There are a lot of misconceptions about what it’s like to be a book blogger. And I’m about to slay some of them. Hopefully.
Before we even get started, I’m going to point out that this is my experience, which is unique to me. This is what it’s like for me, personally, to be a book blogger. Many other bloggers will have their own experiences, and how similar or dissimilar they are to mine will vary. But since this is my blog, you’re stuck with me. Sorry, not sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It is currently 6:00 AM in the morning, and I’m awake. On my day “off,” which is a fallacy because ha, I don’t really get one of those. I went to bed at midnight. How I got here, I’m not entirely sure. I don’t even know if I’m really awake. I might even be a zombie. Time will tell.
But I’m here. For you. Writing this. Because overtime this week meant that I didn’t get my “blog post writing day,” so here we are. I’d offer you coffee, but this whole pot is mine, and I’m going to need it. Sorry, but you’ll have to bring your own. (But also, shout-out to Sarah Joy Green-Hart for the gorgeous mug swag from her book Tree of Life.)
Nobody in the house is awake. Not even the animals. They all think I’m crazy, and okay, yeah, I might just be. They obviously have the right idea.
The only dog awake is Thalia, because she’s young and loyal and foolish enough to think she should follow her human’s example. The older dogs know better and didn’t even bother looking up when I went past. They care not at all for my foolishness.
Welp, they just don’t know what they’re missing. But you’re here with me, right? RIGHT?! Okay, so let’s get started.
But you get paid for blogging … right?
Haaaa … no.
I get paid for my day jobs. Yes, plural. I have two of them. But book blogging? Nope. I’m here out of love, baby. I do this for the passion, not the payment. Sure, some big bloggers might make some money from it, but the majority of us? We run off coffee, cute cat pictures, and fear of our unruly TBRs.
Things I get from blogging:
✿ ARCs/free books
✿ The joy of supporting authors
✿ A place to yell about books with other bookish people
✿ A lovely community of supportive people
✿ To meet awesome people I wouldn’t otherwise
✿ Fulfillment and enjoyment
Things I don’t get from blogging:
✿ Cash money
✿ Other forms of money
✿ Superpowers
✿ Actual dragons
Things I pay for in order to blog:
✿ Self-hosted website
✿ Domain for said website
✿ Books. All the books.
✿ Sometimes ones I received ARCs for, if I love them.
✿ Out-of-state library membership for Overdrive for even more books.
It’s not like blogging takes that much time.
Most times, blogging is like volunteering for a part-time job.
You may ask yourself how I know this. Well, because I have a lot of jobs, volunteer and otherwise. My current part-time job takes up less time than my blogging does. But you know, sometimes that’s the chance you take when you volunteer places. Like when I volunteered for the local spay/neuter clinic, I thought I’d be comforting post-surgery fluffers until their moms and dads came to get them. I did not expect to be shaving/plucking pet parts to prep for surgery. But you know what? Life happens.
Average time it takes me to do blogging things:
✿ Writing a book review – 1 to 2 hours
✿ Writing a discussion post – 1 to 2 hours
✿ Doing a weekly meme post – 0.5 to 1 hour
✿ Reading a book – pffft hours
✿ Responding to people who comment on my posts – ummm ….
✿ Blog hopping to keep up with the community – neverendinggggg
✿ Fixing everything that goes wrong with the blog – *screams into void*
Book bloggers have no life outside of books and blogging.
Ugh, I WISH. Give me a warm blanket, an endless supply of coffee, and throw food at me once in a while and then don’t disturb me unless the house is on fire.
See the whole blogging is like volunteering above. Yes, bloggers love books. That’s why we’re here. But it’s not the only thing we do. Not even close. Which sort of just makes it that much crazier that blogging takes up this much of our time.
Things I do outside of blogging:
✿ Work two jobs and volunteer for many others
✿ Write! Currently querying.
✿ Prevent an offspring from accidentally ending herself and/or others.
✿ Stop my husband from taking over the world.
