Blogaversary & Amazon Giveaway

July 23, 2012

It has been two years since I started this blog. To be honest, I cannot believe it has been this long and that I actually kept up with it. Along with the many books I’ve read, I also met many friends and folks who are as enthusiastic about the written word as I am, and more.

I’ve learned a few things a long the way as well. My biggest lesson this year was not to put all your eggs in one Google basket. What happened is absolutely my fault, I overstepped Google’s terms of agreement and they, promptly and without warning, disabled my Google account. That caused me a whole bunch of headaches, not to mention lost emails, Author Q&A’s, contacts, etc. But my ad sense account, Feedburner account, phone backup, Google reader, calendar and other services.

What I learned though is well worth the price. I rarely use Google anymore. I do for some services, and if I have more than two services per account I open a new one, but mostly I found other, as good or better service. For example, I use bloglines as my my RSS reader and I’m much happier with it.

I can already hear you: “Oh, poor you… tell us about the giveaway”.

The prize – any book from Amazon.com $20 and under.
Entry – leave a comment below with your email and tell me how I can improve this blog.
The end date – TODAY!

Yes, it’s a one day contest… so what are you waiting for?

Zohar – Man of la Book

--- Please like and follow ManOfLaBook.com ---

24 Comments

  • Michael @ Literary ExplorationJuly 23, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Personally I think your blog is great, I’m not sure how you can improve it, maybe less clutter on the right and more diversity in the book genres. You do a great job and its always great to have fellow male book bloggers to read.

    • Carol WongJuly 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm

      Maybe add some color to the background, gray is not my favorite. Other than that, I have no suggestions. You are a blogging great!

      CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  • Anna (Diary of an Eccentric)July 23, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Happy blogiversary! Thank you for the generous giveaway. Honestly, I don’t think you need to make any changes unless you think you need to, as our blogs should be what we want them to be. I think it’s fine as is.

    diaryofaneccentric at hotmail dot com

  • rhondaJuly 23, 2012 at 9:56 am

    Congrats I love your blog your reviews the fact that you are friendly and helpful.Maybe less. Rafflecopter contests they are time consuming and. Not fun.

  • Jessica ( frellathon )July 23, 2012 at 10:40 am

    I’m an email subscriber and have to say I enjoy your reviews and have for a couple months now. The one thing I would suggest is less ads. I’m sorry to hear about your issues with google you are not the first I’ve heard who had problems. I’m not sure what you did to upset the google gods but the person I know about well one of them she didn’t do anything they just bam closed everything.

  • Lynne ClarkJuly 23, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    I’ve only recently found you (through Goodreads) and your blog, so I don’t really have much to draw on as far as ‘improvements’ … however, you always have great suggestions to read as well as giveaways on books I’m interested in, so thumbs up for that!!
    Congrats on your Blogaversary Dude .. and thanks for the giveaway!!
    ~Cheers!

  • ZuzanaJuly 23, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    Wow, you say you can’t believe it’s been two years, and I say I can’t believe it’s ONLY two years – you are such an old pro at this! I absolutely cannot find anything to improve about your posts – I love them and have learned many wonderful factoids and found new books to add to my burgeoning to-read list. And entering the giveaways that features titles I might like to read is grand too! I don’t always read the same kinds of lit as you do, but I always feel informed by your well-organized and coherent reviews! Best wishes for another two years, and another, and another …

  • TrevJuly 23, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    Happy Blogoversary! I have to say I don’t have any recommendations to improve you blog. I am often looking to yours to improve my own!

  • MargaretJuly 23, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Happy Blogiversary! you’re blog is one of my fav’s. Improvement….alittle color is nice nothing too shocking mind you lol. On the rafflecopter giveaways I always mistake the new follower and old follwer entries. Perhaps just keep it simple to just one follower.

    Thanks so much for the giveaway!

