MotherReader

I’m so glad that I held the Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge asking you to stretch your comfort zone. So many brave entries! I’m proud of all of you for taking chances and shaking things up. I picked one winner at random, who will receive a couple of books, courtesy of the supplies of Book Blogger Convention, and that winner is... Vicki from Reading at the Beach! Congratulations!

While I’m happy to offer a prize, I’m most excited that I was able to pose a challenge that made all participants winners. I loved reading your comments of the many ways you all pushed yourselves. It was inspirational. Here are some of the things that you’re doing:

• Starting a new feature/challenge/poll/contest
  
• Emailing authors for interviews/guest posts
  
• Emailing publishers for review copies
  
• Asking bloggers to do guest posts
  
• Connecting to local bookstores
  
• Agreeing to do guest posts
  
• Mixing up a set style
  
• Posting reviews on Amazon
  
• Writing a negative review
  
• Sharing something personal
  
• Taking a controversial stand
  
• Facing the hard jobs of blogging
  
• Promoting, marketing, and reaching out
  

Wow! Great job, everyone! I love the way that everyone who approached this challenge did so in a way that tackled their own soft spots. For me, my bravery was in what I did not do. After two extremely intense days that wiped out my time, energy, and emotional reserves, I decided not to participate in Bloggiesta on Sunday, as I had planned. Usually, I would worry about neglecting my blog or letting someone down or whether it was appropriate to run a challenge — and then personally bail on the event. And, to be fair, I remained a bit worried about those things. But for me, this weekend, the brave thing was to take care of myself on Sunday — even if it provided a sort of ironic twist to the very challenge I was proposing.

Thanks to everyone who played along. I hope this push to be brave carries over in your blogging for a long time to come. Blog on!