Fair disclaimer here: I love book blogging. It’s honestly one of my favorite things to do, like, ever. Yet, it doesn’t take away the fact that, sometimes, it’s really hard.
If you’re a regular reader of the blog (thank you, I adore you, truly), you’ll know I’m trying my best to be honest about my book blogging experience, as best as I can. It’s been a little while since I talked about book blogging and even longer since I mentioned how hard it can be, at times.
Not being ungrateful here and, before the comments of “why don’t you just quit?” arrives, I’ll say it again: I love book blogging. It doesn’t mean that it’s all sunshine and rainbows all the time, though.
Today, I wanted to share some truths about book blogging. Some hard, ugly truths, some unexpected, some expected ones, maybe. They might be obvious to some people, not so obvious to others.
Most of it all, no matter where you are in your book blogging journey, these are important to keep in mind.
8 Hard Truths About Book Blogging
1. Book blogging takes a lot of work
Because obviously, it’s not just about writing blog posts.
Of course, blog posts are the heart and soul of book blogging: there’s what makes this kind of plaform stand. A blog without any blog posts is like a body without a soul. Also, not going to lie: there is a LOT of work that already comes with the simple fact of writing blog posts.
Like, brainstorming, thinking about new ideas, trying to make them come together into something coherent. There’s thinking about SEO, as well, if you’re trying to write an SEO optimized blog post in order to be found.
Then, it’s all about writing said blog post and having a mental breakdown about it every now and then.
Once it’s done, the work is not, because you have to make your blog post pretty so that people want to read it, obviously. And for people to be able to see it, you have to promote it, too, via social media and more.
Book blogging doesn’t start and stop at blog posts. It’s also about making connections with other bloggers by blog hopping and leaving comments, it’s about going on social media and putting yourself out there, too. It’s about relaunching your platform with a brand new design, creating pages with some of your favorite resources, making graphics, screaming about books a whole damn lot.
Truly, the work never, ever, ever stops.
💡 My tip: work at your own pace. There’s always something new to do or to improve, but take it one day at a time. There’s no rush or deadline, just your own expectations!
☂️ You might be interested in : Shining a light on book bloggers’ work: what do we really DO?
2. Gaining an audience (and keeping it) takes time
Let’s be honest here: no book blogger is an overnight sensation. That I’m aware of, at least.
Growing your blog takes time, patience, consistency and a whole lot of love for what you’re doing, as well. Unlike social media, book blogging is more of a marathon than a sprint. You’re not going to gain 10k followers or page views in the matter of a day, unless you, for some incredible reason, wrote a blog post that’s gone viral, shared on social media a whole damn lot and so on.
It can happen (and if it does happen for you, this is incredible!), but it’s not common.
I think that the most important thing to remember here is that blog posts take time to reach an audience and you shouldn’t give up right away.
Unlike social media, a blog post won’t go viral now… but it might days, weeks, months later. I wrote a blog post last summer that, today, almost a year later, brings consistent, daily traffic back to my blog.
Traffic come and go. So do people, unfortunately. That being said, if you work consistently, have patience and, most importantly, keep on doing it with love, it’s all worth the wait.
💡 My tip: it’s hard not to get discouraged, especially when you first get started. Think about networking, connecting with other bloggers as soon as you can. It’ll help you gain an audience but, most importantly, it will help you find new friends and have more fun!
☂️ You might be interested in : How To Increase Your Book Blog’s Traffic : 7 Easy Ways To Grow
3. Without being on social media, you’re (almost) doomed
Before you all scream at me: I’m being dramatic with this title, of course. You’re not really doomed if you’re not on social media.
That being said, we can’t deny that social media matters, especially nowadays. If you’re not on social media, you might as well be invisible.
I’m exaggerating again. Or, am I?
The thing is: social media is a fantastic tool to help you grow your blog, for many reasons. First and foremost, it’s easier to create connections on social media for most people. Easier to follow people, easier to grow, easier to do a lot of things.
Second of all, it’s a place where you can promote your book blog easily: share your brand new blog posts, talk about some old blog posts and so on.
If you’re not on social media at all, you’re not really doomed, but, let’s face it: you’re not taking all of the chances you can get to grow your blog, either.
💡 My tip: find the right platform for you. Some people love twitter, others will find themselves at home on instagram or tiktok. You don’t need to be EVERYWHERE (I mean, who has the time? Certainly not me), but you should be somewhere, at least. Don’t be afraid to try it out to see which platform(s) fit you best!
4. Your motivation and inspiration will have ups and downs
Think you can’t ever, ever get tired of talking about books, something you love so dearly? Think again.
