This question has been running in my head for a long time now. As I post and consume bookish content, I have a lot of thoughts. But this is the one that stands out the most, along with related questions.
Are book reviews enough for book blogs? What do people like to see? What posts work better in the long run? What content helps form more relationships?
I've been wanting to write on this topic for several months. Also, everyone talks about reviews getting less traction compared to other posts, but few talk about why. I want to talk about that as well.
So grab a drink and sit down with me for a bit to discuss this.
disclaimer
I've been reviewing and blogging for well over five years now. While I've never had a pure book blog (I never stuck to a niche), my content has always been majorly bookish. And my blog is categorized as a book blog by most people.*
Hence, please don't come at me like "you're not a pure book blogger so you can't discuss this properly". I agree that I may not be the best person to talk about every facet of book blogging, but this post is just me sharing my opinions. It is based on what I think when I post and what I look for when I visit other book blogs. If you'd like to, feel free to write a post on this with your thoughts.
This is in no way a guide or a reference. This is just a chill post where I say things and provide the comment section so that we can have a discussion.
*I actually go through a crisis every month where I feel like an impostor and question this blog entirely, whether I need to stick to bookish content, if I'm even worthy of being in book blogger spaces, etc. but that discussion is for another day.
from a blogger's perspective
Honestly, I question this because of stats.
While I'm generally okay with my statistics and try not to give them too much attention, I definitely look at them and find patterns. I'm a nerd, okay? One of my favourite monthly activities is to look at my blog's statistics and make a report. I write down all the numbers along with my thoughts on what helped and what didn't.
I started questioning book reviews two to three years back when I noticed (on my old blog) that my book reviews got way less traction compared to other posts*. I was considering stopping posting book reviews entirely. Also, I love comments and talking to people over mutual interests. Reviews were not encouraging much discussion.
I paused reviews for a month or so and was focusing on other posts when I realized that my old book reviews were getting tiny bits of traction consistently. It was not a high number to be noticed enough when compared to my other content, but it was consistent. Over the months, they grew due to search engines and ended up being my most popular posts one year after I posted them. Book reviews are evergreen content.
BUT. Though they received more views, they still had very less comments. And while I look at views, I consider comments as engagement. Book reviews still fell short on that.
So, what should we focus on? For a book blog to "do well", what do you look at more? Long-term growth and view count or higher short-term engagement?
*If you're a new blogger and you don't know this, book reviews are known to receive less attention compared to other posts. I got a bunch of comments on an older post where I mentioned this from new bloggers saying they didn't know this and worried about their content. Well, here you go. It's not just you.
from a reader's perspective
I will be very honest with y'all here: I don't read many book review posts.
I try. I promise you, I do. But a lot of the time, I just don't want to read book reviews. I'd rather read discussion posts on the books, book rec lists, or ANYTHING else. The only times that I read all book reviews by a blogger is if I really like their reviewing style.
Book reviews are just not as appealing and interesting to me. They are not chatty and don't feel like a conversation with the blogger. There are very few people whose reviews I like.
On the other hand, I absolutely love other types of content and will read them all. Reading blogs after work or in the morning is a relaxing activity for me. Other blog posts where the blogger chats (which is almost all other types of posts) are what I want.
Another reason that I don't read book reviews is that I don't want to get spoiled or influenced before I read the books. I'm influenced quite easily. The hype and general opinions on social media make an impression on me. Reviews are worse. Either I know too much before going in, or I expect the wrong things because what I notice in a book is different compared to others.
Reading a ton of reviews before picking up a book reduces my enjoyment of the book. So I prefer to read one or two reviews from trusted bloggers (whose review styles are fun or who have similar tastes as me) and go into the book without knowing too much.
I like to read different reviewing styles as well. Instead of regular reviews, I like reading "reasons to read" or discussions on the books. Basically, the formats where the bloggers chat more with the reader. They are less formal.
Another time that I go for other posts is when I visit new blogs. Whether I follow a blog is totally dependent on whether I vibe with the blogger or if I like their voice. It is not easy to discern that through reviews. So I go to any other types of posts and see a couple of them. Sometimes, I don't read any reviews.
