Ok….. I need your advice.
When I started book blogging I really didnt even know that was what I was doing. I had started recording my book thought on line in a blog format – pretty much as record keeping for me. People finding my writing was not only rare but a little spooky. My blog traffic in those early days was maybe 2 or 3 a week.
It wasn’t until June of 2009 that I received a comment on my blog that I clicked on to see where they came from which led me down the proverbial rabbit trail to a book blog and to another and to another….. and I found my “people”. The rest is history…
When I started blogging, or at the time, I would call it book journalism, I wasn’t thinking about blog traffic, marketing, promotions, connecting with others,….. so I really did not put a lot of thought into the name of this “journal”:
One Persons Journey Through A World Of Books
(holy mouthful batman!)
Now as I am preparing to go to BEA this year, and have been thinking of ways to better promote what I do here…. the name has come to grate on me. It is sooooooo Loooooonnnnggggg. However what I need to know is if it worth it to shorten it up or will I just create confusion?
My Twitter name is Bookjourney so I have tossed that around. Journey Through Books is my email. I really don’t want to lose the name recognition if and when I do decide to change. I just want something easier to say and easier to remember as I go forward. My blog is growing and I want it to not only be memorable but also as user-friendly as possible.
Are you picking up what I am putting down? 🙂
Book Journey 
I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all – I mean, ultimately it’s your blog .. and you could even do something fun with it to get your readers involved, like hold a poll or a contest for ideas.
I love BookJourney – And I often refer to you that way.. but One Person’s Journey through a World of Books, while a mouthful yes, is catching and easy to remember as well.
I think Bookjourney is a great name – short, recognizable, unique!
Have you seen my blog name? Many years ago when I stated out I never thought I would be book blogging. I would change, but I too am concerned about massive confusion and well, it is my blog name for better or worse. I do not think I answered your question. I personally like your blog name. I wish I was attending BEA, sadly I am not. People know you by this name, I would stick with it.
I’ve been thinking this about my own blog name.
I think of you as Book Journey too. When I’m looking for something I saw here or It’s Monday… posts, I type Bookj in my search bar and your there, so I dunno, I’d be inclined to say keep that bit but loose the rest maybe?
JoAnn, Bookjourney is good, but I also like your blog name. Mine is long as well, but when I thought of it, it seemed like it described me because I read a little of this and a little of that…randomly. In any case, if I were you I would keep Journey as part of any name you pick. Like Jennifer, I probably didn’t answer the question. 🙂
I agree, your current blog name is really long. 🙂 I think Book Journey, which, as you said, is your Twitter name, is definitely a good one. It’s also your URL, which is advantageous. While changing your blog name can be confusing, etc., I don’t think this change would cause a problem — it’s already your URL, and your Twitter handle. Just don’t change your branding and your URL at the same time, please! :p
Sheila I like your blog name – it is long but perhaps and acronym?
Book Journey is a nice name too.
I know what you mean about how, when we’re just starting out, we don’t think ahead…hence, the long name.
It’s easy to change your blog name…you won’t be changing the URL, so people will still find you. A portion of the current name would work, like Book Journey…or Sheila’s Book Journey, which might set yours apart from other possible “book journeys” out there.
I changed the name of one of my Blogger blogs after the first few weeks. It was called “Untangling the Web,” which I changed to “Web of Tyranny Chronicles,” which focused more on the name of my book. URL stayed the same, of course.
Good luck!
And, like someone suggested, you could hold a contest…
Oh, I have toyed with this question for myself so many times.
I like the long name of your blog – it’s how you’re known. I do also like Book Journey but at least with the long name there is no confusion about who you are. I like it.
I had exactly the same dilemma and now my blog name is different to my url and I sometimes wonder if I should change it back. Tough one.
I don’t know that it matters that much if the blog name and the url are different, does it? I like Book Journey since it’s short, and I do like Laurel’s suggestion of calling it Sheila’s Book Journey since it gives it more of a personal feeling.
I bet so many people would like to change the name of their blog because in the beginning they didn’t know what they were doing. I was in such a hurry when branching off from my personal blog and named my book blog Lynne’s Book Reviews…how BORING! But I think people will follow you no matter what, so do what makes you happy.
