Top Ten Tips for New Book Bloggers
1. Join Twitter. Twitter is a great resource to communicate with other bloggers, authors, and publishers and a good way to share your blog and get more views.
2. Don't expect that you will get free books all the time. People who get ARCs and free books often are often established bloggers who do not blog just for the sake of free books. If you are only blogging for free books, you are going to be pretty disappointed, because most people don't get things like that until they have had a strong, established blog for at least six months.
3. Don't attack a book or author in a review or any other form of post. Attacking a books is disrespectful and very unprofessional. Examples of attacking a book or author is calling either one an inappropriate name, accusing the author of something, or saying nothing but mean things about either.
4. Be yourself! Feel free to express your self, your blog is yours! There are no rules to what you can post, how you can post it, or how your blog has to look.
5. Don't clutter. No one likes a blog with forty different widgets on the side that are worthless to the reader's experience. Keep only necessary ones.
6. Don't use free blog backgrounds and headers from free sites. Free backgrounds and headers are available to everyone, and there is more than likely someone with the same background. It is fairly easy to create a simple background with image editing sites and programs.
7. Post consistently. At first you may only be able to post a few times a week, but do post often. Only posting once every few weeks seems like you are not committed, and people are more likely to read what you have to say when you post often.
8. Comment on other people's blogs. This is a great way to get your name out there, as well as a way to make new friends.
9. Don't be afraid! Blogging can be really scary at first, but it can be really fun and easy when you are willing to give it a try.
10. Ask questions! If you have a question, ask twitter, ask other bloggers that you look up too, ask me.
If you are a new blogger and you have any questions, feel free to ask me on twitter (@Erikablogger) or in the comments if you want.
Great tips! I also think it's so important to just get out there and ask questions if you need help. Although I have run into some snotty bloggers, most of them are super nice and would love to help :) I like the purple design, btw! Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteCrystal @ Elegantly Bound Books
I'm a new book blogger, and so I'm definitly loving this Top Ten question! ;) Anyways, I think that these are awesome tricks. I've blogged for approx. 6 months before starting my own blog, so I know a few tricks, and I totally agree with all of these! Twitter is especially important, I think. However, I'm always so shy to talk to people on there, and I'm not such a social person, so I kind of have a hard time approaching someone new and keeping a conversation going with them. I feel like I'm so awkward. :/ Do you have any tips about that?
ReplyDelete[Although, I'm a very talkative person in person- so don't think I'm a social outcast or anything ;).]
Great list, and thanks in advance for taking the time to answer my question. =)
Hey Aneeqah! I too can be really awkward on twitter. Probably the easiest way to keep a conversation going is to start a conversation (or join a conversation) that involves more than one person. If you decide that you really want to try to talk with that blogger you've been following for a long time start by commenting to them that they loved their [insert blog post title here] post and make a comment about it, or ask a question like "I read your review of _____ would you classify it as a dystopian (or whatever) book? It sounded interesting." or you could try for the classic "What are you reading?" or "I love your blog layout, did you do it yourself? How did you get the background like that?" Just as some conversation ideas. But I do think that you did pretty well when you first began to talk to me on twitter, I don't remember what you said to me but we've talked a bit since. It's fun to talk to new people! Good luck!
DeleteI completely agree with you on the Join Twitter thing. (In fact that was my #1 too!) Twitter helped me meet more book bloggers and interact with them on a regular basis. :) Thanks for the tips (I'm still a newish blogger)!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this helpful advice. I'm learning a ton today. New follower via GFC :)
ReplyDeleteAngela @ AJ Arndt Books Blog
I hadn't thought to mention not to use free designs, but that's a great tip. I've seen the same layout on a few blogs when I've been hopping around and it does nothing to make a blog memorable.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips. I love #6. I've had my blog for a while but I'm just now hoping to grow it a bit. I really should change up my background a bit. Thanks!
ReplyDelete...April @ smartgirlsread.blogspot.com/