Ready to learn how to start a book blog? I will show you how to get started with book blogging with just a few simple and inexpensive tips!
If you want to talk about your favorite books, then you should think about starting a book blog. There are so many different social media platforms out there now, but blogging is still one of the best ways to really reach a large audience. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use social media platforms to amplify your blog content though. Use everything you can to really expand your reach, but there is something unique and special about having your own book blog. Especially if you want to eventually make money and work with sponsors.
So today I am going to walk you through the easy and inexpensive way to start a book blog from scratch. Sit back, read on, and you will be one step closer to becoming a book blogger!
How to Start a Book Blog from Scratch
You don’t need to be a tech expert to start your own book website. All you need is a little patience, a few dollars, and you will have a shiny new blog in no time flat!
Book Blogging: How to Get Started
- Think up a name for your blog.
- Pick a platform ( I prefer WordPress with BlueHost)
- Set up your blog.
- Write posts!
- Share your posts on social media!
Those 5 simple steps are really all you need to start your very own book blog!
Come Up With All Your Book Blog Ideas!
The first thing you need to do is have a plan. Come up with what you want to do, and what you want to call it. Start pre-planning and I promise it will make the whole process a lot easier.
When I recommend doing is grabbing a notebook and just writing down all of your ideas. Have a brainstorming session and just get everything out on paper. Then you can start to organize those ideas into something usable.
From here you will come up with a few different blog name ideas and some initial post ideas. I recommend coming up with a few names you like because you want to make sure what you want is actually available.
You can use sites like GoDaddy to check the availability of domain names. Once you find one you want, you are ready to move forward with setting up your book blog!
Setting Up Your New Book Blog
As I said, you don’t need to be a tech expert to create a website. Really most places will walk you step by step through website setup. I prefer WordPress as a blogging platform, so that is what we are going to go with today.
The things you need to create a website or blog include a domain name, hosting, and a website theme. It may sound confusing, but you can get pretty much everything you need in one place.
When setting up my own book blog, I used BlueHost to set everything up and they made it so easy. For less than $3 a month, they will host your website, you get a free domain name, and free SSL to secure the site, and walk you through a 1 step WordPress install. Not to mention you get their 24/7 customer support.
Getting the website itself set up is probably the most complicated part. With BlueHost though they pretty much do it all for you. Just head to their website, click on “host your site” and select the plan you want. The base plan is $2.95 a month and really all you need when you are starting out. You can always upgrade your plan at any time.
Write Bookish Blog Posts!
Now that you have an actual website ( go you), you can start taking those blog post ideas you wrote down earlier and make them into long-form blog posts. For your initial posts, don’t stress too much about making everything perfect. Just go for it!
Your writing will get better with time. You will learn more about book blogging, SEO, content layouts, photos, etc as you go. Of course, you can do research on SEO for book bloggers. I recommend it actually, but don’t get caught up in the nitty-gritty and forget to just go for it. Never wait on perfection. It isn’t attainable and you will improve over time as long as you just go for it!
If you need some ideas about what to write in your new blog, start with what you know! Pick up a few of your favorite books and write out some book reviews for them.
You can also make recommendation lists. Come up with a list of five books from a trope you love and post about it! You can even do blog posts about your most anticipated book releases. The possibilities are endless, so go on and get writing!
Share your Book Blogging on Social Media
Now you are ready to start sharing your blog posts. You don’t need to have a lot of content at first, just share whatever you have created.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and even YouTube are fantastic bookish social media platforms to start sharing your content. Sharing on social media will help your content get seen by more people. Each platform is different though, so you will need to know the specifics of each one.
First, set yourself up with social media accounts that match your blog name. For me, I am The Bookish Mom everywhere. This makes it easy to connect all of your platforms to one creator.
On Facebook, share your content to your page with a link back to your post. For Instagram, there isn’t an option for links in feed posts, but you can add a call to action to tell people “check out the full post through the link in my bio”. You can also link directly to Instagram stories.
Pinterest is my personal favorite social media for sharing blog posts. Go to Canva and make a simple Pinterest-sized graphic. Share it to Pinterest with a good title and description and link back to your post! Canva has easy templates you can use so you will always have the right size.
Finally, there is YouTube. I try to make videos and blog posts that go together. For example, I will write a blog post about my favorite Fantasy competition books and then make a YouTube video with the same concept. I will then link the blog post to the description of the YouTube video and embed the video into the blog post. This not only helps get more eyes on your content but also will help improve your website’s SEO value in the long run.
You can also start making TikTok videos, YouTube shorts, Pinterest ideas, and Instagram Reels. Really, the sky is the limit!
You are Ready to Get into Book Blogging
Now that you have all of the simple steps, you are ready to enter the world of book blogging! If your goal is to eventually make money with your book blog, you are on the right path. It won’t be quick, and it won’t make you rich, but as long as you are having fun then this may just be your new side hustle!
If you have any more questions about book blogging, social media, or anything along these lines, feel free to join my email list for book blogging tips. You can also ask me in the comments here r hit me up on any of my social media channels.
No secrets here! I really want to share everything I know to help you make your book blog a success!
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