Things I Have Learned About Blogging

Thing I Have Learned About Blogging

Okay, i know I haven't been blogging that long, but I'm on twitter, goodreads, facebook a lot. This is going to be an advice, things that I've learned about blogging, some things I think newer bloggers, even authors (thought you guys were not going to be mentioned) need to be aware of.

GENERAL ADVICE

1. Blogging is Fun & A Lot of Work. Yes blogging is fun, but it can be a lot of work. Some bloggers don't understand how much time bloggers put into their blogs. People think "Gee, I'll start a blog" Not realizing that there are things like having a schedule, putting together the blog-in the beginning when I started the blog, I spent like 4 or 5 hours learning HTML. Yes bloggers need to know some HTML. Writing Reviews takes time. You write the review, then do spell check, then re-read your review, make changes until you are satisfied with it. Then Formatting the Post takes work. So Hence Not Easy

2. THIS IS NOT ABOUT GETTING FREE BOOKS. I've seen this trend lately with book blogs. Some book bloggers want to start a book blog to get free books. Book Blogs that do this don't last very long. You really have to work for these books. Some book blogs never even review a single book on their blogs. What is the point of a blog if you never update it.

3. ARCS, HOW TO GET THEM? PLEASE DON't CYBERBEG. The addition of cyber begging for books on Facebook makes me upset because their are so many different ways to get ARC's on the net.

Want Advanced Reader Copies, Here are some of the ways to Get Them

1. GET A NETGALLEY ACCOUNT. It's Free. They give you sixty days to review them. When you are done reading the book, type your review, send them a copy of your review with the link. Done. This was one of the first things I did when I started blogging. It helped a lot.

2. REVIEW WHAT YOU HAVE. When I first started blogging, I didn't get too many books from Net Galley. What did I do? I reviewed books that I had in my TBR pile. You have to put the work in. I mean it takes time, but is it worth it. Yes. Yes.

3. Build YOUR Readership Now the more followers you have, the more likely chance you have receiving ARCS. Publishers like to give ARC's away to Book Blogs that have proven themselves to have a loyal readership or following. What gets your readership growing, can be several things. I also have learned this from other bloggers:

A. Reviews. Be honest in your reviews. Even if you don't like the book, be honest. I find that some of my most commented book reviews are on books that I didn't like. Not all book bloggers are going to love the same books.

B. Memes. Be careful of this. This was one of my earliest mistakes. When I started, I was doing like Five Memes or Six Memes. Can't remember how many. They helped tremoundously in the beginning. Yet . Memes are a great way to connect with other blogs. Two of the Memes I participate in, is Parajunkees & now co-hosted by Allison Can Read Follow Thursday/Friday where they feature 2 bloggers every week and answer a question. Over 200 Blogs Participate in this Meme. Another Meme that I like is Story Siren's In Your Mailbox, where people list the books they get from Various Sources. Over 300 blogs participate in this blog.

Here are Some Other Memes that I have found

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?
Trailer Tuesday
Waiting on Wednesday
Book Blogger Hop, TGIF over at GReads,
In Your mailbox

If you know of any more memes, let me know I would like to know.

Another Meme that I like is called Random Acts of Kindness which is run by the wonderful Book Soulmates. The idea behind this program is that you make a wishlist. It can be on Amazon, Goodreads or your blog. Every month you sign up at their sign up page, sign up post your wish list and if someone is kind, they might send you a book. If you are kind, you will send them one.

This is a wonderful way to meet new bloggers and possibly increase your followers,

When visiting blogs, leave meaningful comments. They are not going to know who you are if you don't leave a comment. Sometimes GASP people will follow you back.


C. Write to Publishers. Yes. Believe it or not you can write to the publishers to get review copies of books. It works. There are ways to get contacts at the publishing house. You can look at their catalogs. Most of the major publishing houses have their catalogs online. So look at the catalogs and usually their is an email that you can send the publisher if you want to get review copies.

Be Professional When Requesting. Say who you are, what blog you run. How many months you have been blogging, how many followers you have and what genres your review on your blog. Be COURTEOUS WHEN REQUESTING ARCS. Believe it or not this works. Also please understand that sometimes the Publishers run out of ARCS. I've seen it happen. Don't get upset. there are plenty of other books. Also when requesting try to request 1-2 titles.

D. Goodreads, Library Thing. There are always giveaways going on for ARCS. A lot of people participate in these giveaways. ENTER ANYWAY. You never know. You might just win that ARC you wanted.

4. NEW BLOG. How do I get my name out there?

A. Attend Conferences. This is so true. Network, Network. People like to have a face associated with the blog you run. You can meet other bloggers and lovers of books.

B. Make Business Cards. Yes Business Cards are essential. At BEA, i passed out so many business cards for the blogs. Since my Blog has an unusual title, it would be memorable. No. I know for me personally, if I saw you yes I would remember, but sometimes I meet so many bloggers it's hard to keep track of them all. That's why I hand a business card out and get them back. It's easier fro me to remember you.

C. Join Memes. I just mentioned a few.

D. Social Media like Twitter, Facebook. Twitter is better. Make a Twitter account and a Facebook acoount if you don't have one. Half of all my new blogger friends came from twitter.It's also how I learned about contests and giveaways.


BAD BEHAVIOR FROM BLOGGERS & AUTHORS

Okay both Bloggers and Authors sometimes gasp do bad behaviors.

Here are some that I can't stand.

1. CYBER BEGGING-Nothing makes me angrier than seeing this behavior. Please don't do this. It makes us look all bad. Wicked Little Pizie recently did a post that explains why this is a bad idea. Here is her explanation and I have to agree with her observation.

Wicked Little Pizies Begging For Books Post

The reason I agree with her post is that some bloggers like myself send requests via publishers. Another thing that most bloggers don't understand is that Authors don't have a lot of ARCs and what few they get, they give away to family and friends.

2. AUTHORS-SPAMMING THE BLOGGERS INBOX WITH REQUESTS. Okay, i love getting requests. I like trying new authors. Really do. When several authors give me requests I will try to look at them. Sometimes real life intereferes with Book Blogging. Yet when I see 20-40 requests from the same author, it makes me mad, I don't have time to go through that many e-mails. I have a schedule and a life. I try to be fair. Sometimes it's hard.

3. Authors-PLEASE PROOFREAD YOUR WORK. This goes for all authors. I'm not an editor, nor do I want to be one. I like to read your books. If your book is loaded with spelling, bad grammatical errors, please don't send it to me. It takes away from my reading experience. I want to read your work.

4. AUTHORS-DON'T GET UPSET IF YOU GET A BAD REVIEW. In life, I try to read the book and give my honest opinion. Always try hard to say something nice about your book. Sometimes I give a bad review. I'm not judging you, I'm judging the book you wrote. Don't take it personally, and don't insult the reviewer. That makes me not want to review you.

5. Bloggers-READ The BOOK Please before posting a review. This should be self-explanatory. I see that people just review a book by the cover alone, especially on Goodreads. If you have an ARC fine, review it then. Not on the cover

6. Plagarizm. Have your own voice. Don't copy, don't steal. It is so wrong on so many levels. Bloggers take a lot of time reviewing and writing their posts.

These are the things that I have learned about blogging. What have you learned? What would you like to know more? Remember there are many ways to go about book-blogging. Everybody is different. Blog in the way that's best for you.