Armchair BEA Day 3: Expanding Blogging Horizons

 Armchair BEA is for those people who cannot visit Book Expo America but still want to join in the fun. This week, May 26th to 31st, there are celebrations for those who stay at home rather than make it to New York. 

Today, Wednesday, is about Expanding Horizons.

After I had been blogging for a few years, people started to approach me with their book. Not to review it, but to say something about it before it would be published. They wanted me to check that their story was OK and get an opinion from an outsider.

Well, of course by then I was reading over 150 books a year so I certainly had an opinion! Not only that, as I’d been taking writing courses and done a lot of writing myself, I had a pretty good idea what makes a good book.

So, I started telling those people what I thought of their book and how I thought it could be improved. They were impressed by the amount of information I gave them and how I helped them forward in their writing. “Everyone” was saying, “You should make this your job!” Since I’d also been editing and proofreading as part of most of my career, I decided that wasn’t a bad idea. Of course it was a little scary, but last year, Book Helpline was born.

Book Helpline helps authors to improve their story and bring it to a publishable standard. Many of the authors are self-publishing authors, but there are also authors who want to get their manuscript as perfect as possible before sending it to an agent or publisher.

The unexpected bonus: I don’t just LOVE doing the work (the books), I also LOVE being involved with authors and helping them out, being a sounding board for their ideas, and seeing their work being published. It’s great! Honestly, the ideal job for me.

And that all because I started to blog some years ago!

What about you?

How has blogging changed your life?

I’m curious! 🙂