Hi friends! I hope you are all well and staying safe ?
There have been a lot of discussions lately about book bloggers and their work and, no matter where you take this from, in the end, it all comes down to this: book bloggers’ work is cruelly undervalued, undermined and underestimated, from all sides, if you ask me.
I’m not trying to put everyone in the same basket here. I know some people, whether they’re part of the community or not, whether they’re publishers, authors or just people on the outside passing by, appreciate everything we do and for that, I’m so grateful.
That being said, I also know that a lot of people don’t realize book bloggers are still here. It’s easy, with bookstagram, booktube and whichever media will come next, to forget that book bloggers are here. It’s even easier for some to forget that book bloggers are the ground the book influencing community is standing on.
But you know what? Book bloggers are still here. Book bloggers are book influencers, have always been and will always be, because YES, despite everyone moving on to bookstagram and booktube and elsewhere, book bloggers STILL have a future, too. I truly believe that.
You know what else? Book bloggers do an incredible amount of work for so little appreciation, so little boost and so little recognition, sometimes.
Today, I really wanted to underline that. Everything we do, every single day, all the ways in which we work hard, with all of our hearts and passion and love for books.
So here it is. Everything book bloggers do. This list may vary, of course, depending on each and every book blogger out there. I’m talking about my personal work, a personal work, I’d like to underline, that I’m doing on the side of a full-time job, too. Like I said it before: blogging is a lot of work. It’s a labour of love.
What does a book blogger do?
Read books
Way to state the obvious, Marie. As book bloggers, we’re book lovers, therefore we’re reading books.
The thing is: saying we read books is too limited, because we don’t only read books like any other reader would. At least, I personally don’t.
Let’s stay onto the book aspect for a minute. I don’t only read books as in finished copies: I also, when I get lucky enough I scream and happy cry, read ARCs. Meaning, Advance Reading Copies of books that aren’t released yet.
I also read books with attention and care, because, as a book blogger, and no matter how underappreciated or rare they might get sometimes, I also review books.
I read books with more care because I review them and recommend them. I read books with even more care, because I know that, as a book blogger and as someone talking about books online (you too, no matter what your following is, by the way), I have a voice there. I can help people finding the books of their dreams and I can warn people to stay away from problematic work, hurtful content and just plain bad recommendations, too.
Okay, but reading books is a hobby. Isn’t that why you’re here? YES but did you mention the fact that as a book blogger, reading books can become work, too? When you feel obligated to read all the hyped books to fit in and still be relevant? When you’re feeling less of yourself because you can’t even read a book per week while you’re seeing other book bloggers reading 10 books in the same amount of time? How about we talk about the fact that I feel less of a book blogger than ever when I don’t read as much?
I’m going on a tangeant here, so let’s keep that topic for another day and keep it at that: as book bloggers, we read books.
⏳ How much time do I spend reading per week?
Honestly? Maybe 6 to 7 hours?
Review books
Despite their unpopularity, I started book blogging because I wanted to review books and 5 years later, I still do that and it’s still a big, big part of my work as a book blogger.
I don’t review every single book I read, because… well, let’s be honest, I’m not inspired to write full-on book reviews for each of them on my blog, nor do I have the time to do that. But I do review the books that matter, the books I want to talk about, as well as the ARCs I got lucky enough to receive.
Reviewing books might seem like an easy task, but let me tell you: it’s not. When I review books, I take back the little notes I wrote down in my notebook to put myself into the book again. I write down the trigger warnings I found in the book and scan others’ reviews on goodreads, on google and blogs to see if I might have missed any to add to my review. I think about the story, the characters, the setting, my feelings on the book, I write bullet points and write full-on sentences. I take my time, I start and leave it for another day, I delete and start again.
⏳ How much time do I take reviewing books per week?
Approximately An hour and a half to 2 hours, to more, depending on the book.
Write blog posts
If book reviews are a little less present on book blogs, it’s because there are so many other, incredible, creative content on book blogs now.
Discussion posts, both on books themselves and on blogging. Lists and recommendations, creative posts, there is just so, so much imagination and work around the blogosphere, it’s absolutely stunning and humbling to see it, really.