✿ Have some version of a social life? Even if it’s a meager, baby thing.
✿ Foster stray animals
✿ Take care of the random zoo that considers me their human
✿ Ridding Gotham of cri– … I mean … you saw nothing.
Bloggers hoard books and have gorgeous shelves.
Listen. I have FEELS about this. Angry, frustrated feels.
This is obviously patently false. Different bloggers have different access to books. I have a lot of books, yes, but I try to unhaul them as I read them and only keep ones I know I’ll reread. I also try to limit my book spending, which means I utilize my libraries as much as possible or I buy Kindle editions, which tend to be cheaper.
Having a lot of books is not a requirement to be a book blogger.
It just isn’t. Some people choose not to have that many, for various reasons. Reading books is usually a requirement of a book blogger, but that can come in many different forms.
Blogging isn’t hard. You just write reviews.
There is so freaking much that goes on behind the scenes that seem effortless, but that ease is just smoke in mirrors. Don’t trust it for a second!
It looks easy, because we’re clearly professionals. *tosses hair* But blogging isn’t just writing reviews. Though, if it was, wouldn’t that be enough? Most blogs also have discussion posts, though, which takes time and thoughtfulness to write. Book lists take time to compose. It takes some effort to come up with new ideas for posts, too.
And then there’s aaaaall the other things that go into a blog. Because it’s not just a blog. There’s other things that come with the territory.
Things I have to be other than just a blogger:
✿ Web designer
✿ Graphics maker
✿ Social media guru
✿ Public relations
✿ Photographer
✿ Public persona
✿ Reader
✿ Researcher
Let me tell you a story about how much time goes to this “other stuff,” because I am tired and salty and frustrated. I got the brilliant idea that my bookshelf would make a nice background for Instagram photos. Why? Because other people have gorgeous bookshelves, and I want that, too. So I spent forever rainbowing my one nice bookshelf … only to realize that I have nowhere near enough space to put all my books …
So now my home library is 30% gorgeous Instagram-ready background fodder and 70% utter chaos. I’m gonna go ahead and let you decide which is which.
Was this necessary for blogging? Debatable. I have nowhere in my house that makes a sufficient background for Instagram, and Instagram helps the blog. Plus, I’ve been informed that books can’t live in random unorganized piles littered around the floor? Before I “organized,” being crushed to death by my TBR was a legit worry. I’m still not ruling it out.
I’d also like to note that I’m recovering from a knee injury and still can’t actually kneel or squat or put too much pressure on it or bend it too much. Which makes organizing shelves reeeeeally annoying and difficult.
It’s not like blogging is an actual job.
For some people, it might be. But there are so many aspects of blogging that are just like a job.
I mean, minus the whole getting paid for it, obviously. I didn’t say it was a particularly good job, albeit an enjoyable one. Did you not read the previous sections about all the things bloggers have to do on top of blogging? It’s a serious time investment. But on top of that, there are certain pressures on bloggers and common etiquette that they have to somehow learn and then follow. It can definitely be daunting at times.
Job-like things book bloggers do:
✿ Present themselves professionally to publishers/agents/authors
✿ Carefully consider the pros and cons of their content and message
✿ Posting negative reviews? Yay or nay?
✿ Weigh the consequences of every action on their blog.
✿ There are laws that need to be followed in regards to blogging.
✿ Plus, you know, rules from the publishers themselves.
Lightning Round:
Things you should know about bloggers
✿ We’re (mostly) only human. We’re doing the best we can.
✿ There’s no convenient guidebook of everything we need to know to do this “right”
✿ There’s not even a “right” way to do it! *panicked flailing*
✿ Mostly, we just want to share things we love with others.
✿ If we’re a bother, we don’t mean to be. We’re just in love.
✿ People in love do silly things.
✿ Being in love with fictional characters still counts, okay?! Don’t judge me.
✿ Sometimes, we don’t know what we’re doing.
✿ Okay, most times.
