How To Create A Successful Book Review Blog

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With videos, music, podcasts, and so much more, who has time to read a book anymore? More people than you might expect.

In a January 2019 study conducted by Pew Research, 72% of Americans read at least one back in the last year. That's more than 7 in 10 people!

Further, while there was a dip in overall reading during the 2010s, there has been a resurgence in reading during the early 2020s. According to BookScan, there were 4% more physical books sold in June 2021 compared to June 2020, and 20% more books sold in June 2021 compared to June 2019.

Whether physical, ebooks, or audiobooks, people are reading – and listening to – a huge number of books in a wide number of formats. If you have found yourself reading more books over the last several years, then now is the time to take the leap and learn how to start your own book blog.

Not only is it a fun way to share your thoughts about your favorite new novel with other book readers, it's also a good way to make a little extra money. So what are you waiting for? Keep on reading to learn more!

Editors Note

This guide is extremely DETAILED and explains everything you need to start a sports blog. I've been at this blogging stuff for over 8 years and have built a business making $20,000 per month, so I have a lot of helpful advice for you newbies out there.

If you get stuck or need advice, please contact me directly and I'll help you out for free.

How to Start a Book Blog in 10 Simple Steps:

If you just need someone to walk you through the process of setting up your blog quickly and easily, check out step 5.

There are many reasons why you might want to start a book blog.

The biggest reason of them all? You love reading!

That alone is reason enough to start a book blog as a way to evolve your love of books. But being a book blogger also allows you to transcend being a reader and become something more.

Here are some other compelling reasons to start a book blog this year:

Share the books you love – With a book blog, you get to share all the joy books bring you through reviewing and showcasing the books and authors on your blog.
Let your voice be heard – This is a great way to voice your opinion. You can use your blog as an outlet to vent about absolutely anything related to books you've read, or maybe one you're trying to author.
Build your resume – In addition to giving you a platform and a voice, a book blog will help you build your resume and position you as an expert in your field.
Improve your writing skills – Yet another amazing benefit of book blogging is that it helps you to improve your writing skills. And remember, just because you're a book blogger, it doesn't mean that you can't occasionally publish stuff on other topics related to writing or other subjects you're passionate about.
Join or create a community of like-minded individuals – You know those people who say, 'I don't read,' like it's actually okay? You never have to deal with them when you're the creator of a community of avid readers!
Make money – This is undoubtedly the best part of blogging about books. You get paid to do something that you love so much you'd happily do it for free. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Now that you're (hopefully) convinced that starting a book blog is the right move (HINT: it is!) Here's the 10 steps you need to follow to make it happen.

1. Decide on the Focus of Your Book Blog

The first step in creating a successful book blog is to determine the direction or focus of the blog. You need to make a decision as to how you're going to position your blog. Take your time and consider each carefully because whatever you choose will be the main concept that will guide your blogging efforts moving forward.

You may want to ask yourself:

What exactly do I want to achieve with my blog?
What is my inspiration for starting a book blog?
Am I doing this as a hobby or do I see it as a future career?
Do I want to blog about an area of books or settle on a particular genre?

Below are some ideas to consider when thinking about what you're wanting to achieve with your blog.

Idea #1: Book Reviews

Do you want to write book reviews? If sharing the latest book releases with other readers and getting the word out about all the books you love is something that excites you, then writing book reviews could be the way to go.

You will have to focus on learning how to review and promote books, and it may be beneficial to craft a unique review style that will help you stand out. As a book reviewer, you will also have to choose whether to review all kinds of books that you read or focus on a specific genre, such as science fiction or romance novels.

If you're more interested in movie review, maybe you should start a movie blog instead.

Idea #2: Book Recommendations

While book reviews are an important part of book blogging, they certainly aren't the only aspect you can focus on. Writing book recommendations is another route you can take.

Starting out, you may want to recommend books that you love. This will help you attract like-minded readers and blogs to your site so you can begin building your network. By staying invested in the various elements of your blog that are the most important to you, you are more likely to find massive success in the work that you do.

Keep in mind, you may always want to check out how to start a teaching blog if you're using this professionally.

Idea #3: Discussions

With a book blog, you can talk about any book-related topic you want. So instead of talking about individual books, you might have discussions about topics ranging from literary families with unrealistic dynamics to sci-fi world settings you might want to live in… The possibilities are endless.

