Good morning and welcome to another discussion and advice post here on ATIB. I have been thinking a lot lately about how much help I got on my journey to becoming a book blogger whether it be advice, sharing my reviews on social media or recommending me to a publisher for a review copy. I have had plenty of help along the way and in kind I have done my best to help others in return. I have put this post together to share my thoughts on how we can all support each other in the quest to share books and also open up a discussion about all the ways different bloggers do their bit to help their peers.
I will do my usual trick of sharing discussion points about supporting bloggers and then share my own perspective on each topic. Please join in on the discussion in the comments and tell us how you like to aid your fellow bloggers and any advice or ways to assists bloggers that you have been shown in the past and would like to pass on. I love doing these posts because there is always a huge response and it gives everyone a chance to contribute. I can’t wait to see your answers and I hope this post is helpful to bloggers of all calibres.
Discussion Points
- Do you like to share other people’s reviews/posts on social media or on your own blog?
- Would you recommend a fellow blogger to a press contact or author if you think the book would suit them?
- Is commenting important to you as a blogger to show support or offer thoughts and opinions?
- Do you try to put together posts that explore vital areas of blogging to offer advice, tips or tricks?
- Would you collaborate with another blogger/s to discuss or review books and share your reading experience as a group effort?
- Do you think it is important to support the bloggers in your community or do you prefer to go it alone?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below as any insights you can provide may help other bloggers in the future. Enjoy the post and I look forward to reading everyone’s contributions.
Do you like to share other people’s reviews/posts on social media or on your own blog?
I really do try and share as many blog posts as I can on social media. Twitter and Facebook mainly but I try and include Google+ where I can. Sharing posts is one of the best ways to show your appreciation for other bloggers and get involved with the community. Luckily WordPress is connected up to most social media sites which makes it easy to share. I do wish all bloggers who have WordPress and Twitter accounts would sync them up though… *moan complete* 😀
Would you recommend a fellow blogger to a press contact or author if you think the book would suit them?
Of course! This one of my favourite ways to pay another blogger back for their support. I will recommend bloggers to publishers, authors and other bloggers wherever possible. If you want to boost a bloggers confidence or help get their name on lists, then this is your best option.
Is commenting important to you as a blogger to show support or offer thoughts and opinions?
I would love to comment so much more than I do. I try and put genuine thought into my comments but they always come off as general or common. I think commenting is an area of blogging I could seriously work on. Sharing your thoughts on a post can make a blogger’s day and also provide feedback to them for the future. It is the same rule as when you review a book, constructive but honest. It is also a great excuse to catch up with bloggers you haven’t spoken to in a while. I don’t think a blogger should rely on comments to feed their efforts but I do believe that if you have something good to say then you should share it.
Do you try to put together posts that explore vital areas of blogging to offer advice, tips or tricks?
I am currently doing one right now and will hopefully continue to do so! If you have advice then please don’t keep it to yourself. Put in on the page and let others reap the benefits. We all have to learn certain things when it comes to blogging but there is a wealth of personal experience within us all that is worth everyone’s time. If you have the time to open up a discussion about an area of blogging you love/hate/avoid/appreciate then do it. If you’re just interested in telling others what to do and how to do it then maybe you need to rethink your approach to advice…
Would you collaborate with another blogger/s to discuss or review books and share your reading experience as a group effort?
Yes I would. I have done a collaboration in the past and it was a fantastic experience and I am eager to do more. I would love to organise more group reads/book clubs but time is definitely sparse in my household so maybe that is something I would explore in the coming years. If you haven’t done a co-read yet then I suggest you try at least one, it is beneficial to chat/talk/debate about books you read as it adds another dimension to your reading experiences.
Do you think it is important to support the bloggers in your community or do you prefer to go it alone?
I think support is one of the most important aspects of blogging and to ignore it will shorten your blogs lifespan. That is my own personal opinion based on my experiences running a blog (I’m not aiming to offend). Book blogging is one of the most erratic hobbies I have ever experienced. One day I’m flying high on books and the next I can barely be bothered to open my laptop. Without the support around me and my own opportunity to support others and watch them succeed, I would have given up blogging some time ago. I realise that people can be hard to work with but it is all about the books in the end, so supporting others is ultimately supporting books which we all love to do!