It’s terrible to say it, but it’s the truth and important to acknowledge it. Just like you adore reading, yet you might get into a reading slump, you might fall into a blogging slump, at some point.
It’s not always easy to find motivation, or ideas to blog consistently.
Some days, your brain will remain desperately empty, no matter what you do. No matter how much you love it, sometimes, you just won’t have inspiration, motivation, time. It’s life. Ups, downs, all around.
Of course, there are some tricks you can use to find new ideas and inspiration to blog, but sometimes, even that won’t work.
When you do something you love, it’s hard to imagine stepping away from it, but sometimes, it’s necessary. It’s a hard truth, but important to say.
💡 My tip: cut yourself some slack. Yes, patience and consistency is best to grow, but it’s not worth it if you’re unhappy. So, if you need to take a step away from it all, just do it.
☂️ You might be interested in : How To Take Better Care of Your Mental Health As A Content Creator / Blogger
5. It’s easy to fall into the comparison game
There are so many book bloggers out there, it’s so easy to start comparing yourself to others. Whether it’s about a book blog’s stunning design, the way they seem to be growing faster than you are, getting more comments than you are, how talkative and at ease they seem to be on social media…
There will always be something and someone new to compare yourself to.
When you’re starting out, another struggle pile on top of that: you don’t know exactly who you are, yet. You haven’t found your blogging voice or what makes you stand out in a sea of book blogs, just yet.
And even when you do, there’s still this nagging voice in the back of your head telling you there’s better than you out there.
Let me tell you: there is NO ONE like you.
💡 My tip: everyone’s on their own, personal path, you’re on yours. Your day 1 might be someone’s day 55. No one has your voice, your personality, your blog. Remember that!
☂️ You might be interested in : How To Make Your Blog Stand Out: 5 Ways To Be Memorable
6. It’s hard to get paid as a book blogger
If you know a book blogger getting paid, please raise your hand.
Before you do, I want to be clear: I’m talking about a book blogger (NOT a booktoker, bookstagrammer or whatever. A book blogger, meaning = with a book blog).
I’m not saying it’s impossible.
I know it’s possible to gain a few cents here and there with affiliate links (but really, you’re not going to become a full-time blogger with this). I also realize that some book bloggers are offering different kind of paid services, such as beta reading, editing, book promotion and so on… and maybe they’re able to get paid for it, too.
All I’m saying is: it’s really, really hard as a book blogger, to make money. It’s completely absurd for publishers to pay us, apparently (while it’s not for influencers on bookstagram, for instance). I’m not going to go too far into this, because it will be a lot, but, yes. Know that it’s tough.
💡 My tip: don’t go there. Okay, just kidding. Just, lower your expectations!
☂️ You might be interested in: Why i believe book bloggers should get paid
7. You’ll struggle to find the right balance with it all
When I started book blogging, I was at university. I went through finals and university work, multiple internships and full-time jobs with my blog on the side.
I know how tough it can be to find the right balance between blogging, a full-time job, being a student, a fill-in-the-blanks-here-with-whatever-is-going-on-in-your-life.
It’s a hard truth and a constant struggle, because when you think you figured it out, life changes and you’re back to trying to find time to blog, yet again.
Maybe you’ll be juggling for a little while. Maybe you’ll take breaks, or you’ll mess up with your posting schedule a little bit. It’s okay. If you love it, you’ll always come back to it.
💡 My tip: organization is key. It’s important to prioritize what you love doing the most.
☂️ You might be interested in: How I Use Notion For Blogging: My Organization Tips For Bloggers
8. Book blogging doesn’t get a whole lot of recognition
I’m going to be painfully honest here, but when people are talking about book influencers, they’re thinking of bookstagrammers, booktubers or hell, booktokers before book bloggers.
Maybe it’s because we’re a bit less obvious, because social media is all the rage lately. But I can’t even begin to explain the amount of times publishers, magazines, or any one, really, thought about these other platforms and influencers before us.
It’s not because we’re not on the trendy platform of the moment that we’re not here and that our work doesn’t deserve to be seen and recognized.
Yet, here we are. Right now, book bloggers aren’t thought of, mentioned, praised or considered as highly as other book influencers on other platforms. I could rant for ages about the how, the why and how frustrating that is, because book blogging is hard work and deserves to be seen, heard, recognized and acknowledged WAY more than it currently is.
I’m just going to stop there before I get mad about it, again.