Idea #4: Criticizing Books

Do you have a passion for criticizing books? If so, this type of book blog is for you. You'll be able to analyze books and write official reviews for online publications and various other media. Just make sure you're careful with your words and provide constructive criticisms, you don't want to get into any legal battles with an author.

Idea #5: Tips and How-To's

People love bloggers who provide value and are helpful. If you have some knowledge you can share with your readers and fellow bloggers, then write a blog post about it. Categories can include tips for writing, writing a book from scratch, tips for reading, tips for photography, how to do technical stuff, how to boost engagement, and so on. Granted, this isn't focused strictly on books, but once you establish a following they may want to create a book blog, just like you did.

Idea #6: General Book Blog

As you can see, book bloggers can go in many different directions. However, you can decide to make your blog a general book blog that caters to a wide audience of readers. You can do everything from reviewing the books you've read to sharing new releases, showcasing new talent, interviewing authors, and writing news about exciting upcoming books.

With this type of blog, it doesn't all have to be reviews, recommendations, and interviews, you can also take part in Book Tags or join in with any quirky topics that are making their way across the book communities.

The options for a book blogger are numerous.

Deciding on the path that's right for you is one step that you shouldn't rush over. Just keep in mind that if you want to be truly successful as a book blogger, you must have a concept that is more or less unique (so if you go with a general book blog, make sure you differentiate yourself with your personality).

Once you've settled into an idea of what you want to achieve with your book blog, it's time to focus on the steps necessary to get you to where you need to go.

2. Choose Your Book Niche

Here, we take a look at all the different types of niches that aspiring book bloggers can focus on. Choosing the right book niche doesn't have to be a difficult process. Simply keep your mind on what your biggest passion is, and the topic that would bring you the most joy to write about month after month, year after year.

There are generally two main categories: Fiction and Nonfiction.

Fiction

Romance – Romance fiction has one primary focus: the romantic love and relationship between two people. Books in this genre typically have an optimistic ending that is emotionally satisfying.
Fantasy – Fantasy books contain a story set in a world that is not real. These types of stories often include magic, supernatural events, and mystic creatures.
Crime – As suggested by the name, this genre of books deals with crime. Topics include criminal motives, the detection of the crime, and the investigation of criminals.
Drama – Dramas are basically stories composed in prose or verse, where there are conflicts and emotions and conflicts expressed through actions and dialogue. These are usually written for theatrical performance.
Horror – This genre is intended to produce a feeling of fear, terror, fright, or even repulsion in readers. It has the ability to create an atmosphere that leaves readers in a state of horror.
Mystery – Books under this genre often have a suspenseful plot involving a mysterious crime. Throughout the story, there are various suspects and motives considered with clues littered along the way to help the reader find their way to the solution.
Science Fiction – This genre typically deals with futuristic and imaginative concepts like extraterrestrial life, time travel, and advanced science and technology. Science fiction stories are often set on other planets or in the future.
Graphic Novel – Books in this genre are based on a series of hand-drawn pictures. Stories in graphic novels are typically told visually with a few words that are mostly placed as speech bubbles or in panels at the bottom or top of the page.

Nonfiction

Biography/Autobiography – A biography refers to a narrative of a person's life written by somebody else. An autobiography is an account of someone's life as written by themselves.
Narrative Nonfiction – Also called literary or creative nonfiction, this genre uses literary techniques to create narratives that are factually accurate in a way that tells a story.
Religion and Spirituality – An example of books in this genre are the bible and self-help books that are written with the intention of helping readers to solve personal problems and enhance their lives.
Periodicals – These are magazines, newspapers, journals, and other publications written periodically at definitive intervals.
Reference Books – This genre includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and various other books that we refer to whenever we need specific information.

3. Choose Your Blogging Platform

This step is usually where people start to freak out. Don't allow yourself to become overwhelmed. I get it, there are many options out there and it can be hard deciding which direction to go. But don't worry, in this section, I'm going to show you how to choose the best blogging platform to ensure your future success.

There are a lot of free blogging platforms, such as Blogger.com, Wix.com, Squarespace, Tumblr, and WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org – I'll explain in a bit).

While these free can work if you absolutely don't have any other option, I wouldn't recommend them and below are a few very compelling reasons why.

