In Conversation with Jo Linsdell- Book Blogger, Author & Reviewer9 min read

Book Blogging and what goes into it

A Conversation

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If you have stumbled upon this link searching for information on how to start a book blog, then there is an extremely strong possibility that I am not going to be disappointing you with this post. For, I am in conversation with Book Blogger Jo Linsdell.

Jo Linsdell is a popular book blogger and runs a blog www.jolinsdell.com where she speaks about all things books. She is an author and illustrator as well, and host of #BlogAuditChallenge and #SMAudit2021. She is also a booktuber and can be found at https://youtube.com/c/JoLinsdell

 

 

In conversation with Jo Linsdell

Let me begin with a really easy question- What are you currently reading?

I currently have several books in progress. No Way Back back, Five Tuesdays in Winter and a non fiction British Greats. I’m really enjoying all three so far.

 

How long have you been reviewing books? Why did you start?

I started out as a book blogger back in 2006, before it was really even a thing. I love books and wanted to share that passion with others. I used to work as a writer for the neurology department here in Rome helping to write up research papers for scientific publications. Whilst it was interesting it wasn’t really what I wanted to write about. I sent off an article for an English language newspaper in Florence and they published it in their next issue. This made me realize I could write about the things that I was passionate about too and so began my career as an author, and later on illustrator too.

My website http://JoLinsdell.com (and the other versions of the site I had before getting my official domain) started out as an author website but I’ve always reviewed books by other authors there too. I decided to join YouTube and do video reviews for the books I read on my channel about 8 years ago. I then embed the videos into my review blog posts. After all these years I’m still doing it. I often get asked why. The answer is simply because I love doing it.

 

Related Post: How to Start a Book Blog For Free in 8 Easy Steps

 

What’s your favourite thing about reviewing books?

Being about to spread my love of books with the world. It’s always great discovering new authors and getting hooked on their style of writing. The best feeling is when I review a great book and someone else reaches out to tell me they gave it a try because of my review and that they loved it too. The nature of reviewing books online gives me the chance to connect with readers from all over the world which is pretty amazing.

What is your favourite genre? Any specific book you love from this genre?

I have quite varied reading tastes and will give anything a try, but my favourite genre is anything that falls under crime, mystery, thriller (especially psychological thrillers). I love how complex thrillers are. They’re the sort of stories where the pages fly by and keep you working out who did it, and what is really happening. They also tend to have morally grey characters which to me, makes them more real. A good thriller will also have topics threaded into it that make me think and question things. They help me get to know myself better and discover more about how I really view the world and different issues. A good thriller is so much more than just a story.

 

A lot of book lovers out there would like to know the answer to this question- Is Book Blogging profitable financially or is one in it just for the pure love of it?

This is a complicated question to answer as it really depends. For the most part it’s a blogging niche that tends to fall more into the hobby blogger category. It definitely requires a love of books. That said, it’s just like any other kind of blog and so if you study the technical aspects of professional blogging you can make money from it.

 

Related Read: 5 Sites That Will Pay You To Read

 

What is the biggest challenge to book bloggers? Huge volume of books? The attitude of authors or too much competition?

I think the biggest challenge most book bloggers face is learning to find themselves and embrace what makes them unique instead of trying to fit in with the masses. So many book bloggers feel they need to be doing certain things in a certain way to be able to be a book blogger. It takes a while to become selective about the books you review and to discover your own style and way of reviewing. There’s actually a lot more to book blogging than just reviewing books too and once you discover that it gives you a lot of freedom to fully embrace your love of books and reading.

 

Related Read: How to Write a Good Book Review

 

I also see that your blog has other interesting articles- Could you give a brief insight into these as well.