There is so much work that comes into writing blog posts. Let me try and break down my writing blog post process in quick bullet points:
- Brainstorm ideas
This involves a lot of thinking, a lot of hanging around with my list of over 40 ideas and screaming about the fact that I don’t have any ideas (aerm). This also involves stepping away, reading blogs and answering to comments and suddenly getting a random idea for something. This involves a lot of me rambling to myself.
- Write the blog post
Writing isn’t just about writing down the words and calling it quits, at least, not for me. It’s writing bullet points, a skeleton of the blog post with my main points. It’s starting to ramble on alone, wondering how the heck I’m going to write this. It’s writing a first draft, deleting bits and starting again, over and over again, researching for the post….
- Designing the layout of the blog post
Once the writing part feels okay, I’m stepping up to the designing part. Meaning: adding real structure to the post with paragraphs, titles and lists, but also adding images, GIFs, separators, links to other relevant blog posts, book covers and links for a book recommendations post…
- Creating images for the blog post
I usually spend time creating my featured image for my blog post before going into the layout… sometimes before writing it, even. I don’t know, it inspires me. This step is basically me spending way too much time scrolling and obsessing about a particular angle of a photography, screaming and trying out 10 pictures before picking one out.
- Re-reading the blog post once, twice, three times
Once I’m approximately satisfied with the way my blog post looks, I… re-read the blog post once, leave it for a couple hours, leave it for a day when I have time, re-read it again. THEN I make my sister read it because I’m extra like that.
- Hitting the schedule button
FINALLY, I hit schedule and put the blog post in a pretty green color in my book blog’s schedule to make me feel validated about my work. Then I think about it a little bit until it publishes.
⏳ How long does it take me to write a blog post?
It depends on the post, really. Some blog posts take me 2 hours, some blog posts take me 6 days, from writing the first draft to hitting the schedule button. Some posts take me weeks.
☂️ Related blog post: How to give your book blog posts that extra spark
Promote my blog
I could do much, much more when it comes to promoting my blog. There are so many strategies, from getting into Pinterest to finding collaborations and partnerships and I don’t know, MORE.
Yet, to be completely honest with you: I’m not getting any money from pageviews and I don’t want to obsess about blogging statistics too much right now, so…. the ways I promote my blog are mostly by being slightly active on social media (twitter and instagram), sharing my posts there and, most of it all, by being a part of and engaging with the community. I think, for book blogs, the best way of really promoting your blog is to just, be part of it all. Obviously, not going to lie: I know a lot of things that can make your traffic skyrocket, too, but I’m leaving it for another post later on.
⏳ How long do I take promoting my blog?
Only to talk about scheduling and promoting my own blog posts, I’d say about 1 hour a week.
Engage with the book community
Engaging is both a big part of promoting your blog, growing your blog, setting your place as a book blogger and a big part of blogging happiness, if you ask me.
What does engagement mean, really? Engagement is all about exchange. Engagement is all about conversations, to me. It’s about talking to and with others in the community, about the books you love, about the blogging struggles you face, about this little adventure you all are onto.
Engaging is also about screaming about the same books you love, together, which, when you think about it, is basically free book promotion, too.
I know, right now, most of the bookish community is off on bookstagram or twitter, engaging there through easy and quick comments, stories and tweets that are quickly getting viral. Book blogging still has A LOT to give out, when it comes to engagement. I mean: we still spend a lot of time writing blog posts, people still comment and share their recommendations on book blogs, people still engage and share blog posts they loved.
So how do I engage, personally? I spend time tweeting and bookstagramming a little bit, because let’s face the music here, these places are important, too. I spend the most time, however, supporting and engaging with book bloggers on my and their blogs. Answering and leaving comments, appreciating their INCREDIBLE work this way. Always being genuine and not falling for fake engagement traps.
⏳ How much time do I spend engaging?
Uuuuh. Honestly, I wish I could count, but it’s probably over the 10 hours a week-mark.
☂️ Related blog post: My top 5 tips to interact with the book blogging community
Book bloggers work so much and are so underappreciated
There’s so much more to book blogging that I could talk about.
The time spent on the book blogs themselves, designing them from scratch and making them ours, branding them to our image.
The time spent on other social media such as twitter and bookstagram.
The way we bend and crawl and rebrand ourselves and extend our book blogging selves to new platforms, to meet expectations and brands and to get more opportunities and recognition no one wants to give us on book blogs because, apparently, we’re not enough.
