The only thing readers love more than books is discussing those books with other like-minded people. Starting a book blog is an excellent way to share your opinions with book readers across the globe. Once you grow large enough, you can even get books for free. You may even be able to turn it into a full-time gig if you dedicate yourself to the craft. If you ever wondered how to start a book review blog, then you’ve come to the right place.
Choosing A Brand
The first thing you have to do is come up with a creative name for your blog. A good name grabs the reader’s attention while accurately describing what the blog is about. You also want to take your niche into consideration. A niche allows you to form a specialized audience with the same interests as you.
For example, you can write about mostly Young Adult Novels. Just make sure the niche is something you are already personally invested in. Before you finalize a name, make sure the website domain is easy to obtain. You also want to ensure that the relevant social media handles are also available. This allows you to create a website and social media presence with consistent branding.
Setting Up The Website
While it may be tempting to use a free tool like Blogger, it doesn’t help you much in the long run. Having your very own site makes you look way more professional. As vain as it sounds, you will lose many potential readers if you have a bad looking site. Don’t stress if you don’t have any technical skills. There are tons of services that will do most of the heavy lifting for you. WordPress even has a book blog template to get you started. If all else fails, you can hire a freelancer to put your website together for just a few dollars.
Start Blogging About Your Book Reviews
Once your website looks good, you can start producing actual reviews. Depending on your chosen niche, you can review books you already have or head to the store. You can even use a service like Kindle Unlimited to have thousands of titles at your fingertips. After you have a few well-written reviews, you can start to request free review copies. Many publishers love ging away their latest stories in exchange for a review.
Time To Expand Your Book Review Blog
In order to get many free copies, you will need to grow your audience. A great way to do that is through social media. You can find fellow book readers and share your insight with them. Rather than spamming links, you can build organic relationships with potential readers. You can then tell them about your blog after you build up a solid rapport.
Ways To Monetize Your Book Review Blog
Reviewing books is a fun hobby that can also turn into a steady stream of income once you learn how to start a book review blog successfully. Once you have an engaged following, you can start to make some extra cash. Many publishers will offer paid promotions to reviewers who help boost sales figures at launch. You can also use affiliate marketing links on anything else that you review. This gives you some nice passive income every time someone buys a book based on your recommendation.