Top Ten Tuesday REWIND - Tips for New Book Bloggers

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Give guest blogging a try! If you don’t have time to maintain a blog of your own or if you’re an experienced blogger feeling pressure of burn-out, guesting or getting a co-blogger could be perfect for you. It was for me!

2. Scheduling is your friend! Instead of rushing posts and hitting publish

right away, work as far in advance as you can. This will help you stay on top of your workload and make taking short breaks from blogging easier.

3. Build up your store of content. When your blog is new, it doesn’t have an audience, and you won’t get one if all you do is sit there and wait for them to magically appear! Review books you own and any you’ve taken out of the library. Memes are a great way to bring traffic onto your blog, but take part in a few of them, not them all.

4. Don’t ask for ARCs right away. This one links in with my last point. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen inexperienced bloggers ask for ARCs and get a solid ‘no’ for their trouble. Save yourself the heartache and wait it out. As you get better at blogging, the perks will come.

5. Promote your blog. Leave genuine comments on blogs you like, not “This post was great come check out my own blog it is awesome” comments. Be active on social media and explore the blogosphere, but be natural, not forceful. 

6. Be dedicated. This goes without saying, really. Blogging success is not an overnight thing. It’s a lot of fun, but it takes hard work, too. 

7. Don’t forget to enjoy reading – don’t let it become a chore! If you’re book blogging, it’s because you love reading, and you can never afford to forget that.

8. Practice your review craft. Let’s face it, no blogger has ever burst onto the scene writing like they just did a six-month internship at the New York Times. The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. Think of your review writing skills as a constant work in progress, not a finished product. 

9. Be patient, be practical, and be professional. Set realistic goals and realistic timeframes to achieve them in. Learn about blogging etiquette. No matter how frustrated or worn out you are, no matter how many readers your blog has or how many reviews you’ve posted over the last month without a single comment, remember that it costs nothing to be polite and it costs even less to be kind. 

10. Book bloggers aren’t really as scary a bunch as you might think, so make friends! There are a lot of us, so there are bound to be some who are exactly like you. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some amazing bloggers, not least the lovely Liza right here at Reading with ABC, and trust me, book blogging with friends is much more fun than book blogging without them :)

What do you think of our tips for new book bloggers? Do you have any that aren't on this list? Let us know in the comments!