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Tips from an experienced book blogger

What I've learnt in over 10 years of book blogging

I started book blogging in 2006 back when tripod was the website platform of choice and Myspace was the place to hang out online. As you can imagine, a lot has changed since then.

If you want to know more about the current state of the book blogging industry and what average stats look like for 2022 check out the Book blogging in 2022 survey.

I moved over to this blog on 1st June 2012 so today is my blogiversary. I wanted to take this opportunity to look back over the years and share some of the things I've learnt along the way.

Back on 1st June 2012 I got just 27 page views for that first day. Since starting this blog it's had a total of over 1.21 million page views so far. My blog and I have had quite a journey.

What I've learnt from over a decade as a book blogger

A passion for books

Firstly you need to be passionate about books. If you're not truly interested in the subject you blog about you'll lose steam pretty fast. It will also, most likely, show to your readers. So, if you're thinking about starting a book blog ask yourself if you're likely to get bored of talking about books. If the answer is no, you've found your community.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of talking about; books, publishing, reading, book blogging,etc.. and so after all these years feel pretty confident that I found my niche.

Read what you want

Read the books you want to read. Don't get caught up in trying to reading every trending book. Time is too limited as it is to be able to read all the books we want to read so don't go wasting any time on books you don't really want to read. Why force yourself to read a certain genre if you don't enjoy it? It would just be a waste of time.

Not everyone can read hundreds of books a year. That's OK. We lead busy lives and some of us are slower readers. It doesn't make us any less of a book blogger.

Consistency is key

When it comes to blogging it's not so much important how often you post, but more the fact that you post regularly. Whilst posting every day is great it's not essential for getting good traffic. Posting on the same day or days each week however does wonders.

Plan for perfection

Schedule in advance when you can. This really takes the stress out of posting. It also allows for better planned content and helps you make sure you're sharing a variety of content over the course of the week/month. If you need some inspiration for what to post about check out the 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers post I did back October 2020. Scheduling in advance also helps make sure you're posting on the same days/times each week.

Team work makes the dream work

Collaborations are dynamite for pageviews and also a lot of fun. For more reasons why you should consider doing more collaboration posts check out this post I did back in February 2021 Reasons To Collaborate With Other Bloggers. If you're not sure what to do for collaborations check out Book Blogger Collaboration Ideas.

It's OK to say no

You don't have to agree to every book review request or book tour. If you try to say yes to every request you'll soon hit burn out and get overwhelmed. Be selective and only take on tasks you want to do that fit your schedule. Remember if you’re not getting paid for it, you’re not obligated to do it.

Your opinion matters

Everyone rates books differently and that's OK. Want to know more about how I rate books? Check out Book Reviews: Star Rating Systems for Books. It also gives insight into the other rating systems that are often used by book bloggers.

You might also like: Book Reviews: Can You Trust Book Bloggers?

Be you

Just be yourself. Don't try to copy anyone else. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another anyway. It's much better to be your original, unique self. No one can be more youer than you! Stand out for being who you are instead of trying to be someone else.

Know your limits

Whether it's how frequently you post, the type of content you're comfortable with, or how you interact online know your limits. It can all be a bit overwhelming if you try to do everything and be everywhere. Find what works for you. Ways To Avoid Book Blogging Burn Out.

It's a work in progress

We never stop learning especially when it comes to book blogging. Constant changes to technology, algorithms, etc... mean that the learning curve never ends.

If you want to take your book blog seriously and care about whether people read it or not, then you need to learn a bit about the technical aspects of blogging. Some posts you might find helpful include; SEO for Book Bloggers: How to Improve SEO for Book Reviews, Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post, and Book Blogging 101: Everything You Need To Know About Metadata.

Want to know more about book blogging? Check out The Ultimate Guide for Book Bloggers for a wide variety of resources and advice.