There are approximately 33,692,286,305 blogs out there to choose from, and I’ll let you in on a little secret: 98.29% of them are absolutely fabulous and deserve to be read.
Okay, I may have made up one or two of those statistics. Or all of them. My point is that you can’t possibly read all the book blogs out there, so by necessity, you have to be choosy in which blogs you follow. It’s unfortunate, but if you follow every blog you stumble upon, you’ll find yourself inundated with more updates than you can possibly keep up with. I speak from experience.
When I started blogging, I followed every single blogger that followed me or commented on me or seemed to be a regular in the blogger community. Don’t be like me. Sometimes, being picky is the right choice.
This is one I had to learn the hard way, because there was just no way for me to possibly keep up with everyone, even if I wanted to. Which raised a rather important question: how do you decide which blogs to follow?!
Since I clearly have all the answers to life, the universe, and everything (stop laughing, that’s rude), I’ve decided to share my considerable wisdom with you all. So these are things I take into consideration when I’m deciding whether or not I want to follow a blog.
Readability
If everything is one solid paragraph, that’s going to be a hard pass for me. It’s too hard to follow. Likewise, if it’s just a ton of GIFs with very few words in between … also a hard pass. I don’t mind GIFs. I actually really like them to help illustrate a point, etc. But there has to be some nice balance for me. The blog doesn’t have to be the most professional, but as long as it has high readability that’s easy on the eyes, I’m golden.
Personality
Remember all the blogs I mentioned that are out there? Well, the surefire way to stand out, at least for me, is personality. If I enjoy what you’re saying and how you’re saying it, I will forever and always come back for more. This is so subjective, but for me, I love blogs that can either make me laugh or inform me about something. That’s the separation. If you make me laugh, I’m likely to read everything you post. If you inform me about things, I will always seek that out from you. It’s easy to tell when someone is trying to be something they aren’t, so the best advice I try to give beginner bloggers is just be yourself.
Posting Things I’m Interested In
Interesting hings comes in many different forms, and obviously, it’s going to be different for everyone. For me, I tend to read more fantasy, sci-fi, YA, and middle grade. If a blog isn’t posting reviews in one of those genres, I’m less likely to follow it, because I just don’t read romance or historical or any of those things, so why would I read reviews for those books?
This can also come in the form of discussions and how-tos, though! I love reading blogs that have interesting discussion posts or that teach how to do specific things. I’m always up for chatting or learning new things, so if this is what catches my eye, I’m also likely to follow.
Interacting / Commenting
If I interact with you a lot on my blog, or we’ve talked on, say, Twitter or something … yeah, I’m probably going to follow you, even if you fall into one of the categories I wouldn’t normally follow. Because the whole name of the game for me here is interaction. I do enough screaming into the void in my writing career. I’m not trying to do it here, too. I’m mostly in this community because, one, it’s full of lovely people, but two, so that I can actually meet and talk to those lovely people. Kinda the point.
This can be a double-edged sword, though. If I follow someone and they don’t ever interact with me or even take the time to respond to comments I leave on their posts … unless I’m really getting something out of their blog that I can’t get elsewhere, I’m likely to not continue to follow them. It’s such a personal thing, but if I feel like someone is never interacting with me, then there are other places I can spend my time to talk about bookish things with people.
Aaaand … That’s It
Seems so simple when it’s laid out like that, doesn’t it? Of course, you can break things down even further into nitty-gritty details, and there’s more to each one, but those are mainly the things I look for in a blog to follow. If you want a little more detail, these things also help, but aren’t necessary:
✿ Nice Graphics: Doesn’t have to be professional level, but something that’s easy on the eyes and breaks up the monotony of a white page.
✿ Detailed Book Reviews: Totally personal preference here, but I like reviews on the detailed side, that really help me make a decision about whether I want to pick up a book or not. I probably won’t follow a blog that has a five-sentence book review, honestly.
✿ Author Interviews: If I find a blog that asks interesting and unique questions during their author interviews, I’ll definitely follow for that, even though I tend not to read a ton of author interviews in general.
✿ Thoughtful Discussions: By which I mean, not the same rehashed discussions that exist in the bookish community over and over again, but the sort that both inform and elicit input from the community.
✿ Recommendations: There are some blogs I follow just because they make the best recommendations, and even though my TBR hates them and is probably plotting their downfall, I love it.
✿ Readathons: I don’t follow a lot of blogs for this purpose, because I don’t participate in a lot of these, but this is a definite draw for me to certain bloggers, if they host a readathon or event that I’m particularly interested in participating in.
Bloggers You Should Follow
Because this post wouldn’t really be complete without some recommendations, now would it? These are people I really enjoy following, and if I leave someone out, I’m so sorry to you, but my brain is currently at the consistency of applesauce, and I’m lucky it’s spitting anything out right now.