☂️ You might be interested in : Blogging VS. Social Media: why having a book blog still matters
☂️ Want to read more about book blogging? Check out these posts:
- 5 Really Easy Ways to Support Book Bloggers (they deserve it all)
- Reflecting On 7 Years Of Blogging: Lessons Learned, Wins, Fails & Goals (+ INTL GIVEAWAY!)
- 10+ Essential (And Free!) Blogging Tools To Grow A Successful Blog
📌 Pin 8 Hard Truths About Book Blogging on Pinterest!
What are some of the hard truths you’ve learned as a book blogger?
How do you find balance? Do you find that you have enough recognition, as a book blogger? I’d love to chat in comments!
Twitter ☂️ Bookstagram ☂️Goodreads ☂️ Bloglovin’ ☂️ Support the blog
Subscribe to the newsletter for more book recommendations, exclusive intl giveaways, behind the scenes and more:
Great post!
Myself, I’m on Twitter but find many people leaving these days… Tiktok is definitely not for me, neither is Instagram in a lesser amount.
Thank you so much! I can understand that, Tiktok isn’t for me, at all 😂😂
i was literally just looking at my traffic stats and there’s a post i wrote over a year ago that’s bringing in the majority of my views consistently in the last two months – it’s really a marathon and i agree with all your points, that is what makes it special for me. amazing post as always!! <3
Ahh that’s fantastic, yay, congratulations!! And thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed this post <3
As always, you are spot on with your observations and tips! I don’t even really know what more to say, because I agree on all points. We’ve been in the game so long, we just know what’s up haha
Thank you so much! We really are the dinosaurs of the book blogging community 😂
Awesome post! How do I find balance? I still ask that question to myself. I tried to write post on this, it’s still in my draft, but the more I think about it the more I feel there is no straight answer to this as life is not straight and I end up with one point, TRY and keep trying to balance things things will get in line.
I so agree with you on that! It’s so hard to have a straight answer to that one, because… it always changes. As long as we always get back to it and still love it, that’s what matters 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Blogging can be such a struggle! I agree with you on your points. It’s like the success of your blog is like a wave, it comes and goes and all you can do is ride the wave sometimes. I’m currently in a lull but I know that it’s very possible I can come out of it. I just have to find the groove again. Loved reading your thoughts, they were very reaffirming! 😊
Exactly! It’s a wave and sometimes you’re drowning too 😂😂 I hope you’ll find your groove again and I’m always here if you need to chat about it! <3
Aw thank you so much, Marie! You are too sweet! ❤️
Marie, I love this post! This came at the perfect time, because I’ve been gone from blogging for over a year. Reading this post is the first time I’ve looked at my reader in months and months, so it was exactly what I needed to see!
I definitely have a lot of fear coming back into blogging because I know that I won’t have the same audience I used to, I know I’ll have to work to find that balance, and so many of the other truths you listed here. I’m counting on my passion for books and for connecting with others to carry me through all of that. So this post both validated me and inspired and encouraged me to keep going! Thank you for this, and I hope you’re doing well. Sending you a hug!❤️
OLIVIA 😭 I’m so glad this post found you at the right time and I’m SO GLAD to see you in my comments, HI 😭😭
I hope that your passion will carry you through the first few weeks of it all and that you’ll find your new rhythm easily. Here to support you always!! <3 <3
HI!! Thank you so much, as always you are simply the kindest person ever❤️
This is all so true, but I felt #4 and #8 in particular sooo much 😭
Right? It’s so hard sometimes 😭 glad you could relate to this! <3
Ugh Marie, this post summarised so many of the hard truths I struggled with. I love blogging, I’m forever thankful that my love of reading allowed me to start my blog and find so many people who are now friends. I understand that social media is all the rage, I understand it’s somewhat easier to find accounts and content that way but…what if one day social media isn’t there? Also not everyone uses social media. I just find is disheartening to see so many wonderful, hardworking book bloggers pour everything into their work, into projects and to be part of the community only to feel overlooked and cast aside. It’s a hard truth and one I still struggle with since I’m still figuring out what I want my relationship with social media to be (as in do I want to actually try my hand at vlogs/reels/explore video based content or do I just want to hide and stay as a partial hermit on social media because I don’t have the desire to jump through that many hoops for minimal return)
I think one of the hard truths I’ve discovered is you can have absurd growth and stats only to watch it fall into barely anything. Maybe I’ll write a post about this but sometimes looking at my stats makes me sad. I know logically the reason my stats sky rocketed in the early years was because I was doing ‘too much’. I was literally burning myself into the ground and it definitely got me the stats but it ultimately lead to be having to later take a year long hiatus because I was just so creatively burned out and exhausted from everything. My stats are lower in comparison but for some bloggers my current stats could be what they’re aiming towards. My content is also not as frequent and I’ve gotten rid of a lot of old posts, so that also contributes to a lack of views coming in. Fully aware of that but at the end of the day, I’m happy going at a slower pace for the part, even if I do wish for the days where I was more active. I just don’t think it was sustainable for me in the long term.