The time spent thinking about book blogging and screaming about the books we love and the heart, passion and love we pour into, a time that isn’t quantifiable, in any way because it’s just TOO big.
In case this post doesn’t show it: book bloggers do an astonishing amount of work. They’re so creative, so passionnate, so hard-working and so wonderful and so, SO UNDERAPPRECIATED.
We’re not getting paid for our work and if we ever try, I’m afraid we’d laugh in our faces. We’re not getting as many opportunities as other book influencers on booktube or bookstagram. We’re not growing as fast as them, either. We’re not getting as much views and as much love. (No shade on other communities’ work here, at all (!!), just stating the truth.) Hell, when people talk about book influencers, they don’t mention book bloggers AT ALL.
I wish it didn’t take stupid behaviour and things happening on twitter for people to boost book bloggers. I wish it didn’t take A SINGLE THING to recognize that book bloggers have been here and will still be here later, too.
I wish that all of this, THIS work I mentioned above and more, was understood and recognized more. We do it because we love it, otherwise we wouldn’t be here, but I think it’s so important to underline, understand and put into perspective all of these little things. These little hours added up together make A LOT of time and they’re made out of a lot of love.
So don’t tell me book blogging is easy.
Don’t tell me book blogging is dead, either.
I’m still here. There are literally THOUSANDS of book bloggers that are still here standing, screaming, working hard for the love of books. They do so much for so little in return and they’re still standing. I’m still standing.
I love book blogging and I hope, if you’ve read, skimmed this or anything, that you’ll take this one last thing out of this post, at least:
Book bloggers work so much. Appreciate them every single day, please.
☂️ If you’re looking for ways to appreciate bloggers’ work more, read on: Why and how you should support book bloggers
Book bloggers (and bloggers alike), can you relate to some of the work I listed here? What else do you do as a book blogger and how long does it take out of your day/week/month? Do you also feel like you do, well… a lot??
As always, if there’s any blogging topic you’d like me to talk about more in depth, feel free to let me know in comments!
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Linda @ flourishreader says
I totally agree with you. For me, it’s actually writing book reviews and blog posts which take a lot of time especially when I like the book a lot because I somehow feel the need to write the “perfect review”. But of course there’s nothing like that. 😀 Surprisingly, reading itself is only a small, small part of that and sometimes I feel like that shouldn’t be the case!! Also; discussion posts are so fun to write but take FOREVER. // Thank you for sharing this post!! I enjoyed reading it very much. ?
Marie says
Ahh yes, writing blog posts is most likely one of the things that take me the most time, I can take weeks from the idea to publishing something ahah.
I’m so, so happy you enjoyed this post! And glad I’m not the only perfectionnist out there haha 😛
Aj @ Read All The Things! says
I work on my blog every single day. It really is like having a part-time job, but I love it, so I don’t mind. I wish I could get into Bookstagram and BookTube. I don’t enjoy taking book photos, and I’m too ugly for YouTube. I hope book blogs never go away. Bloggers are my people!
Marie says
It really is, thankfully we love it ahah 😀 I hope so too, book blogs are wonderful <3
Angelica (TheBookCoverGirl) says
Wonderful post! I definitely agree that with the rise of Bookstagram and other platforms book blogs are not given the same appreciation but we definitely are an important part of the book world or else we wouldn’t have endured all this time and still be here!
Marie says
Agree! We’re still a very important part of the bookish community and I hope we always will be <3
Sumedha says
LOVE this post! Your time break downs are too real… I think when talking about engaging with the community, I easily spend 3 hours a week only on reading and commenting on blog posts. And then there’s social media.. oof.
Marie says
Awww thank you so much!! There’s always so much to do ahah 🙂
Emily @frappesandfiction says
My blog is just for fun so I don’t put too much pressure on myself, but I definitely relate! I feel like bookstagram and booktube get more attention sometimes, but I am not on either of those because I am neither aesthetically talented nor good at talking on camera! I think blogging is great because it allows you to practice your writing. Maybe I’ll start a youtube channel one day in the future… but for now, I think the blogging community is wonderful!
Marie says
I’m glad you can relate to this. I’m right here with you, if I am on bookstagram, booktube is just not my scene and I can’t help but wonder what I’m missing.
