So I’m new to the whole world of blogging, and as you may have noticed I’m nosy, so I’m intrigued as to how blogging works for everyone else. I know there is no one way to blog that will work for everyone but what works for you?
- Do you always plan your posts in advance?
- Are there certain things you do regularly; A meme you complete or a weekly round-up?
- Do you complete and schedule posts for the future or publish once you’ve finished?
- If your blog focuses on a particular topic, such as books or beauty, do you keep your blog just for posts regarding that?
- Do you sometimes post personal updates on the same blog or do you keep a second blog for personal posts?
- If you’re a book blogger how do you review, do you make notes as you read or do you wait until the end and then write about what you felt about the book as a whole?
- For anyone else who reviews for their blog what works for you?
- Do you ever include spoilers in your reviews?
- If so what is your policy on including them?
- Do you always put a spoiler warning at the beginning of the review?
- Does your policy change dependent on what you’re reviewing? For example, would you never post spoilers in a crime fiction review – not wanting to spoil who-dun-it
- If you do use a spoiler warning at what point is it okay not to warn people, last night’s Game of Thrones, or a book that’s only just been released is one thing, but what if you’re reviewing something that’s been available for a while? A book that’s been out for a year, or five? a film like The Godfather or Pulp Fiction, something that’s well-known and was released decades ago?
- If so what is your policy on including them?
Personally I have a notebook that I’ll use to jot down ideas for future blog posts – mainly things that I think would be good to use for a discussion, or something I think about at work but can’t write about there and then. I’m trying to publish a discussion post most Saturdays, and aim to do an end of the month round-up to be published on the first of the following month.
I do schedule some posts, for example if I know I won’t be able to post on a Saturday I might schedule a discussion post, or if I’ve been given access to an ARC via netgalley but the publisher has requested reviews aren’t published on blogs until a certain date I’ll often write and schedule these, mainly so I don’t end up busy with work or something else and then forget to publish it.
Please share your thoughts below, it would be great for me as I develop and I’m sure no matter how long you’ve been blogging for there will always be something that you’ve not heard of before that makes you stop and think, oh that’s a good idea.
Also if any of you have any memes or other regular posts you think are good please share below!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Sarah Withers Blogs 
brenhinesbooks
I’m quite new myself, but I like to schedule posts in advance so that I know that I’ve got plenty material if I’m suddenly too busy.
I haven’t done it for long enough yet to have any regular features but I’m sure I will at some point (I plan on doing monthly “Haul” posts to show my new purchases)
For reviews, I wait until I finish the book then write up my thoughts, with the book beside me as a reference. I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible and would warn readers if it contained any (most likely when doing reviews for books in a series it’s difficult to review without spoilers for the previous books). Even if the book has been out for years, I’d still try to avoid spoilers just in case they don’t know them.
I stick to just book posts as I have a personal blog for my personal stuff and it’s nice to keep them separate.
For regular features, I’m currently looking at what I enjoy reading most on other blogs so that I can incorporate that into my own (I really enjoy recommendation posts so I’m planning on doing a lot of them)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doug
I’ll link you do a colleague who has blogged, and spoken on this topic. One thing to recommend would be having a look at tags and categories, seeing what posts appear, and using those. Keep it to max 3 categories, normally 1 or 2, and a few tags to specify the post content.
LikeLike
Doug
andreabadgley.blog is the colleague, she reviews books as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sarah
Thanks Doogles!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Lots of questions here! I’m a disorganized blogger, so I almost never plan my schedule ahead, unless it’s for blog tours (and my weekly Sunday Post). And I nearly always write my posts at the last minute—typically I only use scheduling to schedule a post for the next morning! 🙂
I typically stick to just books on my blog, but I do include a short personal update in my Sunday Post and in my month wrap-up. I occasionally include personal things in my book discussions as well.
I very seldom write notes while I read, though I’ve often thought I SHOULD.
If I include spoilers, I always warn people. If it’s just a short spoiler, I usually just put it behind a spoiler tag. If I write a post with lots of spoilers, I put it right in the title and give warnings at the top of the post. Even if it’s an older book, I try not to spoil anything.
That’s my two cents. Hope it helps!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sarah
Sorry about all the questions – I just had a bit of a thought explosion!
I think it’s always interesting to see how other people do things, a pick up on some things that might have passed me by.
