Hello friends! Given that it’s been almost two years of blogging and bookstagramming, I thought it’d be a good day to sit down and reflect on what I’ve learned in that time. So grab a cup of tea, and get cozy!
MAKE TIME.
One of the trickiest things about content creating, I’ve learned, is just making the time for it. It’s not just sitting down and writing blog posts, or sitting down and taking photos, but also editing them, drafting captions, making sure to engage with everyone’s posts, among many other things. All in all, it can be very time consuming, and so I’ve learned to just be a little more intentional with my time. I try to stick to a routine for posting for the blog: I’ll try to have posts drafted by Wednesday at the very latest so I can post them on Fridays, and I try to go in and comment or engage with other blogger’s posts whenever I get a chance. With Instagram, I try to post every morning at around the same time — either while I’m at the gym, or when I’ve sat down with my morning tea, and then engage with other posts for a little bit. I also try to take my photos, and draft my captions in advance and in chunks, so it’s a lot easier! When I have some free time, I also try to work on some back up blog posts as well!
KEEP GOING.
Something that I’ve really had to learn is to let go of perfectionism. I’m still working on this one in other aspects of my life, but I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I won’t always be 100% happy with everything I post, and that’s okay! This is especially true in the case of Bookstagram — sometimes I’ll be staring at a photo for too long and I’ll find a lot of imperfections: this photo would’ve looked better if the book was angled just a little differently, or if a prop was placed elsewhere, but they’re only things that are noticeable to me, because I’m the one who took the photo! I find that sending photos that I’m not thrilled with to some friends to get a second opinion is always helpful and validating.
PLAN AHEAD.
Are we even surprised this one’s on the list? I’m very Type A, and I always try to plan everything ahead. My content for the blog is outlined out for the next five months, and I’ve got a backlog of over 30 photos for Bookstagram. I try to have backup posts that I can post on the blog and bookstagram as well, just in case something doesn’t work out, or if I don’t have a lot of time that week! Originally, I would plan things out loosely — and I’d keep a running list of posts I’d want to work on, but I find that having an actual plan takes off a lot of the stress from blogging and allows me to post consistently.
FIND YOUR COMMUNITY.
I wouldn’t have lasted on either platform for two years without my friends! Whether it’s just asking a question about how certain things work, or getting a second opinion, finding someone to buddy read with — Despite how frustrating content creating can be at times, I find it helpful to remember why I started blogging and bookstagramming in the first place: I wanted people to talk to about books!
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION.
This one is particularly important if you run your blog — or bookstagram — with someone. I can’t stress this one enough! Something that I’ve really had to learn over the last two years is separating my relationships with Mary and Caitlyn — there’s my dynamic with both of them as friends, and then with the two of them as partners, co-bloggers and collaborators. It’s important to make sure that we’re all in understanding of each other, and that the partnership is in fact, equal!
TAKE BREAKS WHEN YOU NEED TO.
I’m the worst person at this, but there are times where I can feel my motivation waning — or just starting to feel burnt out from content creation. I’ve been trying not to take breaks outside of the teatimelit blog hiatuses, but it does come at a cost! I’m hoping that in the next year, I’ll feel a little more comfortable advocating for my needs and taking breaks when I need to.
GET TO KNOW PUBLISHERS.
Once the blog was a little more established, I sat down one evening and sent out emails to every publisher that I wanted to work with, introducing myself, and my statistics. I think it’s really important to build a relationship with publishers that you want to work with, and something that I also need to be better about!
DON’T MASS-REQUEST ON NETGALLEY.
I feel like this is self-explanatory, but when I first started on NetGalley, I made the big mistake of mass-requesting every ARC that was even remotely interesting to me. While I did read all of them and review them before publication date, it was a lot of unnecessary stress. Even now, I’ll still find myself wanting to go on a little requesting spree, despite my ever-growing pile of ARCs, and how ARCs piling up stress me out. I know that there’s a lot of excitement around getting advanced copies, but it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, ARCs aren’t everything! ARCs are marketing tools first and foremost, and sometimes we just don’t get approved for every ARC we want! That’s totally okay!
And there you have it! Some of the many things I’ve learned in the last two years of blogging & bookstagramming. I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe, and wanted to say thank you for sticking along with us!
