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!
