Book Blogging 411
Feb •
4 •
2011
“I’ve started my blog, have good traffic, review books, and have not yet receive ARC’s. What I’m I doing wrong?”
I think that as a blogger (and this is my opinion) that there should be some standards. Because I have seen it around. Bloggers who get all these followers but never interact. Get ARC’s and never review. Or there is no content but memes on their blog. So I have to ask, Are you a worthy blogger?
To me (again my opinion) a worthy blogger consist of this:
1. An active blog.
Is your blog active? I know we all have personal lives and it is hard to have posts everyday. Part of blogging is to blog. I think having a post every other day is good. Me personally, I read and review ahead of time and have my post scheduled. So in case of anything comes up or if I forget, there is always something ready. Blogger has this feature and I love it. If you have a hard time keeping up with post, schedule them. Take time to read, read, read, and write your reviews, then schedule. It’s simple and easy.
2. Good content
Is your blog nothing but meme’s? Meme’s are good and fun way to show you creative side and also interact with your followers. But if one thing I dislike is a blog of nothing but meme’s. Book Blogging is about showing your love for books. I want reviews, opinions, the last news on books coming into movies, etc. Don’t ask me to visit your blog and it nothings but meme’s. Major turnoff.
3. Good follower count
Now this is a tricky one. Why? Because anyone can have hundreds of followers but none interact. You want followers who actually visit your blog, write comments, and discuss books with you. I have seen blogs with all these followers but no comments. I have also seen blogs where there are few followers but the comments were high. The followers truly enjoy reading the reviews and interact. Now that is a good blog.
4. Reviews
Book Blogging is about reviews so review. Who cares if you don’t have ARC’s!!! I started off by reviewing books from my own library. I started blogging so I can share what I’ve read and to hear what others thought. So review what you read at a library, what book you bought or borrowed. Just review!
5. Interacts with others
If one thing I dislike in the blogosphere is people who want you to follow them but they follow no one else. They constantly spam your blog “Follow Me! Follow Me!.” Ugh! Just wrong. Follow other blogs and interact with others bloggers. I have learned so much from other bloggers and have gotten some great advice. Interact with others. You can’t expect people to follow you if you don’t return the favor.
6. Contest
Now, I know not all can hold contest after contest. It gets expensive, believe me I know. But try to at least hold a contest or two. Usually what I do is get books on sale to giveaway. For example, at my local Borders they sometimes have a buy 4 books get one free. It’s great because the fifth book is free and I can give it away. I also get books at local library sales, Walmart, Kmart, and Target. You’d be surprise by not only what you find there but also the books are always 3 to 4 dollars cheaper then what you would get them at a bookstore. It’s also better to stick to US only because the shipping is cheaper. But if you can do an international giveaway every once in a while.
There are so many other good qualities of good bloggers. If you do all of these things consistently, you will eventually get more loyal followers, more ARC’s and your blog will generate more traffic. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in one day. It will take time for you blog to grow, for you to get notice, etc. Be patient and have fun. Book blogging is about sharing your love for books. I didn’t get my first ARC till about 5 months of blogging. And remember good things come to those who wait.
If you have a any questions about book blogging go HERE!
Happy Reading!
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Awesome post, Savy!
love this post Savy! great tips for noob and vet bloggers! thanks for sharing! c”,)
+JMJ+
I agree that a little interaction goes a long way. I’m definitely more likely to come back to a blog I’ve enjoyed reading if I see friendly engagement in the combox.
There was another blogger who said that five followers who keep coming back and leaving comments are worth a hundred followers who never do any of that. How true!
Couldn’t agree more Savy! Interaction is a huge one, I get irritated with the comments that just leave a link to their post and say nothing else, I’m like why did you even bother visiting? And of course your advice on reviews is fabulous, it’s about reading and reviewing whatever you can get your hands on, that’s why we all started the blogs in the first place:) Keep this up!
Very well said. I agree, but I will say it is very tricky to find a balance.
Blogging is for fun, no one pays us to do it. Yes we all want visitors and comments, and interacting with others is key, but if you work full time or go to school or simply have a life outside of blogging, finding the time to interact can be challenging.
Alison Can Read had a good post the other day about Commenting. How even though you’d like to, it is simply impossible to visit and leave meaningful comments on every blog you follow.
I know I try to make the effort everyday, just like I’ve seen other do, but I often fall short.
I think this is something we should all be mindful of. If you have the time to comment, great, if not, don’t worry. Comment on blogs you follow if you are genuinely interested in what they posted that day, if not, move on. Don’t do it because you feel obligated. That’s not fun.
Very helpful info, Savy. Thanks for letting me throw in my two cents. 🙂
Great post Savy. I agree one hundred percent.
This was a fabulous post. And honestly, I don’t really receive ARCs…I’m not aggressive about it and I have so many books I want to read anyway. I do this b/c I love reading and it’s creative. I also agree with Missie. It’s hard to keep up with all the great blogs that I want to. I do try to visit some blogs every day and I love the interaction. I wish I had even more time to peruse and comment.
Great post, Savy. I’ve actually been thinking about participating in less memes because: most of the comments I get are obviously spam, and someone simply is copying and pasting the same thing; and 2) I honestly don’t always have the time to return the comments, especially during a high volume week. However, there are a few new ones out there (like Missie’s new one) that look super fun, and I look forward to trying them out. Otherwise, I try to save my comment time for informative and helpful reviews and other posts (like this one).
Thanks!
I love this post, Savy…it helps so much as a new blogger just to understand all of this. I get ARCs but my favorite books to review are the ones I buy myself…I feel as though I can write my heart out with my own book…and because I usually only read what I love…it is easy to do…I do love that blogging has opened my mind to new genres…that is a plus.
Great post! I agree with you on every part! and scheduling is very important! I’m still having a little bit of a hard time scheduling but I will get there! 🙂
Hi! Thanks for the post. As a new book blogger this was especially helpful. My problem is that people don’t comment (I’m really new though). I can tell by the traffic that people stop by, but many don’t follow/comment. I’m trying to improve to encourage this more but it seems sometimes you just can’t control how active your blog is.
This is a wonderful post, although I would like to say something about the Contest suggestion.
It is wonderful to have contests, but I feel like when bloggers host contests then a lot of the followers are only following because of the free stuff. While it is true that a contest generates traffic and can definitely build up loyal followers, I feel like blogs who don’t hold contests can still be just as good as those who do as long as their reviews and content are entertaining, relevant, and plentiful.
I would also add to this list (which goes along with Interact With Others): Networking! Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads… whatever! These are all such simple ways to get your blog noticed and develop relationships between readers and other bloggers.
Jane
janestoryblog.blogspot.com
Jane
janestoryblog.blogspot.com
l really agree with this Savy!
Two memes that l do are for fun and because l love looking at other blogs with them. I think Daily Dose and Cover Crazy make for interesting posts as well as Waiting on Wednesday!
Apart from the Friday Fun post the rest of the memes are my own and not what l would call meme.
I totally agree that the posts need to interact with the readers and make your blog stick out a little bit!
I love this series you’re doing! It’s so incredibly helpful. You’ve just confirmed a lot of things I’ve been doing (*whew*) and given me some things to think about. Thank you!
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Great Suggestions! Thank you!!!
You have a lot of great tips here! (And in all of the Book Blogging 411 posts!) I know this is an older post, but you have a lot of information, and I wanted to thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. I’m a newbie book reviewer (less than a year!) so finding the information is so helpful to me. Thank you!