If a blog only posts reviews, I'm much less inclined to subscribe. It doesn't give me much opportunity to converse with the blogger or know them. I like to know the people behind the blog. Not just the books.
as a blogger and reader...
I'm very conflicted about book reviews. I understand why my reviews don't receive as much love, especially because of my reading preferences, but it still doesn't feel good!
On one hand, I love reading chatty book reviews and unique formats. On the other hand, I can't execute them myself! No matter how much I want to make reviews less formal and more generic, I cannot. It is a BOOK review. Of course, I have to mostly talk about the book. It's not easy to make them appealing.
This leads to me not wanting to post a ton of reviews myself. As of now, I only review books that I have a lot to say about. Yes, this means that most of my reads are not reviewed. But I don't mind that.
I KNOW that reading ARCs and going with the hype is not a requirement for being a part of the community. But it's a little hard to be able to converse about books when I've not read the same books. Everyone's talking about The Jasmine Throne now and I'm in a corner with my random reads which I don't even review.
Last month, I decided that I wanted to post more book reviews. I felt left out because I was not posting book reviews like everyone else. I was having another crisis with respect to my place in the community, so I reviewed a little more. The engagement noticeably reduced.
And immediately, I felt out of touch with y'all. With my blog readers. There were lesser comments and lesser discussions. Less chatting. Comments on book reviews also tend to be about the books. It's not about the people behind the usernames.
So from now on, I'm going to post book reviews only when I have a lot to say about a book. I'm going to post book reviews for me, simply to let my thoughts out. It might not be fun or interesting like what I like to read. But it's okay.
so, are book reviews enough for book blogs?
For me, they are not.
From both a blogger and a reader's perspective, reviews are not enough for me. I am dissatisfied on both sides.
Reviews don't bring in as much engagement and don't encourage conversation in the comments. Writing book reviews is also not fun for me. I love writing chatty posts like this discussion or my monthly wrap-ups. I love writing how-tos and lists.
These posts take me multiple days to write because I have a lot to say and I need to proofread and cut down before publishing. Book reviews take me days because I have to think about what to say at all.
So as a blogger, reviews are not enough for my blog. Both for satisfaction and engagement.
As a reader, book reviews are not appealing to me. They don't give me enough of the blogger's personality and whether I can see myself being friends with them.
If I visit a new blog and they have no posts other than reviews, it puts me off. If someone I follow posts only reviews for a long time, I may not engage with their content as much.
And as I said before, reading reviews reduced my enjoyment of the books themselves. Hence, it's a no from me.
should bloggers stop posting book reviews completely?
Absolutely not!
I still read reviews myself and like to write them sometimes. There are tons of blog readers who love to see reviews. If you want to post reviews, you should!
The only reason for this post is to share my thoughts and to explain in case any bloggers are wondering why their book reviews don't receive as much attention. A lot of bloggers accept it as a fact but no reader has come forward to say why they don't read book reviews, so I decided to do it.
But don't consider me as a blueprint reader. I'm one in many. Others have very different opinions and preferences.
Don't stop posting reviews on my account or anyone else's account. Do what you want to do, post what you want to post! Your content shouldn't be completely directed by stats. Especially if blogging is your hobby.
The only thing you should be considering is whether YOU like to write book reviews. If you do, go ahead and write all of them! If you don't, you're not obligated to write them. Your blog, your content, your rules.
alternative blog post suggestions
Because I'm me and I try to be helpful wherever I can, I have to include some solutions to the problems that I mentioned.
Here are some blog post ideas through which you can gain more engagement while also directing traction towards book reviews. You can include links to full reviews in these while also keeping it chatty and fun.
- Wrap-ups: This can be monthly wrap-ups, seasonal wrap-ups, or just reading wrap-ups every so often. Write a short bit on every book you've read. This is easier for readers to read as well because they can see all your thoughts without going through a bunch of posts.
- Recommendation lists: I absolutely love reading rec lists because I get a bunch of book recommendations while not being told too much about each book.
- Themed book lists: these are so fun to read! Pick a trope or some general things and make a list of them. For example, scientists in romance books.
