Blog Journey: Why I started and what I’ve learned

My wonderful friends, it has been a whole six months since I started this blog (which I was only active for like three of, but besides the point). To celebrate I wanted to tell you more about why I made this blog, as well as give some tips for new, or old, bloggers out there!

In short, I started for the same reason we all did: I love books. But there’s a bit more to it than that. When I was a kid, it’s not an exaggeration to say I had about 0 friends. Reading for me was an escape, and I took it VERY seriously. I would get into competitions with other kids to see how many words we could read, and made a little “reading corner” in my living room that I pretty much moved into (sorry, mom).

But then, I just stopped. For 7 years I didn’t pick up a single book. So coming back to reading felt like rediscovering my childhood love for it all over again, but it was also really weird. All of a sudden there was a whole world of new books out, and authors I loved as a kid turned into bestsellers, or completely dropped off the earth. When I hopped back on Goodreads, I found myself thinking “I want to do something with this love. I want to make books as big a part of my life as possible.” And thus, the blog was born.

Now, onto some tips and tricks for having a successful blog!

1. Find the right posting time: You want your posts out when the most people will see them. I have found that people are more active blogging in the morning, and for me especially around 9 am. But, it may be different based on where you are in the world.
2. Develop a review style: I think a lot of people are intimidated by reviewing, and feel like they have to sound like they’re from Kirkus to be successful. But that’s the great part about blogging! There are no rules. I like to use a pretty conversational tone, because that’s how I describe books to my friends, and it invites people to talk back.
3. Interact: This is probably THE most important tip I can give. Blogging isn’t the kind of thing where you can post and run. It’s about being part of the community. Comment on other blogs, start discussion posts, go through tags and like other people’s reviews. The more active you are, the more people will want to be active with you. And you may even make some new friends!

So, there you have it, my infinite (really, very limited) wisdom. I never thought I would reach nearly 1000 followers, or that anyone would care about my book opinions, but you all have proved me so wrong. And for that, I am forever thankful. If you found any of this helpful, relatable, what have you, please let me know! I would be happy to share more of my blogging knowledge in the future.

Happy reading!

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