How to Start a Book Blog – for Beginners - EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN)

This is going to be, essentially, a very simple step-by-step guide to starting your own book blog. If it’s something you’ve always thought about doing, but never got into, now is definitely the time to start!

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⤅ Step #1: Reviewing on Goodreads

I reckon that having a Goodreads account, and using it regularly, is a MUST for anyone who’s looking to establish themselves as a blogger.

Firstly, it’s easy: the platform already exists, and all you have to do is type the actual review. (More on that later).

Secondly, it’s by far the best way to get yourself noticed and out there. Goodreads, at its heart, is a social media website, and it’s packed with people who are looking for the next reviewer to follow. You don’t even have to promote yourself on Goodreads. All you have to do is review, and if people enjoy reading what you’ve written, they’ll ‘like’ it. Maybe even friend or follow you so they can read more from you. Once you have a blog (see Step 2 below) it’s common practice to post a hyperlink to it at the bottom of every review, so people can check it out.

So, to sum up: you should always post reviews on Goodreads, even if you have a blog already set up. If you don’t have a blog set up yet, even better – start out on Goodreads before migrating to a proper website. Hopefully, you’ll be able to take your Goodreads friends with you. Admittedly I haven’t got much overlap between the two platforms; I have well over a thousand Goodreads followers, but just under 200 on my blog. Others, however, have had more luck.

⤅ Step #2: The Main Platform

This is going to be the website which hosts your book blog. I’ve noticed that the most popular option is WordPress, and for good reason too. It’s easy to set up, easy to customise, and easy to post on. You also have the option of purchasing a domain name from WordPress so that your website is entirely your own, but that’s typically done by the more popular bloggers for whom it’s a worthy investment.

If you want an alternative to WordPress, there’s also Blogspot. I really do recommend WordPress though – I found it by far the easiest to navigate. There are plenty of themes which you can make slight changes to, if you have any familiarity with HTML. Plus, there are a ton of cool widgets you can add! I will say, though, that once you’ve picked a theme the changes you can make are quite minimal. For instance, you can’t change the font beyond a few options.

⤅ Step #3: The Secondary Platform

You can have nothing but your blog and a Goodreads, if you want. But using another form of social media is the easiest way to grow your blog following and gain exposure. Many bloggers rave about Twitter; I personally found the Bookstagram route way easier. You don’t even have to be a particularly creative person to Bookstagram – while some people’s accounts are genuine works of art, my own pictures are pretty standard. In both cases, though, the key is to interact with the rest of the community. Leave comments and likes on other people’s posts. Follow the accounts you like; in many cases, they’ll even follow back. You can include a link to your blog in your profile as well.

Giveaways are a REALLY easy way to boost your follower numbers! I did two, and reached one thousand Bookstagram followers within just a few months. It does require you to spend some money, of course, but not a bank-breaking amount, and if you give a book away from Book Depository it posts free internationally.

You should aim to post regularly on your chosen platform. Having a ‘Question of the Day’ accompanying a daily picture is common in the Bookstagram world, though people seem to post a lot more frequently on Twitter. Even if you decide that a Bookstagram will be your main secondary platform, making a Twitter account is a good idea too; a lot of bookish news or ARC/giveaway opportunities are only posted there.

Getting followers isn’t easy; book blogging is a saturated niche of the Internet. But as long as you keep posting quality reviews, and working to publicise your blog you’ll see a respectable increase in followers. This year, I’ve been racking up about 100 new followers a month on Goodreads, and that’s definitely helped my blog traffic stats.

⤅ Step #4: Reviewing Books

The Beginner's Guide to Book Blogging

So, obviously, now that your book blog is all set up, you need reviews to populate it! Everyone writes them differently; just focus on making them clear and readable. Longer, more personal reviews also do better than quick summaries. I review professionally for Publishers Weekly, but the style they want – snappy, impersonal, 200-words-or-less synopses – is totally unlike how people usually write in blogs.

Really though, just write whatever you want. The only requirement is that you be honest – even if you’ve gotten an ARC, and no matter how badly you feel for the author. (I’ll cover how to handle abuse from other readers and authors in a future blog post).

You should aim to post a review fairly regularly, perhaps around a couple of times a week, though this will depend on your reading speed/amount of free time.

⤅ What About ARCs?

Most of the books you review at the beginning will probably be backlist (i.e. older). But the more followers you accumulate, the higher your chance of receiving ARCs (Advance Review Copies) from the publisher. These books, or e-books, will be sent to you before publication in exchange for your honest opinion. The next post in this series is about how to politely contact a publisher to request an ARC, and how to navigate Edelweiss and NetGalley (the two websites for getting ARCs).

Alright, I hope this helped! I know it’s very basic, but I didn’t want to over-complicate it by stuffing all my advice and thoughts in one post. Do drop me a comment if you have any questions!