As well as my love of books, I’m also passionate about blogging in general. I love learning new things about everything from html to SEO. In the blog posts I create for my website I try to share what I learn and apply it to the book blogging niche. I’ve been doing this for a long time but never get bored. I love that there’s always something new to learn. Some of my most popular posts include; The Ultimate Guide For Book Bloggers, Pinterest Group Boards for Book Bloggers, Ways To Upgrade Old Blog Posts, and Ways to Write More Creative Book Reviews.

I organise an annual Blog Audit Challenge where there are monthly tasks to help improve our blogs. I do the challenges myself too as I’m constantly trying to improve my own blog and just thought others might want to join in. This year I’m also doing the Social Media Audit Challenge too. I’m also the sort of person that has too many ideas and never enough time to carry them all out so I often do inspirational blog posts to share the ideas with others. E.g. my blog post 101 Blog Post Ideas for Book Bloggers.

 

You are an illustrator as well, how do you manage time between work, reading a book, reviewing? Life is always hectic and so it can be a struggle at times. I’m quite an organised person in general though and have a system that works for me (it took a while to understand how to fit everything in though). Mornings are when I work on projects for clients and set up my blog posts etc… I’m more experienced in copywriting, SEO, etc… now and so, most of the time, it doesn’t take me very long to write up a blog post.

 

Related Read:The 10 Day Blogging Guide: Must Read Book For Bloggers

 

This is definitely a major advantage to having been doing this for so long. Late morning I usually get a window of time where I have the house to myself and so that’s when I film my videos. I try to schedule videos, blog posts, and even some social media content in advance. This means I’m covered if something comes up last minute and takes the stress out of it all. I do most of my reading in the evening, but sometimes I manage to fit some into the day too. I’m big on multitasking and so will often listen to an audio book whilst doing the ironing, or read a few pages whilst I’m on a tea break. Cups of tea are my life fuel!

 

How can authors help support bloggers?

I’m in a special position because I’ve been on both sides. This gives me an advantage because it means I understand it from both points of view. The first thing authors can do is understand that book bloggers need time to review your book and probably have a lot of other stuff going on too. Be patient. Be as helpful as possible and send a complete media kit along with the book. It will save the blogger a lot of time. Promote the blogger. It’s a two way deal. Book bloggers spread the word about your book (mostly completely free of charge) and put a lot of work into doing it. The least you can do is promote their blog. Share it on social media, drop by and leave a comment on some of their blog posts… yes, even the ones that don’t mention you or your book. Link to the book review blog post somewhere on your author website. It’s good for the DA Score of the book blogger.

Understand that not everyone will love your book. This can be hard as you’ve worked so hard on it but, once you publish, it’s out there for everyone to make up their own mind about it. No book is for everyone. If you get a great review, thank the reviewer. If the review isn’t a 5 star, thank the reviewer anyway for their time… and remember that a 3 star is still good! Never tell a reviewer what they can and can’t include in their book review. It’s their opinion not yours. You have no say in the matter.

 

What is the one thing you wished you knew before you started your book blogging journey?

How book blogging doesn’t have to be a one person thing… in fact, it’s better when you work with others. In the beginning I never realised how much of a social activity it could be. I love collaborating with other book bloggers. It’s fun, makes for interesting content, and can be a powerful way to drive more traffic to your blog.

 

And finally, how many books are currently there in your bookshelf? ( read/ and to-be-read)

Hundreds… thousands! My physical bookshelves are quite small. This is partly because I live in Rome, Italy and English language books aren’t always easy to find (and even if you do they tend to be expensive), and partly because my husband moans about all my books taking up space. Our apartment is quite small and so space is limited. I never get rid of books I’ve read though. I keep them all. One day I plan to have a library like the one Belle had in Beauty and the Beast. Wall to wall books everywhere! My kindle however is packed full. My TBR is crazy out of control as I tend to add more books faster than I can get through the ones I already have.

Jo Linsdell can be found on:

Blog: https://www.jolinsdell.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jolinsdell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoLinsdell/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jolinsdell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jolinsdell/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JoLinsdell

Book Blogging| Blogging