Tuesday, February 25, 2014

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!


7 comments:

  1. Totally agree with you!
    I think the most important thing is to have fun - but that's all part and parcel of enjoying reading, memes and making wonderful blogger friends.

    Cora @ Tea Party Princess

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  2. These are great tips. I think it's important to have fun with blogging and be proud of what you achieve!

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  3. I always tell people I am the worst blogger as I struggle with so many of these. I am such a last minute type of person and have only written and scheduled ONE review ahead of time. 99.99% of my posts are written like at 11pm the night I post them.
    Good tips Liza!

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  4. What a great list of tips! I always like finding tips. :) I definitely agree that you need to have fun reading/blogging. It's just not going to work out if you don't. I'm still bad at scheduling posts, but I typically do when I know a stressful week is coming up. So I'm getting better at it. LOL.

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  5. Completely agree with you :) it's so easy to get lost in the blogosphere, especially with keeping on top of everything. Brilliant list here.

    My TTT :)

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  6. I'm not exactly a book blogger, but I do read an awful lot and enjoy writing reviews... so there are an awful lot of them on my site. The only way I learn though is by reading other blogs. I agree with all these points; I've learnt they are all important in their own way. Although it's hard for me, seeing as I only started last year and am only properly dedicated for two months or so. I hope it can grow, but getting email subscribers is awfully difficult xD

    Check out my book review of A High Wind in Jamaica: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/02/a-high-wind-in-jamaica-book-review.html

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  7. Great pick. I love your choice this week and I absolutely agree with them all. I am quite new to blogging and am still trying to get ahead with scheduling!!! It would make life so much easier. Nice list :) My TTT.

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I love comments! Please leave me one and I will try to reply as soon as I can. Liza

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