Blogging 101. All kinds of tips and tricks to get you started or keep you going. Talk about ARCs, reviewing in general, web design, etc. Â What blogging platform do you use? How do you network? What are some of your favorite web designs? Â Or maybe you want to talk about your own blogging journey, and how you got to where you are now. Either way, we want you to share your knowledge with the rest of the community!
Be Yourself
Some people come into blogging because they want to be like another writer. Â You can’t sustain that. Trying to be something you aren’t will lead to burnout.
Just Say No to ARCs
Seriously, back away. Â I read all the time about people ODing on free copies of books and then feeling guilty about not getting them read. Â Free is fun but if it stresses you out it isn’t worth it. Â You know where else you can get free books? Â The library — where no one is pressuring you to deliver reviews.
Don’t Steal
Plagarism is bad and stealing photos is bad too. Â All the pictures on this blog are mine or I got them through a free stock image site like Pixabay. Â Learn about attribution requirements and follow them.
Mix It Up
Vary your posts. Â Don’t do all reviews or vary your review formats. Â Talk about things other than books. Â People get to know you better. Â It may even lead to adventures you didn’t plan. Â I’m posting a review next week where I decided to visit a local historical site that ties into the book. Â It didn’t go as planned…. So now I have even more to write about.
Link Up
There are link ups for everyday of the week and all kinds of topics. Â If your posts fit in a theme, link up and visit other blogs on the link up. Â You’ll meet other bloggers with interests like you and promote your posts. The link ups I use change a lot but some are:
Fitness Tuesday and British Isles Friday
Link ups for all kinds of reading challenges – See my reading challenge page.
Engage
I’m bad at this too. Â Leave comments. Â Tweet links to blogs you find interesting. Â I read a whole lot more than I comment on.
Schedule Posts
When you have days of brilliant inspiration write extra posts for the future. Â That will help you get through dry spells. Â I like to have three posts ready at the start of a week. Â As I write more I can either work them into the week (if I can’t wait to publish) or schedule them for the next week.
I totally agree with you on a lot of these! I am so, so guilty of the ODing on ARCs one! I mean, I DO get them done, but I am super stressed about it. ANd scheduling ahead is basically my dream 😉 I REALLY think it helps, and also takes off the stress! (Oh- and thanks so much for linking to me and the discussion challenge 😀 ) These are really fabulous tips, thanks for sharing them!
Great ideas! I agree about ARCs. I love to request them but I have to be more picky than I naturally want to be or I have too much to read. Luckily I’ve had a good track record of picking good books and I like about 2/3 of the ones I read, so I don’t get too burned out. There’s nothing worse than reading a bunch of books that aren’t that great in a row. Also, I try really hard to comment and interact, but I’m busy and I’m really shy, so I could definitely do better with that.
Great ideas. Thank you. I do try to do all these things. I particularly like the tip about writing posts when you feel inspired. I try to blog everyday so this is a big help to me.
OD on free books? Yeah, I’ve been there (haven’t we all?) But yeah, I feel the struggle of being someone on the outside looking in regarding connections made on twitter. I don’t know why either cause I talk nonsense on my own blog but it just doesn’t always translate for connections not yet formed (I won’t shut up for those who I’m familiar with though haha).
Cheers,
Joey via. thoughts and afterthoughts
These are all really good tips! I feel really scattered right now, and I feel like trying to actively use some of these could really help me get going where I want to go!
I envy people with scheduled posts ready to go! I can never get to that point! Good advice!
Scheduling in advance doesn’t always happen for me either but it is really nice when it does.
Great tips! Especially the ‘mix it up’ one. My blog is mainly about books, but I also throw in some arty stuff when I’m in the mood, some cooking stuff and some random stuff too. Variety is the spice of life! But books rule, of course.
Such great wisdom here. Thank you for sharing it with others.
http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2015/05/armchair-bea.html