Making Money from Blogging Pt2?

Posted byabooknationPosted inBook, books, UncategorizedTags:, , , , , ,

I seriously need to figure out an intro and outro to my posts! I used to think it was just youtubers that needed them but I keep finding it weird and awkward to start blog posts. [ Maybe that’s just my lack of creativity :)))))))))]

Still on the topic of making money from blogging I was looking into a particular service, book promotions. Some blogs/companies will organise blog tours, whilst others offer packages where they might make a certain number of instagram/blog posts and tweets. In all honesty I used to follow a few blogs that did that and some point it felt a little spammy ( that’s not even a word is it…). But you know what I mean, I felt like a new book was being shoved in my face all the time.

What I thought would be better than just accepting books to promote was if I read them before hand. I want to know that what I’m promoting is something I actually feel passionate about and know that my audience will enjoy. Am I being naive? I also think in the long run it might be a little impractical, to read every single book before putting it up for promotion.

BASICALLY the whole point of this blog post is to get your opinion on this, I honestly value your perspectives and really benefited from your advice and input on my last discussion post ! Making that transition from having absolutely no income from blogging to trying to create services that will allow you to has been a daunting experience.

(Side note: Let me know if you’ve had enough of this topic, I know I only made one other blog post about it but at the moment I feel like this is all I’m talking about :????)

39 thoughts on “Making Money from Blogging Pt2?”

  1. I think it’s a great idea. Writers–I can tell you from experience–are not great at self-promotion. I’m facing that monster right now. See my last blog post;)

    I think we need promoters. And I think if you are a promoter, you need to know the material you’re promoting,.So, yes, reading the book is paramount.

    What kind of promoting strategies would you employ? Do you mean like creating a press kit? Setting up signings? What would you do for an author?

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    1. I also feel like, if as a reader the recommendations/promotions I’m presenting you with are of interest it’s not going to feel like someone’s just trying to shove their book down your throat (sorry for the aggressiveness :”D) Maybe try to connect it more to people I’m presenting to, for example, have a section where I say if you enjoyed book X and Y this might be the book for you. I think a lot of times authors focus on just getting their content out there (understandably, after all that work you want to increase exposure) but what some promotions are missing, is the aspect of tailoring to your audience. Giving the synopsis, I personally feel, is not enough anymore. Especially when you’re competing with millions of books being published every year. Oh dear I’m rambling again :D. I’ve been playing around with a few concepts, ideas like:
      -Packages: for social media
      -Blog tours
      – Maybe have some interactive author interviews, I feel like if you’re invested in the author you’re more likely to feel at least inclined to check out their work!
      – If a book is based in a particular time period/region perhaps make a fun blog post about that and incorporate the book into that post?
      All my ideas are pretty much still in their primitive stage, again I’m still getting to know the service in more detail. But I hope my concept makes sense 🙂

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  2. Well, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, so I hope that’s OK. As a reader rather than an author, I am totally fed up with blog tours and massive promotion all over the blogosphere. I follow other blogs to get honest opinions, and as soon as money comes into that, how can I ever trust that an opinion isn’t swayed by that? I rarely read blog tour posts (or buy the hyped books) and I’m even reluctant to read blogs who are affiliated with Amazon or any other seller. I’m sure plenty of affiliates only recommend books honestly, but the temptation to ‘sell’ is going to be there. If I want to have people ‘sell’ books to me, then there are plenty of other ways – too many! – than doing it under the guise of a review.

    Only my own opinion, of course, and presumably there must be loads of people who do like reading publicity posts or publishers wouldn’t be so keen on blog tours. But I’d tend to stop following bloggers who published opinions they’d been paid for.

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    1. I definitely see where you’re coming from and really appreciate you’re honesty! Thats’s why even I said in the post that I feel like book promotions come across a bit forced. That’s also why I posted this, I wanted to get every point of view. I wouldn’t review a book I receive for promotion, as I said in my previous discussion posts paid book reviews are personally not for me. I was thinking of before accepting the book for promotion to read it, to make sure that the content I’m promoting I feel confident in. It’s something that people will enjoy. I understand it’s a tricky situation because at the end of the day there are some amazing books out there that readers aren’t getting to simply because they don’t receive enough exposure. That was more of my perspective! I’ve come across and read so many self-published books that I really enjoyed, but I know that probably a lot of people out there haven’t even heard about. I would also appreciate your input if you know of any other methods of making money from book blogging =).

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      1. Oh good – I’m glad I didn’t offend you. 🙂 I know – it’s difficult. But the problem is that even if you know you’re being 100% unbiased, the people reading the post might not be sure. Ha! Sadly no – I’ve never come up with any way of making money from it. I thought your beta-reading idea was great though – I’ll be interested to hear how that works out.

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      2. That’s true, but I feel like if you have enough trust in the blogger I’m hoping you would also trust that they’re being honest. I was actually thinking of making a kind of diary, to somewhat document my experience with the beta-reading. I just wasn’t sure whether that was something people would be interested in reading :)/ Now that you’ve mentioned it I’m actually going to try and make it a series!