Thank you for stopping by for another discussion post on matters of the book/blogging variety. I thoroughly enjoy doing these posts as the responses they get are fantastic. Everyone pitches in to talk about these topics and I sincerely hope that they help up-and-coming bloggers who may not have known any better. Thank you all for your time and I forward more discussions in the future. I hope you enjoyed the post and please feel free to share it wherever you can so more people can get involved!
Always Trust In Books 
I support others that support me. I certainly don’t get upset if they don’t share all of my reviews. The WordPress community is pretty good.
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My issue is time. I would really like to share everyone’s posts all the time but stuff keeps us busy m!
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All so true. I share as much as I can & when I can. Not so great at commenting here on WP as it can get quite overwhelming keeping up with all social media apps…and read…and type up review…and personal life 🙂 We’re all a little mad I think;)
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We are 😂
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Sometimes i feel my comments are super lame… 😀 especially on reviews. If i haven’t read the book yet, but i like the review, i do tell the blogger, but i don’t have too much to add. I don’t want to sound like spam.
I don’t have any contacts from publishers i could recommend people to, but if i had, i surely would!
I usually share people’s post on twitter. Sometimes on my blog, when i do a blog hop post 🙂
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I do find it hard to comment sometimes as, like you say, it is difficult to add anything useful to the post! Contacts come and go, have you not approached publishers before?
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It happened a couple times, but it was a one off sort of thing. Other bloggers sometimes have a “go to guy”, but i don’t so far.
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Fab post. I try to be a decent blogger and comment/share frequently. However, sometimes with my job as a teacher. I’m far too busy to be the supportive blogger that I want to be. It makes me sad! I try to make up for it by making more of an effort in the holiday times.
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Any support is appreciated. I find it hard when support is not reciprocated in any form but that is life 😅
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An interesting post. Supporting other bloggers by sharing, liking or commenting on posts is an essential part part of being a blogger. If you don’t interact and join in then why should others do the same for you.
I don’t comment a huge amount, at times I do feel bad about this, and sharing can be sporadic during the day. I can be very busy some days and am just not able to interact as I would like and I know other bloggers are in the same situation, its something I always keep this in mind. There are times when the book has to be read and social media has to wait.
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Book blogging really does get in the way of reading which is hilarious. As long as support is appreciated and reciprocated then we can all help each other in our own way.
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That is so true, its easy to lose a couple of hours on the internet and not realise it 🙂
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I share as much as I can, mostly via Twitter. I love spreading the book love and supporting my fellow book bloggers. Supporting one another is a massive part of what we do. Especially when it looks like the reviewing mojo has done a vanishing act. I do find it harder to share/comment when it’s not reciprocated. Ever.
Commenting is another thing. I don’t always have something useful to say, nor do I have the time to leave a comment on every blog I follow. Or even, and that’s worse, reply to comments left on my own blog. I feel horrible about that sometimes. I’d never want it to look like I don’t appreciate them. I do, obviously, but there are only so many hours in the day and there are books to read and deadlines.
I’m not really one for book clubs/groups. Don’t have the time for them while I struggle with my blog tour addiction. But I have done a few buddy reads and thoroughly enjoyed that experience. I’ll definitely be doing more of those.
I love posts like these. I’ve never done one as I lack the imagination to come up with a topic but luckily there are people like you who come up with these interesting posts.
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Great addition to this post and thank you for the kind words ☺
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Brilliant post. I really try to like posts and share via Twitter.
I comment if I have something to say – so if a post makes me want to read a book for example.
I have included a link to others reviews if their review inspired me to read the book.
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I love this blog post. I spend a lot of time each day visiting and sharing. I think it is hugely important to support other bloggers. Is there a way to connect the other blogs to WP. That would save me a lot of time. I enjoy my blog visits each day. It’s interesting to see everyone’s review style. I don’t always comment as it cuts into my sharing time.
What would help even more is people adding the sharing buttons to their posts, also as you said making sure they are linked to Twitter.
I know some blogs that I have shared every day since I have started that don’t share other blogs. I think that is a shame. This is a really inclusive community and it is important to support and lift each other.
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Great discussion! I share almost daily because I love sharing book love.
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Love this post Stuart! I keep meaning to do more discussion posts but don’t seem to get round to it. I try to comment and share posts but I’ve been cutting back as I’m trying to catch up with my reading backlog. I’ve never passed on contacts to publishers as I don’t really feel that I have that sort of relationship with any of them. As to buddy reads with other bloggers I love them and want to do more.