Blogging is wonderful though and I just love writing too much to give it up anyway ahah 🙂
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Emily <3
Books Teacup and Reviews says
Great post! I feel like I’m never free after starting blog. reading, blog hopping and writing post, and then there’s other chores and life.. it feels like 24 hrs are not enough. I spend lot of time for all blog related things. I read 4 hrs a day, writing post and blog hopping takes another 3 hrs and then an hour on social media. By the end of the week I’m tired so I started taking weekend off from blog. I hope people appreciate how much time and energy we give to blog.
Marie says
Thank you so much! I agree ahah, there’s just SO much to do everywhere all around, 24 hours is not enough for sure. I hope so, too <3
aina says
This is an AMAZING AND HIGHLY RELATABLE POST, Marie!!! Writing blog posts take a lot of time and that doesn’t include the editing part yet and all the WordPress stuff.
Writing wise, it takes me a few days to write a complete blog post and I usually do it on writing app (I write mine on phone). When I feel like it’s okay and there’s nothing more I want to add/omit, I’d proceed with copy-pasting the whole thing to WordPress editor (and it can be so tiring and troublesome at times. I lost count at how many times I accidentally copy-pasted the post twice and ended up having to delete the post and did it again). The editing part, especially on WordPress, can take me like 4 hours max (but it depends on the length of the post of course).
Also, I’m happy to see that you also review books like that!! I read other reviews on Goodreads as well to make sure I don’t forget to include stuff that I might otherwise miss in my review. And like you said, review posts generally don’t do well in terms of interaction but I like writing reviews because it’s a way for me to talk (or scream) about everything that’s in the book. It’s fun and also the main reason why I started my blog in the first place.
Oh my, sorry if I ended up being self-centered in my comment ? but your post is so good and you wrote it so well!! I wonder how long this post took you to write.
Thank you, Marie, for all the work you’ve done in helping and boosting book bloggers!!! You’re an ANGEL ??
Marie says
Oh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed this post <3
I admire you for writing your posts on your phone, like wow how do you do that? but I agree, writing a blog post from the idea to the final draft takes me AGES sometimes, from hours to entire weeks and formatting them can be hell ?
I'm so happy you're writing reviews like that as well! I don't want to miss out on important triggers in my reviews, so this takes me a bit of time, too.
And please don't worry, I loved hearing about your process so much!! Thank you, this means a lot? this is one of these posts that took a couple weeks to put together?
erin from rinsreads says
Thank you for writing this, Marie!! I didn’t really realize all of the work that went into blogging until I actually started a blog, but I totally feel what you wrote here!! It takes so much time to make something that you’re proud of, and even more time engaging with and forming connections with other bloggers!! Luckily, I think it pays off because this community is one of the nicest, most genuine and loving communities I’ve seen, especially compared to other book platforms!! I do wish other people would respect and support book bloggers more, we deserve it!! ♥
Marie says
Right? I didn’t realize that either, at first. It’s only when I started blogging that I realized, wow, that’s a lot of things to do?
I completely agree with you! It’s so rewarding and so wonderful to be part of this incredible community and I feel so grateful for it every day <3
Thank you so much, Erin!! <3
Solace in Reading says
as someone who just re-started her blog for the second time, i really needed to read this! i recently deleted my book twitter account and really saw a lot more traffic b/c of twt, but i also have a pretty solid bookstagram i can use to promote my blog. however, i started to have the mindset that even if i’m writing into the void or not getting any comments, at least i’m having fun and doing it for myself.
since i am a high schooler, i am trying to look @ blogging as less of a competitive sport and more like a fun club that i am a part of where i can participate when i am able to. writing posts is easy for me, but i find formatting/images/making it “aesthetic” is a challenge because i am more word than image driven.
when i was posting everday, it took a lot out of me. i also feel like not making myself have a super strict schedule is a lot easier for me to handle because when i posted everyday, i felt like i was posting just to post and not to actually do anything with a majority of my posts. thank you for this post!
Marie says
I’m glad this post could be helpful! It’s so important no matter what to have fun with it all and to do it for yourself, too 🙂
Thank you so much!
Sejal Sheth says
Hi Marie, thanks for sharing! I didn’t know that book bloggers were a thing until today but I am very jealous!
