Out With the Old, In With the New

How are y'all doing?

In a series of posts that will be published throughout the blog's first month active, I am going to share with you guys some things about Afterwords; from what led to the creation of this blog, to the content you can expect from it, to the beliefs I hold regarding blogging and more.

And naturally, the post that will start it all will do with how I came to create Afterwords. 

The first thing you need to know is that this is not my first book blog. It's not the second, either. It's actually the third--and hopefully the last.

My first venture into the world of Book Blogging back at 2012 came side by side with my finding the site called Goodreads, and was named "Drugs Called Books".

Drugs Called Books was perfect for me, it really was. It was my spot, and alongside it I grew as a reviewer, as a blogger and--dare I say it-- as a person.

Fast forward two years and I was still happy with my little blog (though less happy with the name I chose lol), but I was having problems. Problems called Real Life. RL was interrupting with my blogging; and slowly the amount of content on the blog started to dwindle. From four posts a week minimum to two a week maximum.

I had a hard time with that - I felt like I was disappointing my readers. I felt like I was disappointing myself. 

So I searched for a solution.

At the same time I was struggling with all this, an online friend - the lovely Megs from The Book Babe's Reads was having the same issues. Those same doubts. We talked a little about it - and decided co-blogging would be the perfect answer.

We would have each other's backs. The load of blogging will lessen because when one isn't posting, the other will. There will be the same amount of posts,  but half the effort. Goodbye guilt. Goodbye stress.

And so, I moved in with her, so to speak, becoming one half of The Book Babe's Reads.

And for a short while, it was everything the both of us wanted it to be. We had more ideas, we were more relaxed, and things were going swimmingly.

Until RL came back to haunt us again. Things in Megan's life became complicated (luckily, mostly with good stuff and I can't be happier for her) and she couldn't blog anymore. All for very good reasons, trust me, but I kind of became a solo blogger again, under the guise of a co-blogger. At first, it was alright. I was a-okay with holding the fort until Meg can come back.

But... weeks turned to months, and I was starting to feel very discouraged. Not because I minded but because... well, tBBR didn't really feel like home. It still felt, to me, like Meg's blog. Despite being the only one blogging, I still felt like I was intruding. 

Most of the followers were there for Meg, not me. Everything about the blog, aside for the posts I've written, was still hers. What started as the logical step - my moving into her blog, which was bigger and had a larger support base, when we had no time or desire really to start again from scratch - became something that hindered me.

I wanted my own place again.  

But I was a bit scared of it, too. I mean... I couldn't move back to my old blog. It felt wrong, after having abandoned it so callously. And starting again, from scratch? I wasn't sure I could do it.

This is where Amanda, another great internet friend and the owner of Nellie and Co. came into play. You see, she has gone through everything I had too, and then she branched out from her co-owned blog and opened a new one.

Seeing her beautiful blog-design I half jokingly said I would love for her to design a blog for me. And she told me that if I wanted to, she will. So I had a decision to make--to take the leap or not to.

And I did.