a blog with coffee in its name? I swear, takeout and coffee are the best combo ever. Except maybe chocolate and chocolate. And I totally feel you on not commenting on other people's blogs when starting out -- took me like more than a year to figure that out. *bashes head against wall* Here's to another year of awesome coffee and blogging!

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    1. Thank you! And you're welcome--you always have interesting and engaging content. YES, takeout and coffee are a brilliant combo. :) Also chocolate and chocolate, and chocolate and mint. I'm glad I'm not the only one who took forever to learn (not that I'm glad about your misfortunes, or anything :P). Thanks!

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  8. ahhhhh HAPPY BLOGVERSARY LIZ!!! I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND YOU ARE JUST FABULOUS. AND WERE IS THE CELEBRATORY CAKE? *sprinkles cake crumbs in your hair* I SHALL PROVIDE THE CAKE SINCE IT IS MY MIDDLE NAME. :')
    And, omg, I hear ya, with the etiquette problems. I used to have that so bad. I literally had no idea why people wouldn't comment on my blog...and there I was neither reading other blogs OR commenting on them. -_- So I think it takes a while for deluded pineapples for me to catch up on those kinds of things, but once you get the hang of it, it's super fun, right!? AND SO MANY AWESOME BLOGGERS TO MEET. :D

    SO. ENTRIES! :D I loved your dystopian posts (both of them!!) because I'm a sucker for a good discussion. And I actually don't know how I found your blog. o.O I'm 90% certain you commented on mine so I found yours...but tell me if I'm wrong!

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    1. THANK YOU. I'M SO GLAD YOU LOVE MY BLOG, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THE CAKE. *bangs head* Thank you for providing the cake--I knew I could count on you. XD

      Since I mentioned my etiquette issues, I've been learning about a bunch of other people who went through the same thing as well. So I'm glad I wasn't the only one stubbornly ignoring the rest of the blogosphere and wondering why no one would pay attention to me. :P But yeah, it's way more fun to network and comment and all that jazz--looking back, I don't understand why I was hesitant to dive head-first into the blogging world.

      I was surprised by how well the dystopian posts went over--I should do some more discussions like those. No, I think you're right--I remember commenting on one of your posts (it was the one on getting comments for your blog, actually) and then being surprised/excited when you commented back.

      Thanks for entering!

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  9. Happy Blogversary. ^ ^ It's really cool to hear some about your writing journey. It took me a long time to branch out to other blogs as well. I didn't know many at first. XD I found your blog through Adriana Gabrielle's Blogger Spotlight. ^ ^ And I've enjoyed all of your comments on my blog. You've made me smile. ^ ^

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks! :) Yeah, I guess it's a rite of passage for a blogger to discover the rest of the blogosphere and move out into the great unknown. I didn't know of many other blogs at first when I started out--I only knew of a few agent/writer blogs, and I was a little too frightened to comment on those. I think. So it took me a while to go from dipping my toes into the blogging world to diving in headfirst and hoping for the best.

      Ah, you might be the first person I know about who found me through the spotlight. That's exciting. :) And I'm glad you've enjoyed my comments--I like to make other bloggers smile, because why not? Your responses make me smile too. :) Thanks for commenting! XD

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    2. I totally understand. XD I didn't find many other blogs I could keep up with until I found Blog Lovin'. It. Is. Amazing. It makes following a numerous amount of bloggers so much easier.

      Oh really? Wow. Aw. ^ ^ I like making other bloggers smile as well. It makes me sad when I go onto a blog and see no comments on a post. I always have to fix it lol. XD

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    3. I've actually considered using Blog Lovin'--it does look great, and I am very disorganized when it comes to reading blogs.

      I know, it's so sad to see posts without comments. I always have to fix that too, unless I have absolutely no clue what to say. And then I just slink away in shame. :P

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    4. It's so helpful and the site helps other people find your blog. It'll recommend you to people.

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    5. Oooh, I actually didn't know that. I'll be pretty busy for the next few days, but as soon as the dust settles, I think I'll have to check it out. Thanks for recommending it! :)

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