Monday, September 18, 2017

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?



21 comments:

  1. Great post. I know my time management/multitasking skills have improved a lot since I started blogging. I love blogging but it's definitely like having a second job some weeks, haha.

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    1. Oh, I know! It takes way more time than I thought it would!

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  2. I really wish my posts wrote themselves. I’m far behind with reviews and could use some help from the post-writing gods. I was surprised at how difficult it is to make a website look good. I have no artistic skills whatsoever, so designing my site was horrible and stressful.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Yeah, no tech skills plus questionable creativity kind of forced me to keep the blog design really simple. I'm hoping I'll learn more as I go and I can make it look better.

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  3. Love this!! It is all true although I think at various levels. My coding skills are poor and I am too afraid to change anything in case I mess it up!!!

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    1. Thank you! Oh, I totally agree. I figured out how to embed Google maps in my posts and I was proud of that! But anything else, I'm afraid to try until I learn more. I am in awe of people who build their own sites!

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  4. Oh this is such a fantastic post, Angela!! It just makes you realise how much goes into book blogging, and for me, personally, it just makes me have so much respect for those who do it. Like you say, it's not simply "reviewing and reading" - it's coding, designing, writing, time management....

    Amazing post :)

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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    1. Thank you, Amy! It is not as *easy* maybe as I thought it would be - it really takes time and effort!

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  5. Ohhh, fantastic post here, Angela! I've been thinking about everything that changed since I started blogging, all the skills I managed to develop and everything else. It really is crazy, how much we do as book bloggers. We're definitely not just reading and reviewing books. So much time and thought come into our every posts... but we love it, so even if we end up spending TONS of time doing it, it's all worth it :)
    Lovely post! :)

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    1. Thank you so much, Marie! It is so much more than reading and reviewing, especially since current trends seem to be moving away from traditional reviews so much! It really means we have to be that much more creative!

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  6. This post is so great!! I'd like to think that since I started blogging and reviewing books that my English has gotten better and because of that my reviews also have gotten better. Thinking back to my early days I knew so little of blogging and the way books are published. I think all of us bloggers have come a long way. =D

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    1. Wait, is English not your first language? I never would have guessed!

      Definitely, even in just 1.5 years, I feel like I've learned so much!

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  7. You convinced me to add this to my resume! Great post.

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  8. I love this post! It's so true, being a blogger means you wear a LOT of different hates (especially if you don't have a co-blogger!) I've definitely put a LOT of time and energy into my blog and picked up skills I likely wouldn't have learned otherwise (although I'm not expert by any means, but I do feel proud when I do something even marginally code or graphic design related, haha!)

    -Cristina @ Girl in the Pages

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I totally agree, I'm happy when I can even figure out small things!

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  9. Hi! I've been really struggling to keep up with life in general and a lbit absent form the blogosphere because of that, but I'm still around!

    I agree with SO MANY of these! Book bloggers are amazing, right? I might not be doing so well in the time management aspect right now, but I'm still managing to carry on with my 'hobby'. :)

    Wonderful post!

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    1. Thank you! I hope you're doing well - I've missed seeing your posts, but sometimes life does get crazy!

      It's hard to find the perfect balance - blogging is a hobby, but it can take so much time!

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  10. Great post- I like how you enunciated all that. It does really get you thinking how many hats we wear in this crazy hobby! :) And the community is so fabulous- that's one of the most pleasant surprises for me, as a book blogger.

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    1. Thank you! I realized pretty quickly that there is a lot more to being a book blogger than I thought! ITA, the community is amazing!

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!