In this post I am sharing with you my ultimate guide to book blogging! This is a prompt I gleaned from “101 Blog Post Ideas” by Jo Linsdell. This is a living and breathing post in that I am constantly learning new things about book blogging.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on and/or purchase from some links, I make a portion of the sale. This helps keep Bitch Bookshelf running.
The Basics
Book blogging is what it sounds like. You start a blog and it’s about books!
There are a number of platforms to start your own blog from, with options ranging from free to hundreds of dollars yearly. WordPress and Blogger are two popular platforms for starting your own website. The hosting service, content of your site, and more can change based on your budget and personal interests.
Some book bloggers might choose to avoid running a website. Booktube is the term used by book vloggers on YouTube. Bookstagram is the hashtag on Instagram, and the detailed reviews in captions often are written by those who use Instagram as a blogging platform. Detailed Goodreads reviews and booktok posts on TikTok could also be considered book blogging and vlogging in their own way.
My posts on book blogging basics
How I Review Books | How I Rate Books | My Blogging Fails | Why I Started My Blog
I Took a Break from Blogging – Here’s Why | How to Support Your Favorite Bloggers
What Not to Do When Working With Book Bloggers | Highlight of Book Blogging
Book Blogger Directory
Choosing and Finding Books
There are so many ways to figure out which books you’ll use in your book blogging. Personally, I’ve always blogged about what I’ve wanted to blog about. I don’t choose specific books with anything related to my blogging in mind, with the exception of blog tours. Feature books you already own, books you buy, and books you borrow from the library or a friend. It’s totally up to you.
Blog tours are a great way to receive free copies of books, often ARCs (or advanced reader copies) in exchange for your honest review and/or a little bit of promotion. I have worked with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Xpresso Book Tours, Pump Up Your Book!, and Silver Dagger Book Tours.
Finally, there are other sources bloggers can use to access free ARCs. Netgalley and Edelweiss are the most popular.
My posts on choosing and finding books
How to Score Your First ARC | Where We Discover New Books
Social Media
Having a social media presence can be very beneficial to book bloggers, whether you started out blogging on social media or you use it to promote your blog, or as another component of your blog.
Pinterest – Pinterest is a must for increasing your blog traffic. Create a Pinterest for your blog. Make sure to include pin-able images on your blog posts. Always create pins for your posts and put them on appropriate boards. You can join group boards for more engagement and repin to your personal Pinterest as well. Make sure the pinned image is enticing and provides information on what the post is about.
Facebook – Create a page for your blog. This is a great resource to share updates and communicate with your readers. You can also find other book bloggers on Facebook and interact with their posts/bounce ideas off one another.
Instagram – Bookstagram is a mini-book-blogging community in and of itself. Even if you aren’t the best at photography, I encourage you to get on bookstagram and engage with other bookstagrammers. Plus, Instagram posts make great pinnable images you can embed in your blog posts.
Goodreads – Make sure to review the books you are reading on Goodreads and to engage with other folks who are doing the same thing! One small hack: If your Goodreads review and your book blog review are word-for-word, this is not good for your blog SEO, especially if you post the Goodreads review first.
Twitter – Push your blog posts straight to Twitter to make it instantly available to all of your followers. Including a hashtag in your blog post’s title can help make it more accessible to anyone interested in the topic.
TikTok – Booktok is a growing community of short form book vloggers and can be another fun way to connect with fellow readers.
My posts on social media tips
Social Media Tips for Book Bloggers | Why I Count All Books on Goodreads
What else do you want to know about book blogging? Comment and let me know!
