Starting out a blog - questions for hte pros

[Sarah Bowdidge]

My blog is new, I just started it this week, so I'd love some advise and suggestions from experienced bloggers. 

 

1.  How often do you post reviews?  Do you have a set time (every two weeks, once a month etc.) or a more casual basis (whenever you finish a book).  

 

2. How do you attract readers and followers? How many is a good average number for a book blog, how long does it take to establish a following

 

3.  Do you review books you already have, buy books, get them from a library, from
ARC or some other method? Do you chose books deliberately for the purpose of reviewing them
,or just read what you feel like and then post your comments.

 

4.  What platforms do you use to promote your blog?

 

5.
On average, how much time did you spend setting up the blog; how much time now that it's established?


6.  Anything else you think I should know :)

Thanks in advance.   If you leave your links I'll go take a look at  your sites.  I always reciprocate.


Have a great week


My Site: Reading the World
Twitter: @SarahRTW
G+ Group: Reading the World


[Alison M.]

I write my reviews when I finish the book. I've been reader faster than posting so I have tons of reviews saved up. I usually post 2 or 3 a week.

I read and comment on other book blogs. It's a community. You need to give love to receive the love. I think it's more important to have followers/readers that regularly interact rather than a "large" following. You can get a following pretty quickly if you read and interact with others.

I review anything I read. I read for me. Mostly they're books I've bought or got from the library. Occasionally I accept review requests or get books on NetGalley.

I'm on Goodreads (I post my reviews on there as well) and Twitter.

Uhh I don't know an hour or two? I'm always tweaking stuff. I spend a little bit of time everyday on the blog: writing posts, responding to comments, returning comments.

Just stick with it. You might only have 5-10 followers at first and that's just fine. Just keep writing, people will come eventually. Hope you stick around! :)

[Sarah Bowdidge]

Thanks Allison

I totally agree about giving love to get love, it's my guiding principle for all of life :) I plan on sticking with it, I'm excited about my blog niche and idea. I know I won't get a huge following right away. That's not a realistic expectation.  

I followed your blog (Looks great!) and added you on Twitter, btw.  Have a great week :) 

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Yeah.... what Allison said.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Grace]

I generally post within a day or two of finishing a book, and I make sure to post at least once a week.  Consistency is important for building an audience for your blog.

There's no right number of followers, but there is a fantastic and supportive book blogging community.  The easiest way to build a following is to visit and comment on other blogs.  You can also participate in blog memes, challenges, or readalongs to get some more interaction.

I mostly review books that I've bought or checked out from the library, although I also use NetGalley and occasionally accept review requests.  My rule of thumb is not to accept a request unless it's a book that looks like something I'd buy for myself anyway.  I'm selective about review copies because I want to be able to read books that I enjoy.  Book blogging is supposed to be fun, not to feel like a second job.

I use Wordpress.com to blog, which has options to publicize your posts on Facebook and Twitter.  I tend to do that, but mostly I use Twitter to keep up with what's going on in the book industry and to see what's going on with authors/bloggers.

Actually setting up my blog took me about a half hour, but then I've spent a lot of time tweaking it afterward.  I keep making small changes to the widgets, my review policy, etc.  I spend an hour or so every day reading other blogs and commenting on them.

My biggest advice is just to have fun with it!

___________________________

Books Without Any Pictures

[Sarah Bowdidge]

Thanks, Grace :) I love your blog layout, esp. the header image you drew.  

 

[Jennifer Kitchens]

Hello and welcome to the world of book blogging!  I've been doing this for about 18 months or so, and have about 750 followers.  I do a niche blog, not general, so take this as you will.  :)

1- I post reviews 2-3 times a week now.  I'm a fast reader and this works for me.  When I started out, it was more like 1 or 2 times a week.  I also have other posts - aka, giveaways, book trailers, free book codes, etc - sometimes.

2- Advertising!  Talk to people on forums, tell people about your site, visit other blogs and follow/comment on them, host giveaways, make a facebook page, join twitter, etc etc.  Anything you can think of that you'd like to do will help people hear about you and see what your blog is all about.

