I’m pretty new at book blogging. A couple of months ago, I looked up all of my previous book reviews for indie authors and scheduled them on my blog so I can help promote authors and attract new readers who love reading books. It’s been a lot of fun and I love the direction my blog is taking – it’s become a hybrid of book blogging and writer life posts.

I’ve learned a lot about book blogging over the summer and I thought it would be fun to share a blog post about it! Hope you enjoy. 🙂

I’m getting better at writing reviews. As I went through my older reviews, I saw that some of them were way too short. Particularly in 2020, I was reading a lot of books in an near-obsessive attempt to support as many indie authors as possible. As a result, I was speed reading some books and I’d write brief reviews as a result. My thought process was that the author got a sale while a book review of any length is helpful, however, I’m learning the art of just sitting back and enjoying a good book. There is no rush to finish and I’m sure the author would prefer an engaged reader than a quick one. I’m a quick enough reader when I read at a normal pace anyway – and it helps me absorb the story better which leads to a better review. I want every book review moving forward to have at least two paragraphs even if it’s shorter.

New followers. My blog has attracted some book lovers who enjoy reading reviews so this has changed up the mood of my blog a little. I’m happy to host a place that recommends books to interested readers.

People are sending me free books! This was a pleasant surprise. I’ve had two messages on Twitter so far from marketing managers sending me free books in exchange for an honest review for their client. I had a couple of other authors tell me that they can get me a free copy of their book in an exchange for a review. It’s funny, because I didn’t originally think this would happen when I started posting book reviews on my blog, but it’s super amazing. I won’t complain about getting paid in books.

It’s helped with my time management. Adding another task to my schedule has helped me manage my time better – funny how it often works that way. Keeping your life decently busy seems to allow more time for other things. I’ve always enjoyed being a productive person, regardless of what it is I’m doing, so scheduling in book reviews has been a fun part of the blogging process. There’s always time to do things you love, you just need to balance it with your other jobs and give yourself enough time to relax and rest, too.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post! More book reviews will certainly be on the way soon.

(Photo by Luriko Yamaguchi from Pexels)