Blogger's Insight Re Blog Awards

Do you jump for joy when you receive an award?

I received the Liebster Blog award from Gene Lempp the other day. What an honor, since I value his opinions and admire his writing. In fact, his Wednesday "Designing from Bones" posts are some of my favorites, chock full of fascinating info and cool writing prompts. Check them out when you get a chance. If I was a teacher, I'd use his writing prompts with my students. Great for any age, elementary school through college. Perfect for us, too!

"Liebster is the German word for friend."

Anyway, part of Gene's post shares reflections on blog awards that I thought others might find interesting. So, with Gene's permission, here's a partial quote from his 9-3-11 post:

"Over the course of the last week I received two blog awards. The first was the Versatile Blogger, given to me by Amanda Rudd. This is my second of these. The other is the Liebster Award from Marie Andrews, a new-found ROW80 friend.

"After receiving the awards, I had several conversations with a few of my blogger buds and gained some interesting insights. Some bloggers see awards as a type of chain letter. Others meet them with a 'nice, but one more thing on my plate I don't have time to deal with' choice. Some are excited to be given an award, others, well, not so much.

"As I considered the words of my friends, I came to a realize that the value of the award was based on point-of-view. Given that our goal is to build author platform for our work, how do the awards help?

"Let's consider the points of value that come with being given and displaying awards.

"1) While the award may be of little personal value to a veteran author/blogger, our blogs are not for us, but for our readers. If we are truly building platform then not all of our visitors are author/bloggers, some are readers. Displaying our awards adds a sense of "expertise" to our site and posts for our non-blogging guests. You know, the ones that we want to buy, read and enjoy our books.

"2) Not all bloggers are veterans. In fact, blogging does not come easily to everyone. It took me four attempts over the course of six years to finally start the blog you are reading. In honesty, if it wasn't for Kristen Lamb, Jami Gold and my wife, I wouldn't be here now.

"Blog awards are a simple and effective way to offer our support and appreciation of those we visit and read. It can make all the difference in another bloggers world. When Sonia G. Medeiros gave me my first Versatile Blogger award, it let me know, much to my surprise, that at least one person out there enjoyed my writing. It gave me the boost I needed to keep going.

"The rules that are attached to each award are what make them appear to be chain letters. I do not think that we should allow ourselves to remain trapped in, or trap others into, having to comply with these rules in order to receive an award. If we are going to show appreciation, then show it. No strings attached. Hey, I love your work. You deserve this. Great job."

Thanks for your thoughts on blog awards, Gene. And thank you for the Liebster Blog award and for telling us that Liebster is the German word for friend.

I personally love to read all the interesting facts bloggers share about themselves when answering questions that came with an award, but I have to agree with Gene that for some bloggers, it might seem burdensome. That's why I made it optional the last time I passed on some awards, so the recipient could enjoy the award and answer the questions and pass the award on if they so chose.

Last week I also received an award from the awesome C. Lee McKenzie of The Write Game. It's the One To Follow award.

I'm choosing to pass these super cool awards on. I would like to give the One to Follow award to these bloggers:

Gene Lempp - As I said above, his "Designing from Bones" posts are fascinating. Not only that, Gene is always helpful with tweeting and blogging and is an all-around nice guy.

Tiffany A White of Tiffany A White's Ooo Factor - I was up in the air about whether to give Tiffany the Liebster award or the One to Follow award. She's a Twitter friend and also has a cool blog with posts featuring Tele-Tuesday and Why It's Worth a Watch Wednesday and Friday FabOoolousness. She's a fun one to follow.

Ellie Ann of Navigating Through the Week - She has a wild imagination and features any commenters in her Tall Tales posts who are game to be mentioned in the next Tall Tales Tuesday fun. She has other worthwhile posts, too, but her Tall Tales is one of my favs.  

As for the Liebster award, I'd like to pass this on to these new friends that I've met in the blogosphere:

Robyn Campbell of Putting Pen to Paper - We haven't been following each other's blogs very long, but we became instant friends. She's supportive and enthusiastic. Her love of life bubbles up in her emails and comments. She has seven kids, runs a farm, and somehow finds time to write! 


Misha of My First Book - Misha is another new blogger friend. She shares great info and tips, asks for advice, and offers kind words. 


Bish of Random Thoughts - She grew up on the Virgin Islands and now lives in Texas and is dealing with one of the worst droughts they've ever had. I'm just getting to know Bish, but she admits to being a bit of a prankster, so I consider her a kindred spirit! 


I'd like to give the award recipients the option to share something about themselves with us in the comments or on their blog. How about sharing a favorite childhood memory or an embarrassingly funny memory? SHARE IF YOU DARE! Hee-hee! And feel free to pass the award on to someone who deserves it.

How do you feel about blog awards? 

Do you love them? 

Or not?