“So I wait for someone to make the first move, and when someone does go through with setting up legit plans with me, I get so anxious that half the time I end up cancelling because I am so paranoid and overwhelmed that I will be a complete letdown.”

–“Unfriendable” (Katie on Sluiter Nation)

“But sometimes, it’s the ‘smallness’ that allows the blog to be a great thing. Contrary to how we often feel as bloggers, ‘smallness’ isn’t always a bad thing; it might be the thing that makes us great. (Not necessarily big, but big doesn’t always equal great — and vice versa.) 

“In a hunt for blog tips when I first started, I came across this advice: ‘Don’t peak too early.’ In other words, don’t try to artificially grow your blog. Let it grow steadily. Slowly. Naturally. That is the growth that will mean something long-term. That advice has stuck with me.”

“I’ve pulled off a hat trick—three for three. They’re all readers. Good, really good readers. My five-year-old is reading Magic Treehouse and Ivy + Bean. My seven-year-old reads The Familiars and Roald Dahl and The Time Thief. My eldest, the nine-year-old, is reading the Star Wars books, the ones written for older teens and adults. They’re incredibly strong readers, although they do at times walk into inanimate objects. 

“People ask me all the time, ‘How do you do it? How do you get your kids to read? Mine are just not interested.’ I’ll tell you…I don’t know. 

(skip to the tips…) 

“2) Buy books. Someone once told me that growing up, her parents had said ‘no’ to toys all the time but never to books. That seems to be where we’ve landed, as well. I can’t even say ‘no’ to books for me. I cannot walk out of a bookstore without several items in hand. How in the world will I look my kids in the face if I get books and they don’t? We’re fortunate to have the means to be able to buy books, but we also get a lot out of the library. We don’t like to limit ourselves.”

–“Read Across the House” (Emily Rosenbaum)