I’ve been thinking about this as well…I mean how original..Jo-Jo Loves to Read. I mean, who doesn’t love to read? I will be curious to see what you decide.
I think if you go with something not too drastically different, then it’s fine to change things up. Especially if it gives you a consistent identity across the web, and help make you easier to remember. Personally, I’d use BookJourney for everything… I think many of us think of you as that already? And it is catchy and descriptive. (Can u tell I took advertising?)
But, no matter what you decide we’ll all still be here, because it’s the person and the content more than the name!
It’s so funny to pull this up because just last night I sent off your name to an author as someone who might be interested in a promotion she’s working on. As I was typing in the name of the blog, I was actually thinking what a long name it is! It totally fits what you’re doing but it is long. I think either Book Journey or Journey through Books is great and still ties back to the name you have now and shouldn’t cause much confusion.
Bookjourney, definitely Bookjourney!
I really like Bookjourney and you can always use the original title as a sub-title or blog description. You do whatever suits you best. We’ll find you by any name you choose! 🙂
Hey, Sheila, I agree with Jeannie – use the original title as a subtitle. I like it myself, but I know what you mean about it being long. I like “Book Journey,” because books themselves take us on a journey as we go through them. Your blog addy is “bookjourney.wordpress.com,” & I think you should keep that.
Still, either way’s fine, but please keep “book” & “journey” for sure – together, they’ve come to be recognised with you, & they’re good. 🙂
I like the name of your blog! It is a lil’ long but I don’t know if that matters much. At least to me it doesn’t. Your name fits you and your blog, in my opinion. I will say this, if someone has it on there blog roll as “One Persons Journey through a world of books” and you change your title to say “Book Journey” the new name will NOT change on their blog roll unless the user changes it when you do.
Good Luck and I hope you find everything you are looking for in your Title. 🙂
I’m with Krista in that I like your blog’s name! Sure, it’s a little long, but it’s unique as well. Ultimately, it’s your blog and you can rename it whatever you like. We’ll still track you down! *L*
If you do decide to change it, I like Jeanie’s suggestion of using the original title as a sub-title. Also like ‘Sheila’s Book Journey’.
Looking forward to seeing what you decide!
Hmmm…I love BookJourney…short sweet and to the point and it is still totally and uniquely you!!!
I vote for BookJourney with an optional subtitle of your original name. I think BookJourney works best because of two things others have already mentioned 1. it’s in your URL 2. it’s your Twitter name. I’d even recommend adding a BookJourney e-mail, but that might get messy. Whatever you do, we’ll still follow and recognize you! 🙂
I like the name as it stands. It’s unique and not easily confused with the name of someone else’s blog. Ultimately it’s up to you and what you are comfortable with. No matter what the name is, I’ll be following.
What a coinkidink! I’ve been mulling this over in my head for quite some time. I named my blog Reading At The Beach because two of my favorite things are reading and going to the beach. Most people who visit my blog think I live right on the beach and do most of my reading there which isn’t true. I actually live about a half hour from the beach. I’ve been thinking about changing it to Read At The Beach which is my twitter name(reading at the beach wouldn’t fit)
Anyway, to answer your question, your blog name is very long soI have you as Book Journey in my blog list. That would be my pick. Next would be Journey Through Books.
I vote for Bookjourney because it sounds like you! 🙂
Natalie :0)
I like Journey Through Books. It’s short, simple, and really close to the original. Book Journey could also work, I just prefer the former. If you really want to, then I say go for the change! I’ve been considering changing mine for a long time now, but I can never figure out what to change it to.
I changed my name on my main blog because I read on a website that the most used titles were Thoughts of, Confessions of, ect. My original title was Confessions of a Geeky Blogger now it is Bits n Bytes of a Geeky Blogger. I think as long as your URL stays constant then people soon adapt to the new name. The time to change it would be before you went to the conference 🙂
Book Journey works well and someone suggested keeping the long subtitle, which is good.
