10 things I’ve learnt as a Book Blogger

1 – E-books are so good and useful!

Especially as a book blogger where I get to read ARCs – physical ARCs can be quite chunky and heavy sometimes so it is good to have an e-copy which I can read quickly on my nook device.

2 – Reading other people’s blogs and their thoughts on books they’ve read is fun!

I discover so many cool people and so many opinions from a range of people – it is nice to hear someone else’s thoughts on a book you’ve been wanting to read. Just gives you the clarification that you defo need to read it!

One book blogger’s whose reviews I particularly like to read is… Books on the 474

3 – I’ve learnt to appreciate writing more as a solid skill.

 It’s not easy putting your thoughts into actual words that will make sense to the outside world. And I am sure it is the same for all other bloggers. So I have come to appreciate the skill of writing, and writing well.

One blogger whose writing and content I greatly admire is… Hannah

4 – Blogging is time-consuming… but so worth it!

It takes ages not just to write the post and then edit it, but also to make the graphics for the blog post and social media cards. I love making my graphics on Canva and I’ve learnt so much about branding and design already.

One blogger whose graphics I love is… Ashes Books and Bobs

5 – I’ve put myself out there in the blogging community and have felt the support of the community as a whole.

There are so many hashtags and accounts that are really good at supporting bloggers. They do follow chains, blog swaps, and RT your content.

One twitter account that is really supportive and helpful is… The Bloggers Tribe (Also more for book bloggers is The Write Reads with their Review of the Day tweets!)

Relevant Post: Ten Book Series I Loved as a Young Girl

6 – I’ve finally been invited to a blogger event this year! I’ve learnt that working hard on my blog lands me in the eye-line of publicity teams.

In February I attended Bonnier Zaffre’s Women of History blogger brunch and I SO LOVED IT! I got to meet Heather Morris, author of Tattooist of Auschwitz and got a book signed by her. You can see the pictures from the event in my February wrap-up post.

Visit Bonnier Zaffre’s Twitter

7 – I’ve learnt how to connect with bloggers and how to build up a good, respectable profile.

This is good because I can now use my personal account to help with publicity for the company I work for!

8 – Social media is important for reach and engagement – but at the same time you shouldn’t let it take over your life.

I’m only on twitter at the moment, but I do have Instagram for random pictures of books, my art, and lots of pictures of my coffee mornings! I am adamant not to overuse social media – although I am on twitter a lot! This is where my blog gets most traffic from. I’ve heard Pinterest is good too, but right now I only have brain capacity for one main platform.

One blogger who has a really good Bookstagram is @juliasbookcase

9 – There are lots of really kind and like-minded people out there!

I think without the blogging world, we would be missing out on getting to know some really cool people we may not have met in real life – or ever meet in real life. It’s not easy meeting like-minded people IRL so meeting them online and through their writing is a big plus.

One blogger who is really kind and supportive is… Laura Bisericanu (plus one other - L.M. Durand)

10 – Our work as bloggers is important to drive book sales (and sales of other products for those who blog about other things like fashion/make-up/days out etc.)

I’ve seen a lot of publicity campaigns by publishers that have ensured their books have reached top spots in the charts. A lot is also down to us bloggers who rave about the books and spread the word round through our blogger circles.

Thank you for reading my post – and to those who have continued to support and inspire me. Blogging has been an incredible journey and I hope it continues to do so!