Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Escapist: One year. New name. New look.


Michelle Shouts Random is now The Escapist. And together with the new blog name and layout, I--we--are also celebrating my first ever blogoversary. COULD YOU BELIEVER THAT? I COULDN'T!




One year of blogging. If this thought would came into me more than one year ago I would laugh at the idea. Because really, I never saw myself blogging. I never dreamt to become a blogger. I didn't even knew how blogging works! Creating this blog--Michelle Shouts Random--was never planned. This is what really happened...

I liked reading. But to be honest, I was never born a bookworm. Most bookworms would say they were reading for the rest of their lives. My love for reading started on year 2008. The  Twilight year. Since then I became interested in reading and on year 2011 (year when I become really obsessed with reading), I guess, when I was searching for a good romance read, I stumbled upon a blog with a list of awesome young adult romance reads. I didn't know what happened next, I just saw myself joining giveaways. I won once in a hundred giveaways and just imagine how happy I felt that time. And then I started tweeting Kai of Amaterasu Reads (the blog I first stumbled upon) when I found out that she's a Filipino book blogger. I asked her some things about books and I found myself asking about blogging. She then asked me if I'm planning to have a blog but I said no. She said I should try and go for it! Which I...did.

Starting a blog with no background or any idea how every button in Blogger works sucks. It does. I hated myself then why did I created one when I don't know how everything works. I've posted the crappiest review ever (wait for it...) for not one, but several books. I just realized it was crappy when I re-read them months ago. But I'm not done yet. The hardest thing to do is think about a catchy blog name. Since I plan my blog to be about random stuff, I came with Michelle Shouts Random, which is lame. Okay. I admit. I'm not really a fan of my previous blog name. For me, it sounds weird, but I still launched it. Haha My goal that time was to get this blog over with. XD

But over time, I learned a lot of things, I've met cool bookworms and bloggers, read amazing books, met awesome authors (online, of course) and contact fantastic publishers. Oh! And the most amazing thing about blogging? Receiving FREE books. *sighs dreamily* Yes, one of the main reasons I jumped into blogging is to receive free books because I'm not that rich to buy all the books that I want. :P

Months ago, I realized why not re-launch this blog with a new name and even a layout? It also came into my mind that I could do it on my blogoversary so it'll be all-in-one celebration.  I weighed the consequences. What if my readers would be lost if they visited Michelle Shouts Random? I could lose them. So I decided to announce it ahead of time so all of you would know. And here we are now.


Flashback:

Michelle Shouts Random blog banner


Michelle Shouts Random blog button and favicon


Michelle Shouts Random blog post divider

Why The Escapist? I picked the name because that's what I'm feeling whenever I read books or listen to music. Escaping. I'd always be in a different world whenever I start turning the pages of the book or hearing the intro of a song. I also decided to blog about books only and a few of music. I won't be blogging random stuff since I already didn't met that goal after a few months of launching Michelle Shouts Random. And I also have a tag line--which I really loved, to be honest. :D That is.. Escaping reality through books and music.

There are a lot of people I want to thank. I don't want to name because I know I might forget someone and he/she could hate me and I could lose a friend. :( :)And I don't want for that to happen. So let me have this opportunity to thank every one of you. You. You, who had the time reading this very post. You, who reads my posts, review or not. Giveaway or not. You, for being an epic reader and/or follower. You, who contributes to my pageviews on my statistics count, for you only knew how many times. You, who tweets, retweets and favorites me. You, who comments on my posts. You, who's helping me share the word about my posts and/or giveaways. You, for helping me develop my blogging/review skills. You, for being excited for this event. You, who's just being simply awesome. YOU are part of my one year of successful blogging. THANK YOU. And did I told you I love you all? :)

Super thanks as well to the awesome publishers who's trusting me with their titles. You don't know how grateful I am to all of you. You made one of my dreams come true. I hope you will continue to trust me with your titles.


Okay, over with the talk. Heehee. Just remember: Thank you! If I could hug you all right now, I'll squeeze you tight! Now let's proceed to the fun part! Could you guess what is it? .....

GIVEAWAY! Yay! :D

This giveaways is sponsored by yours truly to thank every one of you. Two winners could get their book of choice from Book Depository or Amazon. This is open internationally. The only mandatory entry here is to click the green button of FREE entry, which you can get every day. Throughout the week, I will be posting three more giveaways sponsored by two awesome publishers and one of my fave authors. I will still also be posting regular stuff such as reviews and memes. Stay tuned for some major fun! Enjoy and good luck! :)

*Enter my blogoversary giveaway part 2 (2 INT winners, choice from HarperCollins YA 2013 titles), part 3 (3 INT winners, The Lunar Chronicles swag pack + interview with Marissa Meyer) and part 4 (5 US winners, books from Simon Pulse YA contemporary list)



The EVENT button:
The Escapist


The new BLOG button:

The Escapist







38 comments:

  1. Happy blogoversary! :) I love your new blog layout! It's prettier than the last one.

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  2. I havent seen ur blog before. its my first time here.