Why Choose Self-Hosted (Paid) vs Free Alternatives?

Professional-looking domain name – Unless you're a hobby blogger with no dreams of ever making a cent from your blogging efforts, these free sites just won't work for you. You don't want an amateur-looking 'AwesomeBookBlog.wordpress.com' when you can be 'AwesomeBookBlog.com' instead – clean, professional, easy to remember, and brandable.

Building audience trust – There are a ton of bloggers out there, and if you want to build trust and loyalty with your audience, you'll need a professional site that shows them you're a serious book blogger. It's worth spending a few bucks to get your own self-hosted blog instead of using a free one.

Never lose followers – If you start blogging on a free platform (e.g.Wix.com) and end up changing to a paid option, such as WordPress. org , you may lose a lot of followers when changing to your new URL.

You Don't Own the Content – Probably one of the scariest things about going with a free website creator is technically, you don't own your own content. Because it's created on their platform, their service owns the content in it's entirety. Of a service ended up shutting down your site or it got deleted, you'd have NO ability to get it back. For me, that's just frightening.

I highly recommend using WordPress.org as your blogging platform from the start. It's easy to use and comes with a very supportive community that builds new tools for WordPress.org users all the time (It's an open-source platform).

More Reasons to Choose WordPress

WordPress powers 60% of all CMS-built blogs online
WordPress sites receive over 400 million visitors each month
The number of websites using WordPress continues to grow every year
Over 660 WordPress websites are created every day
There are over 50,000 plugins in WordPress and a vast community of developers and users.
I use WordPress for my entire portfolio of websites for one simple reason, it's the best option available.

As you can see, there are many reasons why you should choose WordPress over any of the free alternatives. It's the absolute best platform for building a successful book blog whether you're new to blogging or you have a bit of experience.

4. Decide on Your Domain Name

Now it's time to choose your domain name. It's important that you set aside an hour or two to complete this task. If you are wondering why choosing a name for your book blog is so important, here are a few reasons:

First Impressions. Your domain name is the first thing visitors will see. A great name can make a lasting positive impression while a bad one can send readers running or cause them to forget your blog the minute they click away.
Search Engine Optimization. The domain name you choose can have a massive impact on your SEO. In other words, your domain name can have an impact on whether or not Google and other search engines send you traffic to your website. For those that don't know, this is where most of your traffic will come from once your website is running full speed ahead.
Branding. You want people to know who you are and what you're about, right? The book blog domain name you choose will define your brand. It's a massive branding opportunity that you can leverage to increase brand recognition.

Below are a number of things you should know prior to buying a domain name. I've figured all of this is with years of experience, so it should be helpful.

Buy a .com domain name. Studies have shown that more people trust .com domains than any of the other domain name extensions available these days. And as a new blogger on the scene, you want to quickly start building that trust from your audience.
Stay broad with your domain name. This will allow you to be able to expand and grow your book blog in the future, something you might find hard to do with a super niche domain name like 'RomanceNovelReviewBlog.com'.
Keep it short and sweet. Avoid using long words that are hard to spell when choosing a name for your book blog. Your domain name should be unique, memorable, and easy to understand.
Alliteration is king. Alliteration is the occurrence of the same or similar letters or sounds at the beginning of words. It makes it more likely that your audience will remember your book blog. For instance, 'CatHat.com' or 'CatChristmas.com'.
Use creativity to get your domain name. If the name you want is already taken, don't worry. There are some tips and tricks you can use to get a great domain name, such as using synonyms or unique words that mean the same thing or adding extra words, such as 'The' 'HQ', 'Hub', 'Home', etc. to your chosen name.
Think of a branding concept. When considering a domain name, try to think of the branding concept around it. This is something that can be super helpful in getting you to come up with unique names for your book blog.
Use tools if you're stuck. There are some great domain name generators that you can use to help you find the perfect name for your blog. These include InstantDomain.com and LeanDomainSearch.com. DO NOT purchase your domain here, just use it as a tool to find the best option. You will purchase the domain when you get hosting (in the next step). Trust me, buying it with your hosting later will save you some headaches.
Don't buy a high-priced domain name. Start with a standard domain name and focus on building your business first. It's much better to do this than to buy a domain name you fall in love with for a couple of thousand dollars.
Don't get stuck at this stage. A lot of people give in to "analytics paralysis" here and never move past this stage. Don't let that happen to you. Find something within a couple of hours that is good enough and think of a concept around it, then move on.
Avoid Hyphens and Number: When choosing a domain name, make sure you don't put hyphens and number in the actual domain name. This is a common mistake and one that should be avoided.