There are many more ways to make engaging posts to talk about books while not being restricted to book reviews. Try different types of posts and see what works for you!
be wordy with me
What do you think? Are book reviews enough for book blogs? Do you like to read and write book reviews? What types of bookish posts are your favourite? Discuss with me in the comments!
And if you want to, feel free to write a discussion post of your own in response to this! I'd love to hear all that you have to say.
Sumedha spends her days reading books, bingeing Kdramas, drawing illustrations, and blogging while listening to Lo-Fi music. Read more ➔
Be wordy with me!
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wow, this is such a great post! i genuinely thought it was just me. my reviews definitely don’t get the numbers that my other posts do, and it’s kinda disheartening.
reviews aren’t easy to write. granted, some books are easier to review than others, but majority of book reviews take time and effort. which becomes difficult when it doesn’t do very well. wrap ups and tags are so easy to write up, and they do numbers! it’s a bit confusing sometimes.
as for discussion posts, i struggle with those as i have so many “unpopular” opinions that i don’t want backlash for! lol.
thank you for this awesome post! i think everyone just needs to find their balance.
Thank you, Chelsea! I agree, reviews aren't easier to write especially because we need to put our thoughts properly in a structured format such that people will understand what we're saying. Wrap-ups etc. are easier because they're casual and usually about ourselves and not books specifically.
Oh, you should try a couple and see if it works fine! Backlash generally exists only on twitter. People generally read and move on when it comes to blog if they don't agree. There's less chaos over here haha. And its easier to delete comments so.
And yes, everyone needs to find their balance. It's up to what each person prefers and wants.
maybe i will! when i get a bit more confident in my blog, i'll definitely start to post more like that. i've been on twitter for years, so i've learned to keep my mouth shut haha.
ah yes, I have a better outlook because I've been on blog longer than twitter haha. it's better here.
I've been considering the balance on this myself! I use to write reviews for every book I read, but lately I'm getting tired of doing it. I want to keep it towards the books I have a lot to say about or ARCs, because I do enjoy writing other types of content and I'm not doing that when I'm writing so many reviews. I do see how much search engine traffic they get over time, but agreed - it's not as conversational as other blog topics!
It is exhausting to write proper book reviews for every book. I sometimes get exhausted just thinking about reviewing because I want to read to enjoy only. There are so many books to read and even among the ones that we do read, we might not have enough to say. Especially "original" things that others already haven't.
Also, while they receive search engine traffic it's never clear which posts will go up, you know? so it's like post a ton and hopefully some will grow. not all are guaranteed to.
That's so true! Sometimes there's really just not much I want to add. And while I was originally writing a bunch of reviews to improve my own writing, it is definitely unpredictable to see what ranks better than others in search. I feel like the most random reviews get traffic sometimes, so it definitely feels like a gamble!
Yep yep! We never know what terms people will search and for what keywords our reviews have better SEO.
I'm so glad you approached this topic because it's something I debated myself when I started blogging on WordPress last year. For me, book reviews are easier content to dish out because I tailor the format based on how much I have to say about a book. Sometimes I do an in-depth breakdown, or it's a list of what I liked versus what I didn't, or it's a 5 reasons to read that book. As a reader, I found that I gravitated towards blogs that employed different review styles like these, so I adopted it too, but it took me quite some time to get comfortable with it! But since I liked it/it was important to me, it was worth it.
I also take the time to read reviews of books I've just read. Like you said, I can end up spoiled or influenced about the books I haven't read yet, so this technique really helped me support other bloggers since I had lots to say about books I've already read.
Lastly, I take ages to cook up discussion posts, but as a reader, I love seeing these posts on my Reader. The added time pays off though, because the satisfaction in seeing others engaging is so good!
I understand about book reviews being easier to write! It used to be the same for me before I shifted to self-hosting and decided that my content has to be of a standard in order to post. I just did not want content that I am not fully satisfied with, which generally happens to be rushed book reviews. I just prefer these discussions or more in-depth posts. As you said, they take more time and effort (I take three or more days for each!) but they're totally worth it.
