Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

I used to be an avid blogger lo these five years ago. Times have changed ("and we've often rewound the clock") and the landscape has since come to be dominated by shorter-former media like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. I'd like to start more seriously again, but would prefer to spend my time on reviews, etc. rather than posting Instagrammed photos of bridges/sunsets/navel-gazing self-portraits in sunglasses. I've been EXTREMELY impressed by the formatting of some Boardeaux's blogs (Fredjikrang's and Marguerite St. Just's come to mind), but I'm a content generator, not a design person. I feel like maybe circa-2007 default WordPress looks don't cut it anymore?

I don't think blog-readers are as picky about blog design as some people seem to think. When I start reading a new blog, the most important thing to me (aside from the content, of course) is that the layout is simple, and that the design is really clean. If someone has a really cluttered blog, like lots of crap in their sidebar, I probably won't read it. But it's actually really easy to design something that looks nice just by tweaking some of the basic Wordpress themes (and there are TONS of Wordpress themes), so I wouldn't let that keep you back from starting up another blog.

I read all of my blogs in google reader so I don't really care what they look like.

Do you mostly only read blogs of close friends and family? I don't have an interest in a "personal" blog, but don't know a good way to promote a reviews one.

I love reading book reviews on goodreads, but it sounds like you want to make a dedicated blog. If you find some friends to write with (preferably ones with different FB/Twitter friends), then you can use your collective networks to promote your site. There are also lots of book review sites that have themes you can participate in to get your blog some more traffic (and of course commenting is a good way to get readers too).

For work I read tons of videogame blogs (I had started reading a few beforehand). It can be really difficult to find a good blog sometimes! I also read progressive pioneer and this other non-LDS mommy/fashion blog, because I really love her style (strawberry koi). It's rare that I start reading a personal blog of someone I have no connection with, but I do it sometimes if I find the content interesting.

Portia wrote:Do you mostly only read blogs of close friends and family? I don't have an interest in a "personal" blog, but don't know a good way to promote a reviews one.

I read lots of blogs written by people I don't know in real life, some of which fall under specific content themes, but many don't. My blog tastes are eclectic.

Commenting on other blogs and getting involved in forums which fall within your niche are a good way to get exposure. Basically do what Whistler suggested and start networking. You may also consider contacting other bloggers about guest-posting (either you write a post for them or they do one for you).