Tips and advice for new book bloggers -Or what I wish I’d known when I started

 

I love talking about book blogging and blogging in general. I’ve learnt so much since I started this blog in 2014 and I know I’ve published some posts here and there about those lessons. This time I wanted to make a nice compilation of everything. Some are things I learned after a while by just finding out about it by chance, others after making mistakes or actively searching for answers to questions.

Blogging is hard, but luckily this community is filled with advice about how to hit the ground running. This post is my two cents to add to that pool of knowledge.

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Spend time thinking about what your content brings to the table

The first time I made a blog, the very same day, I published a book review. I was so nailing the blogging thing. RIGHT. That blog crashed and burned after two other reviews. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. The second try (this one), at least I knew I wanted to talk about reading and writing aside from just the reviews. But it was still pretty disorganized, and I just had no plan in mind.

That works for some people. But maybe I should have taken some time to think about some ideas beforehand and not just put out content like a machine without considering the purpose.

So maybe you’re not starting fresh, and like me have been here for a while. It’s never too late to take a step back and think about your content. In fact, before writing this post, I took a long, hard look at my blog and now I have some new ideas for content based on the new experiences I’ve had.

 

Don’t dismiss HTML and CSS aka all that coding stuff

I had a very, very basic idea of what HTML did when I started blogging. I remember even when I used WordPress.com, that is the free WordPress platform, I still had to get familiar with certain pieces of code. It was just snippets though, but I felt good knowing there were some things I could customize about my blog. But I thought that would be it. That knowing a bit about how to change colors and insert images would be all the coding I’d need to know.

Of course, when I went self-hosted I had to learn a lot more. I think I could have gone without it, but to do the things I wanted to do, I could either pay for it, or figure out how to do it myself. So, even if you don’t think it’s very important now, you may need it at some point. Maybe you’ll want to do a whole course on it, or you’ll just pick up some things as needed. Just don’t dismiss it altogether.

 

You don’t need to review every book you read

You most definitely don’t. I wish someone had told me this when I began blogging. Having this system gave me plenty of reviews to write, but now much later, I can see the quality left a lot to be desired. Because once you finish a book,  you’re on to the next one, while writing the review for the previous one. And then it’s on to the next review. And it. Never. Ends. You feel -or at least, I felt as if I was one bad blogging day away from getting behind on the reviews. And it also felt as if it’d be the end of the world if that happened.

That’s why I stopped reviewing each book I read. Being more selective of the books I chose to review gave me the chance to get better at actually reviewing them. You can always do mini reviews when you feel like there are a few books you’d like to give your opinions about, but you don’t have enough to say about them to fill a whole post about it.

 

Sign up for NetGalley, and make sure your bio is on point

As a blogger from Ecuador, Netgalley was so much help. I think I didn’t discover it until about a year into blogging. And even then, I don’t think I was using it correctly.

The biggest mistake I made was using my bio as well… a bio. Later I found out that while you should add some words about yourself as a blogger, right up there should be information about your blog. Blog followers, pageviews, social media followers, etc. It sounds pretty obvious, but I just didn’t know. If you look at most publishers’ approval preferences in NetGalley you’ll see they always ask that the reviewer includes stats in their bio.

 

Use Canva, but don’t go overboard with all the elements and possibilities

There are quite a few free online design softwares that make it so much easier to create headers and other blog graphics. Canva is amazing because you make an account and you can keep all your designs saved there. You get templates and plenty of fonts, elements and photos for free. It’s a lot.

So don’t sacrifice your brand for creativity. What I mean by this is that you’ll want to play with a lot of things because many things will seem pretty and awesome. But it doesn’t mean you have to try to cram them all in your blog.

Take this with a grain of salt though. Because in the end, I think you need to try a lot of things to see what feels more like you in the end. Just keep in mind that for example, even though you like those two script fonts, maybe it’s a better idea if you just pick one.

 

When you are able, (if you make the jump to self-hosted) invest in the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin

It saves you so much time. There’s a certain way bloggers present their reviews, and it’s become sort of a staple. You can format it your own way, of course, but it’s still kind of a process. It’s looking for the cover of the book, copying and pasting the information, making sure it looks good… A lot of things only to get that first part done.

I’d heard of the plugin and I spent a whole year pining for it until I was able to purchase it. Best decision ever. The Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin (UBB) became the engine that keeps my blog running. It helped me create a sortable review archive, showcase my recent reviews, automatically pull information about a book just by entering the title and author,  and even includes the functionality to add social media icons.

I have been using it since 2015 and I don’t even think about it anymore because it’s become such a natural and integral part of my blog.

 

You don’t need the ARCs (at least, not all of them)

I still get a little green sometimes if I really want to read a book and then the ARCs appear everywhere except for in my hands. It happens, it’s probably not going to go away, but it’s gotten easier.

When you get them it feels like that ARC is status, validation, and… then it’s just there in your bookcase once the hype has died down. This comes from someone who has two or three physical ARCs, in comparison to folks who get a few in the mail every week. So I know what it is to covet them and not be able to get them, since I don’t live in a country where the publishers are based. I treasure them and was so, so proud and happy and just… out of this world grateful when I received them. But… they’re just books.

ARCs don’t validate you as a blogger. They’re just an occasional perk, not a right, or a requirement.

Try your hand at it when you can but don’t go too crazy, because it’s a dangerous game and you may end up feeling bad and sad about it.

 

It’s a commitment, but it’s worth it (until it’s not?)

It’s not worth it if you sacrifice your mental health in order to be able to maintain a blogging schedule. Don’t do it. The blog can wait, your health cannot. I once got physically sick from pushing myself too much. With my blog, with school, my writing… It caused me to have many health problems. It’s stuck with me and now when I see the signs I know I need to relax a bit.

Blogging is such a rewarding activity and you will learn so much from it. But don’t forget to also learn to recognize the signs. Give yourself permission to take breaks.

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This has to be one of the longest posts I’ve writtten, no kidding! What about you? What is one thing you wish you’d known when you started blogging? Or what is something you’ve learned recently?

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