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  3. Happy blogoversary!. Your blog is sooo cute, love it and it's the best blog design I've seen!! Definitely better than your last one.

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  4. Happy Blogoversary! I love the new header/background.

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  5. Yay! Congrats Michelle! I love love your new layout and the new name too :) Good job! So HAPPY Blogoversary!

    xoxo, Mariam @Book-A-Holic

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  6. Happy blogoversary! I like the new name and the butterflies on your blog! Thanks for this amazing giveaway - I would love to win!

    Suz Reads

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  7. Nice name! Happy Blogoversary.
    Hey, I see you use Blogger! You could take a custom name for only 10$ a year. :) Blogger redirects the URL automatically. :)

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  8. Happy Blogoversary, Michelle.
    I really love the header and the background. The illustrations are gorgeous! Wish you more succeed with your blogging.
    Thank you so much for the offer.

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  9. This layout is positively gorgeous, I love it! Happy blogoversary!

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  10. I love your new layout! It's super pretty, and the new name is totally rad! Happy Blogoversary! :D

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  11. I don't remember the past scheme, but I like the new one. It's beautiful, loads fast and also makes your blog easy to read.

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  12. Happy blogoversary! :) Love the new layout, although I think a tile image for the background would look better :) thanks!

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  13. Happy Blogoversary! I like the new name and look! The old name was funny, but this one seems more suited to a book blog,and the layout is pretty and whimsical.

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  14. Happy blogoversary!!
    Sorry, I don't remember the past layout.

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  15. Happy first year! I like this name and layout better - it is more fanciful and dreamlike!

    Thanks,
    Leanne

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  16. I love your background! Looks so magical~!

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  17. the new one is better !!!
    i like it :)
    happy blogoversary :)

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  18. I LOVE the new layout! I think it's so pretty and whimsical. I'm putting your new button up on my blog roll. I'd love it if you could grab mine (found on my right sidebar) and do the same!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  19. I think the layout is beautiful!! Thanks for the giveaway and happy blogoversary! <3
    -Cali W.

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  20. I saw your old blog name/layout and liked it a lot. I love the new one even more! Happy Blogoversary! :D

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  21. I haven't seen the old one, but I like the new one! The colors are simple so it doesn't annoy the eye. I think the picture of the mushroom houses at the bottom of the blog page is so cute!!

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  22. Happy 1 year blogoversary!! I did see the old one and I liked it, but this new design is so pretty! It's really whimsical and I love the graphics. Thanks for the great giveaway!

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  23. Definitely your new blog name! I quite like your old blog banner too, it's pretty cool. Happy blogoversary!

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  24. Congrats and Happy 1 year blogging!! The new look has a whimsical flair to it, which I like =)

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  25. Love the new look, and congrats again on your blogiversary. We know how hectic it can be, and you have done an awesome job.

    I really love the new design!!

    Lily @ Bookluvrs Haven

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  26. I followed your old blog, and as much as I liked it, this new one is amazing! I love the art design!

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  27. I liked your old name and layout but I LOVE the new one! The Escapist is an awesome name!Thats how I feel when I read and listen to music too! :)

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  28. This is my first time to your website, but I love your layout!

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  29. Congrats! I think the new look is great! Gives me a daydreaming feel :)

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  30. Congrats! I didn't see the old but I really like this one. It looks like something from a fairytale. :)

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  31. Happy blogoversary! I didn't see your old layout and name, but I absolutely LOVE this one. I think it's so pretty, whimsical and eye-catching.

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  32. Happy blogoversary, your layout is so whimsical!

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  33. I think the new one is so sweet! Love it. Like a fairytale book setting. I have seen the old one. Prefer this one. Good job!

    Happy Blogoversary too!

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  34. I only recently came across your blog so I don't know what the old layout looked like but this one is beautiful and whimsical. Love it! :)

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  35. Love the new name and layout...so sweet!

    Barrie

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  36. Your new name sounds better and yes, the layout is very cool :D

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  37. Absolutely love the new name and layout, it's very pretty and sweet. Also, happy 1st blogoversary and wishing you many, many more to come.
    Thanks for a giveaway! :)

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