My Struggles as a First-time Book Blogger

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash

It’s been exactly 4 months and 18 days since my last post. Believe me, I’m not proud of myself for that. My excuses? Work, personal stuff, and- I admit- my inconsistent writing schedule. Plus, as a new blogger, I don’t really have followers yet. So, I feel like I’m not disappointing anyone but myself...

Today, though, I’ve decided to get back in the game.

I recently got a bunch of new books that I’m excited to read and talk about. There are some books I read at the end of last year too but haven’t had the chance to write about them yet. So, I’ll do that as well.

For now, I want to share some of my challenges as I first-time book blogger.

Posting schedule consistency

This, by far, is the hardest. Not only does it apply this, my book blog project, but also to other parts of my life. At first, I was super excited about starting a blog about books. I love reading. I’ve never had a reading slump that lasted more than a few weeks. I didn’t lack for books I wanted to read and talk about. But, as the weeks flew by, I started feeling less excited. It started to feel more like work.

I liked reading, but the business of writing about them intelligently was another matter entirely. If you follow me on Goodreads, you’ll find that I have more short and sweet reviews than long and critical ones. It just really depends on my mood after reading the book. And, that’s the issue. Because it depends on my mood, being consistent is a real struggle. Even if I LOVE a book if I don’t have the time or feel like writing a thoughtful 5-paragraph article which I then have to edit, proofread and create graphic images for, I couldn’t force myself to do it.

How I Want to Improve: Well, I still want to keep to a 1 post/week schedule. But I think I won’t force myself to write 5-paragraphs. I’ll write however long or short I feel like writing. On top of that, I’ll probably post non-book related but still bookish stuff just like this post. That way there’s some variety to my writing. You know what they say about the spice of life, right? 

Aversion to social media

I’m a rare breed among my fellow millennials in that I don’t like social media at all. In my work, sure. In my personal life? Nope. The thing is, last time I checked, you can’t grow a following if you don’t interact with people. My issue with that, however, is that some of these networking interactions feel very transactional. Like the follow-me-and-I’ll-follow-you-back kind of thing. Or the “nice review” comments from people you never hear from again. It’s hard to have genuine friendships with people online.

Despite my feelings about social media, I do recognize that not participating at all is not the answer. I don’t want my blog to be the proverbial tree in the forest that nobody knows about. I mean, I’m blogging about books precisely so I can find like-minded people, right? Fellow fangirls who are gushing about the same fictional characters as I am. How else am I going to reach them?

How I Want to Improve: I currently have Goodreads and Pinterest. I think I will try to do more with these two channels first before I think about starting a Twitter or Instagram account. What do you guys think? Suggestions are welcome.

Blog writing as a medium

If I started this blog 5 years ago, I feel like there would’ve been more of a market for written articles. Today, there are so many more ways to consume bookish content: booktube, podcasts, even social media channels have their own native publishing platforms. To top it all off, I’m on Blogspot. This is not a fancy WordPress or Wix or Squarespace blog. I’m literally doing this for fun in the most convenient and doable way for me possible.

So, yeah, it’s hard to stay motivated if a part of you- even a teensy small part- thinks this thing isn’t going to be successful. But, I haven’t lost hope. Lots of people write articles on Goodreads, medium, and on their own blogs. Blog writing may be overcome by other sorts of content, but it isn’t dead. I don’t think it will be anytime soon.

How I Want to Improve: I feel like this is one of those things that I’m going to have to get over with and focus my mindset on creating good content. Writing is what I prefer to do so it’s what I’m going to do.

Balancing book hobby with work & life

This is right up there with posting schedule consistency. Unlike work, I don’t have any monetary incentive to continue working hard on this book blog (although I am a book depository affiliate!). And, unlike life, it’s something that I can comfortably avoid doing. Having this book blog is an exercise of passion and self-disciple.

It’s constantly a decision between getting more work done or writing a book review. Getting more rest/sleep or writing a book review. I almost always end up picking the former. It’s rare times like this where I feel all “wordy” and “reflective” that I can write a long one.

How I Want to Improve: I’m going implement a rule that I’m going to work on this blog on the weekends. I want to set aside 3 hours every weekend to write, edit, proofread, create photos for my posts. I’m scheduling this on my google calendar now so my brain knows it’s a serious commitment.

Final Thoughts

Despite my struggles as a first-time book blogger- first-time blogger, really- I still very much appreciate this journey that I’m on.

Writing articles on a consistent basis is, in itself, helping me become a better writer. Creating photos and other sorts of graphics is, in itself, helping me become a better designer. And, most importantly, keeping this book hobby of mine going and thriving is helping me become a better person. The kind of person who starts a cool project for the sake of her passion.

What are your struggles as a book blogger? Talk to me in the comments!