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  4. Personally, I only rave about things I love. Having said that, I would find it hard to promote something I either have no knowledge of or didn’t really like. Just doesn’t make sense to me.

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  5. I think that it depends on the kind of promotion. As long as you clearly state that something is being sponsored, then the readers can decide whether your opinion can be trusted or not. If they are long time followers and like your reviews I’m pretty sure they would stick with you. For me, I only start giving less weight to a sponsored opinion when people start doing too many of them. As long as some sort of balance is maintained, I don’t see any problem.

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      1. Exactly! I don’t mind sponsored posts and recommendations, as long as I can still get a sense of what you like and read for yourself. Of course, it helps if you actually know and enjoy what you are promoting, and that also helps to build that trust that makes people stick with you.

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  6. First off, I think this topic is pretty interesting; I’d definitely read every single future post you publish about it, you have my word. And I think it’s crucial to know the book you’re promoting. I believe that you, as a blogger, have won your readers’ trust. So it’s essential to recommend them a book you have read beforehand. I hope this helps ❤

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    1. Thank you! As a book blogger that’s so reassuring to hear, sometimes when I write my reviews I think does anyone actually care :’D. This has definitely been helpful, thank you 🙂

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  7. I wanted to do that too. I kept looking around and still figuring it out. I did find the platform Niume. It’s like a huge blog platform with all kinds of sections for diverse blogging. With every thousand views you earn a dollar. And for every new blogger you refer you and the new blogger earns a dollar too.
    https://niume.com/?ambassadorID=53357
    Check it out, it’s really nice, but basic though 😉

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    1. That sounds great! I mean a dollar for every thousand views, someone with a huge following may benefit from it more, but I’ll definitely check it out! I’ve been looking for platforms like these, because unless you advertise on your blog there’s pretty much no other opportunities to make money from it ( by ‘it’ I mean the actual website, of course you can offer services and stuff like that) 🙂

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  8. Such an interesting topic and so much great debate going on in the comments- I honestly don’t know much about this as someone who doesn’t get involved in the side of promoting books and only reviews fun, I can’t say I have much experience- but it is interesting to see people’s opinions. I do think there is a flood of promotion out there, so go for it, but only if you’re really interested otherwise it’ll get drowned out by other people’s posts

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    1. That’s true, that’s why I’ve been a bit hesitant about actually providing it as a service! I don’t want to become just another book blog that posts promotions and looses the connections I currently have with my readers!

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  9. I participate in blog tours or book blitz on occasion if it is a title or author that I enjoy or greatly anticipate. But I do understand what you are saying, I just view it more as sharing my excitement. Not so much blindly promoting. Some do some tend to have accounts centered entirely around this though. (Maybe it gains followers? I have never experienced this when doing a tour, so not sure).

    I am not sure about receiving any sort of compensation for this though? I have never and would never promote something under those terms. I am not aware of any tours offering any incentive, but maybe I just have not come across. The most I have ever received a the book to review. Which I usually do with all of mine when possible 🙂

    I think it really boils down to the blogger’s decision and approach on how they chose to handle tours and knowing what their followers expect from them. I (as a reader) personally enjoy being offered an opportunity to assist authors new and old in gaining a larger audience, but again I only promote something I have been following or read 🙂 I have even had some wonderful experiences. I participated in the Fall Favorites Tour (I did review each title though) and actually developed some great correspondence with the authors. It was something that I enjoyed so much. I got to know a bit more about the writers behind my favorites. It was the tour that really changed my perspective. But I also pass on opportunities daily.

    There are definitely many approaches that can be taken though and alter how tours are perceived. I had not thought much about this until reading this. Great food for thought!

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    1. A lot of bloggers do participate in blog tours and I do enjoy reading the posts! If it’s something you enjoy doing then I do understand why you wouldn’t look for compensation! If I’m being brutally honest, I’m broke! Being a student in London is no joke, so I thought if there as a way to monetise something I enjoy doing that would really help me out! I also haven’t been able to buy my own domain, simply because I can’t afford to. I’ve also really wanted to host giveaways but again, I don’t have the funds to do so :). If you are able to blog for free, thats amazing and I honestly wish I was in that position! I do agree with you, there are many different approaches to book promotions, I’ve been trying to figure out a way that keeps the author happy, but also allows me to be honest with my reader! And I honestly feel like I can only do that if I’m passionate about what I’m going to promote :). Thank you for reading my blog post 😀

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      1. I apologize. I think I may have misunderstood what you were saying. I would love to earn an income doing this because it is an ideal job 😉 and I feel your pain on being broke. With my recently developed illness, blogging would be a perfect job, so I would certainly never argue getting paid to do what you love! If you can find a way to do and maintain the passion and honesty, awesome! I unfortunately am very new so have little knowledge in the area. Again, sorry about that 😉

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      2. It’s absolutely no problem, I wasn’t offended :)! I hope you’re okay, If you need any help or advice ( not that I’m a pro :’D) feel free to get in contact with me. I’m a year in and I’m still figuring out how to get some sort of income, at least just to support the maintenance of this blog! I know right, imagine if book blogging was offered as a full time job! That would be amazing…

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  10. For me.. If I were to promote the book… It must be a genre in passionate about. I’m very finicky about fiction so that wouldn’t work well if trying to promote. If you are passionate, it feels almost natural and not forced.

