Last week, WordPress reminded me that it has been four years since I signed up and that got me thinking about the things I wish I knew when I started blogging.
There are lot of things that I wish I had learnt faster, and much earlier. I wish I had given a thought about several things that I did out on a whim, some of which turned out fine and others not so much.
I have been blogging for quite a while now, first at Musings Over Nothing and now at Elgee Writes. I have no doubt there is a lot more for me to understand, to implement and to make my blog better. But I also understand why it took so long for me to reach where I am.
Here I am to spill my wisdom to others, so that you will figure things out faster than me. I am sure there is something for both new bloggers and experienced one alike. Let us get on with it.
Identify the reason(s) behind your blog. Blogging demands a lot of time and effort and you need to figure out why you want to do it.
Are you planning to earn through blog? Is it going to be your portfolio? Or do you want to be known as an authority? Or is it just a way to express yourself or for fun?
Knowing why and how you are going to be blogging right away, will help you plan your next steps.
The older blog I had was strictly personal, for me and my friends. But Elgee Writes is more than that, and my content and promotion strategy is entirely different from the older one.
All I am saying is figure out what you want from your blog and work accordingly. Not all blogs are same nor yours have to be.
YOU decide on on the level of your privacy
Some of us consider our blogs as a place to discuss only books, or whatever is your niche, while others take it as a personal space to talk about their lives and more.
It is your blog and you get to decide what and how much you want to share about yourself. The same holds good for your social media profiles as well. Take charge of them, as you want to.
Just a word of caution: be wary of what you post out there.
Make things easier for your reader’s eyes, especially the menus and side bars. We understand the need of ads, blog rolls and buttons, but keep only what is essential.
I learned this one the hard way, because I somehow thought all those badges and GIFs on my sidebar were essential. Now I am all for minimal look.
But learning the basics of photography, coding and even a bit of designing might help somewhere in the future. There are so many resources just a click away on Google. Utilize them wisely.
Search Engine Optimization is really important if you want your site to be on Google’s first few pages, so the early you start the better. I wish I knew how to do this in the early stages of blogging itself.
Involve your readers
The main goal for most bloggers is to boost the blog engagement. But often we fail to let the readers know what is expected of them. Calling them to perform an action is critical.
Ask them to follow your blog. To share the post. Link up to your other posts. Keep them interested. Always end the post with a question and tell them to reply as a comment on your blog. And lastly respond to all the comments in your blog.
This is one of the main things that I wish I knew when I started blogging, because I am spending a lot of time now to edit my older posts to add it.
Blog engagement – Quality over quantity.
Another tip to improve your engagement is by leaving comments on other blogs and open a conversation. Ask a question or make a comment that is valuable to the blogger or the other readers.
When you leave comments like ‘great post’ ‘lovely review’, it doesn’t create a rapport nor adds value to anyone. Think about it.
Being civil and polite never hurt anyone
Of course you want people to remember you, but for the right reasons not the wrong one.
If you disagree with anyone else’s post, be polite and remember it is their opinion in their own space. If you wanna talk about it, do so politely and state your reasons in a civilized manner and WALK AWAY.
Don’t be a keyboard warrior or a grouch. There is enough space for everyone in the world wide web. The sooner you understand this, the better.
YOU be YOU
Try to stay as original as possible. Avoid trying to be everywhere and joining every link up and meme possible. Do not let your blog be driven by the hype and read only the books that everyone is reading.
Or read just the ones that are new and popular. Do just what you want with your blog and read what you want. Do not let your blog change that. At least, not too much.
Do not be hard on yourself
Most of all do not be too hard on yourself. Blogging takes a lot of time and it is not always easy to be the fun cheerful persona you may have taken in front of leaders. But that is okay.
Life happens and everyone understands that. Take a break when you need it and your readers may miss you, but they are gonna be there when you come back.
There is no one way to measure success.
You will never find the right way to blog, because it doesn’t exist. There is no instant success formula. Every one does what they think is right and they drive to the success they perceive it as.
For some it might be the number of followers or visitors while a few others blog for the free ARCs they receive from the publishers as a recognition. Strive for what you want for your blog.
So there they are. My ten little things that I wish I knew when I started blogging or a little bit earlier. We are all just in different levels of the same game. So if you ever need a patient ear or a solution, feel free to reach out, new blogger or not.
