Two Year Blogiversary: Bloggers’ Advice and Giveaway Winner

In order to enter the giveaway I was hosting for my two-year blogiversary I asked people to let me know, looking back at their own blogging journey and the experiences they’ve had since they first started posting, what advice they’d give to a newbie blogger. This post is mainly to highlight what was said because you all came through with some incredible advice, and it’s advice I wish I’d had when I first started blogging because these are all things I learnt from experience that I could have maybe learnt sooner.

(Especially scheduling, why did it take me so long to start posting to a schedule?)

But first, the winner of the giveaway is…

Azia at The Uncharted Word

Congratulations Azia! I hope you enjoy your book and the surprise gift that will be making its way to you in January.

Also thanks so much to everyone for entering. I wish I could buy you all a book just to say thank you, but unfortunately my budget doesn’t stretch that far. I’ll be doing a giveaway again next year for my three year blogiversary so there’s that to look forwards to in 2018 in case all the incredible book releases weren’t enough.

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Sophie at Beware of the Reader

What I would say to a newbie? Make mistakes and learn from them. Listen to your heart and do what gives you joy not what you think would be popular. Be true to yourself, genuine. Chat with other bloggers as you said this community is incredible.

Danielle at Life of a Literary Nerd

My newbie advice would be to have a schedule, or at least a tentative one. When you first start your blog it can be easy to burn out quickly if you don’t know what you want to post. So, find a schedule that works for you and follow it as best you can.

This is advice I would definitely second. After two years of blogging I only just started posting to a schedule last month and it’s been such a help when it comes to both planning my posts and managing my blog alongside my real life. Honestly I don’t know why I didn’t create some kind of schedule ages ago.

Arwa at One’s Peculiar

I think my advice to a newbie (and myself) is to just have fun and be yourself write your own true thoughts and feelings!

Stephanie at Teacher of YA

Oh, I know! It’s not all about the physical ARCs! If you blog only for free books, you will be disappointed. It takes a long time and dedication—there are plenty of wonderful indie authors who would be happy to share books with you for reviews, but big pubs are picky and it doesn’t mean your blog isn’t good; there are just only so many to go around! So blog for YOU! Don’t do it for free stuff!

I’ve only ever received one physical ARC from a big publisher, granted I haven’t requested too many because I prefer NetGalley and eARCs, but I still consider my blog a good one.

May at Forever and Everly

Tips for newbie bloggers: INTERACT WITH OTHERS!! Be yourself. Make your blog pretty. Post what makes you happy. And never ever give up.

Briana at Pages Unbound

My advice to new bloggers is to comment around and interact with the community. This is how you make friends, and, as a side benefit, it can frequently lead traffic back to your own blog, which is important when you’re starting out. No one can visit your blog if they don’t know it exists!

Marta at The Cursed Books

As for an advice: Be yourself and just enjoy the ride, also plan your posts and try to be creative.

Kiara at The Nerdy Bibliophile

If I ever had to give a newbie advice I would tell them to keep it simple! Don’t start creating this intricate blog and jump into all those really awesome but very confusing posts! You don’t want to confuse your readers! I also feel like you should be yourself. Don’t copy others. Come up with your own style!

K.M. Sutton at Ankhor You

My biggest piece of advice is to just be genuine and as authentic as you can. Don’t worry about readers, or likes or statistics. If you are authentic it will come through and people will come.

I feel like one of the most common pieces of advice I’ve seen for new bloggers is not to worry about the statistics (I know, it’s much easier said than done) because the most important thing is that YOU enjoy blogging, and it’s true. What’s the point in spending all the time and effort we do on our blogs if we don’t enjoy it? We’ll just burn out before long.

Brittany at Perfectly Tolerable

I would tell newer newbies that to write what you like and don’t force it. If you enjoy your blog then other people will too!

Dani at Perspective of a Writer

As for advice to newbie bloggers…mine never changes…don’t sweat the numbers. I know we all watch them and want them to go up but really if you aren’t having fun and enjoying the process of blogging you will get burnt out and won’t be able to sustain the time you need to become more popular.

Azia at The Uncharted Word

My advice to a newbie blogger would be to reach out to the blogging community, leave comments, engage in conversations, and just share your love of books with the rest of us because we will always love to hear what you have to say. Be yourself and post whatever you like. And don’t be pressured to post frequently and to comment everyday. The blogging community isn’t going anywhere. Also, don’t feel obligated to keep up with current trends. Read and review any and every book that fits your fancy, no matter the release date, and share creative posts with us that, above all else, make YOU happy.

