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Should book bloggers be paid?

I've been a book blogger for over ten years and I still don't know how much money we can make from our book blogs. Yes, there are ways to monetize your blog, but they are not necessarily straightforward or easy.

Book bloggers do it out of love so why should THEY be paid?

It's a fair question. Book bloggers are not generally paid, doing it for no compensation at all in most cases. They do it because they love books and want others to experience them too. How does that translate into money? Well, if you're going to spend your time promoting something, it makes sense that there should be some kind of reward for doing so...

Why should book bloggers be paid?

Book bloggers are just as much a part of the book community as authors and publishers. They’re the ones who help readers discover new books, they're the ones who have helped build up this community, and they deserve to be paid for it.

In fact, if you think about it: why should anyone else be paid? We all benefit from someone being our advocate or ambassador—whether that's an actor or athlete promoting their brand or even someone like me (a random person on social media) telling my followers what kind of book I think they should read next.

Can you really make money blogging about books?

Yes, you can make money blogging about books. It takes a lot of work and you need to be consistent in order to see results. You also have to build an audience, which can be difficult when you are just starting out.

How do you make money from a book blog?

If you want to make money from a book blog, there are a few ways you can do that. 

When it comes to being paid to review a book there is a big divide about whether or not that's OK. Most people feel it puts the honesty of the review into doubt. I feel the same way. I'm not paid for the reviews I do but if I'm asked to review a book I expect to get a free copy of it. 

The most common way therefore to earn money as a book blogger is advertising. 

You can advertise other peoples products on other sites e.g. social media, or in your own blog posts. This is especially good if you have readers who would be interested in buying from the advertiser's products or services. As a book blogger key sponsors would be authors or publishers, book tour companies, or anything else linked to books, reading, or even writing. 

Advertise with me

Another way of making money from a book blog is by offering affiliate links. When people click on them you will get paid commissions when they sign up for an account and buy something through the link. A popular affiliate for book bloggers is Amazon as it's so wide spread and easy to use. Another example would be Google Adsense. 

How much money can a book blogger make?

This is the million-dollar question. If you're just starting out and don't have much experience, it's hard to tell what kind of income you could expect. But if your blog has been around for several years, look for ways to monetize beyond just advertising revenue. You may want to consider selling ebooks or other products.

What are the best ways to monetize a book blog?

There are a number of ways to monetize your book blog. Some of the most popular include:

• Adsense

• Affiliate marketing

• Reviews and guest posts from other bloggers and authors 

• Banner ads and links for sponsors

Only those that really hustle can make money from their book blogs.

You don't need to be a professional writer.

You don't need to have a degree in English Literature.

But you do need to hustle! 

Book bloggers want to share their love for books with the world. But they should also be able to make some money from the work they do. Not necessarily from doing book reviews (that's a bit of a grey area) but they should be able to earn money from their book blog in other ways.  

You might also like: 101 Blog Post Ideas For Book Bloggers

If you'd like to support me, donating goes a long way to helping with the running of this blog. Thanks for your support 💗

Donate now