Book Blogging

[Susan]

I am hoping that someone can answer the question.
I have 2 book blogs that I made about 2 months ago.
I know there are a few of you out there that are book bloggers too.
I would like to know how you get the word out about your book blog.
What is the proper channels for you to get listed on other book blogs.
I feel like I am hitting my head on the wall beating myself up. Because I see other blogs have so much traffic. I don't know how to get traffic on my blog. Can anyone tell me how to start. Are book contests the best way to publicize a reading blog. If so, where do the books come from? Are they purchased by the blogger. Or are they books that you have read, and then given away??? Also tell me about the Meme and how that works.
Are you suppose to be invited or can anyone join. I have been wanting to understand the book blogging community. But it seems like it is a select group and I am getting frustrated. I feel like I want to close it down. But I enjoy sharing with others the passion of books. I visit many different blogs and I learn and share about books. But I need some help.
Can anyone clue me in what I am doing wrong. If you want to see my blog to give me some hints I would appreciate it. Please reply here or comment on my blog 38thdivareaders.blogspot.com.

[Angi]

All the comments above are great ones. Be patient, visit around, leave comments, host giveaways, participate in challenges - all will help to build your traffic. But, be sure to be unique and offer something not found elsewhere!
Angi @ Teen Lit Review

[Nicola O.]

I started by just letting friends and family know about it, and asking them to check it out to make sure it looked right. What I find works pretty good is to become more active on other blogs, reading and COMMENTING. Often the blogger will come back to you, and you'll get a few readers from their readers. Some you'll click with more than others.

Be generous about linking to other blogs in your sidebar -- they will often return the favor and you will build some traffic that way too.

Install sitemeter or similar so you can see what searches people are using to find you. Then do more stuff like that. :-)

Here's an article that has some good ideas: http://www.eblogtemplates.com/yaro-staraks-10-great-blog-traffic-tips/

And I'll be reading along too, always looking for tips myself!

[Susan]

How to have your blog on a search engine? What are signature lines?

[Susan]

thanks

[Norm Goldman]

Unfortunately, the road to attracting readers to your blogs and/or websites is a long one and there is no easy solution.
Bookpleasures.com has been around for over 4 years and only after 2 years did we begin to attract attention. You just have to be very patient and plug away linking to as many social sites as possible, etc. facebook, authorsden, digg, delicious, twitter, Amazon. If you post on Amazon, don't forget to sign your name with the name of your site or blog. However, leave out the .com, as Amazon will not permit it.

The previous suggestions are likewise very helpful.

Good luck!

Norm, Editor bookpleasures.com

[Literary Escapism]

Another great way to get your blog out is the Bookworms Carnival. It was started by Dewey who also did the Weekly Geeks and it's another way to get your blog out there. (http://bookwormscarnival.wordpress.com) Basically, there's a blog that hosts the carnival and lists a bunch of reviews. Each carnival stop is at a different blog and each one has a theme. The current one is "Guilty Pleasures" and is being hosted at the site (submissions due Jan 1st). The 21st Edition is at http://bottle-of-shine.livejournal.com/ and the discussion is GLBTQ and the 22nd is anthologies hosted at my site. You can always submit any reviews you have and that'll get it out there, plus you can offer to host one (dates open towards the end of next year though).

When I first started Literary Escapism, I really didn't do much. I checked out different sites and left comments. I also do daily news post with industry news, interviews, contests, etc. It all depends on how much time you want to put into it.

I have done interviews and contests at my site. The contests have prizes that either I buy and send out or the authors provide. I don't do them on a regular basis, but when I have time and can think up interview questions. I've also asked authors if they wanted to contribute guest posts on my site as a way of promoting their book (and sometimes running a contest along with it).

I second Judi's (Sidhe Vicious) remarks. Definitely tag each of your reviews with the author and genre, but I also do types. I run a paranormal fiction review site, so each review gets tagged with the author, the genre (UF, Para-Rom and I do others), as well as Vampires, Werewolves, Magic, etc.

Something I would recommend, take a look at various other blogs and see what they have on their site.

[Leslie]

I'm also new to the land of book blogs. But I've got one, and I'm excited about it, and I'm ready to jump right in!

- L
http://regularrumination.blogspot.com

[Kay]

That's one of the reasons I've been trying to start my own book blog directory lately -- both for promoting my own blog and help others promote theirs. So far I only have three blogs listed (and one of them is mine) but so far I'm not giving up as I still think it can turn into something useful.

In case you want to know more about it (and/or how to get your blogs listed) you can try this page: http://directory.kaysbookshelf.com/the-whereabouts-2

[Jackie]

I just visited your blog the other day! I just Started a new blog myself devoted to reading.I think the best blogs are the ones that reflect the bloggers personality.I agree that visiting different blogs and getting your blog listed in different places is a great start.I love to blurf.I have had a little trouble finding blogs related to reading but I visit and look at others blog rolls and then click away .If I find one that I enjoy I add it to my reader.Not everyone likes the same things.I visit things that interest me and not everyone has the same interest.I think staying true to yourself in your blogs and blogging for you is a great first step ,but what do i know? I am brand new have about 6 hits and I think they were all me...LOL but I dont care because I am doing it for me and I hope eventually I will find someone who enjoys something I do.I also think this community is great,supporting each other and our blogs.When I visited your blog the other day I thought it was geared to all Jewish lit. Am I correct? Anyway Good luck and I plan to visit again.
if you want to check out my brand new blog ... http://serenityforserenity.blogspot.com/
Love all the replies ,I think they are great!!