What I’ve Learned from Five Months of Book Blogging

It’s been five months since I started this blog. In those five months, I’ve learned a bunch of things both about this community and myself. My blog is still very small, but I’m content with its growth. Here, I’ll share both everything I’ve learned and what I hope to achieve in my blog.

1. The Book Community is Incredibly Amazing

The bookish community on WordPress has been very welcoming to me as a new blogger. I love browsing through the tips for new book bloggers and applying them to my blog. I’ve been mix-and-matching the things I want to do and I’ve been pretty satisfied with the results so far. I’ve been joining memes such as WWW Wednesday and connecting with so many bloggers. I love reading through everyone’s posts, looking at their discussions, and commenting. Last night, I found out about Avalinah’s Book Space’s #NewBloggers101 and the content there helped me set up some things and discover new bloggers!

2. Interaction is Very Important!

Building off number one, I also realized that reading does not have to be solitary. Of course, when you read, oftentimes it’s just you- there’s no such thing as multiplayer for reading. However, you can connect with other bookworms who love the same things as you do. I used to believe in blogging for myself and that lead to me being inconsistent and deleting my blog altogether. It also made me stop updating my Goodreads. I’m naturally shy when it comes to strangers but I started opening up more and it’s really helped me a lot. Recently, I started going on other blogs more and leaving my thoughts. It’s been great doing so and realizing I don’t have to keep my opinions to myself.

3. My Reading Slump was a Valuable Experience

I noted before on my blog that I experienced a long reading slump. Oh I read a few books here and there but I couldn’t fully get into them. All I ever read then were law books for school. It sucked but reading 30+ books since February taught me not to take reading for pleasure for granted. Before, I would only rate a book on Goodreads and not think about it after. Now I write reviews which average around 300+ words! Besides that, my reading time is practically sacred to me now.

4. Don’t Be Afraid of Self-Published Works!

Some may have noticed the number of self-published book reviews I have on my blog. This is because I joined The Weatherwax Report’s TBRindr which matches reviewers with indie authors based on Science Fiction and Fantasy preferences. I used to read exclusively popular works. Now, most of my content revolves around either indie or backlist books. I still want to get around to popular books- I’m just not as excited as I used to be. What I used to be is rather elitist, especially in thinking that self-pubbed books are not as good as published works. It’s not true. Authors who reached out to me through TBRindr have some very good books and I encourage you to check them out. There are some very unique and imaginative works out there that deserve more love!

5. This is Something I Want to Do Long-Term

If I have something I could call the number one thing I learned after five months, it’s that I’m in it for the long haul. I’ve fallen in love with the book blogging community and blogging in general. Here, I could freely share my thoughts, gush and rave over the books I like, and share my thoughts on certain topics. I want to see where this goes and what happens next. I really think that this is a community that I want to stay in for the years to come.

That’s it for the things I’ve learned from the last five months! I’m really hoping I can keep this up for the years to come. Thank you for reading this and please share your thoughts with me. I’d love to hear what you think!