Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers while simultaneously enjoying the fun of a list! And what’s more, a list about BOOKS! What could be better?
April 17: Top Ten Tips For New Book Bloggers
Awwww, yeah. I LOVE this week’s topic. Not because I think I’m any kind of expert and I still consider myself a new blogger in many ways, but because I am SO EXCITED to read the advice everyone else has to offer. Blog improvement FTW.
And oh my laaaanta, your eyes are not deceiving you. I actually managed to think of ten things for my list this week!
1) First off, Twitter is your friend– It can help get you followers, interact with others, and stay informed about publishing news, etc. It’s an additional way to notify authors and publishers of your reviews as well, but please, for the love of God, don’t tweet negative reviews to them. And make sure you let your sparkling personality through as well so your followers get to know the person behind the blog! ^_^
2) Do at least a little SEO– Okay, obviously I am not a pro at SEO. The majority of my knowledge comes from Google, and a couple of helpful posts from April at Good Books and Good Wine. Are my numbers getting all cray-cray? No, not yet. But when I started implementing SEO changes, primarily through a user-friendly widget, I could see it affecting my traffic in a positive way. The majority of my traffic is now from search engines and that wasn’t always the case for me.
3) Be a part of the community– Half the fun of being a member of the book blog community is TAKING PART in that community. There are friends to be made here via meme, twitter, comments, blog projects, challenges. Interact with others in your preferred way.
4) Participate in memes– That community I was talking about? Memes are one of the best ways to be a part of it. Obviously, I’m a fan of Top Ten Tuesday in particular. That’s not to say you need to do them all and your blog DEFINITELY shouldn’t be more memes than reviews or discussion, but some are certainly fun and help spread bloggy love.
5) Get yourself on Goodreads- Social media that often replaces Facebook in my affections. A great way to set reading challenges, keep track of what you’ve read/want to read, and again be a part of the reading community. I usually cross-post my reviews to Goodreads.
6) And get yourself on NetGalley– One of the best resources for bloggers, new and old alike. If you don’t have a NetGalley account and you’ve got an e-reader, you want one. Speaking for myself, most of my ARCs are e-ARCs for the convenience of having them available on my Kindle.
7) Keep your reviews honest, but try to stay kind– Don’t snark. Don’t get nasty. If you didn’t like something, say why, but try to be objective about it. ESPECIALLY stay away from name-calling an author. Writing ain’t easy.
8) Try not to obsess about your numbers– Keep an eye on them, but chances are if you’re book blogging it has more to do with a deep love for books than anything else. Remember that– blogging should be FUN!
9) Have your review policy/contact info accessible– Make sure followers, other bloggers, publishers et cetera have a way to get in touch with you and that it’s easy to find. And if you’ve got some social media that you use, make sure I know where to find and follow you!
10) PLAY NICE– We’re all playing in the same sandbox here, kids and nobody likes a bully. I hate when I see people attacking others via Twitter and personally, it leads to me clicking unfollow. Try your best to avoid the drama llama. Most of us aren’t the teenagers we love to read about and those bloggers who are teenagers some of the most mature teenagers I’ve ever seen. So let’s all let our maturity shine! *cheesy grin*
…There’s a chance that the show I’m watching right now has a musical rendition of “This Little Light of Mine” going on right now.
/semi-preachy soapbox
What are your Top Ten Tuesday tips? I still feel like a novice and would love more advice!