✿ Fine, we’re totally winging it.
✿ We just want to heap love and praise onto authors we love. Let us love youuuuu.
Chat With Me
What are some common misconceptions about book bloggers you want to seen slain once and for all?
This, all of this, Sammi! You nailed every thought I’ve ever had about blogging😁 Also, I want to point out that writing reviews is HARD WORK, at least for me. I honestly dread starting a review every damn time.
Me, too. Even when I love a book. It gives me minor anxiety, because is a review that’s 100% gushing even worth writing? (The answer is obviously YES, but still). This right here explains why I have, like, 7 reviews half written that I need to finish LOL.
All of this and thank you for quantifying the time spent- i worry about perfectionism 🙄
The reviewing thing is complicated to explain sometimes as some non-bookish people often say once you’ve read one positive review you’ve read them all and yet we all know a (or a few) reviewers who just copy and paste the synopsis then add a throwaway I loved it blah blah sentence or two which can make one feel a little dejected at writing a fuller review but the thing about book blogging is that we are a little kaleidoscope of styles and approaches because our blog is usually our hobby and our self-expression and most likely not designed with razor sharp marketing psychology to become ‘internet famous’!!
Besides you just move around until you find who and what styles you like but we are all totally not the same but, importantly, each is valid!!!
The one thing I would want Slayed is the attitude that you are biased simply because you may have a positive blog and especially if you got a book for free- our credibility is pulled into question.
Perfectionism is something I still struggle with, too, and also wanting to make sure I word things *just right*. Which is crazy, but that’s what my brain does.
That’s so true! I can read five five-star reviews, and they all focus on different things they loved about the book, or they all loved different things.
Ugh, also so true! Just because you choose not to post negative things on your blog doesn’t mean you automatically love everything you read. You’ve just chosen only to talk about those things that you do love. I’m not sure why that doesn’t make sense to people?
I think some people I’ve encountered this with (IRL & on other platforms) just get odd about blogging as a ‘scam’ (usually said by those who don’t understand it or are envious) and particularly cagey about books and reading.
I’m not being elitist but most of the time it’s from people who don’t really read for pleasure and so don’t understand why you would a) read so much b) write about it c) in a meaningful way (other than your typical amazon ‘arrived on time, son/wife/cat liked it’ sort of way) unless you were getting some kind of benefit for it and thus as you must be being paid/recompensed to their minds you’re not impartial.
I’ve never heard the scam bit, but it doesn’t surprise me. But more importantly, how do you even scam people as a blogger? Give me a book or else? And then when you get the book … you review it? Because … that’ll teach them! Wait, I think we’re doing something wrong here …
There are different types of non-readers, and I’m cool with most of them except for the braggart non-readers, which is the crowd it sounds like you’re talking about. xD The ones who are almost proud of the fact that they don’t read, and they belittle people who do lol. It just boggles my mind.
The scam bit if I sum up how it’s been explained to me by vitriolic non-bloggers- that anything a blogger/vlogger creates is paid for and anyone who reads them are just sheeple & deserve being ripped off buying lots of rubbish from the New Frontier of Advertising. Tabloid fuelled anger basically
We’ve had a LOT of articles in the last 5 years spewing rage about how especially Youtubers are scammers being sent boxes of products to decant into a bag & this gives the impression that they just got back from the shops spent with their own money & how this fuels false confidence in their recommendations & problematic ideas about spending & aspirations for viewers. There’s now legal requirements in the UK to declare paid ads or paid collaborations in response to the outrage- which to be fair was often envy driven!
But again this doesn’t apply to book bloggers because we don’t operate like that and certainly don’t get paid to promote a book on our blog and the great majority of us declare/thank if we got a book for free anyway.
As I said I think the average non-bookish person doesn’t quite know the difference between influencer and book blogger.
Ahhh. That’s … odd. Sounds like just hateful people wanting to be hateful lol.
