Tuesday, April 17, 2012

New to book blogging? My humble advice

I haven't participating in the Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesdays in awhile, but this week's prompt intrigued me. So Top Ten Tips for New Book Bloggers.

1. Write what you like. This seems obvious and I would assume if you're writing about books and reading you like books and reading. But beyond that, make sure you're enjoying what you're writing. Don't write something just to get traffic. Those posts are obvious, so you're not fooling anyone. And if you don't even like what you're writing, why should anyone like reading it?

2. Comment on other people's blogs. The book blogging community is the best part of book blogging and you'll never get the full experience if you just post but don't engage.

3. But don't leave pointless comments. A comment like "Nice post" is boring and doesn't start a conversation. Don't feel like you have to comment if you don't have anything to say.

4. You will find other like-minded book bloggers. If you like paranormal YA romance it might be easier to find those like-minded book bloggers. But no matter what genres you like or what writing style you're into, there are blogs out there you will like. You may have to look for them but when you find them, it's great.

5. Post regularly. That doesn't mean you have to post every day or even every week. But don't let your blog sit idle for months. Or I guess do that if those are only the times that move you to write. It just may be difficult to find a regular audience if they don't know when you'll show up.

6. Try out some of the memes/hops. There are lots of different ones out there and it is a great way to learn about other blogs. Just make sure you actually hop around and visit the other blogs.

7. But don't feel like you have to do any of the memes/hops. If something isn't for you, don't do it. If you don't like the prompt, if your tastes change, don't feel bad about skipping it for a week or dropping out entirely. It goes back to enjoying what you're writing.

8. Back up your reviews. If you love a book, tell me why you loved it. If you hate a book, tell me exactly what it was about the book that made you want to chuck it into the ocean. That doesn't mean you can't write a review that is based on emotion. Those can be great, as long as I can relate. If all you say is "I loved it!!" I got nothing.

9. Don't be cruel. Maybe you hated a book. Maybe you vehemently disagree with another blogger's post.  Maybe someone left a comment on your blog and totally missed the point you were going for. That's fine and you should feel free to disagree. The conversations would be no fun if it was just everyone patting each other on the back. But don't get nasty.

10. Write what you like. Did I mention this already? Well, it's that important. If you're doing this because you love it, why make it a chore for yourself?

What tips have I missed?

Comments (29)

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Great tips! I really like number 3, there have been a few times people have left comments on my blog and I have wondered if they even read the post.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Yep yep and yep. #3 is so frustrating " great post
Ack! It cut off my comment! Oh, well. I think you know where I was going with that.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Nice post!
3 replies · active 673 weeks ago
"If you like paranormal YA romance it might be easier to find those like-minded book bloggers." I like that we both made fun of these people, albeit in different ways. And ok, you didn't quite make fun of them. But I KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS, WOMAN.

'Nice post' people are the bane of my existence. Which I guess is a pretty mild bane, so things are workin' out for me.
3 replies · active 673 weeks ago
#10 is the most important! :)
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Wait wait wait, writing posts just to get traffic? That's... actually never occurred to me. Huh. Your tips are all the awesomest awesomes, especially just posting whatever you want, which is why I post about tv and shiz even though they're waaay less popular things- I just want to write about Mad Men and Buffy, dammit!
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Pointless comments are so transparent and just plain annoying. Especially for hops it's so obvious when a blogger posts the same comment on every post. It's a pet peeve! I'm glad you mentioned that one. I've also got to agree that writing what you like is super important and probably proportional to the amount of readers you get.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Your 1/10 is very true. I also like the advice to try out the memes and hops. Once I stared doing some of them, I felt more connected to the community and found some awesome blogs :). But I also don't do them if I'm not interested in the topic for the week.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Brilliant list. I thought they were all pretty helpful. I especially liked #1 and #10 ;) It's sometimes hard to remember that, but oh so true.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Agreed, agreed and AGREED. It always seems to be the same culprits leaving the same vague one-line response at every blog during blog hops too. I keep hoping that for just one week they might get inspired, but it never happens!

And I TOTALLY encourage new book bloggers to write what they like. I've seen so many people hedging, saying things like, "But I don't know if doing this post in this way will make people like it more..." WHOAH, WAIT RIGHT THERE! How do YOU want to do things - it's YOUR blog and YOUR space so surely that should come first? I like a blog with personality, so if you feel like writing a rambly ranty post today, or gushing about what was on telly last night, then do it! It's a great way of getting to know the person behind the reviews. I always think, "If I have fun writing this post, and in a couple of weeks I idly wander through my blog and it still makes me smile, then I've done okay." :)
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
Ah, so I'm gathering from the comments that when you suggest not saying "Great post", you are suggesting that to the people you didn't read the post to begin with, the false great-post-ers. Because sometimes I've found that a simple comment like that, which I suppose could mean that someone didn't read it at all, but which comes from someone I casually know, can mean a lot, especially if it's left on a post which hasn't generated any/much discussion. Sure, that alone doesn't start a discussion, but I take it as a friendly wave. And some days in particular, I'd rather a wave than complete silence. Heh.
3 replies · active 673 weeks ago

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