Marie says
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you could find out about our wonderful community and our work 🙂
Kat @ Novels & Waffles says
THIS ? POST ? IS?AMAZING ? Like seriously, I am blown away by how amazing this is (but I honestly shouldn’t be at this point because all of your posts are pure excellence). But yes, you bring up so many important issues here! Like, how blogging platforms don’t grow as fast as others. Even though I’ve been blogging the longest, somehow I have wayyy more followers on both my Instagram and Twitter accounts. Why is that?? And gosh, your whole process for writing a post is so spot on; it isn’t just something I do in an hour – it can take me DAYS to get a post all ready to publish…and yet my Instagram post that took me all of .05 seconds to write gets more interaction. Huh. Anyways, thanks for talking about this very very important issue that is near and dear to my heart ?
Marie says
AH KAT you’re too sweet thank you so so much, this means so much ??
It is a little frustrating to see how easy and quick it is to grow on other social media and not in blogging…. while blogging takes us the most time in it all, too. I wish this gigantic amount of work could be appreciated more. <3
Thank you so much!!
The Sassy Library Fox says
This is such a great post and I agree with so many things you said! I love to blog and to be creative, to write my reviews and to talk to other bloggers. And I love to gush about the books I enjoyed! It always makes me so happy to see when other book bloggers pick up a book I loved to bits and pieces. I shouldn’t even have the time to write reviews or to blog because I’m a working parent and my normal life is keeping me busy enough but I still do it (mostly in the middle of the night or very early in the morning) because I love books so much! <3 And yes, you're right: When people talk about book influencers they never mention book bloggers. I noticed it too. Still, I'll keep on writing and you'll keep on writing and everyone of those 62 other people who liked your post will keep on writing too. It's what we love to do and we'll never get tired of it! XD
Marie says
Ahh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed this post <3
I'm so glad you're keeping on blogging despite your busy life for the love of books, honestly it's the best. It's incredible to see what books make us do ahah and so, so lovely to be able to share this experience and talk about it all together <3
Thank you so, so much!! <3
Ruby Rae Reads says
Marie, hi I love you and love that you did this post and also adore it!! Because YES!! To everything!! Lmao, what we READ??? I am ya know, kinda shocked *wink wink*
This is all so true. Especially on doing all that research for book reviews. It really is time-consuming tbh. I didn’t even realise but the formatting and looking up everything is a lot of work. And social media is time-consuming too. I ADORE Instagram and its honestly where I spend most of my time but managing everything is so hard. I started a youtube channel too and honestly just haven’t been able to find a balance so I haven’t been active on there.
But yeah anyways, ALL so true and book bloggers are so underappeacted. I don’t understand why booktubers (and even bookstagrammers) always exclude blogs when we do nothing but talk about them. It’s very disheartening and I think it needs to change.
xoxoxo
Marie says
Ahhhhh Ruby thank you soo much ??
Right? Sometimes I don’t even remember that I read, I do so much?
I just can’t understand how people are so active everywhere all at once, it takes so much time! I can barely hang in there sometimes ahah.
This makes me so sad, too, yes. I think it’d be incredible if booktubers and bookstagrammers would acknowledge us more, too.
Thank you!! <3
Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical says
I loved, loved, LOVED reading this post, Marie! I think you’ve done an excellent job of listing all the work we do as book bloggers, and I really appreciate that you did this! I agree with you, there’re definitely harmful ideas about blogging and bloggers, and I think it’s important to speak up about these. For example, so many authors seem to believe that reviews are easy to write, when the fact of the matter is that they take time and effort. :/ I love blogging, but I do wish we were more appreciated as bloggers.
Marie says
Oh thank you SO much Veronika, so happy you enjoyed this post! <3
I agree with you! I feel like people think it's quick or easy, but some things take so much more work behind the scenes than it might seem, at first!
Thank you so much <3 <3
Carol says
Cheers ? to all the hard working book bloggers! I think book blogging will always be around because “readers gonna read”! Reading a brief IG caption is not as satisfying as reading a full length review! Give me all the words! Now WP adds the new Block editor to add to our time! ?
Marie says
YES cheers to them, book bloggers deserve the world <3 I agree, it's always so satisfying and wonderful to read in-length reviews and blog posts! <3
universewithinpages says
I love this post! It’s super interesting to see what you do as a blogger, and a lot of my steps overlap as well. I’ve found that book blogging takes up WAYYY more time than what I originally anticipated when I started.