    Margaret
    singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com

  • Hira HasnainJuly 23, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    Dear Zohar,

    Your blog, like your personality, is infectious. What I love most about it? It’s not frivolous (which is not something I can say for even my own blog). You pick the books YOU like to read, and present them to the world in your own unique way. I love your Friday Facts features, I gain lots of little tid-bits of knowledge via them. Okay, the whole point was to tell you how to improve – well, honestly, I can’t really even think of anything, because your blog is one of those blogs that I enjoy reading the most. I love the simplicity of the blog, but maybe a little splash of color here and there? But then, maybe, that is not your personality? I don’t know…either way… CONGRATULATIONS on this milestone, Zohar! 😀

    ~Hira~
    Enamoredsoul(at)gmail(dot)com

  • Carol MJuly 23, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    I enjoy reading your blog! I agree with a few of the others when they say a little color would be nice. Maybe you can do it in the heading. I also agree that having just one follower entry is enough.
    mittens0831 at aol dot com

  • ThrouthehazeJuly 23, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    I think a colorful background or header would be a nice improvement 🙂
    throuthehaze at gmail dot com

  • LilianJuly 23, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    Happy BLOGOVERSARY! *throws rainbow confetti*
    I always love your blog for introducing me to new books. I still remember reading about The 100 Year Old Man

    As for an improvement, I’ve always found the “leave email/blog” entry on rafflecopter to be confusing since there isn’t a empty blank to do so in the entry, and perhaps some discussion posts? I also really liked that post on The Invisible Man by HG Wells’ covers that you posted a looonnng time ago, I would love to see more of those (maybe its because I’m an art major…)

    Lilian @ A Novel Toybox
    lilianxcheng AT gmail.com

  • MarjorieJuly 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    I read and enjoy your blog everyday. The only thing I would like to see changed is the background colour, I find it very bright. That’s it, otherwise, keep it the same.
    Easy to follow.
    By the way, Happy Blogaversary!! You have put a lot of hard work into this site.

  • CarlJuly 23, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    Funny post, congratulations on hitting the two-year mark.
    I’ve only been following your blog for a few weeks so coupled with my usual reticence to tell other people what to do I don’t have a really large frame of reference.
    Is that a cop-out?
    Maybe.
    OK, how about a little more color, just a little. This is still a book blog not a fruit salad.
    Thanks for the giveaway. Hope you continue to blog for 200 more years.

  • CarlJuly 23, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    Oh right, my stinkin’ email. Will I ever remember?!
    carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx

  • AlaineJuly 23, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    yay! happy day!
    I would probably change the background, make it a little bit more interesting and add a pop of color to add interest 🙂
    family74014 at gmail dot com

  • Shivanee @ Novel NicheJuly 23, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    Congratulations on your two year blogaversary, Zohar! I’d love to see more posts on book covers through the ages, which is an idea I thought I’d be alone on, but reading through your other comments now, I see that Lilian also agrees with me! 😀

    Congratulations again! Looking forward to another year of prolific posting from you, and hopefully many more years beyond that!

    ~Shivanee @ Novel Niche
    karistableu @ gmail dot com

  • PatriciaJuly 23, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    Congratulations. Love the blog — maybe more author interviews?

  • DamonJuly 23, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    I really like the blog– I value your opinion a lot and have even picked up a few books because of what you wrote! It would be even better with more giveaways like this.

  • MariaJuly 23, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    My email address is boundforsantiago@gmail.com

    I love how diverse the reviews you do are! More author QandAs would be awesome if you could manage it!

  • HelenJuly 23, 2012 at 9:39 pm

    Hey, Zohar–

    Congratulations on your anniversary! I think your blog is terrific. So nice to read about all kinds of books, not just new releases.

    The only thing I’d change is this–I’d make the “Man of La Book, A Bookish Blog” lines larger, take up more space on the banner. Also, I’d probably make the words, “Man of La Book” in red. (Sorry. It’s the retired graphic artist in me.) Cheers!

  • Anita YanceyJuly 25, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    I think your blog is great. I love the reviews and the giveaways. The only thing I can think of is it could use some color, maybe something bright. Thanks for having this giveaway.
    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

  • Anita YanceyJuly 25, 2012 at 1:53 pm

    Sorry, I just realize it was just a one day giveaway. Please disreguard my comment.

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