With a customized domain, everyone from Google and your audience, to authors, publishers, and other book bloggers will see you as a professional, and treat you as such.

But remember, while it's vital to choose well, it's not necessary to spend countless hours deciding which domain name to go with.

More Tips to Help You Choose a Domain For Your Book Blog:

Consider using a keyword that reflects your website
Check if the name you want is not trademarked by using this link.

Examples of Successful Book Blogs

BustleBooks.com – This domain name makes sense because it's short, sweet, and easy to remember. Notice the clever use of alliteration?
TheUncorkedLibrarian.com – This is a descriptive name that shows that this blogger is fun, playful, and loves books and wine.
ReaderWitch.com – With such a unique name, this blogger makes it clear that she aims to enchant her audience with her energetic voice.
BookRiot.com – Yet another catchy name that is easy to recall. Book Riot lets you know you're in for an experience that is different from the traditional boring book blogs.
QuillandQuire.com – This book blog name makes use of alliteration to produce a unique and memorable name.

5. Buy Your Domain Name and Hosting

Now that you have a name for your book blog, your next step is to purchase the domain and hosting. The domain name you choose will be your blog's URL or www. address, so make sure it's something that is easy to remember as people may type it directly into their google search.

Hosting is where your new book blog is going to 'live'.

Websites are hosted (stored) on special computers known as servers. A web hosting provider, such as Bluehost, offers the services and technologies needed to be able to view your website on the internet.

So, when someone types in your website URL, then Bluehost will show your blog to the individual who searched for it.

I've created a step-by-step tutorial to walk you through the entire process of buying your domain name and hosting. The first thing you need to do is click on this link to visit Bluehost and follow along with the tutorials below.

Below is a YouTube video and screenshots showing you the exact step-by-step process, choose whatever tutorial that works best for you.

Step 1: If you haven't yet, click on this link and you'll be brought to the WordPress Hosting page that you see below.

Step 2: Next, you'll be brought to the hosting plan page. You could choose to get a "Plus" or "Choice Plus" plan, but honestly, that's not a requirement.

The Startup plan is the cheapest at $3.95/month through my link vs. the normal $8.99/month.

This plan has everything you need including 50GB of webspace (plenty of room for your files), a free domain for a year, plus other standard features like a free SSL and a secure WordPress install. Feel free to browse a bit to decide the right plan for you, but rest assured that Basic will work just fine if you want to minimize your investment.

Step 3: After clicking into the plan, you'll be brought to the next page where you will type-in your new domain, or you can just choose "I'll create my domain later" if you haven't decided on one yet. The domain is the URL people will type into a browser to view your website in the future.

Step 4: Once you submit, the next page will ask for all of your information. That will start with your account information, which is self-explanatory.

Step 5: Next, you'll have to input your Package Information. This is to choose how long you want the plan to go for. My advice is that you choose 24 months to get the discount and save some money, but you can go as low 12 months if you want.

Step 6: Next you'll have to choose what "Package Extras" you want. You can scroll over "More Information" to understand what each of these items are, but here is my own advice.

I would get the "Domain Privacy + Protection", this makes it so that no one can tie your name to the domain name you create. To me, the only other one worth considering is "Codeguard Basic". The other two I wouldn't personally get. But choose what is best for you.

Step 7: The next step is Payment Information, which is self-explanatory.

Step 8: And the last step of signup is to confirm that you read and understand the Bluehost Terms of Service, Cancellation Policy, and Privacy Notice. Click the check button and then click "Submit".

Step 9: Next you'll be prompted to create an account and password. This is the information that you'll use to login to the Bluehost platform to manage your site and account info.

Step 10: At this point Bluehost puts you through a short questionnaire to better understand your scenario. You can answer all of these questions, or click "Skip this Step" on the bottom. If you're a newbie, I advise you to answer the questions as it'll help your onboarding experience.

Step 11: After you're done with that you'll be advised to choose a theme. For now, you can just choose to use a free theme. You can always replace the theme later if you'd like.

