Blogger Lift discussion

Hello bloggers,

I am an aspiring writer looking to get into the blogging community. Originally I started out with a writing blog, but I decided to scrap that idea. So now I'm looking to blog about young adult books. But I don't keep up with recent book releases. It seems like every blog I look at, the bloggers read books that have just been released/are about to be, and they review those. By the time I manage to get my hands on a new book, it's really not very new anymore. As a writer I struggle to keep up with my reading.

If I could just blog about what I've already read, that'd be fine. But I'm wondering if there's even an audience for that. Are readers only interested in blogs that post reviews on newest books? I'm assuming that's how it goes. Could anyone give me advice on other ways I can blog about books that doesn't require me to keep up with the newest books in the market? Thanks for any insight you can give me.

I really don't believe people read blogs that only feature the newest released books. I have just reviewed the book throne of Glass which I'm pretty sure came out a few years ago. yeah sure new books are coooler, but people just want to hear your thought on books in general.

if you really want to review some new books, you just contact authors for review arc copies or put a page on your blog that states how authors can reach you if they are looking for new reviewers. hope this helped and can't wait to read from your blog!!!

Alex @ www.thebooksbuzz.com

Thank you for the tip Alexandria and I love your blog! Very cute.

I'm just not so sure that people are going to be interested in a blog that consistently doesn't feature new books. But what if I blog about books that are older, as well as books that were released in the last year or so? I don't know. I'm sort of struggling with this.

I love the idea of contacting authors for arc copies. That's great.

Also, what would your advice be for the first blog post? Some people say they should be introductory. "Hi, I'm here and this is what I'll be blogging about, etc." That seems silly to me, since I'm a brand new blogger I don't feel that people are just going to want to read a post that doesn't have any content except to tell them what to expect from me. What do you think?

I think that's a brilliant question to ask. for my first post I did an introductory post but I guess you could do a fun tag or even a review. although I do think introductory posts are more informative and give the reader a little info about yourself. Yes don't be afraid to ask authors for arc copies of their books. From experience, I've learned that authors love when readers want to take initiative and help to promote their books. The books you review don't necessarily have to be new but they should be quite popular. doing tags and fun posts are also imperative in creating a successful blog. I hope you have so much fun with coding and your design. keep it touch and ask if you need anything of course!!

Jen wrote: "Thank you for the tip Alexandria and I love your blog! Very cute.
I'm just not so sure that people are going to be interested in a blog that consistently doesn't feature new books. But what if I b..."

Hi Jen! Hearty Welcome to the Book Blogging Community! Very nice to meet you :)
I agree with Alex! Well, the thing about books is that even if you review a not so new book, there would be people who don't know anything about it. There are tons of books out there and it's hard to read every single one. Or sometimes people who have read that book would want to discuss it with another person.

Also, You can mix up and post some old book reviews and new ones.

Whatever you post..it will take some time to get readers for your blog. You just gotta keep posting without thinking about how many people are reading it. Consistency is important and we're all there to help :)

I just started my blog a month back too.

An introduction post is a good start because the readers would wanna know who's behind the blog. Just a short one would suffice. It will put you in the element.

Or you can create an about me page if you don't wanna write a post.
I hope this helps :)
Lakshmi @ Flickering Lights

Jen, I don't believe that's true at all. Although I often review new books, I also review popular, older books. I guess it's good to review popular books and new releases. I'm sure you're not the only one out there who has trouble getting new books fast enough. Because of this I recommend you review older, more popular books and classics. Not to say you can't review other books, just review books you enjoy, or check out review opportunities.
Rose @ Paranormal Book Reviews

http://lovelyparanormalbooks.blogspot...

Hola Jen!