We have legal requirements in the US to disclose ads now, too. Though, it’s been my understanding that that’s been around for years, at least, and honestly, I just think that’s best practice to reveal if you’re getting something for free, even if your opinion is … well, just that.
But yeah, there are no “sponsorships” like in the YouTube world for book bloggers lol. There are definitely bloggers that I’d consider to be influencers, but I think even “influencer” in the book blogging world has a very different meaning. xD
It pretty much is people who like to get themselves bothered over other people doing well- seeing a niche & making a success of yourself is ‘rude’ to some!!
Book blogging is different as it really is for the love of books with no hope of money spinning! I think most of that is down to culture as you say so many people seem proud of reading so little, almost like a badge of honour & disparage those who do read as having no ‘life’ –
Truth is it’s easier to sell the average person a designer tshirt/lipstick/face cream/babygrow than it is a paperback.
Man, that last statement is depressing with how true it is. Especially since you can get a brand-new hardback for, like, $15. =/ Cheaper if you buy used and don’t buy new releases.
Well-said!!! I always explain it to people as a job that pays in books 📚❤️
I’ve said that, too, although I got to thinking about it the other day and was like … it pays in books … which we then read … and write about … so our payment is more work? xD I mean, in a good way, since it’s something we love. But I had to laugh at the idea that it was a “job” that rewarded you by giving you more work.
Lol 😂
Great post! I recognise so much in the points you make. Must have missed the whole blogging etiquette thing, though – good thing I don’t interact with authors or publishers… Good luck with your instagram journey! I realised early on, I just can’t create these beautiful, aesthetic photos you see on Instagram and in some blog posts, so I don’t even try. Blogging is in some sense a job, but with a lot of freedom – nobody blames you, if you need to take a break or decide to stop completely. Wish that was true for my other job 😉
I mean, I still have no idea what the etiquette is supposed to be with most things, but it seems like there is one? Maybe I just haven’t found the treasure map leading to that particular nugget yet. xD
Thanks so much! I will never create the gorgeous photos, because I’m not a visual person and my brain just refuses to figure it out. I enjoy just creating the little things I do and interacting with others so far.
OMG. People need to read this post. You got it spot on, Sammie! Loved the post! 💓
Thank you! I’m glad it resonated with you. 😀 I love what I do, but I think people just don’t understand what it is I actually do. I mean, other than read all the books, obviously.
Oh my goodness, I love this post. Especially the part about just winging it. I have no idea what I’m do. But I’m definitely giving it my very best effort!!!
Thank you! I feel like my brand is 90% winging it and 5% pretending to know what I’m doing and hoping no one looks too closely or thinks too hard about it. xD Oh, and 5% dumb luck LOL.
Lol. That sounds about right! 😆
This post is EVERYTHING and I love it.
Thanks! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
YES GIRL, You really hit the nail on the head. Yes to everything!!!
I’m so glad you agree and it’s not just me. XD
YES!!! Oh so Accurate!!
So much this!!! But after everything is said and done, it’s so nice to step back and look at the beautiful thing you created. ☺
It really is. Makes the whole thing worth it, to see how far you’ve come and what your hard work has created. :3 When I started, I didn’t think anyone would want to hear my opinion, and I figured I wouldn’t even get 50 followers, so no, I’m just completely blown away by what this blog has become.
OMG yes! So well said. I only started blogging a few months ago and I was shocked at how long it takes me to put together a post, only to have like one person read it 😒 Plus all the other stuff you mentioned, and it all cuts into my precious reading time, which was the whole point of doing the blog. It’s so hard to keep posting regularly, if only all we had to was book reviews, am I right?
It definitely is disheartening when you first start out and no one really reads your stuff, even though it takes just this side of eternity to write. Been there, done that. It gets pretty if you hang in there, I promise! Interacting on other blogs definitely helps. It’s the one thing I didn’t do much early on that I really should have. 🙂
I feel like even if we only had to write book reviews, I’d still be hopelessly behind. xD *gestures to, like, 10 book reviews I’ve started and not finished yet*
I’m also finding blogging cutting in time my reading time…like a lot! I started blogging because I enjoyed reading and reviewing, I mean, how much MORE time would putting a review up on my own blog take anyway, right? (Famous last words)
I’m hoping to get in to a good groove after I’ve establishing everything and got a good schedule down.