Step 12: From there, you'll be brought into the backend of WordPress in the admin panel. This is where you'll manage your site from. You can add posts/pages as you see fit, but when you're ready click on the blue button that says "Launch Your Site".

Step 13 (Final): Your blog is LIVE. Just go to a browser and type in your domain name. Once you do this, you'll be able to access your website!

Congrats! You officially have a website.

If you're wondering how to edit things on the website, all you have to do from here is go to your website URL with /wp-admin at the end in a browser and login.

Example: http://www.mostawesomewebsiteever.com/wp-admin

And don't worry, we cover how to edit things more in the rest of this guide as well. So please continue reading.

6. Choose and Install a Theme For Your Book Blog

After setting up your WordPress domain, it's time to pick a blog theme. A theme modifies the way content is displayed on your website. It changes the front-end look of your blog, that is, what a visitor sees while browsing your website.

You need to pick a theme that looks great so you can design a unique, awesome, and professional-looking book blog site.

WordPress offers many free themes that you can use, but it's not always a good idea to go this route because your site will look like a million others, and if you want your blog to stand out, then you need a custom theme that reflects your uniqueness. There are many other reasons to choose a paid theme over a free one:

Benefits of a Premium WordPress Theme

Responsive Design. These themes look great on any device.
Higher Security. Most premium themes have in-built security to fight off malicious code.
Tech Support. Ideal for those who are tech-challenged.
SEO Friendly. You definitely need this if you want a higher ranking website that more people will find on search engines.
User Friendly. With premium WordPress themes, it's easy to make changes to your site. With free themes, it's common you'll have to adjust code and may need to understand HTML.
Unique Designs. No generic designs. Just a stunning, unique, and professional blog.

There are certain things you can ask yourself to help you with the theme selection process. For instance, how do you want your blog posts or book reviews to look? Do you want to have a sidebar? What are the colors associated with your brand?

The good news is that there are already tons of ready-made themes for book bloggers. Choosing one of these makes it incredibly easy to set up your blog exactly how you want it to look even if you don't have much experience creating websites.

Personally, I always recommend Thrive Theme Builder to people. Why? Because it's completely customizable and you can adjust your blog to look exactly how you want by pointing/clicking as opposed to hiring a developer.

In fact, this blog was build using Thrive Theme Builder and I'm absolutely thrilled with the result. Long term? I think this is the most cost-effective theme you'll find.

Click the image below to watch a video and learn more about Thrive Theme Builder.

And, if you'd like to watch an extremely detailed tutorial you can watch this playlist on YouTube.

If you feel Thrive Theme Builder isn't for you, here are some other theme options that are perfect for a book blog.

Astra Book Themes: Astra is another very highly-rated site builder, similar to Thrive Themes, but they have very specific themes perfect for book bloggers. Read my Astra Theme Review.
Storybook Theme
Blog as a Book Theme
BookLovers Theme
LifeBook Theme
WildBook Theme
Auteur Theme

These themes are made by brands with longevity and great ratings. They are user-approved and include all the features that a great theme should have, including:

Mobile responsiveness
Speed
Beautiful designs
Easy customization
Prompt tech support

…And so much more!

7. Create Essential Pages& Logo

Domain name secured, CHECK!

Stunning blog in place, CHECK!

Now comes the fun part. You get to start creating content on your site.

Start with the essential pages that every book blog should have. Pages are static posts that provide your visitors with all the essential information on your site.

These include:

About Page – Readers want to know about the person behind the book blog. You don't have to get too personal (unless you want to), but you should include some information about yourself and your blog's general purpose.

Let your readers get to know you and explain what they can expect your book blog to be about. For a more personal touch, you might consider adding a photograph of yourself.

If you're not comfortable with that and want to remain private, consider adding a pen name or just keeping the information general in nature and refer to the "staff" of the blog.

Contact Page – Ideally, your contact page should include an email address as well as a contact form that visitors can fill out. You can also include your business address and phone number, as well as any other information you feel your visitors might find useful.

Privacy Policy – This and other legal pages like the Disclaimer and Terms & Conditions are vitally important. Also, when you start monetizing your website, some ad programs won't accept you if you don't have a solid privacy policy.