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Do you like to share other people’s reviews/posts on social media or on your own blog? I share via Twitter.
Would you recommend a fellow blogger to a press contact or author if you think the book would suit them? I haven’t got contacts per se, but if I was offered a blog tour I thought someone else might be interested in, I’d mention it.
Is commenting important to you as a blogger to show support or offer thoughts and opinions? Yes, when I can.
Do you try to put together posts that explore vital areas of blogging to offer advice, tips or tricks? No – I’m too new to offer advice yet.
Would you collaborate with another blogger/s to discuss or review books and share your reading experience as a group effort? Potentially – haven’t yet.
Do you think it is important to support the bloggers in your community or do you prefer to go it alone? Blogger community is one of the best parts of being a Blogger!
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I agree with all your thoughts! I think that quite often life gets in the way and we struggle to find the time to reach out to new bloggers or find new content or even write a short comment on a blog post but even so, the community is friendly and open which is one of the best things about being on here.
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Great post! If I had to summarise my behaviour, it’s that I try to share as much as I can, but I don’t always have time, and I guess that everyone is in the same boat.
I don’t comment as much as I’d like to – I often don’t know what to say! I do try though, even if it’s just to say that I enjoyed someone’s review (or discussion post!), or that I like the sound the book they’ve reviewed. I do think that both sharing and commenting are important though – it’s encouragement which we all need from time to time, and I’ve “met” some lovely people in the blogging community.
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Great post. I’m better at sharing than I am at commenting. I don’t always have time to comment, especially if I’m sneaking a look at my phone when at work *coughs*. I think generally the book blogging community is wonderfully supportive and we all do our best with our heaving TBR piles and lack of time.
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Great post Stuart! As you know, I love the collaboration side of being a blogger, reading and talking about a book together is so much fun and I’ve made it a monthly thing which is lovely. I am a bit of a super sharer, just trying to show the love when I can and comment when possible too but think I can always do better. 🤗🤔
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No idea how I missed this, but I love it! My feed has been a disaster. WP seems to be limiting what I see?
Anyways, I agree with so much of what you are saying here. I think commenting and sharing are incredibly valuable to being supportive in the community. I do both as much as I can. But I also know we all have limits and time constraints so it is not something I expect in return. I do limit some of the sharing to specific types of posts, as I have found if I overshare it gets lost in the feed (ie Twitter) and not seen. But I love that we do this as a whole for one another. And it benefits both parties really. Being more active also helps our own presence. So it is a double win and we build amazing friendships ❤
And I am all for recommending bloggers to pubs! Hands down, you said this well!
Collaboration is not something I have as much experience with but am very open to. I do participate in buddy reads and have provided a few guests posts. I always enjoy the experience. I will say I do not really do advice posts (as I am not that confident as a blogger at this time) but tend more to share my own experiences and hope they are helpful or relatable. Although I love advice posts! I just have a ways to go before I am ready maybe?
This is fabulous!
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I had no idea, until I had a book out myself, what a massive job book bloggers do in giving publicity to little known authors and small presses. You obviously genuinely love books to give up so much of your time to reviewing and spreading the word about your favourites. So a huge thank you to all of you. Keep doing what you’re doing – we writers really appreciate it very much indeed.
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Great post, and great comments here. The writing community is uniquely supportive, I find. I ‘Like’, and share using Twitter as much as I can. As with everyone else, time is the limiting factor. And commenting can be a time-consuming activity, as comments can often produce replies that need responses!
Two things I’d advise everyone to do:
1. Add sharing buttons to your site, and use those on others’ sites to spread their words.
2. Make sure it’s easy for visitors to find your work, either include a proper menu, search facility, or archive, so people can find stuff easily.
Thanks for a great post. I’ve ‘Pressed’ it on my website to spread this excellent piece to all my own followers.
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This is a great read, thank you for sharing. I believe that blogging is all about community. I try to share and like as often possible but I don’t have nearly enough time. I’m bad about sharing, that is something that I do need to work on. As far as recommending bloggers to publishers, I don’t know any. However, I am all for networking and if possible will introduce you to others I think can help you. I have not collaborated with anyone but I am open to it. Supporting the community is important, we need each other.
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