Have a great day! <3
Marie says
Oh thank you so, so much! It’s funny just how much time it takes, we didn’t expect it ahah 🙂
Thank you! <3
Whimsically Meghan says
This was amazing! I want to hug your post because I love it that much. ❤️ You hit on so many great points and it’s true, blogging takes time. I swear it’s like a second job because after working my actual job, I spend time working on my blog and getting everything ready.
I love that once you schedule a post and it’s ready to go, you change it to green… I should really start doing that because I almost forgot I had to finish a post earlier this week before it went up… oops! ?
Again, wonderful, wonderful post, Marie! ?
Marie says
Awww thank you so much!! <3 It really is a second job ahah, but it's so wonderful to be part of this community <3
Ahah yes it's just so nice to see my schedule filled with green ahah I love it 😀
Whimsically Meghan says
You’re welcome! ❤️
I agree with you, I love being here even if it’s as much work as a second job!
Oh, I bet, it must make you feel very accomplished! ?
Rachelle Saint Louis says
I absolutely love this and completely agree! We don’t do it for the flash or attention, we do it with our hearts and for the love of it. I think that’s one of the reasons the book blogging community has significantly less drama than other communities. There’s no faking the effort put into these posts and their designs. I’ve poured hours each week into my page and I’ve seen how the people in this community are so caring. Book bloggers really deserve so much more attention and I hope that other people in the bookish community come to realize that
Marie says
Ahh thank you so much! I love how caring and wonderful book bloggers are and I agree, I think they deserve all the love <3
trufflereads says
Another AMAZING post Marie, honestly you and Shealea do so much blogger promotion for all of us, we are so bloody grateful for you <3 I really hope bloggers start getting more opportunities. Have an amazing day!
Marie says
Oh thank you so, so, so much, this means the world ????
Shatarupa Dhar says
True. I’m not even in the big league, but the amount of time that goes on to blogging, time which I don’t think I’ll have when or after I have a full-time job…?
Marie says
So much time goes into blogging, that’s for sure. In the end it’s all a matter of balance, and it’s okay not to do it as much when you’re busy with other life things too! We do it, no matter how little or big, because we love it<3
Chara says
Yes I’m starting to feel this. I recently joined book blogging and honestly I thought it wouldn’t take so much of my time. But OH BOY! It takes hours to get everything right and in order.
And yes I can totally relate! I feel like when I’m finishing one book, everyone has already read 10. Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Marie says
So many hours ahah yes! Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts <3
Caro @ bookcheshirecat says
This is another amazing post, Marie! I always love reading your book blogging discussions ? I appreciated how you showcased what we do as bloggers and most importantly how much time you spend on it per week! I don’t know how much time I spent on blogging per week but I should really track it someday! It’s probably a lot of time between engaging and answering comments, blog posts, reviewing, promo, reading the books and planning upcoming content ?
Marie says
oh thank you so much Caro, so happy you enjoy them, thank you <3
It really is a lot of time when you put it all together ahah, it's funny when we realize just how much time it is!
themagicviolinist says
Book blogging is so much WORK. I realized that I wanted to blog more for me and just for fun rather than to pursue it as anything more than a hobby, which took some of the pressure off, but even fun posts are so detailed and hard to write quickly?? Reviews will always be the death of me because as soon as I finish a book, I immediately forget everything that happened in it. Hats off to you for all that you do!
Marie says
I agree! It is a lot of work and… well, to be honest, even if I want to do this for fun, I also want it to be perfect so it takes a whole lot of work and time anyway ?? thank you so much ahh you’re so sweet ?
Macey @ Brine and Books says
I love this!! Wow, I admire that you spend up to 10 hours engaging each week; that’s incredible! I don’t spend half as much time, and I think that’s amazing. But yes, we can spend up to 2 to 3 hours writing a blog post!! So much work xx
Marie says
Oh thank you so much Macey, you’re so sweet ! <3 It is a lot of work but we love it <3
Amena @ Nerd In New York says
Awww this is such a cute post! I do feel that book blogs are really underappreciated. I feel like for me book reviews are the one that take the most to write, and receive little to no interaction. Which is understandable and of course stats aren’t everything, but it does suck sometimes hahaha. But I still love doing what I do, and one of the major pluses is that I hear about good novels I never would’ve heard about before 🙂
Marie says
Oh thank you so much Amena! ? I understand, book reviews are unfortunately wildly unpopular aha I wish they weren’t. 🙁
Thank you so much! <3
emme @ a literary latte says
I love this post and I definitely agree that book bloggers are underrated!
