Blogger Confidential: In Real Life

Have you ever been faced with an issue while reading or blogging and thought: I wonder what other bloggers think about this? No matter what genre or audience you blog for, we all face the same problems. Are you a publisher or author wondering what goes on in a blogger's (and by extension a reader's) head?

Blogger confidential is a series of 10 questions asked to 13 bloggers about the nitty gritty details of blogging. Everything from what prompts a blogger to pick up a book, to what happens when a book doesn't live up to its hype. This series was inspired by Wastepaper Prose's Author Insight series. Learn more about the Blogger Confidential series on its main page.

Do people in your offline life know about your blog? Or have you made a concerted effort to keep your online and offline life separate? Why?

"Some people in my offline life know about my blog. I don't advertise much with them though. Here's what I've learned: the people who are going to be most active on your blog are going to be active because they love the topics you blog about, not just that they love you. So even if I tell a group of my friends that I'm blogging, and all of them subscribe to support me, only a few of them will actually continuously read and comment on my blog. My goal is not to just have a ton of subscribers, but to have a ton of subscribers who are active on the blog.

Also, I feel like I can be less self-conscious about what I write if I know the people who are reading my blog have found me because they're interested in what I say and not because I've asked them to read my work." Wallace from Unputdownables

"In the beginning I refused to tell anyone about my blog. Not even my parents knew. Now though I am proud of what I have done with my blog and pretty much all of my friends and family know about it. The only reason I tried to keep it separate in the beginning was because I was so nervous about it. I didn't know what I was doing and if I crashed and burned I didn't want others to know." Katie from Katie's Book Blog

"When I started my blog I had been strictly prohibited from creating one by my parents. Therefore it was of the upmost importance that they never find out about it. Their biggest concern was internet privacy, so I figured that if I could show them that I could keep it safe, they would eventually approve. This is why I’ve always done everything online under my pseudonym 'Enna Isilee.'

I’m no longer a minor; my parents are aware (and embarrassingly proud) of my blog; and nearly everyone I’m close to knows about it. However, I like keeping the two lives separate. Enna Isilee is so much more exciting than I am. I love her mystique and her quirky attitude, and I’m afraid of what happens if I blur those lines too much. Many of the bloggers & authors I meet in real life do not know my real name. The mystery is part of the fun for me. (And I am still scared of internet stalkers.)" Enna from Squeaky Books

"I don't usually talk about my blog much 'in real life.' The reason that I started blogging was because of the lack of people in my life that were reading addicts like myself.... so if they didn't get my book obsession, they really aren't going to get this whole blogging thing! But that's not saying that people don't know about it. Most of my family does, my Aunt is a big reader of my blog! And the majority of my coworkers know as well."  Kristi from The Story Siren

"They do know about it. I tried to hide it from my parents and friends at first because it's pretty nerdy, lol. But that didn't last long because once you start getting packages from Meg Cabot (my first ever package was from her) and various publishers on a pretty much daily basis, it's hard to make up excuses after a while. When I came back from my month-long winter break after half a year of blogging, I had like 15 packages waiting for me. It was madness.

But everyone thinks it's really cool, especially my dad, who tells like EVERYONE about it, and my roommate/best friend, who always wants to tell people about the famous people I know (like Meg Cabot and Sarah Dessen) and have met (DJ from Full House and Jane Lynch, both at this year's BEA). Everyone also thinks I should get paid for doing it, and I wish I could! This is much better than any actual job I could land (other than that of published author, lol)." James from Book Chic

"People in my 'offline' life definitely know about my blog. I am really proud of the work I do on Novel Novice, and I’m a bit of a bragger, so I want them to know about it! Actually, the biggest reason I share my blog so much in 'offline' life is that it’s so important to me. I don’t really like my 'real' job, but it pays the bills. However, my work on Novel Novice is wholly fulfilling and it really embodies my passion. I was so excited last week when a coworker walked up to me in the hallway of the newsroom and said she’d just been browsing my site, and told me how much she loved it. In many ways, sharing Novel Novice with my offline-friends and acquaintances is a way for them to get to know me even better. The work I do on Novel Novice is far more defining of who I am than my 'real' job." Sara from Novel Novice

"Sure, our friends and family know about our blog. Part of what made us want to share our reading love with more people is because our family and friends encouraged us to do so. They are proud of us and some of our biggest cheerleaders! (We secretly think they were tired of all of our book love recommendations and couldn’t keep up with the books we were shoving their way.)" Stacy, Shannan, Nancy, and Sarah from Girls in the Stacks

"My family and close friends know about my blog. I don’t share it with completely random people at work; I don’t feel there is a reason for them to know about it. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my blog, but I prefer to keep my work/blog lives separate." Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves

"People in my “real” life know about the blog. When Jasmine and I first started the blog I think we let our Facebook friends know we started a book blog, but after that I really don’t talk about it. I never really talk about blogging around friends and family, so I do wonder whether or not those who know I have a book blog ever visit it. Many people in my family aren’t big with computers or the internet and I don’t think they read blogs. I guess all I would have to do is ask them, right?!" Jacinda and Jasmine from The Reading Housewives of Indiana

"My family, friends, and some of my teachers know about Reading Vacation. I don’t have a problem with anyone from my real life reading my blog. In fact, when one of my friends borrows books from me, her mother reads my review first to approve it. None of my real life friends are on twitter yet, but I’m looking forward to the day when they are." Melina from Reading Vacation

"Yes pretty much everyone knows about my blog, even in other countries. They think its great what I'm doing." Yara from Once Upon a Twilight

"Pixie: My immediate family and most of my friends know about my blog. I don’t push it on everyone, but if they need a book to read they know who to ask.

Stacey: My family knows and some of my friends and pretty much everyone at work. I get a lot of 'oh Stacey runs a YA book blog ask her for YA suggestions' which is totally fine, I love talking about books! So, no, I don’t separate my blogging life from my real life." Pixie and Stacey from Page Turners Blog

"My family, my boyfriend and some ex work colleagues know. I don’t keep it a secret but I’m not sure how many people are really interested, especially if they don’t read or aren’t interested in books." Lynsey from Narratively Speaking