Despite your claims that you want to just blog for fun, I am sure all of us want to have a successful blog, deep down. When I started as a full time book blogger, all I wanted was publishers to look my site and send me free books. That is what success meant to me, then.
Then once in a while, I would come across a post about how someone received 1,00,000 views in a month and I would feel like I had to get me some traffic. Some days, it would be all the engagement and comment some other blogger is getting. Or the number of followers.
Basically I wanted them all and worked towards not one particular goal. Did I reach some of my goals? Maybe. Did I get all of them? Not really. But am I a successful book blogger, according to myself? I still dunno.
What is success to you as a blogger?
When I started blogging, I just wanted to claim a space on the internet to call it a home, where I can talk about things that mattered to me. But as things (and myself) evolved, I wanted to have a successful blog and I had no clue what a successful blog was.
Also what ‘successful’ is to me may not be a big deal to you, or the vice versa. How does even measure success? What are you imagining the success of blogging to look like?
Putting out quality content, regularly
Consistency has always been my pitfall. Publishing regularly and consistently is one of those goals that I used to struggle constantly. I know I set myself to fail when I chose to post four times a week. I succeed in failing often, or even worse, I get those burnouts that lasts for weeks.
So my view of a successful blog was publishing engaging content like a clockwork. I am in awe people who have been blogging about books for years like Cait from Paperfury and Pages Unbound.
Becoming an authority on the subject
If you need to learn about something online, one of the first sites you remember is Wikipedia. That is because Wikipedia is an authority on the subject. Same goes to IMDB or Goodreads for film/book reviews.
Getting to a place where you are known for the type of content you publish is definitely a good measure.
I know I am up for snarky posts when I think of Shruti from This is lit and it is going to some YA related books from Charvi from Not Just Fiction.
Likewise, you know are always get to read interesting discussion posts if you go to Nicole’s blog at Feed Your Fiction Addiction.
I love it when people come to my site specifically with the goal to read my reviews and thoughts on a book, or a bookish discussion. It helps ranking high on the Search Engine Results Pages.
Community driven engagement aka comments and shares
Apparently, some people receive millions of visits on their blogs each month. It sounds really far away from my reality.
But again, who would not want people flocking down to YOUR site to read YOUR opinion about things that matter to YOU. I sure do.
Is that what you want to get out of blogging? Do you want your site to be internet famous? Or just steady and regular traffic on your blog would keep you motivated to keep writing?
Talking about my dream of publishers and authors knocking at my door (not literally, though) with ARCs and book mails, one of the main criteria they look for is the number of followers on your blog and social media.
The more you have, the more successful you appear to be on their radar, and thus on everyone else’s view. If book blogging is a number’s game to you, the follower count is one of the stats that you should definitely be following.
Here is a shameless self promotion plug in: If you like my posts, do follow me here or on any of the social media. And sure, you can buy me a coffee!
Earnings from blog
Many of us dream of earning money from our blogs, even if it means a few cents from the affiliate links. Definitely book blogging is one of those niches that has fewer scope for monetization. Nonetheless, we are working around it.
So it is a good idea to consider the earnings from a blog as a measure to success. And earning doesn’t have to be just in terms of money, freebies and products to review are all some of form earning for the effort and time we spend on the blog.
Generating leads for business
This is something I spoke of on my recent post on how book blogging is not just for fun but a good way to build a portfolio for yourself. And several bloggers, including myself, use it generate queries and leads for our business.
Being asked to contribute to a website or review some product/book related to your niche is definitely one of the telltale signs of a successful blog. It means people trust that you do a great job and maybe willing to pay for it.
Learning a new skill
As the adage goes, there is nothing permanent in life, except change, right? A successful blog is constantly evolving and a good blogger has to keep learning new tricks and techniques.
Do you know more than what you knew last year? Do you strive to keep learning things that might help you and your readers? Now that is a thing successful bloggers would keep doing. Keep it up.
Being a successful blogger is not one number or factor. It can be combination of these factors. We will see more about each of these measures in detail in the following weeks.
While I have mentioned all the different methods to measure success as a blogger, what is it that ticks you? What gets you excited and motivated is your way to success.
Earlier I spoke about how book blogging is so unlike other blogging niches and how we book bloggers blog mainly for ourselves. While there is no harm in that, I feel disheartened when some book bloggers dismiss their work as “oh, I blog just for fun”. My dear book bloggers, please stop doing that.