Marie says
Ahh thank you so much!! <3 So happy you enjoyed it!
Amber Elise @ Du Livre says
Thank you for writing out how much work we do Marie because people really don’t understand how much of a time suck this hobby is. I love what I do, but sometimes people treat us like unpaid interns and at the end of the day, I’m doing this for me.
I typically do all my blogging on Sunday and it takes me roughly 3 hours to write out 3 posts. I do need to promote my blog a bit more, but it always feels weird.
Marie says
I will always be amazed by people thinking this is easy or just “takes a minute”, because like…. nope, it’s a lot of work and a LOT of time, even if it’s a hobby! ?
Wow you’re fast at writing posts though, that’s amazing! I take 3 hours for one post on average ? and I get that. I always feel a little awkward about it, too, but…. we should do more. We work hard, we deserve to! <3
Thank you so much!! <3
Lindsi says
I do feel like book bloggers are underappreciated. I love reading and writing posts, talking with others about books and sharing content, but it’s a lot of work. I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I’m currently homeschooling three small children. It’s insane. I never know when I’ll have time to read or blog, but I try to make sure I stay on top of my commitments, whether their ARC reviews, blog tours, or whatever else. We spend A LOT OF TIME reading, writing, and talking about books. If I want a book rec, I look to book bloggers I trust. I rarely venture to Bookstagram, but they do have amazing photos, haha.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? ?
Marie says
I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling this way and I admire you so much for all that you do! It’s a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding when people pick up books because of us, too <3
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Charis @ Charis Rae says
Yes… just YES to this post ?? (First off, I’m soo impressed at how much time you spend book blogging… wowww I wish I had that level of commitment) It’s crazy how much work is put into book blogging, and yet blogging seems to have declined a bit in the past years? Gotta admit it can be hard to watch BookTubers and Bookstagrammers and Booktwitter-ers rapidly growing… I think it’s weird that book blogs aren’t as popular compared to them. BUT regardless, the book blogging community is so rich and amazing and HERE, and I hope we get more appreciation and recognition for what we do!
Marie says
Oh thank you so much!! ? I understand what you mean. It’s way easier to gain followers and interaction quickly on social media and they’re on the rise, but I think it’s so important not to forget how RICH and wonderful the book blogging community is <3
Nicole Evans says
MARIE, this post was incredible, my goodness!! Thank you so much for writing this and spending goodness knows how many hours making it clear that book blogging is not easy and it should, for so many reasons, not only not be forgotten or discounted, in comparison to other platforms, but it should also be recognized and validated more! I appreciate the work you do to uplift this community so much and I am just so thankful for you! <3
Marie says
Oh Nicole thank you so much!! So happy you enjoyed it and thank you, this means the world!! <3
Joss @ maybeivereadit says
Thank you so so much for writing this! I completely agree with you! Blogging takes soo much time! When I started, I just didn’t realize how long it would take me to write a post, add some photos and do all the things that bloggers usually do when they write a post. Writing a post can take sooo much time, honestly. But I guess the biggest reward is seeing people liking your posts, commenting and just interacting with you. I wish book bloggers were appreciated more because they do such an amazing job. That being said, I don’t regret joining this community at all. It is such a welcoming, kind and understanding community. My only regret is not starting blogging earlier. Great post, as per usual!
Marie says
Thank you so, so much for reading, Joss! <3
It's funny how we don't realize, AT ALL, just how much time blogging takes at first! But I completely agree: the biggest reward of it all is seeing people connecting with what you write and the community is so, so wonderful <3
Thank you so, so much!! <3
Charvi says
Gah, this post is so incredible! Being a book blogger, I can easily see this took you quite some time. I think you covered almost everything we do with of course some differences across individuals. A lot of people don’t see what goes behind maintaining a book blog which is so terribly sad.