3- Yes.  When I first started out, I reviewed almost every book already on my bookshelf.  Then I switched to library books. My book budget is about nill so this worked for me as they didn't cost anything.  Then I started with ARCs and Review copies (booksneeze, netgalley, bloggingforbooks, dorrancepublishing, etc).  Now, I have authors and publishers contacting me to read their books and they send me copies of them.  It's a process, but it worked for me.  I only read books I think would fit my blog (but since I love that genre, it's easy to do).

4- Platforms....I used facebook and twitter and google+ (some) and am trying to figure out an easy way to use pinterest.  I cross-post my reviews on goodreads as well.

5- Setting it up, like building it?  I decided to get it up first and make it really pretty later.  I had basic backgrounds and such for several months, then changed it once.  Now I have recently changed it a second time to clean it up a bit.  A few hours at most to set it up.  The content is most important, the rest is pretty but not as big of a deal so long as it's  not distracting.  

6- Have fun!  Read books you like.  Do as much or as little as you have fun doing.  Don't worry so much about numbers as enjoying what you do and sharing those books with others.

Clean Romance Reviews

[Sarah Bowdidge]

Thanks for the welcome. Like you, my blog is also a niche. A  very different niche, but that's OK :) I added you on Twitter and followed your blog. Have a great week :)

[Melissa E]

1.  I post about 1-3 a week.  Every Sunday I make up a tentative schedule of what I'm going to post that week and put the calendar on my Sunday Post so viewers can see what to expect.

 

2. It takes awhile to attract followers via GCF on blogger, but twitter followers are easy to get.  I would say comment on other blogs and follow the ones you like.  If you comment on their blog they'll most likely go to yours and most will follow back.  Also participate in memes (weekly events hosted by one blogger participated by many bloggers) like these.  This gets lots of traffic to your page.

 

3.  I get books from the library, buy them, and get ARCS.  Lots of authors email me for a review and provide a pdf, paperback, or ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.  I usually go on goodreads and see how other people felt about the book and if it's generally a good reaction I will try it.    I still only read things I'm interested in.  I don't care if the most talked about book in the blog world.  If it doesn't sound good to me I won't read it.

 

4.  Goodreads, Bookblogs.ning, Twitter, Facebook, Formspring, and word of mouth.

 

5.
 I spend a lot of time blogging because it's fun for me.  I love playing around with HTML and visiting other blogs.  It doesn't have to be time consuming though.  There are ways to set a review to post when you're not online.

6.  If you don't have a twitter get one for your blog and follow other bloggers.  Don't spam by posting a link to your blog every five seconds, but make sure you're engaging with the other people (tweet chats and stuff).  Get an email account for your blog for authors to email you.  Get a Goodreads account and post your reviews on there or join a group.  Also, when you do start accepting requests for reviews from authors don't accept a whole bunch at once.  Space it out.  Seems like common sense, but I feel like we all over schedule in the beginning.  You might also want to join blog tours. 

Hope this helps.  Good luck and have fun with blogging!

-Melissa 

Harley Bear Book Blog

@HarleyBearBooks

[Sarah Bowdidge]

Thanks, Melissa. It does help :)   Oh, I see you've been to Barcelona!!  Isn't it an amazing city?? I lived in Spain for four months (one semester) last year.  

Cute dog, too!! :)  

[Stephanie Brentson]

1. I post anywhere between 2-4 a week I'm a pretty fast reader. also I try and get the review done with in 2-3 days after finishing the book.

2. by posting on other blogs, facebook,twitter & goodreads You give love you get love!

3. I review any book I can get my hands on from anywhere :-)

4. I use Twitter, Facebook, & Goodreads and well here of course. 

5. I spent a lot of time on mine. getting it set up. now that it is up and running it's all pretty easy I spend a few hours a dat between posting reviews and plaything with stuff on there.

Starry Night Book Reviews