Discussion: Concerns of a book blogger (+ the importance of feedback)

Whether you’re just starting with your blog or have been around for a while, it’s totally normal and very common to have some doubts, worries and concerns about the kind of content you put out for the world to see. These things can sometimes hold us back to making our posts the way we want to, publish content that we’re not very happy about but it’s “what’s hot at the moment”, and feel like we could always do it better… it’s a constant battle with our minds that needs to stop if we want book blogging to keep being a healthy hobby.

Since my first discussion post was so well received (I can’t thank you enough for it!), I’m bringing you a new one today. This one is more aimed at book bloggers and hopefully you can relate to some of the points I’ll make here. Let’s begin!

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1. Giving a bad rating to a book everyone loves

On my first discussion post, I encouraged you to read what you want to. But what if what you want to read is a fan favorite and you just didn’t like it as much? You want to express your thoughts about it and you think you can perfectly do so through a review.

But you’re scared of the backlash.

With some very unwelcomed people ready to call you “tasteless” when you don’t love what they do, this might bring some doubts and might stop you from posting negative reviews.

Don’t let that stop you. When trying to decide if reading a book or not, I like to see reviews with diverse opinions on them so I can see both sides of the coin and don’t glorify a book unconsciously on my mind only to be let down when I read it because my expectations were too high.

2. Not giving a “professional” vibe.

Let me tell you a secret: it’s good to read tips, tutorials, and guides on how to improve your blog. It’s NOT good to get obsessed by it.

You see all the blogs that have a good amount of followers and great content, and you think “how did they do it? Where can I learn to make my blog something that I’m proud of too?”

Since I started book blogging I’ve been looking for tips and ideas to improve my blog: the design, the content, the traffic… there’s just too many things. And yes, some of those things I spent hours reading helped, but at some point I realized I was obsessing over it, spending more time looking for tips than applying them. I started to get worried about many things: not having the best homepage design, a perfect sidebar, an email marketing service… I will stop myself here because even talking about it makes me anxious.

But here’s what I did: I stopped looking for blogging tips & tricks. I looked at my blog, realized I didn’t need anything else to just put my content out there and talk about my love of books, and decided that was enough. Sure, if I feel like I really need and want something to improve/add on my blog I’ll make a quick search, but I’m very careful about it now because I don’t want to go back to that place.

3. Not getting approved for ARCs.

As an international book blogger, I particularly struggle with this on Edelweiss+. Though my Netgalley experience has so far been good, I also get denied on there. I know it might be disappointing to make your request with so much optimism just to get denied over and over.

It’s important for you to have in mind that ARCs are just a perk of being a book blogger/booktuber/bookstagrammer, and not the whole purpose of it. The book is still going to be available in a couple months and meanwhile, you have all these already available books you can read and review right now to bring more content to your blog!

However, if you really want to get that ARC, read this post by E. from Local Bee Hunter’s Nook on tips to get accepted on Edelweiss, and this one by Noura from The Perks of Being Noura on how to get approved for ARCs.

4. Lack of originality in our content

It’s common to feel like we’re not bringing fresh, original content to our audience and feel like we can always add something new to the mix so we can call the reader’s attention.

This often comes with not receiving enough positive comments on our posts, and I’ll talk about that on point 5. For that I’d suggest you to take a blank page and write down all the types of posts you usually make. Contemplate which ones are your favorites, what can improve and what the blog would be better off without.

If you want to promote a particular kind of content (i.e LGBT books), think about making a creative section dedicated solely to that. Make a brain dump about all those little ideas that come to your mind, and if you don’t have any, look for inspiration online. The Uncorked Librarian has many amazing prompts for book blogging, one of them might work for your blog!

5. Not enough feedback

On to the second part of this post: the importance of feedback.

You know what can work to stop having 4/5 of these concerns? Start giving feedback to the blogs you read. Yes, we do this because we like it and our followers/likes/comments count doesn’t change that, but seeing people liking your content and giving you their respectful opinions on it it’s such a good feeling. Please, please do not ghost read if you feel like you have something to say about the article you just read. See that little paragraph at the end of the post where the blogger asks if you want more fantasy reviews? Answer that! There’s a post you found particularly helpful? Let the blogger know and tell them you’d like to see more of it!

Feedback, especially good feedback, makes us feel like all the hours we spent on a post actually helped someone, or brought a smile to their faces, or helped them with something they were struggling with. It gives us a boost of confidence about a post we weren’t sure was going to be well received. So please, please, don’t hesitate to leave feedback if you can.

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To finish this post, I’d like to clarify that it’s totally okay to have concerns, you just don’t have to let them get in the way of keep doing what you love. Think deep about what you really want to change/improve, and just let go all the rest. Write everything down and ask yourself: “Does this really affect the way my visitors are receiving my content?” “Will I get a benefit from spending hours/days/weeks changing this, or I’m better off letting it go and using my time in something else?”

Blogging, for most of us, is not a job. We don’t owe anything to anyone, and the main purpose of it is to get joy from what we do. This is the #1 rule I go by, and it has made wonders for me.

What are your main concerns as a book blogger? What are your thoughts on what I addressed with this post? Let me know in the comments!