Marie at Drizzle and Hurricane Books

I think my advice to new bloggers would be…not to be afraid, really. I used to be scared a lot, lost, not knowing what I was doing, scared of other bloggers, of reaching out and so on. Best thing is to remember why you want to blog and do it your own way, by talking about the books you want to be talking about, reaching out to the bloggers you want to, and so on. Don’t be afraid to take the leap, once you do, that’s when you have the most fun.

I used to get scared a lot before posting something new on my blog, the first time I posted one of my discussions I was a wreck, but the community is such an incredible and accepting place that now I enjoy taking that leap, for the most part. I still get nervous about certain posts but that’s part of being human right?

Swetlana at The Caffeinated Bookworm Life

I feel like the one thing I would tell every blogger is to both make sure to develop some sort of schedule because I feel like it takes some sort of stress off your shoulders because you know when you’re posting and you can work towards that but to also be open to change! Sometimes things aren’t going to work out exactly the way you planned and it’s important to recognise that you need to change something and to be open to the idea of doing it! And to not be afraid to take a step back and take a break if you need it. Though that’s still something I am learning myself after almost a year of blogging.

The Orang–utan Librarian

In terms of advice, I think it’s just about having fun and enjoying yourself (also take breaks and don’t stress too much lol).

Michaela at Journey into Books

Some of the things I’ve learned from blogging is to get involved in the community, make sure you create some sort of schedule and above all to have fun.

Lashaan at Bookidote

As a fellow blogger myself, the biggest advice I’d give to newbies is to blog for themselves. They should never feel pressure to do it from anywhere or from anyone. Blogging should be everyone’s way of expressing themselves through writing!

Trang at Bookidote

I guess one of the advice I would give is to never give up you know. No matter what happens. Blogging hard but the commitment is so worth it when you have a bunch of bloggers who are just adorable and committed to share the same love!

Anna at My Bookish Dream

My advice for a newbie blogger would definitely be to interact with other bloggers. The bookish community is simply wonderful, there are so many amazing people here and everyone is very friendly. Making friends and sharing the things you enjoy with them, while learning about their hobbies and passions is amazing!

Another piece of advice I see a lot (and that I’ve probably given a lot as well) is on interaction. It really REALLY is key and probably the reason the three blogs I had before this one failed (I blog to connect with people but I didn’t reach out at first to make those connections).

Plus blogging is so much more fun when you’re involved in the bookish community.

Lauren at Wonderless Reviews

I think one of the biggest bits of advice I can give to new bloggers is to not put too much pressure on yourself! It’s okay to take breaks or not be reading a ton of books every month. It’s super simple, but something I still need to remind myself haha.

This is something I still need to remind myself of as well. I still can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that it’s all right to take breaks when I need to, or to take a step back from blogging every now and again.

Write your Destiny

To a new blogger I would simply say write about what gives you joy and meaning for otherwise it is pointless.

Lu at It’s Lu Again

The advice that I would give to a new blogger is that it’s not about the stats. It’s about the hard work, and the dedication. Everyone finds their own way with blogging and finds their own rhythm and flow, and it’s all about patience, and no matter what, they should keep blogging for them, and keep on blogging what they are passionate about—it’s okay to change things up, maybe blogging about a few things is best at first, because then you can find what you’re most passionate blogging about. For example, I first started this as a lifestyle blog, with movie reviews, general life updates and school tips, best ways to make sure you had a great morning, etc. But then I got more and more into books, and I wanted to talk about it more and more, and slowly I started following more book blogs and here I am, talking with amazing people about books and I couldn’t imagine a life without it!

McKenna at Adventures of a New Floridian

My best piece of advice for a newbie blogger is to get involved in the blogging community! The connections I’ve made through the WP Community Pool, my Facebook blogging groups, and just through simply stumbling upon random blogs have been amazing! I have met people from all over the world with completely different stories. I read blogs in every niche you can think of, and I absolutely love it! Don’t come into this blogging world with the single goal of making money. Come in to learn, to write, to explore, to meet, and to be free!

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First of all I’ll second the advice that has been given above. Interaction and getting involved in the community is key, but so is having fun and blogging for yourself before you blog for statistics.

The main thing I’ve discovered about blogging is to do what’s right for you and your blog. Change up the things you talk about if your interests have changed, or re-design your blog every weekend if you want to. Post what you want, when you want and experiment with the style and format of your posts as and when you need to as well.

I won’t say this is a completely different blog to what I had when I first started out, but Reading Every Night has gone through a lot of changes over the two years I’ve been blogging and that’s been a large part of the fun of it all. I guess the most important thing in my mind is to make sure you have the time to dedicate to a blog before starting out, because while it’s worth it in the end it does take a lot of time and effort.