LikeLike
Michelle @ FaerieFits
I obsessively “blog-ahead” or schedule posts in advance. I used to post as I wrote them, and then discovered that if I did that too much, I’d have 5 posts on the weekend and none during the week because weekends were when I had time to write posts, lol. Now I just schedule reviews one week after the last scheduled review (which means I sometimes end up with quite the buffer!) — If I feel like that pushes reviews way too far out into the future, I’ll start scheduling 2/week, but that honestly hardly ever happens because I don’t get a TON of reading done.
I try to schedule 1 discussion-type post (either about reading or writing or, occasionally, blogging), and I try to make sure I have at least a 2-week buffer because you never know when I’ll miss a coveted weekend opportunity to write! But I also don’t sweat it if I fall behind and end up missing a week or whatever. I try to be pretty chill.
I go back and forth on whether I also participate in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the Broke & The Bookish. I’ll do it consistently for months and then hit one topic that I just don’t like and fall out of the rythm and just stop caring, lol. Those normally get outlined a week or so in advance, and I make the post itself over the weekend before. You can tell where my priorities are!
I used to keep a spreadsheet with all of my scheduled posts and when I needed to get things scheduled by and whatnot. But that only works (for me) as long as you’re holding yourself accountable to it and keeping it updated, so it doesn’t always work for me. More recently, I’ve added a plugin to view your scheduled posts in a calendar layout, and you can drag & drop them to different days if you want to move them around. SUPER COOL!
I also keep a spreadsheet as a running list of post ideas. I’ve got some potential discussion topics jotted down, some writing-related ones. Some that would be really simple to do (I bold those so I find them quickly) and others that will take a lot more thought (ie, they will never get written even though I think they’d be interesting).
I THINK that’s the majority of my habits! Hehe, LONG comment, I know. 🙂
LikeLike
Sarah
Thanks for such a great response! That plug in sounds fantastic.
LikeLike
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight
I’ve been blogging for like a year and half now which still feels kinda new lol, but it took me a while to finally get to doing things how I do them now. I have a schedule, certain types of posts go up on certain days (T,Th, F are for book reviews, Th is specifically for LGBT reviews, W is for discussions, M is for other types of posts, Sun is for my weekly update), but I only post 5 times a week, not all 6. So I always do a weekly update, and then some weeks I might do three reviews and a discussion, other weeks I might do two reviews, a discussion, and one other type of post, etc. And I’m super ahead on posts right now, but I usually don’t lock in the dates until they closer since I leave space for reviews with deadlines and try to keep things balanced. The only memes I participate in are The Sunday Post (every week) and Cover Characteristics (kind of sporadically whenever I feel like it).
As for reviews, I almost always take notes about what I like and dislike while reading or I forget half of it once I finish lol. And I include spoilers sometimes, but I hide them in a spoiler tag that people can click. And I never reveal spoilers without a warning, even if the book is 100 years old. There are times though when I refuse to actually include the spoiler, even hidden, no matter how much I may want to talk about it, because it’s just TOO big of a thing and I don’t want it ruined for anyone, even if they want to know lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sarah
I think my main problem with spoilers is I read a lot of crime fiction and the last thing I’d want to do (or to read) is something that gives away who done it. I do worry that by trying to avoid anything that could spoil the plot some of my reviews feel like there’s not really any depth to them.
LikeLike
Pingback: Monthly Round-Up: January | Sarah Withers Blogs
Drangonfly
I don’t plan my posts in advance but I do keep an “ideas log” for topics that come to my mind
Every week I tried to post one family life post and or TV Show or movie review (Mondays), one book review (Thursdays) ,and one discussion or wrap up post (Sundays)
I do try to blog ahead
I HAVE to make notes as I read because I’m like Dory 🙂 LOL
NO spoilers! Never!
Great post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Drangonfly
where is your GR follow?
LikeLike
Sarah
I’ve just added it to my social media section, and moved it to the sidebar
LikeLiked by 1 person
Drangonfly
Great I just sent you a request 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Krysta
I usually try to schedule posts at least two months ahead in case I get busy. I have a co-blogger, though, so that makes things easier. If I don’t have time to do something, she can pick up my slack and vice versa. We also have a schedule set out where we each have certain days when we are supposed to schedule reviews. Honestly, scheduling reviews in advance is one of the best things I think bloggers can do to prevent feeling overwhelmed. Then you don’t find yourself scrambling because you feel like you NEED to post something today because it’s been so long since you last posted. And it covers reading slumps, real-life emergencies, etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: The Book Blogger Insider Tag | Sarah Withers Blogs