I agree with Rose - the very fact that bloggers only review new books isn't true at all. I'm pretty sure some of the books I've read and reviewed on my blog date back to say... 2011 or perhaps 2007? I Am Number Four certainly came out before 2010. :D

I can't help with intro post - I just did an about me page. My coblogger did do an intro post when she started, so I think it might just be a personal preference. Just be yourself. ;)

~Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts

Welcome!
My first, and most important, piece of advice is to ignore what other blogs are doing. The whole point of having your own blog is to do whatever YOU want to do. You will gain an audience if you are yourself, even if you only review older books.
Honestly, I like reading reviews of older books. I am always afraid that I am going to run out of books to read, so I will read pretty much any book, no matter how old it is.
Also, if you are worried about reviewing older books, then mix things up a bit. You can even include some of your writing in your blog! Posting stories or poems that you wrote would be a great way to add variety.
So, good luck with your blog. And never be afraid to ask for more help!

Wow thank you all so much for the information/encouragement! I'm just going to take the general advice that you all seem to agree on and do what appeals to me the most. I'll be sure to check out all your blogs as well!

So here's another question: how'd you design your backgrounds/buttons? I have a very talented sister who's an artist. But she's not a graphic designer. She wants to help design my page, but she'd probably sketch the art. Any advice on how I could transfer the art onto my computer? My computer skills are mediocre at best.

you could always scan what she draws and then used photoshop to clean it up or animate it and make it look less like a drawing. using photos hop is not hard at all. another option would be hiring a blog designer to design it, but well that option is quite pricey. When I first started out my blog, I scanned a picture of a bee that my sister drew and that was my header. you can also use picmonkey.com to design headers and everything else! I used that website all the time to create blog post stickers. helped?

Yes! She's extremely busy, so for the time being I need to find a passable design for the blog myself. So that I'll have nice graphics until she's able to help me. I guess I'll try picmonkey?

Sounds great! it takes of a lot exploring to do on Picmonkey. there are just so many possibilities. Have fun making a header!

Can picmonkey make a background for me? I need a background design as well.

I haven't quite experimented with the backgrounds, but I will definitely try and tell you the results. I really like your background now though

Okay thanks. And my background? The blog isn't published yet.

OMG lol I'm so sorry I was thinking about another thread I was commenting on before. I'm helping someone else and I saw their blog had a background. goodreads is so confusing sometimes and it doesn't help that I'm on my phone commenting back to all these threads.

Most blogging platforms have some backgrounds to choose from when you start. They are not really unique, but they work as good placeholders until you have the time to design your own.

Yes I looked through those. Unfortunately none of them are all that suitable for my blog, but It may have to do. :/ I tried looking around at some free templates but even getting that onto my blog is too technologically advanced for me. I really do suck at using computers. I just need a free, decent looking place holder background for the time being. Anyone know how I can get that easy?

Also, does anyone know of any "first blog post" tags? Like you know how you have diff tag posts where you answer questions? I'm wondering if there is one for a first time book blog

Jen wrote: "Yes I looked through those. Unfortunately none of them are all that suitable for my blog, but It may have to do. :/ I tried looking around at some free templates but even getting that onto my blog ..."

Do a google search like "free blogger headers or free blogger backgrounds"..you might probably get something you like.

There are many that are designed by other bloggers and they're free too.

I literally took like a 2 months to search for those, but in the end I wanted something of my own. So used the picture window blogger templates and some cool pictures and combined it up.

But, the pre made free ones are also beautiful and maybe you'll find something to your taste.

I saw this tag called Handwriting Tag where you write answers for some self introductory questions on a sheet of paper and scan or take a picture of it and post it up on your blog. It's kinda neat. If you like it,
http://diaryforneal.blogspot.in/2014/...

Or keep searching, you'll find another one or so you like

Jen wrote: "Yes I looked through those. Unfortunately none of them are all that suitable for my blog, but It may have to do. :/ I tried looking around at some free templates but even getting that onto my blog ..."

DinPatterns is a great place to find pattern backgrounds (it's free as well and the backgrounds are really nice). Subtle Patterns is another place, but it has dark and light colors. You could always change the color scheme. Din Patterns is just one with all kinds, but they're in a pattern.

Of course... some backgrounds require a manual installation and HTML coding is overly confusing (even for me, and I have 2 years experience, lol).