I think it’s fine to change your name, if your current one is bugging you. Personally, I see nothing wrong with it, though.
While I like the current name of your blog, I do have to say that BookJourney or Journey Through Books are more concise and to the point. Ultimately, it’s your blog and you should do what makes you most comfortable. When I first started blogging in August, I had to change my blog name almost immediately. I had been using “The Book Addict” on MySpace for over a year so I used it for my blog. I then found out that there was another blog by that name so I changed mine to The True Book Addict. Actually so fitting because I really am a “true” book addict. Someday when I post pics of my monstrous library, you’ll see what I mean! LOL!
I think of you as BookJourney, but I think either way you go (keep current name or change it) you will be fine. 🙂 I know, that’s not much help, but there it is! LOL
My blog name is forever long! Sometimes I try to get people to refer to it as its shorter version: “Let’s Eat Grandpa” but it makes more sense in its full version: “Let’s eat, grandpa! Let’s eat grandpa! (Punctuation saves lives.)” Sooo wordy.
My old Vox blog used the “She is too fond of books” quote by Louisa May Alcott, but once I entered the book blogging world I realized there is a fairly well-known blogger with that name already, and her blog rocks. So grandpa it is!
I think I’ve linked to you as BookJourney on my blog. I would have no confusion if you changed it to that. 🙂
Oh, I agnoized over what to call my blog and realized I couldn’t come up with anything clever that wasn’t already taken. So, I went with basic (Helen’s Book Blog). I say shortening it is ok, but stick with something similar to what it is now. Book Journey or Journey through Books are both good.
I would stick with BookJourney I must confess in the beginning I thought that was your blog name. You need to be careful not to lose your identity.
I haven’t read all the comments yet, so someone may have said this, but why don’t you call it Book Journey and then for your subtitle say “one person’s journey through a world of books”
As long as the blog title is similar I think that would be fine to shorten it : Book Journey sounds great!
I vote for Book Journey
I wonder about this too, so you are not the only one. I would like something short and memorable, is bookjourney available? if yes, grab it while you make your decision!
I have seen a few others change their name, it’s okay to do this. I work for Verizon and since 1993 my companies name has been: MCI, MCI Worldcom, Worldcom, back to MCI, and now Verizon…. it happens.
Good Luck!
one more thing, if you are thinking about buying your url, make sure it’s available before you make the change :).
I gave up blogspot.com a while ago…
I don’t htink it’s a bad idea to change. Bookjourney would be great because you already use it and it would be an easy transition. Branding makes a difference- I would go for it.
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I never thought about my blog name when I started my blog, until I type it in everywhere and realize just how long it really is.
I like your name of the blog but I also like Bookjourney.
Well, I don’t know about advice or tips as I’m so new to blogging that I would probably lead you down the wrong path – I have no clue about much of anything when it comes to blogging (yet). Still, my opinion is that I like your name. You were one of the early blogs that I discovered and I remember you name really standing out to me. I remembered it easily, which really helped. Some of the shorter names kind of blend together in my mind which can be confusing when I’m trying to remember where I saw a review or feature or whatever.
Best of luck when making this decision – it seems like a pretty BIG one, and I’m sure that no matter what you decide, it will be fantastic!
Just skimmed the comments here, so my apologies if someone else has made this suggestion. What about simply shortening your blog name to One Journey Through Books? or A Journey Through Books? Shorter, concise, yes – but close enough to your existing name.
I think many of us (myself included) have thought about the name change question. I’d be hesitant to do so before BEA – maybe afterwards. But, of course, ultimately it is your blog and your decision! 🙂
Well, I hope it’s not a bad idea, as I just did it. 😉
Book Journey is good–you’re right, the current name is a bit long, although certainly not a bad title.
I know the name seems to be a long one, but I like it as it is true. One Persons Journey through a World of Books. I think it fits nicely for you, and it is very recognizable. I love it!
You can always change it and I would never argue it with you. Maybe Book Journey through the book world? It is in the end up to you.
If you want to shorten it and still keep the essence, how about
ONE PERSON’S BOOK JOURNEY
It keeps most of the original name and is a blend of your email and twitter names.