Depending on your chosen niche, you can also set up content sections on your blog, such as Book Reviews, Interviews, Blog Tours, and so on. It's always a good idea to check out some of your favorite book blogs to see how they do things so you can come up with some ideas of your own.

There are many free online tools to help you make a privacy page (like this one) out there, so I recommend you review those to see exactly what's needed.

Create a Logo – Beyond that, it's also a good time to focus on creating a logo for your book blog. There are a LOT of different ways to do this, but I'm a big fan of using this logo maker.

To get started, you can click here to create a blog logo.I think it's a good idea to create a logo at this point now that your blog is all setup.

This platform will provide you with a free logo for your blog and if you need the high-resolution logo files, you can pay a very minimal amount for access to those files and a few other things.

8. Begin Blogging

Before you begin blogging, you'll want to decide how often you'll be posting to your blog. Do you want to post once a week? Twice? Three times a week? Make sure you choose a frequency that you'll be able to stick to.

So, what should you be blogging about? Here are some ideas:

Review popular books: Book review blogs are a great way to make sure you have an athoritative voice within the book lover's niche. Just don't forget to include a review policy to specify how you choose the books you review.
Create lists of best books: You can cover many differnt genres or topics to create an almost endless array of best book lists.
Interview authors: Not only does this help you creat content, it also helps build important social capital that you can use to really take your blog to the next level.
Suggest books for a niche audience: Reviews and best-of-lists are nice, but sometimes people just want a good suggestion. Help them find the next book for their bookshelves.
Show People where they can get free books: There are many sites which give away free books, especially for children. Let people know about these resources. Just remember: Don't ever post links to any illegal file-sharing sites or copyrighted material.
Start an e-galley : In 2008, Netgalley introduced the first website designed for digital galley proofs. Today, most major publishing houses have one. You can create an e-galley as part of your blog – perhaps for local authors in your area. Additionally, you can use the e-galley as a premium feature to offer review copies to a select audience that must pay for a subscription.
Help readers increase literacy: How-to-guides and methods for overcoming reading challenges can be a great way to diversify your content and provide educational resources to your audience.
Promote your own books: If you're an author yourself, you can use a book blog to promote your own published and unpublished material by selling advanced reader copies as well as copies of books that are already published. In addition, you can use your blog to discuss your books, their deeper meanings, and why you wrote them as well as much more.

… the list goes on!

And remember, content isn't just about writing. You can also create short videos, fun diagrams, and educational infographics. Multimedia content makes a great addition to posts. It makes them more shareworthy and increases the chances of your content going viral on social media.

Pro Tip: Write some blog posts in advance. Make sure you have at least 10 blog posts written before you begin promoting anything. Also, consider scheduling some posts for the coming weeks. This will help you avoid the stress of scrambling to create content during those early days when there is so much else that needs to be done to get your blog operational.

Find a content creation rhythm and be consistent.

It helps if you have a weekly routine that allows you to deliver incredible content regularly. Make sure you create new book blog posts on a regular basis. People have a short attention span nowadays, and you need to constantly create content to keep them engaged.

Your passion, knowledge, and writing style will determine the nature of your book blog. Don't be afraid to experiment a little during these early days. There are very few limitations and rules when it comes to book blogging.

You get to choose the length and tone of your publications, as well as the use of visual content – all of which vary greatly from one book blog to the next. Just make sure that the content you create is engaging and relevant.

And remember, you're crafting content for an audience of avid book lovers so your publications need to be well-executed, properly structured, and eloquent. If there are mistakes and typos, it's likely your target audience will quickly leave your blog, never to return.

Side note, if you want to repurpose your content, consider turning your blog posts into ebooks or downloadable PDF's.

9. Promoting Your Book Blog

You've spent a great deal of time creating content for your blog. The last thing you want is to hear crickets after launching your new blog.

In this section, we discuss some of the most effective ways to promote your blog. Keep in mind that you should already have your 10 blog posts written before you start promoting anything, otherwise the blog will look empty when people arrive.

1. Tell your friends and family. This is a great place to start. Make sure everyone in your closest social circles knows you're starting a book blog, and tell them to spread the word!

2. Promote your new book blog on social media. With the right social media marketing strategy, the posts on your book blog won't go unread. Many platforms even have dedicated groups for various topics. On Instagram, book lovers have created their own #Bookstagram niche. Many users even share snippets of the content to entice readers to click through to your blog to read more.