Recently I read a very powerful post by Marie about how book blogger’s services are not valued enough, and that completely resonated with me. And maybe, just maybe, such a dismissal from ourselves stems from that or just worsens it.
Book blogging is more than ‘just for fun’
I am a freelance writer, and every minute I spend on my blog is a minute I am not spending on my client aka I am not earning.
And that is how I came to realize how valuable book blogging generally is, given the number of hours I spend on it. I know it is a late realization and this came after about 8 years of blogging.
Since then, I sincerely want more book bloggers to understand that they are working really hard, for fun or not, and they should begin seeing their value, first. And sure you can blog for fun, but there is more to book blogging than you realize.
Let us talk about the benefits of book blogging and why book blogging is more than ‘just for fun’.
To be honest, this whole thing pisses the hell out of me. So if this post sounds a bit harsher than my usual nice tone, I apologize right now.
Your blog is your identity
When was the last time you tried to find a person online? We all know they don’t exist if Google or other search engine can’t find them.
And that is exactly what you are doing with your blog. You are creating a brand online for yourself, consciously or not. You talk about things you like and dislike, and you are brave enough to tell it so to the entire world.
Your information is already out there via social media, and through blog you have a say at how you make it available to others.
You are building your portfolio
Whether you use a self hosted site or not, you can use your blog as a portfolio for your business or style.
I am a freelance writer who started out with my old book blog as my sample writing portfolio. Even now when I have enough clips to show around, I never fail to link Elgee Writes as a sample.
Speaking of business, I know several book bloggers (including me) who started to “blog for fun” and then leveraged that to develop their business.
This practice is not new to the blogging world, irrespective of the niche.
There are so many book/reading/writing related businesses that one could start, based out of your site. For instance, I offer beta reading services and writing services. And almost every other business enquiry comes right from this site.
I might write a detailed post on bookish business ideas soon. If I forget, feel free to remind me.
While it might seem hard to get a steady size-able income from book blogging alone in the current scenario, it is definitely possible. And there are several other prominent book bloggers who do that very well.
Even I have used affiliate links (not anymore) and still display ads on my site to grab those meager bucks. It is not really hard and every cent would count towards your next book haul right?
You work hard for those freebies
Let us be honest, many of us started their book blogs, and are still working towards getting those free review copies and ARCs from the publishers.
You are working your asses off to get those copies, reading and reviewing them and then promoting the heck out of it. And are you kidding me with “oh it is just blogging for fun”?
Credit: Tenor
And bloggers from other niches, do similar posts and even get paid for it. That topic is for another day, but hey, your blogging skills are no lesser than theirs just because it comes for free.
You help authors achieve their dreams
The next time you feel down or not motivated about book blogging, think of the countless authors, especially independent ones, that you are helping out through your shout outs and reviews.
I don’t think I have to explain the importance of posting reviews on the portals like Amazon and Goodreads for authors. So your hard work into book blogging is definitely important to them and they value it.
You are learning new skills
Book blogging, and blogging in general, involves acquiring new skill set. Most of us learn about blogging and everything around it like creating images for the blog, SEO or analytics on job, without much formal training.
And that is no mean feat. Just because we learn them out of our special interest doesn’t mean it gets any easier or that it is “just” fun.
I started blogging about ten years ago. Everything I have learnt about digital marketing, content writing and even technical stuff like keyword research or Google analytics stemmed from this site.
Credit: Gfycat
I am sure you have learnt so many new things for and through your blogging too. And that should have involved considerable amount of time and effort. So how dare you put yourself down and dismiss it?
You slay collaborations
The amount of work and creativity some book bloggers put into their posts astounds me. The number of hours they put into research and collaborate with other bloggers is unbelievable.
These collaborative and team working skill are highly valuable and cannot and should not be dismissed as they are done for fun.
You may never know when they are going to be useful in your life.
In summary
Being students, full time employees, freelancers or whatever your work status looks like, is not easy, and in top of that ‘real life’ you are killing it in the book blogging world. So don’t be so easy to dismiss your hard work as ‘just for fun’.
Do you ever feel that your book blogging lifestyle is not taken seriously? What do you think we, book bloggers as a community do to be taken more seriously by publishers, authors and others? Let us talk.
Like many other trends, I joined Instagram for books and reading a bit later than everyone else. I genuinely thought it was another platform that bookworms, among other people, use to procrastinate while the books in their TBR shelves collected dusts. (Am I wrong or am I wrong?)
