My First Blog Award Nomination: Liebster

Rubber Ducky Copywriter has been nominated for a Liebster Award! Thank you, Williesha – it means a lot, especially coming from you.

Like many, I didn’t know what a Liebster Award is until Willi explained that it’s “a pay-it-forward award.”

One of the rules for accepting this award nomination is to nominate other blogs that I think deserve the recognition. The following are my nominees because they’re inspiring, kind, helpful and sometimes just downright funny.

My favorite blogs and, therefore, my Liebster Award nominees:

• Peter D. Mallet – Writing in Color
• Jesse – Cajun Copy
• TV Types – The truth about live behind the scenes
• Marie – My Mom Thoughts
• Rebecca Klempner – Writing and freelancing

If you choose to accept this nomination, you must do the following:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”.

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less than 200 followers.

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post. (You can copy and paste them from here.)

Once you have written your post, and published it, you then have to:

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

My new 11 questions for my nominees

1) What is your favorite book?

2) How many blogs do you have?

3) What is your favorite method for getting around writer’s block?

4) What is your biggest distraction from writing?

5) If you weren’t a writer, what would you do for a living?

6) What one piece of advice would you give other aspiring writers?

7) What is your favorite type of pen or pencil?

8) What is your favorite dessert?

9) Are you a cat person or a dog person? (It’s okay to be both.)

10) Who’s your biggest fan?

11) What do you do when you’re not writing?

The answers to my 11 questions from Willi

1) What is the first book you ever remember reading?

Bambi – it was a large picture book and I kept getting in trouble for drawing in it.

2) What time period would you choose to go to if you could (you can also go into the future)?

I’d go back to the ‘90s and invest in Apple stock.

3) Who is your biggest supporter?

Mom. Hands down, it’s my mom.

4) Why is blogging so important to you?

My blog is my own personal writing space. It’s where no one can tell me what my voice is, what my tone is, what my topic is — it’s mine. And I hope that by keeping it up, I can help others build their own personal writing space, too. It’s so important for writers of all niches to have that.

5) What’s your educational background?

I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Applied Design and Visual Arts from the University of Houston. And I want to go back to school for my Master’s someday.

6) How did your educational background prepare you for your blog?

Getting my education was one of the best things I ever did. It taught me how to teach myself difficult subjects and how to bust my tail for the end result I want. And, with years of standing in front of my art classes and professors to defend my work, it taught me how to take critiques objectively.

7) What motivates you to keep writing, even when you don’t feel like it?

So here’s where I could give a feel-good mini-speech about not giving up in the face of adversity. But instead, I’m going to tell the truth. If it’s work-related, I often want it done to get it done. I don’t want projects piling up in my inbox. It’s a defensive strategy. If it’s me-related, I get to have a cookie when I’m done. Homework first, then play.

8) What is the one piece of advice you could give to aspiring bloggers that you wish you had figured out sooner?

Don’t try to be something you’re not. Find your own voice, your own passion and make it fun. Otherwise, your blog will suck and you will burn out (unlikely to ever try again).

9) What is your dream blog? Have you ever submitted a guest post to them? (Sorry. That’s two. )

No dream blog. No big dreams of guest-posting at this time. Just loving what I do.

10) Had you heard of the Liebster Award before this?

Yes. I’m ashamed to say that Marie at MyMomThoughts nominated me and because I didn’t know what it was or what to do, I didn’t participate. (I’m sorry, Marie.)

11) Other than blogging, what other interests/career goals are you pursuing?

Copywriting, freelancing, gardening, drawing, painting, cleaning, planning my wedding without going insane and defeating every level of Angry Birds of Xbox.

To Williesha

You may not feel like it sometimes, but you’re an inspiration for others, including me. And I really appreciate this nomination. Thank you.