If you want to blog about books, you not only need a passion for reading and writing, but also some know-how in terms of SEO and marketing.
Blogging books: The path to becoming a book blogger
For most people, the path to a successful book blog begins as a hobby. In fact, that is the best prerequisite for starting out as a book blogger – that you are enthusiastic about books and writing about books.
- Find a niche: Consider what niche you could fill. Are you interested in contemporary novelists, do you have a subject area such as finance or psychology, or do you want to blog about children's books? A niche that fits your interests will ensure that you build a loyal readership over the long term.
- Authenticity: Whether it's longer blog posts or short Instagram posts – give what you write a personal touch. Let your (potential) readers feel that there is a real person with authentic thoughts and feelings behind the words. When you write, just imagine that you are talking to a friend. This will make your texts seem approachable and authentic.
- Find your own language: Your writing style is your biggest unique selling point and helps you stand out from the crowd of book bloggers. Do you want to sound like a professional literary critic or write more casually in the first person? Is your writing style more poetic and playful or clear and concise? Get inspiration from your favorite bloggers to find your own voice.
- Uniform aesthetics: In most cases, what initially draws potential readers to you is not the content of your texts, but the aesthetics of your blog. So think about how you want to present yourself and your texts. For an Instagram blog, for example, your feed should have a uniform look. The photos accompanying the blog posts play a particularly important role here.
Start a book blog: Tips for a successful book blog
Whether as a hobby or with the goal of earning money – to be successful as a book blogger, you not only need a passion for writing, an authentic writing style and a consistent aesthetic. You also need to have the technical and craft skills.
- Platform: How you structure your blog depends, among other things, on the platform. To make people aware of your blog, a combination of a blog website and an Instagram blog is ideal. On your actual blog, you publish your texts in full, while on Instagram you summarize your main ideas succinctly and in easily digestible bites.
- Learn the tools of the trade: To blog about books, you need to acquire the necessary tools. In concrete terms, this means learning how to write reviews and blog posts. The more you have internalized the formalities, the more you will be able to leave the rigid formal requirements behind and play freely with them.
- SEO optimization: To ensure that your texts are shown to potential readers, you should also acquire basic knowledge of SEO optimization. Use websites like Mangools to find keywords that rank on Google and optimize the headlines of your posts. Again, the better you know the basics, the more you can play around with them.
- Get books: If you blog about books, you ideally need review copies. For example, take part in book giveaways on Lovelybooks or use portals such as NetGalley and Blogger Portal to get review copies.
- Networking: Connect with other book bloggers. The best way to do this is on Instagram or Bookstagram. Seek personal exchanges about your favorite books, take part in book challenges and become an active part of the Bookstagram community.
Also interesting:
- Non-fiction books free online – here you can find them
- Sell books online – the 3 best sites
- Free eBooks: Websites for free books