Ahahaha, wow, I had the same thought when I started, too, and I just laugh at how naive I was. I want to just take past me aside like, “Oh, sweet summer child, THIS is how long it will take you to write and format a review after reading a book.”
Getting a schedule down is a life-saver. I’m so much more consistent now when I finally did that (and it’s so much less stress, too). Plus, having a general format for your reviews helps a lot, if you can do it (or it has for me, anyway).
That was the best post I read all day today!! I need to make all my family and friends read this post just so they know I’m not wasting time blogging and stop giving me advice on how to make money from my book blogging.. argh!!
I literally agree to everything you’ve written. But the one thing that I would like people to stop doing is dismissing me when I even mention that I blog. It’s in their look – oh, blogging? Isn’t that like writing a journal or a diary?! No it’s not.. it’s friggin hard work!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s so hard when your family and friends don’t support you. Even if you don’t make money from it, how many hobbies do they have that they’re not making money from? xD My mother spends as much time watching TV as I do blogging, and that’s fine if it’s what she enjoys doing, but I point things like that out because I think they forget that every hobby we have is just a trade-off for what occupies our time. I just happen to find blogging more rewarding than other ways I could spend my time. xD
Oof, that’s hard. I actually didn’t start really telling people that I blog until the end of last year for this very reason. And surprisingly, they all just sort of were like … yeah, of course you do, and then asked me lots of curious questions about it. I think it’s because they already know that I’m a writer … and I work in a library … so I guess the fact that I blog is just par for the course? xD
It is a difficult thing, to have people understand and accept you. More heartbreaking when it’s your immediate friends and partner. But I’ve learned to swallow the bitter pill of society’s judgements and preconceived notions early on.. and just let it be – like the Beatles said lol…
I do have my sister who completely supports me and admires everything I do and I’m blessed to have her in my life. I’m
Also blessed that blogging gave me the community I was craving for.. I group or passionate readers and writers😊🥰
Sounds like you have a fabulous relationship with your sister! How wonderful. 🙂 I always love hearing that siblings support each other.
Yes, I’m blessed that way.. she is my real soulmate 😊
Sammi – YOU ROCK! I love this post and you are so on-target. Many of us definitely do things out of love of reading and I agree this is a wonderful community. I ADORED your post – and you cute pet pics!
Thank you! I’m so glad so many people can relate to this. xD
Cute pet pics are always the best, especially when you have to get up early. It’s the one thing they’ve got going for them when I have to clean their litter box or take them out at 6 in the morning to do their business LOL.
Great post! There are so many blogger myths that are harmful, so thank you for tackling them.
You know what, though? I think I’d rather be paid in an actual dragon than in cash money. (Though… after that, I’d need to be paid in dragon food…)
Pffft. That’s what neighbors are for, silly. I mean … ummm … I have no idea where my neighbors could be. They suddenly up and moved. I have no idea where or why. It certainly has nothing to do with the dragon living in my barn … good day, officer. *closes door quickly*
LOL! 😀
Oh! You nailed it, Sammie!!!
(popping over from twitter) I loved reading this! Clever, funny, and true!
Thank you so much!
Oh this is the post of the year…maybe decade! Thank you so much for writing and sharing !! 💜
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 😀
Excellent post. I wish I could send it to every family member, and friend who thinks I just sit around reading free books and getting paid for it. I would re-blog this, but they obliviously don’t read my words. Haha.
Thanks for sharing this. You’ve made me feel much better knowing I am not alone in this sometimes cruel journey. If we didn’t have a passion for books, reading, & words, we certainly wouldn’t be book bloggers. I do it for the joy it brings ME!
