When you start a blog, you’re supposed to have your “target audience” in mind. Mine was simple: readers. But now that I’m over a year into this whole blogging thing, I’ve come to realize that it can be a bit more complicated than that.
Hands down, book bloggers are my #1 audience.
I didn’t expect it when I first started out, but book bloggers are definitely my main audience. Some bloggers know this, and they do an awesome job posting about things that other bloggers will find interesting (Molly’s Book Nook is an awesome one that comes to mind!).
Sometimes I get bummed out, though, because I can never do that. I don’t have any good blogging advice. I get it all from other bloggers! How can I compete? I can’t.
But that’s okay.
I am never going to have a great blog for other bloggers specifically. I want to be a good blog forĀ readersĀ (luckily, book bloggers are definitely included in that category!). I want my posts to be interesting to the average reader.Ā Maybe you’ll find a few books you want to pick up, or maybe you’ll start engaging in bookish conversation differently than you did before, or maybe you’ll just start admiring how stinking pretty books can be (um, that’s essentially the goal of my Instagram).
So what’s my point?
I am going to start posting more about things that I think will specifically appeal toĀ readers who are somewhat far removed book blogging world! So if that’s you, YAY! Stick around! Lots of fun bookish info will be headed your way shortly! And if you’re a book blogger, you’ll still be getting the same posts as you had before, just with a few posts here and there that may be old news to you.
The bottom line:
I LOVE MY FOLLOWERS! You guys keep me doing this every single day. I love when you comment and we have ridiculous bookish discussions. I love when you recommend books and when you read books I recommend. Don’t ever hesitate to chime in on posts, because it’s your engagement that makes this fun!
What would you like to see more of on the blog? How-tos? Reviews? Blogger features? ANYTHING YOU WANT! Let me know!
A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.
Lucille
I’ve also found that, when posting in english, it’s mostly other bloggers interacting with my posts!
But the funny thing is, when I post in french there are a lot of random french people (sometimes way older) commenting how they felt about the book, why they liked it or didn’t, it’s very funny how the audience is different from one language to the other (I wrote “author” first ahaha!) !
But I keep on writing for myself and for other readers, trying to write as if I was addressing a friend!
Ali
That’s interesting! I should start writing in French (lol, um, yeah right). I agree, I’m writing as if it were for a friend <3
Jacalyn Thornton
Bias alert: I am a family member, and as such am a big fan of Alexz’s book blog. But I would have been even a fan if she wasn’t my Daughter-in-law. We’ve always shared a love of books (or at least since she’s known my son), and we’re always shared recommendations. However, since she started blogging, I’ve read books I never would have considered before — mostly from the fantasy genre. Our tastes are different, but that’s what’s great about her blog — finding out about books I would not have read otherwise. So thank you, Alexz, for all your hard work. People are reading your blog even if they don’t always comment (me), appreciating the beautiful photos, and enjoying the fun commentary (so you)! Keep on blogging. You have lots of reader fans!
Ali
Thanks Jackie! I appreciate the feedback and kind words (: It definitely helps to know that people are still there, even if they aren’t actively interacting.
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight
I would also like to make my blog better for non-blogging readers because, yeah, it seems like right now it’s more geared toward book bloggers. It seems like a lot of book blogs are geared toward book bloggers. I guess it just happens that way since other bloggers are the ones we get the most interaction/comments from, and so we just started writing more posts like the ones we see getting the comments. But just because people aren’t commenting, that doesn’t mean they’re not reading our posts!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight just posted Book Review: Deadgirl: Goneward (The Deadgirl Saga Book 3) by B.C. Johnson
Ali
Yeah, I agree! That’s what I need to keep in mind. I mean, of course we LOVE that book bloggers are reading out posts, because they’re such a big audience of ours, but it would be nice if non-bloggers felt like they could chime in, too. And that they, too, were welcome (:
Greg
Same here- I definitely post for bloggers and readers – my blog’s not one of those how- to blogs. I”m not technical enough for that. Great point though- a lot of us do post for other bloggers seems like, and it would be nice to have more non- blogger readers as well!
Greg just posted Can’t Wait Wednesday Ringer
Ali
Yeah, I think we all get used to “speaking” to bloggers on our posts, because we know that they are the ones who make up the majority of our interaction! But I’ve got to be more mindful of that and stop using phrases like “TBR” and “DNF” without explaining what those mean!
Kel
Huh, I hadn’t really thought about this before, though it’s true a lot of blog readers/commenters are bloggers themselves. I remember writing a few posts about online resources or free blog templates when I last redesigned my blog. Other than that, I’d have to look back through my recent posts to see if I’ve geared any toward bloggers. Blogger fail, lol. Oh well. Keep posting content you find fun and I’m sure people will appreciate it! š
Ali
That’s okay to blog for bloggers – I definitely wasn’t saying that’s a bad thing! I mean, they make up a huge chunk of viewership! I am just not able to do that, because I don’t have anything fun to offer. So I know I need to be more mindful of directing my posts towards all readers and just not bloggers.
Maraia
Haha, it’s funny you say that, because I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked if I have a blog or told that I was the only non-blogger to comment on someone’s blog! It’s a little different now that I have a bookstagram account and guest blog with my boyfriend, but honestly, I had to work really, really hard for the first couple years to be accepted. Some people were immediately welcoming, but many seemed wary of me or had no interest in me since I didn’t have a blog. It felt quite clique-y at times! It was also frustrating because bloggers and bookstagrammers tend to think they are representative of readers as a whole, and it’s really not true. We’re in such a bubble! (ESPECIALLY because most blog readers, or at least commenters, are bloggers themselves.) Sometimes our favorite books overlap with bestsellers, but often times they don’t. I mean, just look at the Goodreads awards at the end of the year. There’s always outrage in the book blogging(stagramming community.
Anyway, my point is that I think it’s great if you make your blog inclusive to all readers, not just blogging readers. š
Jessica @ Strung out on Books
I can relate to this post a lot! I’ve been blogging for a few years now, but I always let it fall to the side when my life gets busy. I feel like I’ve never really had the chance to build up an engaged following because I never blog consistently enough — it’s tough to figure out your goals and audience when you’re not actively working on your blog! I think blogging for readers is a great idea! I hope this change has made blogging better for you! š
Ali
I think it really has. Thanks for commenting Jessica. It’s amazing how blogs/social media take a huge dump in engagement/followers when you’re not super active on it. I went on vacation for a week and it was mind-blowing how much my engagement dropped! So basically, I hear ya when you say it’s hard to build an engaged following!