Dos & Don’ts For New Book Bloggers // Let’s Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics based on prompts allocated for each Friday of the week. You basically share your opinions and get into the conversation by visiting each other’s posts. You can find the December schedule here.

Today’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is Top Tips or Dos & Don’ts For New Bloggers, which was suggested by Rafaela @ The Portuguese Bibliophile)

Frankly, I was quite nervous about writing this post because who am I to advise others based on just one year and four months of haphazard blogging? I feel like I need at least five years of experience under my belt to dish out legit advice but I am going to try my best here.

What are some things you wish you had been told before you started blogging? What do you think are the BIGGEST Dos and Don’ts for people who are newer to the blogging world? Give your fellow bloggers some friendly advice!

Starting out in the blogging world, whether it’s book blogging or any other niche, can be scary, nerve-wracking and a lot of work. I spent months researching before I actually launched this site, so I was working on it since the beginning of 2020 and launched in August 2020. It can be a long road to setting up a site that you are happy with and growing the confidence to voice out your thoughts and dislikes to the world.

I am going to share a few book blogging etiquette tips that were passed down to me from other bloggers as well as stuff that I figured out through experience. These are not hard and fast rules, but advice that you can take or shove under the doormat.

The first time you venture into the blogosphere with a new blog and new content can be a daunting and lonely experience. Rather than wait for people to come to you in this digital world of thousands of blogs, why not venture out yourself and make some new blogging pals?

You can Google book blogs and follow the ones that interest you. You can search on WordPress Reader and find some new bloggers too. If you follow bookstagrammers or book lovers on Twitter, you can check out whether they have any blogs running and follow those too.

I always read book reviews when I find new bloggers. I find that this content gives me a better idea of what the blogger’s style and voice are because we tend to be more personal and subjective in book reviews.

So, rather than focussing on making a list of new releases you can’t wait to read, write about the stuff that show who you are. In the book blogging world, I feel that the best way to convey this is by talking about your reading habits. We all want to follow people with similar tastes in reading or people who will challenge our reading habits, so this is a good way to introduce yourself to newcomers to your blog.

Another type of content that can be great and personal are book tags! You can try out the Meet The Book Bloggers Tag or a Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. Remember that you don’t have to be tagged to take part in these, so find the tags that you love the sound of, and have fun!

Your comments are just as important as your posts, so pay attention to what your readers have to say. Try and reply to these comments on time rather than leave them hanging for a week or so. This is will allow you to form a readership that would feel like they can interact with you, which will make them wanna stick around for longer.

This doesn’t mean you should always post well-thought-out and polished comments. I mean, you should read the blog posts and comment relevantly. Don’t be afraid to comment whatever you want though! Maybe talk about how you’ve read a book they mentioned and whether you liked it or not. Maybe talk about how helpful their content was. Or maybe you liked the way they structured their posts? Stay relevant.

Blog post titles are part of the personality of your blog too. When you browse through each blog’s posts you will notice that they have a way of writing their titles that is unique to them. Try out different titles for your reviews, discussion posts and book recommendations that feel like you and how you want to showcase your blog’s personality.

This is something that I see many readers do on all platforms. Personally, I don’t tag an author unless I have rated their book five stars. I don’t see the point in writing what you don’t like about an author’s work and rubbing it in their face by tagging them in it. Authors are humans like us too.

What you can do is tag the publisher or whoever gave you the book if it is a review copy.

Whatever your blog looks like when you launch it doesn’t have to be the final product! It’s okay to change your colour palettes, to change the way your posts look, to try out new things.

I have seen a few book bloggers who change the whole look of their book blog at some point in their blogging. It can help keep you engaged and excited about your blog, too. Always remember that we ourselves change and grow with time, so there is no reason why your blog can’t either. I revamped my colour palettes and blog style just six months into blogging, so there are no rules about when you should do it either.

Are you a new book blogger? Let me know in the comments below so that we can support each other!

My previous Let’s Talk Bookish posts:

• November 26: Taking a Closer Look at My Reading Habits: New Releases Versus Backlist Books
• November 19: What Truly Makes a Blog Hiatus?
• November 12: Reading for My Blog Versus Other Hobbies
• November 5: 5 Tips for When a Blog Post Doesn’t Do Very Well
• October 15: 5 Overused Book Tropes