I joined the bandwagon with much innate skepticism, thanks to the peer pressure and the allure of getting more free books to review from the publishers. Let us face it, we bookworms are all greedy for free books!
And boy, am I a convert! From someone who didn’t even have the Instagram app on her phone, I have become a person I hardly recognize – especially when I took 25 minutes to buy a coffee mug, which is now visible on every alternate photo I post on Instagram. It just not that.
Bookstagram has changed so many things for me including my reading habits. Oh let me tell you how!
Positive Changes –Instagram for books
Finding book clubs and more discussions
Thanks to Bookstagram, I met some amazing people online and one thing lead to another. And BAM! I am now a member of four book clubs in Instagram that are actually active.
Credit: GIPHY
We have book of the month, and most of us religiously read and DISCUSS them, which is what I was craving for like any book worm would.
Keeping up with the challenges
I have always been meaningto read more classics and revisit the novels of the queen of mystery Dame Agatha Christie. And while on Instagram I found the book clubs that have members who want to do that as well, and that has helped me keep up my resolution.
I have read seven Agatha Christie books and six classics since joining the group in 2019, which is quite a feat for me. But all thanks to reading Instagram and the book clubs that keep me on my toes.
Understanding the importance of representation
I cannot stress enough how much I depend on social networks on keeping me updated with the current state of affairs and issues. As someone who is living out here in the deserts of Dubai, I need all the help I can get.
Via Giphy
Bookstagram and Twitter are the sole reasons that I have been finding out diverse representation in books. Without them I would not have known what to look for and mainly why they matter. I am still learning y’all!
Reading more regularly and rigorously
I am generally a mood reader which means I either read ten books a month or read nothing for the next two months. And choosing which book to read next usually took a lot of time in general. It still does. But joining bookstagram helped me keeping track of what I read and updating my reading progress regularly has made me more accountable.
Having to talk about books on a schedule has made me read more rigorously and regularly. I think the pressure(?) that the bookstagram schedules has been putting on me and it works well on me.
Falling for the book covers
I think I was one of those rare bookworms that never gave a second thought about the book covers. Especially since I have a weird habit of not reading the synopsis (or blurb) before reading the book, I didn’t really take much time to appreciate the beautiful cover of the book.
Then bookstagram happened. Now the first thing I see about a book is the cover. I appreciate the designs, fonts and colors of the cover lot more and I am enjoy doing that.
Reading more Young Adult books
Bookstagram plays a huge role in the books I read and since the young adult books are the most popular ones I have been picking a lot of them recently.
It is a good thing because I don’t usually reach out for them and they are a great alternative to the classics and mystery novels that I read for the book clubs. Also because YA is where most representations and current issues are being addressed currently.
Negative Changes –Instagram for books
Looking out for popular book
Let’s face it. At the end of the day it is the numbers that matter, even in Bookstagram. And it may not come as surprise that posting about popular books is inevitable to gain popularity and engagement.
So I have been reading so many popular books of late, many that I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for Bookstagram. Not that I haven’t enjoyed them nor all of them were bad, but I am sure I could have spent the time better, knocking off some book of my TBR list.
I hope sincerely that more Bookstagrammers started posting about books from Own voices, POC authors and independent publishers as well, which is becoming rare due to all the number games.
The feeling of being left out
Continuing the above theme, I have come to realize that ‘doing our own thing’ is more difficult with Instagram than book blogging.
Credit: GIPHY
I generally do not read much of fantasy and SciFi genres and they constitute almost half the new releases these days. So it is kinda inevitable but to feel left out seeing all these beautiful books that I might never read.
It is really a short ride from the fear of missing out to feeling guilty about the reading choices.
Giving in to the schedule pressure
I am trying so hard not to do this and I hope the day never comes, that my Instagram feed will consist of so many books that I never have read before.
The pressure of having a schedule and the need to talk about new books shouldn’t end up in just adding a picture and not forget the existence of the book.
Yes I know I have a lot of them currently on my shelf but I hope Bookstagram doesn’t add more to that bunch.
Giving up lesser known books
We book bloggers want it all. We want to read so many books in so little time. The cost of reading the most popular books comes at missing out the other great ones.
I sometimes miss giving in to the mood and picking a random book off the shelf. And the pleasure of buying never heard of books based on the quirky title off a second hand books shop.
Pin me!
Let’s Chat
Are you on Instagram for books and reading and more importantly, are you following me? And has it affected your reading habits at all, or is it just me? I would love to hear from you, in the comment section. Let us talk.
