Blogger Recognition Award

Taking a short break from the usual hustle and bustle of publishing lovely posts by contributors all over the world, The Ugly Writers (yes, that is US) was surprisingly nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by Mandi of Big Tiny Steps from her post here. Check it out!

This is all new to us as we started full-blast only this January. As we lurk behind the shadows and only gets out to the sunlight in the hopes of featuring the next great writer, being recognized as a unique online entity is very flattering, and quite surreal for us.

I am a believer that such recognition, great or small, helps out thriving sites, blogs and writers alike. It encourages us to be better. It is a realization that all our hard work did not go unnoticed.

Once nominated, there are some steps to paying it forward. These are:

• Give recognition to the one who nominated you by including them on your list
• Nominate 15 others bloggers/writers for the award
• Write a story about how and why you started you site/blog
• Give new bloggers/writers two pieces of advice
• Provide a comment on each nominees’ site/blog to tell them about the award with a link to this post

WHY I STARTED THIS SITE/BLOG

I started The Ugly Writers solely as a creative outlet. I poured all my creative juices here. It was going to be my portfolio. But then I met some few people who shared similar passion so I made the site in plural form (yes, it was previously The Ugly Writer. I’m an effin genius, I know ?)

From a group of five, we grew, and after a month, we made the site self-hosted in time to cater to new members. This was in December of the previous year (2016). We were posting thrice or four times a day. I later on lessened my posting and focused managing the site and promoting it in social media. That is when we really kicked it off. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram was joined by Bloglovin, Pinterest and Medium in hopes of reaching out to more people. We recently started accepting guest posts by the way. To hell with subscriber count, we want their eyes, heart and mind!

We are a multitude and we are passionate. We are Ugly.

We are The Ugly Writers.

ADVICE FOR NEW BLOGGERS

1. Liberate! Stand out from the crowd. Defy the norm. Provide extra-ordinary posts. Don’t do what is trending. Deviate! You want to monetize? Make sure you are doing the public some service first. Love what you do and others will eventually love your work in return.

2. Engage! Connect with people. Do not do like for likes or follow for follows. Engage with them. Empathize. Help out. You are not traversing this road alone. This is not a competition of whose blog or site is better or whose site has more followers. It is a competition against yourself so don’t treat others as a threat. If you do, YOU are the threat.

THE NOMINEES

Mandi’s Big Tiny Steps – this health and wellness site’s articles are well written and you know it was made with love.

Autumn’s Two Beats One Love – this mommy and lifestyle blog is made with love. You just know by reading it!

Robin’s My Corner of the Internet – it is very rare to see a guy so passionate and creative (other than ours haha)

Amanda’s Last Few Pages – this lifestyle site deserves recognition

Bea’s Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic – the best book blogging site we know

Karen’s Dancing Morphemes – a poetry and book blogger. Look out for her original works

(And Karen’s sister) Kathleen’s Paper Doll Writes

Kershelle’s The Angry Marketer – the best niche-focused site we follow!

Nathalie’s Coffee Shots and Random Ramblings – a coffee-induces rambling

Agastya’s Agastya Kapoor – rare is a site that would make you think. As an educator, his site will.

Sudden Denouement – a literary magazine like ours. And we love ’em!

Nyx’s Words from a Little Person – another literary blog we enjoy!

Syl’s The Philosophy of Appropriateness – another very thought-provoking! Check it out!

Zoey’s Zoeyvaluated – made by one of the first helpful bloggers we know!

Shaira’s Wander with Me – a social influencer at the top of her game!

Camille’s In Snaps – life thru photographs perfectly curated.

Again, we would like to thank Mandi for nominating us, and to all those great people who helped TUW thrive.