Your stats are not always reflective of a healthy relationship with your blog or social media, which is something I would love to talk more about because many social platforms are trying to push creators to do more for the bare minimum return. Content creators are human too and I just would love to know how the people who design these algorithms think the ‘requirements’ are sustainable and healthy for people.
Anyway, loved reading this post Marie, blogging definitely isn’t easy. Yet I don’t think I’m ready to stop yet, I still have too many posts I want to write haha 💜
Oh Clo thank you so, so much for your comment, I’m happy this post could resonate with you so much. I understand what you mean, when you say you’re still figuring out your relationship to social media, I feel the same way!
AND YES you’re so right! Stats are so complicated to figure out, and yet they play such a great role in our… moods, ahah and they definitely don’t pair up well with mental health, sometimes. The algorithms are just designed for more, and more, and always more, but it’s not sustainable at all, nor is it healthy for us. It’s important to know our limits with it all.
Thank you so, so much!! <3
I always appreciate how you talk about blogging candidly Marie, because it is hard work, and there is definitely times when I thought about giving it up (due to my mindset mostly). I could relate to all of the points made, and when you said “about writing a blog post and having a mental breakdown about it every now and then.”…. How did you know?! 😂
But seriously it can be a rollarcoaster! I think when you said “if you love it, you’ll come back to it” is so true. Sometimes I try to force things, but I’m like no… I will prioritise it when I’m ready and that should be enough. Not always ideal but enough. You need breaks and rests!
Great post, as always! 💕 It was a very comforting and helpful read!
Thank you so much, Sophie, so happy you enjoyed and could relate to this post 😭 I’m too often trying to force things as well, even when I know I shouldn’t ahha, but it’s important to remember that we need rest, too! 🙈
One of the best advices I’ve read on book blogging! Thank you Marie so much for sharing and being honest! Definitely will be shouting you out in a future post of mine. I’m a new book blogger so I don’t have much to add, but I totally have found that book blogging and setting it up and tweaking and improving is a huge time consumer. But like you said, pace yourself and prioritize.
Oh thank you so, so much for your kind words, this means so much! 🥺🥺 I agree, I didn’t imagine just how much time I’d spend tweaking every little detail here and there ahah.
Thank you!🥺
These are all very true! Last year, I came across a small publisher and started to fill out their form to request ARCs. They didn’t have a space on the form for blogs. They just asked for my YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. I don’t have those! So, no ARCs for me.
This happened to me, too! More often than not, I see publishers asking for social media links, but not blog links. It’s frustrating 🙁
Thank you so, so much for stopping by!
The first one hit me hard especially as i just posted a book list of almost 200 books. Safe to say i lost all my braincells in the process 😭
Oh God, yes book lists are so exhausting to do 😭
Oh, how TRUE these all are! I think I may be in a permanent slump at this point? Like- I thought I was in a slump like 4 years ago and here I still am? I just… go with it. I am not ready to give it up yet, but I also don’t see myself miraculously gaining more time (if anything, it keeps becoming less and less, I think because kids’ activities take up wayyy too much time), so. Status quo, over here. I do wish we could get paid somehow. I feel like all of the things I do in life (i.e., my “real” job and this) do not pay me a fraction of my worth. In the case of blogging, it’s zero percent, heh. One day, I do hope to get like, a burst of energy, where I post a bunch of stuff, but first I need time! So until then I think I will just allow myself to keep on at this pace- the pace of “well crap these reviews needed to be posted yesterday” in a frantic panic 😂
Oh I get that so much, we’re dinosaurs now, we’re just.. very tired 😂 😂 I hope that you’ll find your energy for it all again, Shannon, know that I think you’re already doing fantastic!!
I really appreciated how you talked about the hard truths of book blogging! 💖 The hardest thing for me is definitely seeing how book blogging sometimes gets overshadowed by other platforms, I wince a bit whenever there is a form for a Readathon that doesn’t even include Blogs/Websites 😅 I know many people are more excited about videos nowadays, but it does make me sad at times!
Oh I get that! I don’t really participate in readathons, but I often see them pop up on social media and they could be a bit more inclusive of all platforms, too, to allow more people to join in the fun!! <3