HOW AND WHY DID I START BLOGGING?
Why does anyone start anything?
I have always been a big reader. I spent my summers as a child reading a book a day. Yes. I was that kid. I still am. I began using goodreads to meet other readers, find new books, and write brief reviews. It was on goodreads that I saw people had blogs dedicated soley to books and with a basic knowledge of HTML I thought what the hey, let's do this thing. And then, I entered one of the greatest communities of authors and readers EVER.
I have built this blog up over the last 2 years, focusing only on promoting the books I love and not on bashing the books I don't. I have pure respect for all authors, indie or traditionally pubbed, and encourage everyone to approach new reads with an open heart.
some ADVICE FOR NEW[er] BLOGGERS?
Don't bite off more than you can chew.
I still consider myself a new blogger, I'm learning as I go. A big piece of advice that I was given starting out is write posts that you yourself would stop and read on another blog. I think about that every time I go to start a new blog post. It helps me weed out boring filler posts and keeps me on track.
Also, find friends that are just starting out blogging/writing or at the same stage you are and become buddies! No, really. They're at the same place in this crazy community that you are and like you could use the support. New authors appreciate the exposure and help! One of the very first authors I reviewed for and helped promote was Nicole Williams! Yeah, that Nicole Williams. She is one of the SWEETEST people I know! I LOVE THAT WOMAN!
Make sure you know how much you can read in a set time, don't agree to review a dozen books this month when last book you only got through 3. That's just common sense. Have friends that read a lot too? Ask them to guest post or guest review! STAY ORGANIZED. I find google calendar to be the best way to keep my tour posts/release dates/ and all that jazz neat and tidy.
Another thing that I LOVE are blog tours! It will get your blog across to many authors, bloggers, and readers. It's a wonderful way to market yourself while helping authors and tour hosts! There are plenty of promotional tours (ie. cover reveals, teasers, top tens) if you don't have the time to review.
My favorite tour hosts:
You want to post as much as possible, this is something that is sometimes all the time hard for me, keep blog readers coming back for something new! My advice? Schedule posts ahead of time when you know you'll be too busy to get something up. Teaser Tuesdays, Top Ten Tuesdays, Waiting on Wednesdays, and all of those type posts are excellent to help come up with posts throughout the week when maybe you don't have a review to go up.
So, I'm not an expert. Far from it. But, this is all advice I've gotten from other bloggers and I thought I'd share. I'm always up for answering questions if your a new blogger and need a friend ;) As always, read on and share the book love.
Great Post! I totally agree with everything you said. I wish more bloggers had posts like this when I started blogging ages ago but I'm seeing more and more of these posts and I think they're great :)
ReplyDelete-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages