Last Updated on April 20, 2022 by ThoughtsStained
So, you may have seen that I’ve been participating in the Support Book Bloggers Challenge. The challenge for March (despite being able to do it in any order) was to comment on 10 book blogs. I wasn’t sure how to highlight that in a post, until I thought about turning it into a combo of highlights and discussion. I think the importance of commenting on book blogs is a topic that can never be understated. The chance to do that AND hype up fellow bloggers?
Yes, please. Let’s do it.
Commenting on Book Blogs
If you are a book blogger, you might connect with this emotion: the elation and joy you get when you get a notification that someone commented on your post. Maybe it’s a post that you spent a lot of time on, so having that external validation is so rewarding. Or, perhaps it’s a post that’s personal or one you wrote without taking into account current trends or SEO data, so you’re pleasantly surprised. Or maybe it’s just nice to know that you’re not shouting out into the void and having someone respond is the universe’s way of saying, “Hey, I hear you”.
Commenting on book blogs is a wonderful way to show appreciation for a blogger you admire. It can not only show appreciation and make a blogger feel valued, but it can also be a way to start a dialogue; discover new bloggers (or them discover you); even form friendships, to name a few positives.
Of course, there is always the chance of negatives: the spam comments, attacks or cruel misunderstandings. I hope the are very few and far between for each of us!
I am huge advocate for sending time commenting on book blogs. However, I do have a few tips I think it’s important to keep in mind.
Commenting Tips
- Be genuine: Don’t just comment on a post just for commenting sake! It’s never required to write a novel in the comments, so writing a sentence or two is absolutely okay. However, while writing “nice post” is kind, it doesn’t give a blogger a lot of feedback or chances to interact. So, be thoughtful and genuine with your comments. It goes a long way.
- Check your intentions: This ties in with the above. Commenting and engaging with other bloggers is a great way to help not other find new bloggers, but for them to find you! However, if that’s your main (only) intention by commenting, reevaluate and try again.
- Don’t be afraid: I know when I first started blogging, I was so nervous to comment on someone else’s post–especially when it was a blogger I admired or was considering a “large” blogger in the community. Que imposter syndrome. Yet, I cannot think of a time that a comment I left was met with anything other than kindness and excitement. Plus, the amount of friends I’ve made through slowly connecting with one another! I’m so grateful.
- Yet, don’t feel guilt: Remember, if you don’t have time to respond with a comment; or, you enjoyed a post, but don’t know what to say? That’s okay! A simple like is still a great way to show appreciation and acknowledge the blogger’s work and post. Linking it in monthly wrap-ups or sharing on social media are other great ways (and following their blog, if you don’t already). Commenting on book blogs is in no way required. Simply another avenue to show appreciation.
Post Highlights
So, I hope that context above was helpful, explaining the value of commenting on book blogs and some etiquette/tips. Now, I wanted to share a few posts that I commented on recently from other bloggers. (Honestly, I just went through my notifications, generated when they responded back, and found the most recent few, as I don’t keep track of this sort of thing).
To me, these were posts that I appreciated enough that I had to pause and say something. Whether because it made me think, because I loved the post or I just wanted to check in on the blogger who wrote it. I hope you’ll enjoy them, too!
- Old is New Again: Why Writing Reviews for Backlist Books is Great by Caitlin @ Realms of Our Mind
- May’s Moments of the Month: March // Finally, Some Relaxation!! by May @ Forever and Everly
- Let’s Talk Bookish: It’s Time for a Change by Rukky @ Eternity Books
- How to Write SEO-Optimized Blog Posts: 8 Beginner Practices to Try by Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
- Pondathon II: A Round 3 Summary by Mackenzie @ Colour Me Read
In Sum
I really liked turning (last month’s) challenge post into a combo of discussion and highlighting other bloggers. What do you think? Do you comment on book blogs? Is it a regular practice or something you want to get to? What are some posts you’ve recently commented on or enjoyed? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
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Yes, let’s encourage book bloggers!
You also suggested several interesting bloggers to follow!
Thank you
I’m glad you found some new bloggers to follow. Thanks for reading!
I also worried about commenting as a new blogger, like I would be seen as intruding, but that definitely is not how people see it!
Agreed!! I am very glad we both realized this is not the case!
I love commenting, but, thanks to napping kids turning into non-napping kids and COVID, I had to seriously slow down, but I hope to get back into regularly commenting again. It’s so much fun to interact with other bloggers. But I must be a rare breed because I don’t actually love receiving comments right now, mostly because of lack of time to respond and the guilt of not responding in a timely manner just eats me up.
Oh gosh yes, I feel that. I should have mentioned that. I definitely stress out when I don’t respond to comments in a timely manner (my average time is anywhere between 1-3+ *weeks*. I’m not sure if that’s any consolidation, but I do hear you on that stress (and hope it lessens!).
I have the same average response time, though I’m trying to be better. I don’t know if the stress and guilt will ever lessen, but at least it helps give me the kick I need to actually get to it.
Yeah, I think it took me reading about how other bloggers also struggle and how “longer” responds time to comments to help me realize that this isn’t just me being shitty (which, it never was, but our brains aren’t always kind, you know?). It’s just the reality of life, sometimes. And I hope you can be kinder to yourself!!
Thank you, Nicole! It’s definitely a work in progress kind of thing, and life certainly has a way of diverting us, but no one’s jumped on me for taking forever to respond, so it eases the guilt a little. We’re all busy in our own ways and there’s just so much still going on in the world to take our attention away.
I think that’s something I have to remember, too. I’ve never had anyone but my own brain yell at me for taking a while to respond to a comment, or blog hop or anything related to blogging, honestly. You deserve to be kind to yourself, too!
When I first started blogging, I was really nervous about interacting with other bloggers because I didn’t know what the expectations of book blogging were. I would’ve loved to see a post like this when I first started. I do comment on book blogs but I’d like to do it more often. I’m hoping I will be able to do it more after semester ends.
Right!? I was completely unsure of what that looked like. I also think it’s important to know when your busy seasons are. If you’re in school, that makes it SO hard to blog hop, so never beat yourself up when time isn’t on our side! 🖤
I really love what you said about checking your intentions. I always try to not just say something positive about a blog post, but also let the author know what about their post really resonated with me. I love everything you’ve written here!
Thank you so much, Kate! Exactly, that’s what I try to do, too!
I was reluctant to comment as new blogger but as I spent more time on blog I learned to comment and now I don’t hesitate when I see a good post. I believe even generic comment is okay, they’re good to get you out of that hesitation or worry about commenting. And they’re also good to show support to bloggers.
That’s a good point about using that avenue to help you get out of your comfort zone when commenting, especially if you’re nervous to start. I’m glad you were able to take that leap!
One of my goals this year is to make blog hopping and engaging with other and especially new to me bloggers a regular part of my week! I’m not perfect at it but my experience as a blogger improved so much once I found other bloggers and had the confidence to interact with them, something that I also owe to other bloggers engaging with me when I was a newbie! So I’m hoping I can pay that kindness forward and make some new blogging friends in the process. Besides, there is so much cool content out there and people deserve to be told that they’re doing good work!
Right!? I really connect with this, Lay, as I did the same thing and doing so drastically improved my blogging experience (even if I don’t get to be as “timely” or consistent as I want to, these days). I agree with this 100% and I really appreciate your comment!
I definitely think comments are one of the loveliest things about blogging! It’s nice to know people cared enough about a post to respond. And it’s always interesting to learn about other people’s views on a book or a topic.
Yes, that feeling has never ceased to feel wonderful!
One of my favorite parts of the book blog is chatting with other bloggers and readers! My heart always soars when I receive a comment and get to have a brief little convo with someone, and that they liked the post enough to respond.
My feelings exactly. Like, I’m *still* baffling that anyone ever wants to take the time to respond to a post I wrote!!
This is such a great post! I also used to worry, a lot, about commenting on blogs… and sometimes I still do. even if I know it’s a bit silly aha. It’s such a lovely way to show support to book bloggers’ work, though, I always cherish every single comment I receive and am so, very grateful for them. I hope people won’t ever stop commenting! <3
Oh, I definitely still do sometimes, too (worry, that is). But, I try to remember how much I love receiving any comments and then that makes me a little braver.
I agree that commenting is the best way to build relationships within the blogging community. I’ll confess that, during the past year or so, I haven’t been visitng other blogs as actively as I used to, and it makes a huge difference in my engagement. That’s one reason I love the Discussion Challenge – because even when I’m behind or not visiting as much, I still have those discussions “bookmarked” to go back to and read, and it’s always the most fun reading! 🙂
It is honestly one of my favorite parts about (taking part and) reading Discussion Challenge posts!
Comments are the best part of blogging, I love engaging with the community! Although, I must admit I’ve been way to tired to comment as much as I’d like to lately 😥 Really loved this post 💕
Hey, you got to take care of yourself too, though, Maria! Commenting will always be there when you’re ready. 🖤
I absolutely love getting comments and commenting on other people’s blogs! That’s what I started this blog for – to interact with others. It definitely gets hard to keep up with sometimes and I’ll feel guilty for falling behind on blog hopping. But then I think about how I love getting comments on older posts too! So yes, I agree with all of this! Comments are great 🙂
Oh yes, absolutely! I have had times where I am a month+ behind on either blog hopping (and thus sending out comments) or responding to comments that have been left on my blog, so I understand the difficulty of keeping up with balancing, sometimes. But they are always worth it!
I was so terrible at commenting when I first started blogging, I somehow managed to go a year without leaving a single comment on another blog and then wondered why I wasn’t getting any engagement on my posts when barely anybody knew that I existed 🙃 I think I’ve gotten better at leaving comments now but I need to work on replying to comments that I receive.
Same!! I feel this. And don’t beat yourself up about comments that you receive and response time. Do it when you can!
I think that commenting is so very important! I know that part of why I love my discussion posts is because it usually leads to people commenting with their own thoughts on the topic, and that absolutely makes my day!
I think it gets tough for me in two ways. One is responding to comments. I ADORE comments, but with my on again off again behavior these past few months because of schoolwork, I’ve been terrible at responding to comments on my posts and it makes me feel terrible!
Secondly, I tend to feel extremely guilty when I don’t leave a comment on a blog post I loved, especially when I have something to say! But I’ve come to realize that I have to let it go. For example, right now I’m coming back after not blogging for a solid month. I have tons of posts to catch up on, and I’m slowly reading my way through them. But it’s not feasible to comment on 50 posts, even if I loved them all! I keep reminding myself that leaving a like to show my appreciation for the post is enough, but I really needed this external reminder that sometimes it really is okay not to comment!
Right? That is one of my absolute favorite things about discussion posts!
Oh yes, I connect with this a lot. As you can see, since it’s almost 3 weeks since you wrote this and I’m just *now* responding to comments. *facepalm* We shouldn’t feel guilty, but it’s so easy to fall into that trap. But you’re right: it’s okay not to comment and it’s okay to take your time responding to comments!
I guess this is the right place to comment! I feel the same way, like I’m intruding. The thing is, I’m still making progress with my author website, still adding to my blog. I just need to let people know I’m here. In a way I’m doing it for both—bringing an audience to my very little-known book but to engage with the blogger community. Hope that sounds okay. . .
That’s a great way to do it! I think as long as you respect blogging boundaries and don’t bombard with review requests or self-promotion, commenting and engaging genuinely is a great way to help also bring attention to your novel!
Thanks for commenting, Eileen! And best of luck to you!