Blogging Myths & Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Blog for beginners

Like most people who started to blog, I began my journey five years back without having any concrete plan. At that point of time such a thing really didn’t seem to be important. All I wanted to do was to write and also to be read. It did take me some while to build a decent number of readers who would frequent my blog. In retrospect, I must say, I am happy with the way it has all turned out. There were mistakes (oodles of them) and there was learning as well.

There were times when I found myself caught between conflicting opinions. And I must confess it took me awhile to separate the myths from the facts. So here I am putting forth the myths I encountered in my journey as a book blogger. Please note these are learning from my personal experience. 

Myth: You cannot make money from book blogging

I am going to tackle the trickiest of it first. You can make money with book blogging, however it takes lots and lots of effort. The options that exist are affiliate marketing, sponsored posts and ad revenue. But for all this to generate a decent revenue, you need to have a high rate of page views. Yes, you read that right. You need to up your traffic considerably to begin earning from your book blog. A couple of sites also pay for doing book reviews.

Myth: You need tons of followers on social media to be a successful book blogger

Although, a large number of followers may help to a certain extent, frankly it isn’t a criteria to achieve as a book blogger. Content is king always. Generate genuine and honest reviews. Work on Search Engine Optimization(SEO) for this is a lovely way to get consistent traffic to the blog. Your long term sustainability of the blog is to a large extent dependent on this. Traffic also depends on the kind of books reviews you do and your  frequency of posting.

Myth: You have to buy and read every new book

Not required at all. Read what you enjoy reading and what stirs your curiosity. It would automatically make you generate the most beautiful reviews. In fact there are some evergreen books that people still search online for reviews. So you may also include such books in your reviews.

Myth: You have to click amazing pictures

Much as good images add to the aesthetics of a blog post and a social media feed, it doesn’t really guarantee you a large readership base. Will reiterate the fact that content is king and finally it all boils down to how you choose to review the book. So if you aren’t really good at getting a perfect click of the book you read, doesn’t matter. Focus on other vital aspects- such as content and SEO.

Myth: I must read and review what others are reading 

No, a big no. Every genre of book has an audience. Read what you like. After all, that’s the sole reason why you are a book blogger. There isn’t any need to buckle under any pressure. 

My learning isn’t really restricted to these, however these were the most important of them all. It formed the basis of how I began to look at my blog. Today I am glad with the way the blog has turned out to be, no regrets whatsoever.

Takeaways from this post

• Money is possible, but takes a lot of persistence
• Content is still kind, so get writing genuine reviews.
• Traffic depends on various factors- SEO, the books and your frequency of posting.

Like it? Pin it!

Related Posts to Blogging for Beginners

First Blog Posts of a Book Blogger

Top Hashtags for #Books on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

How to Write a Blog