Bones, Books & Buffy
Tammy
Specializes in: Sci-fi/fantasy recommendations, fueling my raging TBR beast and growing it to epic proportions
Novel Lives
Susan
Specializes in: Upcoming ARC reviews and author interviews
Sometimes Leelynn Reads
Leelynn
Specializes in: thorough reviews, diverse books, mermaids, dragons
DiniPandaReads
Dini
Specializes in: Being a cute panda, a little of everything
Lily and the Fae
Lilyfae
Specializes in: Middle grade and children’s fiction, growing your TBR to epic proportions
Pages Unbound
Krysta & Briana
Specializes in: Thoughtful discussion, thorough reviews, updates about big news in the bookish world
The Reader of a Thousand Stars
Lin
Specializes in: Snark, hilarity, bookish lists
A Dance With Books
Annemieke
Specializes in: Fantasy, thorough book reviews, Terry Pratchett
It Starts at Midnight
Shannon
Specializes in: Thorough reviews, the 100
Awesome post Sammie, this was a really good idea!
Ellie recently posted…Book Review and #BlogTour @WriteReadsTours – #Venators (#1) Magic Unleashed by @DevriWalls (5 stars)
Thanks! I had fun with it.
Wow, I’m so honored, Sammie!! I love this post (and not just because I’m on it!) I follow blogs for many of the same reasons, but I think my number one reason is interaction. If I start leaving comments on a blog I love, but that blogger never visits my blog, I will probably stop following. It just can’t be a one way street. And the opposite also happens: a blogger starts regularly commenting on my blog, but even though we don’t read the same kind of books, we develop a friendship anyway and regularly visit each other. I also find myself having Twitter messaging conversation with a lot of those bloggers at some point too. It’s so hard to follow everyone, though. I know there are blogs out there that I would love, I just have to find them😁
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…Book Review Giveaway – Win a Book I Reviewed in February
Ha, you should be. No one makes my TBR suffer quite like you do. xD If you hear a rustling bush outside at night … don’t worry. My TBR has finally decided to come for you. Just lock the door and ignore it. I’m sure it’ll go away eventually. 😉
That’s really key for me, too, and I’ve done both of those things! Yes, this whole book blogger thing is also about the books, but what are books without the people both writing and enjoying them? It’s a lonely existence to not talk to other bookish people. xD
Love finding new blogs to follow! Thanks for sharing these! 🙂
Hannah recently posted…The Sunday Post No.3
No problem! Hope you enjoy. :3
Great post! I definitely follow a lot more bloggers than I should, but I mostly use the e-mail notifications to see which ones I want to read each day. So I look for topics that stand out along with book reviews of books I want to read or have already read. Personality is a plus, but I can’t just look at that since I don’t think I’m the only one who struggles to get their personality show online. Overall, I just like to follow people with great content and the people I interact with most.
Kristi @ConfessionsofaYAReader recently posted…Review of The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (physical arc)
I definitely do the email thing, too. I’ve got a whole separate folder where blog notifications go in, and it helps make sure I see them (because I hate trying to sort through WordPress’s feed).
That’s a lovely post. I wish I had more time to do blog hopping, but I have to admit I lack time, especially at the moment. I’m really considering to unfollow a few to make my reader a little lighter but on the other hand I just wanna talk to people. I love reading what they say. So I’m kinda glad if some of the people I follow don’t post every day because well. It gives me a little time to breathe. 😅 (Not you though. Keep ’em posts coming.)
I like following people that have interesting discussion posts. (Like this one.) I like learning new things and seeing things from different perspectives, even though I have to admit that it sometimes also makes me a little bit envious, because I rarely can think of those kind of topics. How do people come up with that?
Anyway, it’s a lovely post and makes me think. I think I’m gonna do some soulsearching concerning the blogs I follow and why and I will definitely check out those blogs you recommended.
tirilu recently posted…Review “Everdark”
I hear you. I’ve definitely been feeling more pressed for time lately, and I’m always feeling behind. Hence, it taking me so long to respond to this. xD
Ahaha, right now, I’m just curious how long I can keep the daily post thing going. Probably not too much longer, but I’m just enjoying the chain while I have it. xD I’m glad people enjoy it lol.
I don’t know. I always feel like I struggle to come up with interesting post ideas, and there are some blogs who always have unique ideas. I suspect dark magic.
These are some great tips! I think interaction is a big one for me. I don’t want to spend a ton of time talking to someone who never answers their comments or interacts back. Also common interests! I read mostly genre fiction but I follow a few blogs that feature other kinds of books. Some of the blogs you listed I already follow, I’ll have to check out the others, thanks!
Lisa @ waytoofantasy recently posted…This Week in Reading: More Time For Reading?
Nice post! I am probably more picky about the GIFs than you are, though. I enjoy pictures, and a moderate quantity of still GIFs are usually okay, but animated GIFs? That’s usually a hard pass for me.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…Pondathon wrap-up!
I’ve noticed that the GIFs thing, in particular, is wildly varied as far as what people will tolerate. I don’t mind reaction animated GIFs. They can be fun. I just don’t want a post that’s more GIF than anything else.
Aaaw thanks lovely. Love you too <3 I quite like being known for specializing in Terry Pratchett haha.
Annemieke recently posted…Why It Is Fine to Read Middle Grade as an Adult | #middlegrademarch
Thank you. <3 It's definitely a good thing to be known for!
This is a fabulous idea for a post, and a great reminder about what matters when it comes to blogging too. (and some awesome new bloggers to follow!)
verushka recently posted…Thor Metal Gods review: has Loki, a space adventure and a motley crew that will make everything better
I hope you enjoy them! There are lots of awesome bloggers out there. 😀
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