SoNovelicious, Books & Reading & More Books

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Happy Newsletter Birthday to Me
sonovelicious.substack.com

Happy Newsletter Birthday to Me

SoNovelicious turns 1 šŸŽ‚, and I'm excited to see what the coming year holds.

Gayla Gray
May 31
23
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Happy Newsletter Birthday to Me
sonovelicious.substack.com

Hi readers,

I’ve wanted to start a blog for several years, but I wasn’t sure what I had to say. I wasn’t an expert on much of anything, and the more I planned, the more I realized that I didn’t know enough about anything to last beyond a few posts. I was also hesitant because I didn’t know WordPress and didn’t really want to learn it. I love the end result of the beautiful WP websites I see, but I also know how much work they entail, and I knew that all of this would cause me to fail before I could even begin.

I discovered Substack newsletters several months earlier, and after reading how easy it was to start publishing, I decided to give it a whirl, and SoNovelicious was born. Books and reading have always been a part of my life, although it has ebbed and flowed. Over the last several years, books have become integral to my life and overall happiness. Maybe I did know enough about something to last beyond a few posts, after all. I just re-read the ā€œintroductionā€ newsletter I wrote, and I’ve held true to what I said this newsletter would be about—bookish things to feed a reader's soul.

My first ā€œrealā€ newsletter was published one year ago today, on May 31st. I emailed two of my friends, Carol and Michele, to let them know that I had started a newsletter, and thankfully, both subscribed and continue to encourage me to this day. I emailed another internet friend that I’ve followed for a couple of years, and Mel shared my new venture with her readers, and my little corner of the internet became a community. In this community, I’ve met such wonderful readers who have added many books to my TBR. I appreciate each of you so much; thank you for being here. This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without you and the ideas from your comments that inspire future newsletters.

Not only is there a community of readers here, but there is also a community of other bookish newsletter creators I’ve come to know and admire called ā€œBookstackers.ā€ You have all been helpful in so many ways. Many others have played a part in this venture, and I appreciate each of you. Thank you.


I’ve written about many different bookish things over the last year; here are a few links in case you missed them initially:

  • About book clubs and celebrity book clubs

  • Reading journals

  • My favorite bookish podcasts

  • Books about books, author owned bookstores, and supporting independent bookstores

  • Favorite authors and author writing duos

  • Ideas to make your reading life better

  • Wildly creative Bookstagrammers


I’ve spent the last few weeks "brainstormingā€ new ideas for SoNovelicious, and I’ve come up with several I’m excited to share with you. I’ve got a few new regular monthly features beginning in June that I’m over the moon about and can’t wait for you to read. I think you’ll enjoy them as they dig deeper into the bookish goodness that you’ve come to know from this newsletter.

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You are the BEST readers in the world. You like and comment on each newsletter, and you often share SoNovelicious with your bookish friends; I couldn’t do this without you. I appreciate you, and thank you so much for being here. It would be really boring just to be writing to myself. I’ll be back on Friday with Nibbles & Bits, Vol. 2, about a book that some readers say ā€œjumped the shark,ā€ but I disagree. Happy reading!

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Lloyd Lemons
Writes Curious Elder Jun 2Liked by Gayla Gray

Happy birthday, Gayla! One-year is quite a milestone. Year number two will be even better.

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1 reply by Gayla Gray
Michele M.
Jun 7Liked by Gayla Gray

Happy Birthday and I can't believe you are celebrating your first year already. Your newsletters are so informing and you bring up bookish things I've never thought of and for sure never have never seen. I truly enjoy reading them and look forward to another year!

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1 reply by Gayla Gray
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