Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Masterminds

I’m back this Friday participating in another Let’s Talk Bookish post, as always hosted by the amazing Rukky @ Eternity Books and awesome Dani @ The Literary Lion! For this week, our topic is a freebie from any of their topics from the past, so I chose one I thought would be super amazing: Things You Wish You Could Ask Other or More Experienced Bloggers, suggested by Lydia @ Lydia Schoch. Like I usually do, I tweaked the title a little bit, shortening it to Book Blogging Masterminds (and what I want to learn from them <– implied). I’m super excited to dive into this and be unashamed in asking all of these questions broadly. And who knows, perhaps we might get some answers? 👀

Let’s discuss!

(Also, disclaimer: this topic was meant to go live on September 24th, but I missed it due to some personal circumstances. But, I’m still really proud of this post, so I’m posting it anyway!)

Who are Book Blogging Masterminds, in my eyes?

So, imma be real here. I follow roughly 100+ bloggers and I fangirl over so many whom I’ve discovered. To me, everyone who blogs deserves to be supported, feel appreciated and praised for the work they do. Book blogging is NOT easy. It’s time consuming, easy to overthink and fall into the comparison game, and very easy to feel intimidated or like an imposter. But, for me, book blogging masterminds are those who I legitimately fangirl over; those who’s blogs I am in awe of. Their content is always legendary, their layout is incredible and I’ve followed their blogs for a while and have never not been impressed. Especially before I went self-hosted, these are the blogs I wanted to be like, when I grew up and those I’ve tried to emulate and learn from, the more I blog.

Yet, when you look up the definition of awkward in the dictionary? The woman pictured there, with an arrow pointing at her, with the black and red hair and tattoos? That’s me. So, most of those I’m about to list below, prolly don’t even realize I admire them this much. But, to me, they are book blogging masterminds and I hope they feel supported and appreciated always. So, if nothing else, give them a follow!

• Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea
• Kate @ Your Tita Kate
• CW, Joce and Sky @ The Quiet Pond
• Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
• Kal @ Reader Voracious
• Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat
• Kat @ The Bibliosmile
• Fadwa @ Word Wonders

My Questions

I feel like I have a ton of questions I’d love to sit down and ask all of these bloggers! But, if I had to try and narrow it down, I think these would be my main questions:

1. How do you balance blogging and life?
2. What are your favorite formatting techniques (from plugins to stylistic choices, etc)?
3. How did you learn to promote your blog? If you don’t feel confident in this area, how do you hope to combat it?
4. How do you make book blogging friends and find your community?
5. How do you best feel supported and in what ways do you think you (and the blogging community as a whole) could be better supported?
6. Do you make money from your blog? If so, how and do you recommend it?
   1. Related: if you have/use a Patreon, any recommendations on how to use it?
7. How do you grow your following?

And that’s my attempt and cutting myself off and keeping it short, so…oops. Of course, I don’t expect anyone (those who I highlighted above OR anyone reading this) to answer, but if anyone ever feels inclined–whether in the comments, your own blog post or emailing me–I’m always looking for answers, tips and tricks for any of the above topics! So, always feel free, but never feel pressure! ❤

My Own Advice

Now, I am nowhere near the level of any of the bloggers above, but I do think I’ve learned a thing or two in almost ten years of blogging! So, if you’re a newer blogger, I wanted to offer three quick pieces of advice I wish I’d known:

1. Comparison is not your friend. You know this, I know this and yet we all struggle with this, don’t we? It’s not worth it, loves. It’s just not.
2. Know your vision and don’t be afraid to own it. I had a lot of struggle with figuring out what this blog was “supposed” to be and what I wanted it to be. Hint: always go with what you want and then figure out the best way to support that. For me, I wanted an online presence where I could show any and all facets I wanted to, despite also claiming the book blogger title and focusing primarily on reading and writing. Making that choice and then going self-hosted and rebranding to support that has been the best decision I ever made.
3. Your stats do not define your worth. I was really obsessed with stats when I first started out (ironically–or perhaps not–they were also at my lowest then, too). I tend to tie my self-worth with numbers that should never define me (my weight, my income, my blog stats, etc) and it wasn’t great for my mental health. Hell, it still isn’t. So, reminding myself of my vision (above) and finding joy in the other aspects of blogging FIRST, before ever worrying about stats, has been a game changer. (Do I still look at my stats? Yes. Do I still get bummed sometimes when they aren’t as high or well-performing as I want them to be? Also yes. But that’s okay! I’m human.)

Some days, the above advice feels like basic, obvious facts. Others, they feel impossible to believe, let alone achieve. I hope you achieve them more often than not!

In Sum

That was really fun and I’m so glad I chose this topic for this week’s (the week this was supposed to be posted’s) freebie!

What about you? Agree or disagree? Have any thoughts you’d like to offer? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading!