Monday, November 10, 2014

Suddenly, a Decade has Passed

Meanwhile, behind the façade of this innocent looking bookstore…

10 years later and I’m still at this whole blogging thing. Having recently turned 40, this blog has been part of my daily/weekly routine for a quarter of my life. I can’t say that about many things. Since starting the blog:
  • I’m at my fourth job since starting the blog
  • My wife and I moved from one part of NJ (Middlesex County) to another part of NJ (Somerset County, which lends credence to the “Garden State” nickname for NJ)
  • I’ve branched out in my reviewing and genre writing, going from reviews only at SFFWorld to writing for SF Signal, Tor.com and for a while, the San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review
  • The publishing landscape has changed dramatically with the advent of ebooks, the strengthening of the blogger/publisher relationship, and self-publishing
  • As such, I acquired a Kindle about three years ago
  • The online community has changed, too. We are still present, just talking differently. Whereas Bulletin Boards/Forums were massively active about ten years ago, twitter, reddit and facebook have taken the conversations out of the forums.
  • I've been keeping track of the review books I receive in the mail from publishers for about half the time the blog has been active (since April/May 2008)
  • I’ve met a good number of authors at various events; Tor.com meet-ups, NY Comic Con, and author signings
  • Once, Neil Gaiman even linked to my blog!
  • Since 2006, (as well as 20072008,  2009201020112012) I've recapped my "reading year in review," including this past year (2013
  • I began running, and in doing so, completed 2 half-marathons and many, many 5Ks
  • Last and certainly not least, as I've pointed out previously, the wife and I acquired a dog, Sully 

8 comments:

Bob/Sally said...

Wow, a decade is definitely something to take note of, given how often and how quickly some bloggers burn out. Congrats, and here's to at least another 10!

John D. said...

Congratulations!

Joe said...

Congrats, man! Good to see you still doing the thing!

Your dog, though, seems sad that you're taking time to blog instead of playing with him.

RobB said...

Thanks gang. My dog does have that sad face, the dark "eyeliner" does that, but she's a cheerful pooch.

Neth said...

Wow, how time flies. I'm not far behind you in that I'll also be celebrating the whole 40 years old thing about the same time my blog hits a decade in a bit over a year. Of course I've been terribly quite of late, but I didn't come here to talk about me.

Congrats! It's really amazing how all of this blogging stuff trickles down into everything. I don't think any of us had a clue where it would go when got into the gig.

Cheers to a new decade of awesomeness.

Midnight Philosopher said...

Congrats on the milestone, Rob. Keep at it!

Justin said...

And I only made it 3 and a half. I suck.

Congrats Rob.

Justin said...

And I only made it 3 and a half. I suck.

Congrats Rob.