What Does It Really Mean To Be A Book Blogger?

Before I started this little book blog, I didn't really know what it meant to be a "blogger," and more specifically a book blogger.  I mean, yeah, I had an idea about what bloggers do, but once I really got into it, I started realizing all the hats we wear as book bloggers and all the work that goes into it!

• First and foremost, we're readers.  Dedicated, obsessed, lose-all-sense-of-time readers.  Whether we're reading 20 books a year or 200, we all share a love of reading and it's our desire to talk about books with others that has brought us all here!

• We're also reviewers.  We talk about books, things we loved within the pages and things we didn't.  We look at books critically and articulate what does and doesn't work.  And sometimes we just fangirl out or rant about a book we've recently read!

• We're writers.  Hey, these posts don't write themselves (although sometimes I wish they did).  And not only blog posts - how many of you out there are working on your own original stories?

• We're coders.  Whether it's building a blog from scratch or expanding upon an existing template.

• We're editors.  We proofread everything that gets published on our blogs.  We decide what's going to get posted and when; we're in charge of planning out the schedule.  We make sure our blogs have a good flow and everything looks the way it's supposed to.

• We're "chief content officers."  We come up with all the ideas and decide what we're going to talk about.  It's definitely not easy coming up with fun, unique posts all the time.

• We're photographers and graphic designers.  A lot of work goes into making our sites look nice, from taking those perfect pictures to designing eye-catching graphics for our posts.

• We're promoters, getting the word out about our favorite books, authors, and upcoming releases.  Giving and getting recommendations is a big part of book blogging, and it's because of you guys that I've found some new favorite authors!

• We're active members of a huge book-blogging community.  Seriously, I did not even realize how many book blogs were out there when I started, but it's so cool because everyone has their own unique perspective!  I love the sense of community that everyone has, whether it's commenting on someone else's blog or participating in a reading challenge.

• Some other skills we have?
• Time management - For most of us, blogging is a hobby and we have to learn how to fit it into our lives already filled with families and jobs (and books!).
• Social media savvy - Okay, maybe not me so much, but all of you bloggers out there on Instagram and Twitter!

What skills have you learned or honed as a result of being a book blogger?  What does being a book blogger mean to you?  Did anything surprise you when you first started blogging?