Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by the lovely crew at The Broke and The Bookish
Top Ten Tips for New Book Bloggers
I am by no means an “expert” book blogger. I make mistakes all the time. The following tips are just my guidelines and things I’ve learned. Take what you will away from it!
1. Be Kind: This is basically my number one rule for life. In all you do, in all your dealings with others, strive to be kind and keep it classy! In book blogging I think it is easy to forget that the author of the book you’re talking about could very easily see your post. I’m not saying don’t write negative reviews (but it’s totally okay not to!). Just don’t be cruel or demeaning. I wrote a whole post about this so I’ll stop there.
2. Find Your Purpose and Style: There is no one right way to blog. My posts tend to be more conversational and less “strict” review. Other blogs focus on the different critical elements of a story. My purpose in blogging is to promote young adult literature and authors. That’s why I tend to stay away from writing reviews of books I really didn’t like (Also, there are very few books I really didn’t like and I don’t want to waste any more time on them!) Figure out why you’re blogging and what you hope to accomplish. (If the answer is, “To get free books!” please step away from the computer.) Once you know your purpose, find the style that is comfortable for you.
3. Proof-Read: Please, please, please proof your posts! I know that I’ve made typos and such but for the most part I really try to make sure my posts make sense! If I cannot figure out what you’re trying to say or there is no punctuation in your post I will not be coming back to your blog. Try reading your post aloud before you publish it. I always re-read my post after it goes live as well. For some reason I find more mistakes that way!
4. Quality Over Quantity: This is a terrible week for me to say this since I’ve yet to post a review but don’t post just for the sake of posting. If I go to your blog and it’s all memes, cover reveals, and tour posts I’m probably not going to be spending much time there. Make sure you have reviews and/or discussion posts in there as well! Try to add something new to the discussion already going on about the book.
5. Pace Yourself: This kind of goes along with the last one. When I first got on NetGalley and was accepted to tour sites I signed up for all the things!!! A month or two down the road I was totally overwhelmed! Add to that any requests you start to get from publishers or marketing groups and it can get really crazy. Keep a calendar or some other way to track the books you’ve requested or tours your on. It’s so easy to burn out!
6. Join Twitter: I’m probably biased on this one. I’m on twitter all the time! Still, it’s been a great way to connect with bloggers, authors, publishers, and others in the book community. I’ve learned so much and made many great friends 🙂
7. Comment, comment, comment: Another great way to get involved in the community is to comment. I’m not talking about, “Hi! Nice post. Check out my blog at _________.” That’s annoying. Leave authentic comments. Don’t just spam other bloggers!
8. Don’t Require Followers: This is another one of my pet peeves. It’s also something I did when I started blogging because I saw other people doing it. If you have a contest and you require followers you are not actually building up a following. Many people will never be back. Have quality content. It’s much better 🙂
9. Be Real: Readers and authors can tell when you’re being fake. Just be real. Some of my favorite blogs are smaller ones where the person running is just…. real. They aren’t posting to gain followers or get free stuff. They’re talking about the books they loved (or didn’t) in an authentic way. This is far more engaging than the person posting as though they’re begging for friends!
10. Read Other Blogs: Find blogs you love and keep up with them. I always get great ideas and book recommendations from others. Having said that, remember to give credit where credit is due. If you get an idea from someone else and plan to use it send them an email letting them know and then credit them for the inspiration. Share the love and promote other blogs. It makes our community great!!
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