I'm glad to hear that you like doing book reviews and try different formats! And your method of reading reviews after reading the book is good. But how you keep track of what posts to go back and read? I generally forget because I read way later when the hype has gone down haha.
TBH I end up searching the title on Reader and reading up on the blog posts that pop up. It lets me support the bloggers I am already following as well as find new ones!
oh that's a good method! I use feedly now so I'm not sure I can do that there ? will have to check. thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate this post! I have to improve my writing skills, but I agree, I'd rather review a book that I really enjoyed rather than have many books that I may not want to on my blog specifically. I also don't read many book reviews because I've discovered that it's easier for me to develop my own thoughts when I don't read other people's thoughts.
As for which bookish posts are my favorites, I like seeing interviews with authors, themed lists, book news, moodboards for books, and reviews paired with something else (like recs based on the book).
I'm glad you appreciate it! And I relate on not reading reviews in order to develop own thoughts and opinions. Sometimes even the things that I do like become tainted due to what I expect going in.
Oh yes, interviews and other types of posts are good too! Interviews are fun to read especially after we've loved a book. It's like getting more content haha.
I feel less alone with you around Sumedha since I was just nodding along with what felt like every line in this post. Like yourself, I don't particularly enjoy reading book reviews nor do I seek them out. If I check out a new blog to me, I scroll through to see what types of posts they have. If it's all reviews, blog tours and blitzes then I tend to waddle away sadly. Since I just don't enjoy that content. I love getting to know the person behind the blog, chatting with them in the comment sections of their posts and reviews often don't give that. I often feel like an imposter too because of the lack of book reviews on my blog, I tried it and then just stopped. It sucked the joy out of reading for me and I hated writing them. I feel like you can tell when someone loves a post they've written, the words seem to flow naturally and you can feel the joy almost.
I think if someone wants to only post reviews, that's totally their choice but I don't think I would ever be content or happy doing that myself. I'd go stir crazy and quit if I was forced to do that. Hehe you mentioned about preferring book discussions more - SNAP! So do I and they're lowkey something I am working on. However it's going slowly since uhm you apparently need to read to write book discussions ? My favourite posts are definitely the more chatty ones, discussions about anything depending on the blogger. If it's a blogger I love/I'm friends with then I pretty much love their posts regardless of the topic they pick. The few book reviews I read are from trusted bloggers, usually friends shoving books in my face. So I also understand that feeling of being left out, I've never dabbled with ARCs and at times it can feel alienating to watch your friends and fellow book bloggers all discuss books that you haven't read. I usually get round to them but like several years later usually xD
Not going to lie, when I was writing this, I was like "if no one else, Clo will agree and get me" ?
Also, yes to everything you said! Feel like an impostor, understand when people love writing their content, and wanting to chat. All of it. ARCs come with the whole reviewing and book community hype honestly. We'd do just fine without them but I feel quite pushed towards them. Especially since eARCs are anyway the only ones I'm going to get, so am I going to let that go too? Who knows haha.
And, I'm waiting for your post ? I'm sure it'll be fun and interesting to read. But yes haha, we have to read to write discussions on books.
Awh ?? Hehehe I mean I may slither into your dms sometime and give you sneak peeks for what I'm working away on but basically I want to do more 'book chat' type posts and atm I've chosen to group books by series...so like the idiot I am I now have to finish series before I can even write these posts but this post did give me another post idea of 'book reviews vs book discussions' since I feel like that could be an interesting thing to chat about xD
Yeah I totally get that with eArcs, the only reason I've not fallen down the hole is I wasn't a fan of ebooks for ages and now I just don't have the energy to fall down that hole. I've seen where it leads sksksk
I wholeheartedly consent to receiving sneak peaks in my DMs like their teasers to a movie or tv show ? The concept sounds so good, though! I'd love to see what you talk about in every series.
Also, you'd write a great post on book reviews vs book discussions because you've been talking about this casually for a long time anyway (at least, it feels like that to me considering our DMs and comments) so you'll know what to write.
Also, yes please don't fall into this hole haha. It is legit a black hole.