Ahahaha oh how I feel that. My family doesn’t, either. xD At least they’re not rude about it, but yeah.
You are for sure not alone. <3 I love every moment of blogging ... although, some more than others. But it's always nice knowing there's a community out there who has your back, too. ;)
{cheers wildly} This, this post here is why I follow your blog, Sammie. It’s well written, entertaining as well as informative. XxXx
Awww, thank you so much. <3
I’m so freaking glad that you wrote this post! I was like YEP YEP YEP for everything that you were saying <3 And I think this was the perfect post for The Write Reads to spotlight today. You're amazing and don't ever forget it
Awww, thank you so much. <3 You're gonna make me cryyy. T_T And it's too early for that.
Agree 100% on everything said in this post.
I might as well add bloggers can have more then one niche. When I first started blogging I thought I was going to blog about books and only books. How wrong that turn out to be.
Yes, very much so! I know quite a few book bloggers, surprisingly, who are also knitters/crocheters. Which are things I never would have thought to combine in one blog, but I love it? I think it’s great when people can combine what they love together into their blog. :3
Excellent post! I really enjoyed reading it. Book blogging IS a lot of work, and I think you’ve hit on everything that goes into it.
When I did a Best/Worst list of books I read in 2019, it took me about 8 hours for me to:
(a) choose the books to feature
(b) decide the best way to present images and text so that it’s easy to read
(c) figure out what to say about said books
(d) rewrite my comments about the books 10,000 times because it was too long \
(e) make new graphics for the best/worst parts of the list
(f) read through it, correct mistakes, rewrite the things I was (still) not satisfied with
(g) throw my hands up in the air, post it, and hope for the best
After all that was done… I realized I was starving because I hadn’t eaten anything for so long. LOL
Oh, heck, I didn’t even consider the whole graphics making thing. That’s just … a nightmare. I’ve tried to streamline graphics on my blog, which means it’s not particularly amazing to look at, but I used to spend more time trying to make graphics than writing the review. So major kudos to you. I’m always impressed by people who make amazing graphics on top of everything else, because I just can’t lol.
The not eating thing, though … the best thing a person can do for their family blogger is feed and water them on regular intervals, because they’ll forget at some point. xD Guaranteed.
Making graphics is a real struggle for me. Finding images/illustrations (on Pixabay, etc.) that I can use for the background takes forever (IF I can find what I have in mind). Then I’m off to Canva to find a template that works, because I stink at creating an eye-catching layout on my own. After all that, I still might get so frustrated that I scrap the whole thing. I get lucky sometimes, but I’m not very good at it. Maybe one day…
Someone definitely should have asked if I remembered to eat that day. 😂 They probably thought they were being kind by not disturbing me while I was working on it, though. Darn it. Just my luck! Haha
If it weren’t for Pixabay and Canva, my site would have absolutely no graphics whatsoever. xD Thank goodness they make things so much easier lol.
Haha same here! It was such a relief to find those sites.
I relate so much to this, oh my god! Book reviews are so difficult to write, too, at least for me. Yeah, I can give a basic and vague answer on whether or not I liked the book, but organizing my thoughts, telling what the book was about and accurately defining what is a spoiler and what isn’t? That’s hard.
Organizing thoughts is hard. Words are hard. Coherent words are, pffft, almost impossible? I don’t even know if it’s harder to write a three-star book review or a five-star book review. They’re all just hard lol.
And yes, everyone has different ideas of what constitutes a spoiler, which is so frustrating.
This is…accurate. I pay more to host my site and spend more time reading and reviewing than I think the ARC reward is. I do it even knowing that I’ll never be one of those people that have ALL the unicorns to trade and it’s just so darn frustrating at times. But it is what it is
That’s definitely true. I mean, if bloggers charged even $2 an hour for all the time spent blogging, the money they spent plus their time still wouldn’t add up to the cost of the free books they get. It’s definitely a labor of love. I think non-bloggers don’t always realize that.
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