Life as Amber knows it

Today I’m thrilled to feature Robert Zimmerman as a guest blogger on AmberJeromeNorrgard.com, after Robert was kind enough to host a guest blog of mine on his website.

My Blogging History

Blogging has taken off drastically in the last few years, and this is definitely apparent in the literary world. Book blogging is one of the biggest tools, outside of social media, for authors to use and get the word out about their books.

I entered into the world of blogging a few years ago. I think it was some time back in 2009 when I first decided to start a WordPress account. I did this as a place to share my thoughts, random or otherwise, to whoever would read them. No one did. At least no one compared to where my blog is now. I’m looking over my stats and between November 2009 (when I “began”) and December of 2001 (before I started to actually use my blog) I had a total of 311. In 2012 alone I’ve have over 10,000.

This drastic difference in numbers came from a change in attitude toward blogging. Earlier this year I started reviewing books. I was winning a few every now and then from Goodreads giveaways and figured “that’s what the giveaways are really for, why not review some.” I was posting them on a Tumblr page I set up. But that wasn’t enough. I was noticing, after I started using Twitter more often, that there was such a thing as “book blogging.” I wanted to do that. I love books. It was for me.

Through the combination of meeting and becoming friends with (mainly) Indie authors on Twitter and other book bloggers, I expanded my blog and developed my skill in reviewing. I was no longer just reviewing books either. Since I wanted to have a book blog, I started talking about anything book related I can think of.

I started enjoying this blogging world. It felt right. That’s why I kept doing it. What started as an impulse, to try out a new thing, has turned into what could be considered a full-time (non-paying) job. It’s part of my lifestyle now, and I can’t complain about any part of it.

I’ve learned to cherish many of the rewards the blog gives me. I get to interact with other avid readers and book collections all over the world while sharing my thoughts on the subjects. I get to discover many authors and books through my Authors We Love series. And the most rewarding thing I can think of is when I get a genuine thank you from an author for a review. When I can help out the author of a book I’ve loved and get recognized for it, I can’t think of anything better that could happen. It’s not an ego thing either. Even if it’s a “small-time” published author…it’s still as if someone Stephen King personally said thank you to me.

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About Robert Zimmermann: 

Robert is a writer. Most of the time his thoughts will grace the pages in the form of poetry, but occasionally some short pieces of fiction will show their faces. His work mainly touches on experiences that shape who he is today and are emotionally engaging but easily accessible to those not familiar with much poetry.

When Robert isn’t writing for himself, he’s writing to help others. In his blog, A Life Among The Pages, Robert posts numerous book reviews, interviews, and other book related posts to help out fellow writers in any way he can.

How qualified is Robert for all of this? Well, he holds an A.A. in Humanities and a B.A. in Creative Writing. Basically it boils down to him having a lot of downtime living at home. At least he has a cute puppy to keep him company while he’s busily at work writing his first collection of poems.

Check Robert out:

Blog: http://alifeamongthepages.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Robert.Zimmermann.Writer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/miztrebor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6435657-rob-zimmermann