I loved this post!! My very first book review (which I spent about a week editing) flopped spectacularly, which discouraged me quite a lot, I must say. So I stuck with reviewing the book I had the most to talk about, and I post only one review (rarely two) per month. This has worked for me and I did notice I get comments for my older book reviews while my older wrap ups/ tags more or less remain untouched as time goes on. I love writing reviews, though it is always hard to make sure they're going to be interesting for the reader. My favourite type of posts are discussions, though, and I've noticed that they get the most engagement and comments. I also find it hard to consistently read reviews on other blogs.
Ahh I get you on arcs! Sometimes I feel quite jealous not gonna lie, but I currently don't have the time to read many books so I'm thinking of joining netgalley later this year, and stick with the backlist books until then. As for stats, as much as I keep reminding myself that they don't matter, I always go to the stats page at least once a day urgh.
I'm glad you liked it, Jan! And glad to know I'm not alone in feeling this haha. While wrap-ups and tags remain untouched, discussions and such posts are kind of time-less (depends on the topic of course), and I've noticed that while they may not rank in search engines, they do gain attention when promoted on social media.
Netgalley makes thing so much worse haha. I don't get physical ARCs so Netgalley is my only source and I have enough guilt for not reading all the books before release date. Do join Netgalley but don't get too much into it ? it'll suck you in.
And I get you on stats! It may not matter etc etc but we still look. Doesn't help that WP makes it so easy to see them ?
I believe one of the reasons why readers hardly read book reviews on blogs it’s because they prefer to read them on Good Reads. However, book bloggers are still important. Book bloggers must be creative. Try to post other things that are related to books besides just book reviews, i.e, reading culture, maybe do a character study, and create some fandom for the books. Indie authors will be so grateful if book bloggers help them create fandom for their books.
You're quite right! I didn't think of that! It's just easier to find reviews on goodreads that go searching in blogs. While we have more creative freedom on blogs with formatting etc., the convenience doesn't compare. And I totally agree with you that making other content encourages creating a fandom, which really helps.
Writing just reviews seems like you wouldn’t be able to publish a new one each week, if you wanted to do the book and the review justice. Talking about interesting talking points, maybe even the current trends, if one genre is being oversaturated at the moment, stuff like that, would give more interesting insight and help spark a conversation. But what do I know, I rarely read books and never been a book blogger
It's possible, actually! I used to post one book review a week back when I posted thrice a week. But yes, it will be hard with other priorities and especially if one tries to make each review long and detailed. The other types will be much more invigorating to read.
I can completely relate to wanting to review only those books that one has a lot to say about, and picking random books based on my mood or interest. I generally don’t immediately read the latest hyped book, because I want to form my own opinion of it instead of being swayed by what others found notable about it. What makes your content unique is your ability to put forward several sides of the conversation with an effortless simplicity as reflected in the discussion above?
I do that too! I wait for the hype to go down and then pick up some books because I want the influence to leave me, letting me form my own opinion. Hyping up books, especially by marginalized authors, is great but it is not always good for individual reading experiences.
Thank you so much, Janhabi! I was trying to be neutral while also describing my opinion, and I'm glad it has come out well ?
I more or less relate with this in terms of how I approach bookstagram. Cause when someone's feed is just filled with book reviews, I don't feel like I'm in a conversation with the person and if I don't have that feeling, I can't bring myself to care about the person or their content. It's why I haven't been browsing through my home feed for over a year now cause I much prefer engaging in stories and talking to people over tiny things, bookish and non bookish. I think, as you said, even when writing a book review - if people try to bring a more personal touch to the reviews where it feels like a conversation with the bligger/bookstagrammer/writer rather than a methodixal review - it would be ideal. At least for me.
Bookstagram is a whole another thing with book reviews. I personally don't like that they post very long reviews in the captions which bleed out into the comments. That's what blogs are for! And I don't see Instagram to just fine books upon books on me feed. Let's be honest, after some time we won't even register every book on our timeline. What we do notice are the people and of we connect with them, the books that they read. I totally agree with you that stories feel better to see because they're more personal and conversational.