Many people love to read, and many of them have a passion for writing. If you are one of those book lovers who also have a flair for words, how about starting your blog? A book blog is a perfect way to share your thoughts on what you’re reading, get paid by companies that want reviews, and make money through ads or affiliate links. Here’s how to start your successful blog today!
How to start a book blog and make money
In the past 10 years, the book industry has changed. As a result, people can buy books differently than they used to.
They used to sell them only in stores in their cardboard boxes with pictures on their front, but now people can buy them online or read them on electronic devices like phones or tablets.
This change is also true for how traditional book clubs have changed into blogs where people share reviews and recommendations.
If you love to read, you can start a blog. You can give people book recommendations, write reviews, and connect with other people who like to read books.
We know how busy life can be, so we’ve made this list of 10 steps to help you start a book blog. From choosing a website template and blog name to learning which types of book blog posts to write, here’s what you need to do.
Step 0 – Read how to start a blog
If you want a free guide on how to start your own blogging business, go to this awesome guide.
Step 1 – Choose your book niche
Now that you’ve read and know how to start a blog and make money let’s talk about blogging about books.
The first thing you need to do is to choose the type of book blog you’ll be blogging about for the rest of your life.
Before collecting books and writing your first blog post, think about what type of book blog you want.
It can be a blog specializing in a specific topic, or it can just be known for posting about different subjects.
You should think about your goals for blogging and which kind of audience you’d like to reach.
If you’re passionate about a genre and know a solid fan base, create a blog around it.
You can also make your blog more general if that’s what you want. For example, here are some types of book blogs on the internet:
- Book reviews – Book reviews tell you what a book is about. They keep you from wasting your money on a book that is not good.
- Book recommendations – Book recommendations are sites that say whether a book is good or bad, and they give a possible rating, like 4.5/5 stars, for instance.
- How to write a book – Writing a book means there are some rules to follow when writing one, so it would be better than other books in the same category. It could help you get published by telling you how to become an author, too!
- Critique books – Book critiques are usually written by authors who have read the story, and their review tells what they liked or didn’t like about the story.
If you want to write for a specific audience, focus on one genre: romance, action, horror, suspense, Sci-fi, or classics.
Step 2 – Buy, rent, borrow books
To write a book blog, you need books. You also need to read books that are not your own. Books are like food for your shelf.
Early in your blogging career, you can use the books that you already have or read in the past.
As time goes by, you will want to use more and more of these resources and get free copies from publishers if possible and join networks with other bloggers.
Step 3 – Write quality content
One of the essential parts of starting a book review blog is writing good posts. You need to make sure that you write good posts for your blog, so people will come to it and keep coming back. The easiest way to do this is by following these 4 steps:
- think about what you want your blog post to be about
- write a title that gets clicks (don’t overpromise)
- start writing a draft
- proofread, proofread, proofread
Step 4 – Learn SEO for your book blog
Writing is one thing. Writing for both the audience and search engines is another.
To attract more traffic to your blog, you should write keywords posts. You can also do this by using one of the best blogging tools, SEMRUSH, to find the right keywords to rank for quickly.
Look, SEO is a whole new topic. It deserves its book.
But, here are some SEO fundamentals that will take your blog ranking on the first page of Google.
Step 5 – Promote your book blog
A good author would not publish a book without telling people. That is what you should not do with your website. You need to promote your blog now that it is done, and here’s how:
- Social media – When people like to read, they enjoy reading books and checking out book blogs on social media. They might be in a group with other people who also want to read. This is why you should think of opening your blog and joining these groups for people who want to read books.
- Gain subscribers – Make an effort to get people’s emails. Email marketing still converts in this day and age.
- Join book groups and clubs – People in book clubs get to know you. It is an excellent way to make friends. If people know you are a blogger, they might visit your website and tell others about it.
- Guest post – If you have a blog, ask other bloggers for a guest post on their site. You can include a link to your website in the signature of your email so they can come and visit your blog.
- Use ads – If you want to reach more people, you can spend money to do it. You can advertise on social media, on a website, or even make a video on YouTube.
- An excellent way to reach new people is to go to them instead of waiting for them. Read other book blogs. Respond to book tags on those blogs. Engage with readers on those blogs. If you want people to come to your blog, write comments and be engaged.
How do book bloggers make money?
I did not write the title of this article, “How to Start a Book Blog and Make Money,” for nothing. I want you to make money from your blog. Here’s how:
- You can sell other people’s things by joining an affiliate marketing program. One place to start is Amazon Associates. They sell a lot of books there.
- You can advertise with Google Adsense on your blog. You need to turn them on.
- Consider offering a paid subscription, which you can do by writing sponsored content.
- To make money, you can sell books, e-books, and merchandise on your online store.
- Provide consulting services and an online course that teaches people to start a blog.
- You can also teach others how to write freelance book content for publishing companies and magazines
- Become a podcast host.
Conclusion
It is easy to start a book blog. First, however, you should network with other book lovers and collaborate to have a successful one.
When you start your book blog, make an effort to read other blogs. This will help you get inspiration and also connect with like-minded people.
Follow publishers and authors on social media so you know about new releases and what is happening in the industry.
When you blog, remember that it is a beautiful journey. You should also try to take as many people as possible on this journey with you.
As a dedicated SEO professional, I help businesses improve their online visibility and attract more customers through search engine optimization. Whether you’re a small local business or a large corporation, I can help improve your search rankings, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately grow your business.
Christian Tanobey