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  11. I read all your reactions on promoted or paid review. Personally I get review opportunities my self, unpaid still, but I will always be honest while reviewing. If I would get paid I would still be honest. You would pay me to read your work and be honest about it. And if I don’t like the blurb at all, I’m not interested in taking any offer on it. Although, if it would be a great offer, I’d give it a try and see where it leads me. But, me personally, I would always be honest. No amount of money, even though I could use it pretty well, would make me write a review which is not align with my own opinion. 😊

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    1. That’s the frustrating thing! I know that the monetary aspect will not affect my opinions but I know that I have no way of proving that to my reader! I personally see receiving a free copy of the book as a kind of payment, but that has never affected my opinion! I’m always going to say what I think, and a FEW authors I’ve worked with don’t appreciate that… But those are my principles that no matter what you do I won’t deceive my readers.

      Sorry this has turned in to a bit of a ramble ( as you can probably tell I’ve had some frustrating experiences :’D) !

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      1. Yeah, I get you. So far I’m lucky to get offered free Ebooks in which I’m interested. I’ve turned one down so far. Couldn’t get the blurb exciting me much. Sometimes I try to read other reviews if the blurb isn’t enough to persuade me hahaha. But I mostly read offered books and NetGalley books to my interest. And so far I’ve not been disappointed and can say that I’ve read books from unknown authors I really loved to read and can’t wait for the sequels. For example Amanda Bouchet and her book A Promise of Fire. I love it like a damn lot and was so excited I got granted the second book which will be my first read in January😁 and those authors are really happy with reviews and are such sweet persons!! But if I don’t like a book, I’ll tell them too. As an artist of any kind you know not everyone will like your work. You can’t want all reviews to be 5 stars. Most authors are also ‘happy’ to get a negative review. It helps them grow as an author sometimes. And if your a blog reader you mustn’t base the opinion of the review solely on money. I believe if you can see the writer in the review it is mostly an honest review. Fake reviews because of money are easy to pick out for me. The tone in different and a lot of things are like heavy make-up hahaha you can see the fake most of the time. I would ask readers to trust the bloggers they like. Yeah, some do get paid and give opinions based on the money. But mostly it’s visible.

        By the way, the books are kind of a payment. But it sucks if you don’t live in the USA. I could get Moon Chosen by P.C. Cast (I love her btw) but because I live in Europe I could only get a PDF. And I really loved the book, but was sad that because of the PDF the beautiful drawings were distorted in the file. Because of living in the Netherlands I’ve never gotten a psychical ARC. And sometimes I feel jealous of all those Insta and wp photos of arc hauls hahaha. It’s just I like having a book in my hands and books are expensive here. I mostly import them from amazon UK. For example I would really want to get Moon Chosen but it’s €24 here. That’s a lot for a hardcover. Darn those USA publishers hahaha. Okay, now I was rambling 😂

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      2. Being from the UK I definitely get where you’re coming from! A lot of authors have considered shipping ARCs to me but have found that it’s too expensive, but I completely understand that. When I do get books shipped to me from the US it costs the author roughly $20. So I say on my book review policy that I prefer books hard copies but if you can’t do that, e-ARCs are fine :). I’m the same, I prefer hard copies too! Try getting in contact with publishers in the Netherlands? I never used to receive a lot of ARCs until I contacted publishers in the UK. And even then they would ignore me :’D. OMG it’s okay! This is a zone where ramblers are accepted ! Seen as I am one myself!! Sometimes I literally have to say aloud ‘Okay Eman that’s enough rambling now’ . :’D

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      3. We could start a ramble support group😂😂😂😂
        And thanks for the publisher tip. Only I’m afraid most publishers in the Netherlands only publish in Dutch. And I don’t like to read in Dutch (except for originally Dutch books like Kluun. He’s been translated to English (tough stories about cancer and those kinds of things) but we have some YA publishers here now too. But only translations are available there. I need to do more research on finding English published books in the Netherlands. Or maybe from the UK, shipping ain’t hard to holland haha. That’s why I order from amazon UK😊

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      4. That sounds like a good idea :’D.
        Oh that’s interesting! In that case I think you’re right amazon UK is cheaper. Hard copies in the UK are so expensive too! To be honest I don’t really buy them, a paperback is fine for me :’D. The US have this awesome book shop called BookOutlet, the books are so cheap online! But when I looked at the shipping costs it made up for the cheaper price! Let me know how you’re search goes 🙂

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  12. I agree. I was considering doing Clickbank which is an affiliate program, but I decided not to do it because most of the “products” I never tried out. Even though the books, and stuff I do through the Walmart affiliate program and the Amazon affiliate aren’t new, at least I know what I am talking about.

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