3. Book club and blogging communities. Book clubs are a great place to advertise your book reviews and other content. A simple search online will reveal countless book clubs that you can join and start growing your network. In addition to traditional book clubs, there are many blogging communities that you can join.

4. Email List. Over time, your blog will naturally attract readers through search engines and eventually, you'll want to launch an email list. This is a list of people you can promote your posts to – for FREE! There are, of course, advanced tricks about building an email list that you'll learn about a bit later in your blogging career, but the earlier you start on this, the better. I'd say to wait until you have around 30 readers per day though.

5. Use a sharing button on your blog. There are plenty of free WordPress plugins you can use for this, but if you're using a premium WordPress theme, it's likely already included. Ask your readers to share your content if they love it (which they will!)

6. Cross-Posting. This is something that can help you gain a lot of new followers very quickly. Although your book blog will be the foundation for your online writing, you can also interact with a wider audience on other platforms, such as social cataloging forums like Goodreads where you can connect with other readers and have conversations.

7. SEO. Search engine optimization is the primary driver of traffic to book blogs. Simply put, this is when Google/Bing/Yahoo will show your blog in the search results and refer people to your website to read your content. This comes when you focus on quality content and have patience (sometimes as much as 6-12 months) to let search engines understand what your book blog is all about.

8. Connect with other book bloggers. This is the greatest resource available to you as a new book blogger. Do your best to share, comment, and interact with other people's content as much as you can so you can integrate yourself with your peers. By doing so you'll find great opportunities for profitable partnerships.

9. Give author interviews: Sometimes you just need to get out there and tell people about your book. Contact local journalists or bloggers and see if they'd be interested in featuring you and your story. You can even create your own interviews and post them on YouTube and other social media platforms.

If you want to explode your website traffic, the most important rule to remember is to write frequently while maintaining the quality of your book blog content. This will help you maintain a high level of engagement.

10. Start Making Money

Ten steps down, and one more to go. I'll bet you couldn't wait to get to this part! Now that you've got everything running as it should, it's time to think about monetizing your blog. Generally speaking, I like to focus on this after I've had around 500-1000 people on my blog in a month. I know that sounds like a lot now, but I assure you that it's very attainable.

There are a number of passive ways you can start making money with your book blog:

Affiliate Marketing – This is ideal for book bloggers, particularly if you choose the Amazon program which has the biggest online book marketplace. You'll be able to promote the latest titles that your audience loves and generate a healthy income over time.

All you have to do is incorporate links from Amazon into your content and when your readers click on the link and make a purchase, you earn a commission from the sale.

Display Ads – Consider adding ads to your book blog by participating in Google Adsense. You can also try Media.net or any other program that offers ads that are powered by intent. This will allow you to make money while serving ads to your audience that are actually helpful to them.

Direct Advertising – Programs like Google Ads pay you based on the number of views or clicks you generate. For those with niche book blogs or small audiences, it's hard to make a decent income from this. The alternative is to use direct advertising because then viewers are more likely to buy a product that is relevant to them.

Partner up with authors or publishers when they do a book launch and help them generate buzz for their new novel. If you have a strong brand and an engaged audience, they'll be more than happy to pay for your influence.

Create an Information Product – As a book blogger, you can create information that helps other authors to write better content or sell more books. This will help you to make money while providing exceptional value to your audience.

Patreon – Many people are skeptical about starting a Patreon – until they do! Patreon can be a wonderful source of income for book bloggers. Although it's slow at the beginning, the income you make continues to increase as your brand and following grow. It's a great way for bloggers to generate reliable income over time.

Sponsored Posts – Once you have an audience, you can start to feature paid publications on your book blog. As long as you maintain the quality and frequency of your posts, you will be able to accomplish this in a relatively short period of time.

How to Start a Book Blog: The Bottom Line

Have Fun with Your Blog!

This is the most important factor, if only for the reason that you're more likely to stick with writing on the blog even when things are hard you're not having much fun. Too many people start book blogs and put in a ton of work, only to give up along the way because the results aren't showing fast enough.

Don't let that happen to you. Use this post as your resource to help you take the steps to get to where you want to be. Have patience and be persistent for an entire year. If you can do that, you'll surely see some very positive results and start to make a side income.

Good luck! And remember to have fun!