I am sure feeling lost when it comes to starting new conversations is pretty common – be it online or in real life. I hope these bookish questions would be help you kick start new topics. Let me know if these bookstagram questions are helpful.
Here are some bookish “question of the day” (qotd) that you can ask your followers on social media like bookstagram or just write a blog post on. I will keep these bookstagram questions coming if they seem helpful to you. So let me know in the comments.
25. Do you read dystopia? If yes, name one dystopian fantasy that you can relate to our current world.
It is no secret that I love talking about books, writing and everything in between. Of course I talk about it on my blog and all over the social media. And in real life, to whomever would listen, including the book club meetings.
So if you are ever looking out for bookish question of the day (qotd) to talk on your bookstagram or blog, you know whom to ask. * wink wink*
Are you on Instagram/bookstagram? Do you ever get stuck looking for questions of the day (qotd) or captions to post? Would these bookstagram questions be useful? Let us chat.
You have just finished reading a book. Now what? Why not write a book review on your own blog or other sites, so that the author and the other readers might benefit from it? Here is a quick guide on how to write book reviews to help other readers decide whether they should read the book or not.
Also if you are already a book blogger, you might have heard that the book review posts do not get much engagement from other bloggers, and that might be putting you off from writing more book reviews. If it is so, this guide can help you on creating a format so that you wont have to spend too much time on writing book reviews.
How to write book reviews
So here is how you can write book reviews in a way that it will be useful for your readers and yet you can write them fast.
Again, writing them quickly doesn’t mean you can do a half baked job. Having a template ensures that you will not miss out on any important detail from your review post.
Write a short introduction to the book
You might start with all the relevant details like
Author name and link to their website
Their other books
the name of the publisher
the year of publication
ISBN or ASIN of the book
Genre of the book
Target age group
Do not forget to include the book cover and link to the purchase page.
Keep the plot short and spoiler free
Instead of copying the plot summary from the blurb or Goodreads, summarize the plot in your words. And keep it short and to the point.
Most importantly keep it spoiler free, because you are trying to get the reader pick the book (or not, depending on the review) and giving away the plot is not the right way to do it.
Credit: Giphy
Add the relevant disclosure
If you have added any affiliate links like Amazon, B&N in the post, please mention that to avoid the legal issues.
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Mention if you received the book received the copy from author or publisher for reviewing.
Any books, products, or compensation received in exchange for review or promotion will be clearly stated in individual posts. This does not affect my opinion; opinions expressed are honest and entirely my own.
Also mark as spoiler if your review has anything that might be considered spoiler to the book you are reviewing. We do not want to spoil others
Add your rating and explain your scale
After the disclosure and before starting your detailed review, add your rating for the book. It can either be a number scale (say, 3/5) or a pictorial representation showing the rating, like many other bloggers do.
Either way ensure it is visible distinctly as soon as the readers open the page. Insert a sidebar text box explaining what your rating scale means, say
5/5 – Wow, favorite book
4/5 – great, would recommend!
3/5 – good but can be better
2/5 – It was ok, wouldn’t miss it if I had not read
1/5 – it was so bad that want my time back
Also, rating a book on your blog is not absolutely important. Here is my stand on why I do not rate books on my blog.
Pen down your personal thoughts
Here comes the main part of your review – writing down your thoughts on the book.
Make the review personal and tell your readers about how did the book make you feel. Or be objective and talk only about the positives and negatives of the book. Your choice.
Credit: Giphy
Here are somethings that you can talk about in your review
Character development of the protagonists
Character development of the side characters
Main plot and the sub plots
Did you see the twists coming?
Author’s writing in terms of the style, pace etc
Representation, if any
Triggers, if any
Conclude with a strong summary of whether you recommend the book or not. You can mention the specific set of people who may enjoy the book or should avoid the book.
Other sections that you can include in your review
Pointers on what you liked or disliked in the book
Quotes from the book
Relevant GIFs and images to convey your emotions
You can mention other books that might be similar to the book you are reviewing.
Add links to Goodreads book page, if you are not adding purchase links.
I hope this guide helped you in knowing how to write book reviews. If you are looking for some inspirations, take a look at some of my newer reviews.
Do you like writing book reviews? Or do you feel it is not worth the time spend on writing the book reviews? Do you prefer emotional or analytical book reviews when it comes to deciding whether to read a book or not? Let us talk.
