Wednesday, 1 April 2015

The Great ‘Gossiping With Dragons’ Blogoversary + Giveaway



I have something to share with you. Today is Gossiping with Dragons’ first blogoversary. Happy birthday to my little blog! What a year it has been too. I’ve met some amazing blogging friends, written many, many posts, and grown a lot as a writer and a blogger. A big thank you goes out to all of you who read my blog. You guys are awesome. Without you guys reading my blog, commenting on my posts, and getting involved in the little community we’re building here, I wouldn’t have got this far. So a big thanks to you all for making this the best blogging year ever. Here's a little celebratory video for you.



To celebrate, I’ve firstly launched a brand new blog design (did you notice? Did you?) Many thanks to Sophie @The Techno Maid, for the awesome design and Charlotte for drawing the amazing artworks for The Techno Maid’s designs, such as this amazing. These two are in the middle of setting up a blog design shop, so if you like what you see, you should definitely keep an eye out for their grand opening.

As well as giving Gossiping With Dragons a facelift, I also think it’s time to thank you guys properly for all your support. So I’m hosting a giveaway. Exciting! Being that this blog is about writing and for writers, I wanted to give you prizes connected to writing and blogging. So for this giveaway I am offering:

One full manuscript reader’s report
This critique looks at the big picture; the overall impression of the book and its strengths and weaknesses. It will also include any large issues noticed during the reading of the book. It is not a line edit and does not include proofreading either. It focuses solely on the larger issues and will let you know my impression of it as a reader as well.

One ten page critique
This critique looks at structure. It’s not a proofread but works through the pages looking at the content and giving specific editing advice. These ten pages can be from anywhere in the book, but if you win and you give me some pages from the back end of the book, be sure to let me know any relevant plot information before I dive in!

One custom header design from The Techno Maid
The Techno Maid has kindly offered up the amazing prize of a free custom blog header. If you love my header (and I really hope you do), then you should definitely enter to have a chance of winning your own.

In case you’re wondering about my editing credentials, I’m in the final six months of a university degree in writing, editing and publishing. I’ve also been writing seriously for seven years, having drafted at least eighteen books, and I’ve been reading great fiction for much longer than that. I have a pretty good idea of what makes a great story, and I’d love to be able to help you with yours.

So what are you waiting for Go, enter, win! You guys are what makes blogging worthwhile.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you joining in with my giveaway? How long has your blog being going? Got any funny blogging stories to share?

22 comments:

  1. Whoa, I love the new design! It's really awesome!
    My blog's only been going for like 4-5 months. I'm sort of new at this. I don't have any funny stories to share yet, sadly.

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    1. Thanks Micah! I'm sure you'll accumulate a few good blogging stories by the time you reach your own blogoversary.

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  2. Congrats on your blogoversary!! This is the first time I've come across you're blog, but I'm hoping to look into it more, soon!!

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    1. Thank you Gemma! And thanks for visiting. I love meeting new readers. Hopefully you find something helpful on my blog.

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  3. Congrats on the anniversary! These are always so exciting, my blog Through Two Blue Eyes just turned four New Year's Eve XD To be honest though I kinda liked your last design better; it looked more professional; just my honest opinion though. :)

    I hope you have another successful year of blogging ahead of you! I've enjoyed following your blog so far! :D

    ~Jamie

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    1. Congratulations on your four year anniversary. That must have been so exciting. I actually just discovered how to get to your blog, and I have to say, I really like it (I wasn't ignoring you. I like to comment back on all my commenter's blogs, I just didn't find it til now). Thanks for the feedback on the design. Is there anything that you particularly think doesn't suit? I'm always open to suggestions for my blog, design and all, so don't hesitate to let me know. Thank you so much! I've really enjoyed getting to know you. Thank you for reading my blog and being so encouraging.

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  4. I love it! It's super pretty, and that dragon looks like he's ready to have a good gossip with us all! I'm definitely participating in the giveaway and I certainly enjoyed your video. I loved guest posting for you, so thanks for the mention. And of course, thanks for being an awesome blogger. You and your blog rock! :D

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    1. Aw thanks. I'm really happy with the header myself. One of the things I've always wanted on this blog is a dragon somewhere. Thanks for watching the video. Of course I had to thank you by name. You've been so awesome to have a blogging friend and a guest poster.

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  5. I AM IN COMPLETE AWE OF YOU AND THESE PRIZES. *flails* WELL DONE!! And your header looks absolutely fantastic! ZOMG. You are such a fabulous writer and blogger, and I cannot wait to see what your second blogging year brings! *showers you with bloggy birthday cake*
    *eats all the cake*

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    1. I have very good role models to follow, such as this amazing blog called Paper Fury. I'm so glad you like the prizes. I might be a poor little bookworm, but I can offer something helpful. I knew this blogoversary was missing something. Cake!

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  7. Have you started working for Camp NaNoWriMo yet? I have, I was so excited to start this morning. Thanks for the giveaways and I love the dragon!

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    1. I have indeed started. The first days of Camp are definitely the most exciting. How is your Camp going? I hope your story is behaving itself. Good luck with the rest of the month!

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  8. Happy first blogoversary! It's so cool that we actually started our blogs on the same day, because my blogoversary is also today. And I LOVE your new blog design. Your two sisters are so talented. Seriously. I can't do digital art for my life.

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    1. Congratulations on your first blogoversary too! I was surprised and excited to see that we share the date. Thank you so much! I can't design either, so I'm very lucky to have such talented siblings.

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  9. I came here from Ana's blog, actually, and you both chose a wonderful date for starting a blog, eh? XD XD The design is fabulous, I have to say! I don't personally like green, but you chose a wonderful shade that's totally won me over. I had my blogoversary back in February and celebrated it with my birthday, and honestly, these are just such fun events because hey, you've stuck at this way longer than you thought you would! Confetti all around :D :D :D

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    1. Thanks for clicking through from Ana's amazing blog. It is certainly an...interesting date for starting a blog. I was half afraid people wouldn't believe I was being serious! Still, it's a date you can never forget, right? Congratulations for your blogoversary. I'm so glad you like the green. I wasn't sure how it was all going to turn out, but it ended up looking way better than I could have hoped for.

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  10. Happy Blogoversary!! I was so surprised to see the new design XD I love it, although I must say I was very fond of the old one. Your video was so adorable. c: Thank YOU for making your blog fun to read. It's been a bit of a struggle to keep on top of visiting blogs lately but hey, I know it won't be forever. I do miss this blog. My blog is two and a half... I think. I can't believe this blog has only been going ONE year and look - so successful already! You have many loyal followers and it doesn't seem like you're anywhere near running out of posts. Impressive. Go you. This has gotta be one of the best parts of blogging - when you realise you were able to maintain what you started.

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    1. The old design was a pretty good one, wasn't it? I am rather in love with this new one though. It has a real dragon, which is something I've been wanting on my blog for a while. Aw, thank you so much! Thank you for being one of my followers. I'm only able to keep this blog going because of amazing people like you.

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  11. Happy Blogoversary! I love the new design! It's hard to believe my blog's only been going four months. I feel like I've had it forever.

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    1. It gets like that, doesn't it? Once you get started, you can't imagine a time when you weren't blogging. Thanks for stopping by Ally.

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  12. Congragulations on your blog anniversary. I would love to use your services if I write a book.

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