I would also add to this all the anxiety and worry and sadness over blog posts that sometimes don’t do as well as we had thought. Of course bookstagram and booktube also requires a lot of work but often I feel those people disregard the effort we put in. Thank you for writing this post, Marie <3
Marie says
Ahh Charvi thank you so much ??
Oh definitely. The anxiety and stress would make another blog post at least as long as this one, with everything I have to say about it haha. I just wish people would recognize and boost our voices as much as they do for booktubers and bookstagrammers. <3
Thank you!! <3
Marta @ the book mermaid says
Brilliant post, Marie!! <3 It's so easy to not feel motivated, as a book blogger, when there's so little recognition, but the truth is that we work A LOT and work so many different jobs (content creator, graphic design, marketing,…) and seriously, every time I see someone trash-talking book bloggers, my heart breaks a little more. I love the community so much and at least book bloggers have each others' backs, but it'd be nice if people in other platforms, authors and publishers could be a bit nicer. Also, if you ever do write a post on platform/blog/traffic strategies, I'd LOVE to read it, I've been actually doing a bit more research on the topic!! ^^
Marie says
Thank you Marta!! ? I agree, it’s so wonderful to see how book bloggers boost each other, but it would be lovely if all the bookish community all around would recognize and boost our work, too <3
Thank you!! <3
marydrover says
Thank you so much for this post! I kind of feel like I’m shouting into the void sometimes, and it doesn’t help much that my mom is usually questioning my sanity, like, “You’re just shouting at the internet about the books you love? On MORE than one platform??” But book blogging is really where my heart lies, and it’s so refreshing to see you boosting how much we matter and how much hard work we put into these hearts.
Marie says
Oh god I get that, I myself am questioning myself every day like why am i doing this to myself ? but then again, I love it so much and I really think our work deserves all, all the love <3
da-AL says
amen to all! great post! Would you be so kind as to guest blog post for my site? if you’re so inclined, here’s a link to general guidelines: https://wp.me/p6OZAy-1eQ
Marie says
Thank you! 🙂
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight says
Totally and completely agree with you here! I mean- just look at your comments section, OBVIOUSLY book blogging is not dead, since we are all over here agreeing with and cheering you on! And that isn’t even counting all the people who read and don’t comment! It’s absurd to say it’s dead, when I know for certain that I have bought books because of blogs, and I know people have bought books because of my (and others’ of course!) blog.
Underappreciated is a great word for it, too. Like- if we aren’t writing reviews, who’s going to? And the absolute truth is, with publishers who are no longer working (much or at all) with bloggers, I have unequivocally seen their titles not doing as well. Because look, without any advanced reviews available- be it on blogs, Goodreads, etc, people are much less likely to take the chance (I always look up reviews before I buy a book- ALWAYS). And no, obviously this doesn’t apply to the books by authors who are already huge, but how many of those are there? That’s what, maybe 5% of all books published? And when I look those books up, see no reviews on Goodreads, no reviews on buy sites, no reviews when I Google… I can’t help but think “but wow what if you HAD contacted bloggers and reviewers?” I really do hope that they can see how they’re not only hurting us by treating us as not useful, but the authors, too- and ultimately themselves!
Marie says
I so agree with you! There’s a thriving community here and it saddens me to see just how… well, how little consideration we get, sometimes.
I completely agree with you on that! Social media is great for publicity, but it’s quick publicity while blogs can create a long lasting impression and ultimately, recommend books for months and years where a social media post won’t last more than a couple of days, if you’re lucky. I really hope we can still be considered as a vital part of book promotion, because we are 🙂
Thank you!! <3
ahaana @ Windows to Worlds says
You’ve put so much thought into this post, and honestly, it’s visible. I agree with all the points you’ve said, and even though I’m kinda new to his community, I understand what you mean. I love the gifs you’ve added too!
drizzleandhurricanebooks says
Oh thank you, so happy you enjoyed it, thank you!! <3
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction says
When I first started blogging, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. I thought it was just a fun place where I would randomly write reviews and maybe some other stuff. You’re so right that book blogging takes a huge amount of work, but it’s also super rewarding!!
drizzleandhurricanebooks says
SAME ahah, I thought it’d be fun, but I never ever imagnined just how much work it could take. You’re so right though that it’s so rewarding, too <3