Happy Newsletter Birthday to Me

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

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 “introduction” 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 “real” 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 “Bookstackers.” 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.

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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

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I’ve spent the last few weeks "brainstorming” 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.

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 “jumped the shark,” but I disagree. Happy reading!