Life Of A Blogger #65

Weekly feature created by Jessi at Novel Heartbeats to discuss one non-bookish topic per week. For more information about this feature click here

This week’s topic: Websites (favorites and most used)

Blogger sites: Right now, this is probably the biggest category. I spend a lot of my internet time working on this blog, so there are many websites I depend on to help with that.

• WordPress: This blog is hosted by wordpress, so I spend way too much time there. Editing, tweaking, writing, formatting, the whole shebang goes down on WordPress.
• GoodReads: Yes, this site has been an ass a time or two, but it’s still the best reference I’ve found that keeps all the book’s information on a single page. Trust me, when you’re writing a review, it’s much easier to go to the GoodReads page and grab the release date and publisher info than to grab your physical copy or search other sites for it.
• Edelweiss: This is the primary site I use to get eARCs. I don’t know why, but I have better odds at getting approved here than I do on NetGalley. I’ve requested the exact same book from both sites before and I’ll get turned down on NetGalley and approved here.
• NetGalley: I still use NetGalley though! Sometimes they have titles that don’t go up on Edelweiss or that whole “the first 500 readers can read without approval” thing they do. They also sometimes put up older titles. I got Attachments by Rainbow Rowell and The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E Smith on there within the last year.
• BlogLovin: Both as a blogger and as a blog follower, this site is completely awesome. I push Bloglovin as my main follow source because it’s the easiest thing to sign up for and use from both sides. As a follower, it’s so much easier to scroll through the feed there than to visit the mountains of sites I follow!
• Google Drive/Docs: I could not live without this as a blogger. I keep my ARC list, my review/posts calendar, and my reading schedule all on there. The spreadsheet document, while not as great as Excel with options, still has everything I need to run a calendar. It’s also a great thing that I can log on anywhere and check it instead of just having a file on my home laptop.

For Life: Then there is everything else!

• Yahoo: Do I really need to explain email?
• Facebook: I know everyone has migrated to Twitter, but I’m still on Facebook more. With Twitter, I feel overwhelmed. There is so much always going on!
• Twitter: But…I am on twitter and I do use it to promote my blog. Also, authors are much more likely to respond on there, even it it’s just a favorite or a retweet. I haven’t even created a Facebook account for this blog yet actually
• Day Of The Shirt: You know all those sites that have a new pop culture shirt up every day? Ript Apparel and TeeFury and Qwertee? Well, this site shows you all those in one spot, plus more. It’s so much easier to check here than to go to each individual site. I don’t buy many anymore, but I still look at them every day.
• Amazon: Okay, so let’s get real. I know that Amazon is always the first thing people harp on about when it comes to brick and mortar bookstores closing. I know that Amazon is the devil and I should buy my books elsewhere, so says everyone in the bookish community. But, for me, there is not really another option. I rarely ever buy books new. It’s partly because of the price. I’m a working lower middle class American and my need for food comes, unfortunately, before my need for books. I can rarely justify spending $20 on a hardback when I can spend half that or else if I wait and buy it used. Amazon has a great selection of used books! Now, if I’m going to a book event, I make a point to buy books from the store hosting the event. I think that is only fair, even if I cringe at paying full price, but beyond that, there are very few books out there to make me want to do that. I know that sounds horrible, but really, if you look at my Showcase Sunday posts, I buy A LOT of books. I just happen to spend hours shifting through thrift stores and local used bookstores to pay an affordable price for them.
• Netflix: I think my husband and I would go nuts without this service. I’m too cheap to pay for TV. Satelite and Cable are both much more per month than my $8 Netflix subscription. The selection isn’t perfect, but it still has a very good amount for $8!

I think that’s everything. I know I didn’t list any book blogs, but I honestly don’t check their sites daily or even weekly. The ones I follow, I do so in Bloglovin or via email and I can usually read the content there. That sounds bad because I know pageviews are important, but it’s still how I do it! What are some of your favorite sites? Let me know in the comments!