About the books you review, I'd say review whatever you read. Don't go out of your way to read books just to blog about them (unless you're using your blog as an excuse for reading a certain book!). What I do is make three piles on my floor: the first one is books I want to read, most of which are library books but a couple of which are books I want to re-read and think might be fun to blog about. The books go in the second pile after I read them. Some books get stuck there for a while, and some never wind up being reviewed at all. The third pile is the smallest. It's for books I've finished reviewing, and which are ready to go back to the library.
Forget about what other blogs are reviewing. Sure I review a lot of new books along with older books, but that's because I genuinely want to read them.
As for a first post, here's mine if you're interested. You can see I did an intro post. Then I copy and pasted a couple of my GR reviews over so my feed looked busy. The fact is, you're going to have to generate some content. Your first post really doesn't matter that much - if you're posting regularly, no one will ever see it again!
I'm pretty useless in the design department, I'm afraid. I basically picked a background in my favorite color, and then ran with the color scheme. I love the way it turned out, but I don't know anything about doing anything more complicated than that.

- Jaina @ Read Till Dawn

Once again the advice I've gone here is much appreciated so thanks all. I'm considering using Dinpatterns as a sort of default background until my sister find some free time to help me out.
Is there a certain day of the week/time of day that you prefer to update your blogs? Also I would like to update mine either every week or every other week, is every other week too long a stretch to go without updating?

Most of the time, posting as often as possible is the best. But this does not mean to write half-hearted posts just so that you have some kind of content up. Posting one, thoughtful post a week is better than posting five or six short, boring posts a week. If you need to do a quick post, then you can join some memes. They are weekly posts with different topics. They are great for connecting other bloggers. Some popular ones you might want to check out are Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and Waiting on Wednesday.

Jen wrote: "Once again the advice I've gone here is much appreciated so thanks all. I'm considering using Dinpatterns as a sort of default background until my sister find some free time to help me out.
Is the..."

I've personally given up on posting everyday and just post at least once a week. As Tessa said, one meaningful post a week is better than a bunch of boring posts in a week. Some people find cobloggers to help out as well and give their blogs a variety of different voices, but coblogging isn't for everyone (it depends on the matter of preference).

Sophia, thank you so much for showing me Din Patterns! I used a pattern from there as my background.

I'm hoping to publish my blog tonight! I'm excited to be a part of the blog community. :) I'd love for you all to check it out, and we can share buttons (as soon as my sister finds time to design me one XD).

Here's my blog! http://thebook-nook.weebly.com/
I would so appreciate it if you all took a look at it :)

Jen wrote: "Here's my blog! http://thebook-nook.weebly.com/
I would so appreciate it if you all took a look at it :)"

of course. :D

I don't know if anyone knows how to use weebly. But I can't find my blog's RSS feed url. I don't even know how to search for it. I keep getting error messages when I try creating the url. Could someone help?

Jen wrote: "I don't know if anyone knows how to use weebly. But I can't find my blog's RSS feed url. I don't even know how to search for it. I keep getting error messages when I try creating the url. Could som..."

I'm not sure, sorry. I don't really use weebly except at school. :(

That's all right! I actually just figured it out last night :)

Okay new question! (this forum has seemed to turn into my own personal Q&A XD )
When it comes to pictures, is copyright a concern? For example, Alexandria I was looking at your blog again and I love the Frozen tag you did! I'm probably going to do it myself. the banner you have at the top with the two sisters and the words "book tag" is beautiful. Where did you get that? Am I allowed to use it or what? I mean I know nobody really cares about taking images that aren't theirs to use on their websites, but if it doesn't belong to you, do you worry? Probably over thinking, but it's something I've been a little concerned over.

Jen wrote: "Okay new question! (this forum has seemed to turn into my own personal Q&A XD )
When it comes to pictures, is copyright a concern? For example, Alexandria I was looking at your blog again and I lov..."

Well, I guess yes, there's copyright, but as long as you don't make money from using the image, you can.

I've had the same concern as Jen! I was worried about using a book cover image and wondering if anyone has any special disclaimers they use, or a specific place they source images from? I'm VERY new to the blogging game (as in, I'm writing my first review now...).