Today I’m happy to host fellow blogger Emily from Confessions of a Bookaholic. She hails from across the pond so I’m grateful she was able to tear herself away from going ga-ga over Princess Charlotte long enough to give us the lowdown on book blogging. It ain’t all free books and five-star reviews!
When I first started blogging I knew nothing about it but here are some things that may help new bloggers out there!
You Won’t Always Have Something Nice To Say About A Book
When I first opened my blog up for business I did what most people would probably do and reviewed my favourite books. When I started reviewing every book I read I found something unsettling, I don’t always love the books I read! When you are reading and not reviewing you don’t notice as much but when you review a hated book all those bad feelings towards it come bubbling to the surface and spill onto the screen in the form of a rant. My first one being of Phantom by L.J. Smith.
You Will Go From Obsessed To Infatuated – Yes There’s A Difference
Two years ago I read quite a lot but not nearly as much as I do since I started this blog. I went from around 100 books in three years to 100 in one. Before I used to read books, now I devour them. You find when you read a lot you get faster at it, at most this year I’ve read three books in one day – this time last year that would be unimaginable.
You Will Suddenly Find Your Purse A Lot Emptier
Similar to the last point, when you start a book blog you will read a lot more – three times more in my case – and when you read more you buy more. Last year I didn’t own a single book, my supply came from my library. But after a while I had read all the good books (it’s a small library) so I had to look elsewhere. I borrowed them from my friend for a while since her supply seemed infinite but after a while I decided to get some of my own. Now it has got to the point that I can’t leave Amazon without buying a book. I log on to buy an iPod charger, I come off with an iPod charger and five books on their way to me.
You Will Turn Into A Green-eyed Monster
You know how it is, you log onto blogger and a list of the blogs you follow come up and I can almost guarantee that one of the top posts will be someone’s ‘Stacking The Shelves’ or something of the like. You will then become curious and click the link only to find that person has somehow got hold of every book you have ever wanted (or that’s what your irrational jealous brain tells you). You then proceed to press back as quickly as possible or leave a comment that goes something like “Well Jell, ur sooo lucky!!!” (Okay maybe I’m currently watching The Only Way Is Essex – horrible show by the way) when you’re really thinking Life is unfair, why does she/he get that? Am I that bad a person??? If you go through this then there’s only one solution… when you get something awesome rub it in everyone’s faces and start the cycle again.
You Will Have Reading Slumps
Ah, the dreaded slump. You have work slumps of course but who would expect you could not feel like doing something you ordinarily love? I didn’t. But there are many ways to get out of a reading slump, some that worked for me are:
– Rereading a book you loved.
– Reading very short books – don’t attempt 400+ pages.
– Take a couple of days off from reading then you’ll be eager to get back to it.
Authors Are Your Friends… But You Can’t Accept All Books
I’ve heard so many people say they started their blogs for the free books but believe it or not but I had no idea bloggers could get free books. So imagine my surprise when I was emailed by an author asking me to review my book. I jumped at the chance without even reading the blurb. Lucky for me I enjoyed it but now I’m more careful about the books that I accept because there’s some unwritten rule about giving self-published books bad reviews and I don’t want to be the one to break it.
***Click here to read the other 4 Things No One Tells You About Book Blogging via Emily’s blog Confessions of a Bookaholic.***
Faith Simone says:
I can personally identify with all of Emily’s observations. The main problem for me is that I have to turn down so many review requests simply because I don’t have enough time! I’ve gotten much busier with my own writing and promotion than I was when I first started this blog, and it really cuts down on my extracurricular time…plus I’m training to run my first 5K, but that’s a post for another day! #Hilarious #YallAintReady.
WHAT ARE YOUR PET PEEVES ABOUT BLOGGING? HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR BOOK BUYING HABIT IN CHECK? ANY ADVICE FOR SOMEONE THINKING OF STARTING A BLOG? HOLLA AT US BELOW!
Faith Simone 
Three books in one day? WOW! I’m happy when I can read one book a week. Books are an obsession (like yours, I can tell) but I’m also a writer, and I need to lecture myself when I want to go back to read instead of writing that next chapter. However, a good writer can only be good if she’s a good reader, for sure. Nice to meet you here!
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I’m guilty of wanting to read when I should be writing too. That and wanting to watch reality tv…but lately my muse has been calling to me and I’ve been answering! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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I agree reading is an essential part of being a good writer, I think it would be difficult to be one for those who never read!
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Great post. And although I’m not exactly a “book blogger,” I still get requests to review books. Most of the time, they’re not my cup of tea (and the queries aren’t personalized) so I rarely even respond. And you’re training for your first 5K? Can’t wait to read all about it! Yes, #weready, lol.
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Girrllll, I’M not ready! That junk hurt…I’m thinking I won’t be ready for the July race. Maybe, just maybe I’ll be ready in a year. The good news is the pain only lasted while I was actually running. No soreness the next day. The bad news is that I have a long memory for pain and when I look at that treadmill a shudder just rises up in me!
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