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Ready to start a book blog that you can control and even earn money from in 2025?
Many bookish content creators are wondering what to do now that TikTok is (allegedly) being banned in 2025. Unfortunately, this is the problem with building your audience on an app you don’t control.
Several years ago, I decided to self host my blog so I could control my content and it was the best decision I could have made! I love that I don’t have to stress over ever-changing social media algorithms and I can just create content that I love.
I didn’t take my blog seriously at first, but then I started getting thousands of views each month. It motivated me to keep going and find ways to expand my audience. After two years of consistent blogging, I was able to expand my audience beyond my social media platforms.
In 2024, I finally hit a milestone I have been chasing since starting a book blog-my blog is now monetized! I’m not quitting my full time job, but it is nice to have extra money for books and fun extras here and there each month.
Table of Contents
Why You Should Start a Book Blog in 2025
“Is blogging dead?”
This is a question I’ve seen many times over the years, and the answer is “No!”
There are so many corners of the Internet. Sometimes it can feel like BookTok or Booktube are the only places to create book content and have any kind of audience.
But this is simply not true!
Book blogs have changed since the days of WordPress and Blogger. It is no longer just reviews and tags.
Book blogging is about building a community of readers and creating niche content for your personal brand. I am primarily a book list blogger-specifically I was known as the Book of the Month predictions girl for years! I still post this content, but I started writing more posts that helped me reach an entirely new audience in 2024.
If you enjoy creating bookish content and want to have freedom and control over your space, then you should start a book blog in 2025.
Choosing A Niche For Your Book Blog
Before you jump in and sign up for a blogging platform (more on that later), you need to plan a few things.
First, you need to choose your niche. There are many types of book blogs-I am a book list blogger. But you can have a book review blog, a genre specific blog, a writing blog, etc.
If you’re not sure where to begin, think about what kind of books and content you tend to enjoy most. If you read a lot of fantasy books, you could start a fantasy book blog. If you enjoy watching “best of” or “favorite books” content, then you could start a book list blog.
Once you settle on your niche, then you need to decide on branding. What will you name your blog? This will be important when you set up your domain and social media accounts. You want to choose something easy to remember and preferably a domain that ends in .com.
I did these steps out of order, and you might too if you already have a bookish account on social media. I created my bookstagram account in 2018. I went with broad and simple because I had no idea I would eventually have a blog, but you can narrow down your blog name to be specific to your niche.
Setting Up Your Book Blog
This is where you may have to do a little research to decide the best option for you. If you are just starting a blog for the first time and plan to do this for a hobby, then I recommend signing up for a free WordPress.com blog. This was how I started and decided if I stuck with it for more than a couple of months, I would eventually upgrade my blog.
If you are seriously about blogging and want to eventually monetize (affiliate links, ads, sponsorships, etc), then you need to go ahead and set up a self hosted blog. This will be a little expensive on the front end, but usually these services offer you a promotional deal for the first 1, 2, or even 3 years of your plan.
There are many platforms for self hosting-I started with Bluehost but I’m with Dreamhost now and prefer their customer service. They have helped me troubleshoot issues on multiple occasions since switching in 2023.
You will also have more customization options when you self host your blog. Free blog services like WordPress and Blogger have very limited options for site layouts. I recommend buying a theme if you are self hosting. I got my theme from 17th Avenue Designs. They provide step by step instructions for installing your theme and you get lifetime support for your theme as well!
Creating Content For Your Book Blog
Once you’ve decided on a hosting service, domain, theme, and niche, then the fun begins: creating content!
You will want to create content that fits your niche. So if you are a fantasy book blogger, you will want to create blog posts that show your audience what to expect from your blog. If you need some content ideas, I have a blog post with 100 blog post ideas for book bloggers.
Related: 100 Blog Post Ideas for Book Bloggers
I recommend creating at least 5 blog posts before you launch your blog. You will want to have to content for people to actually read when you start sharing your new blog.
It will take time and practice, but you want to make your blog posts scannable. Break up your writing into short chunks of simple sentences. Use headings for different sections of your blog post.
You will also want to familiarize yourself with SEO and trends. Search engine optimization (SEO) is something I am still working on, but basically you are doing keyword research. If you write a blog post about something nobody is searching for, then nobody is going to find that blog post. This means you need to see what is trending for your niche-for example, a blog post about Christmas books will do well from October to December because people are searching that topic during this time of year. A blog post about Christmas books will not get as much traffic in March.
Again, I am not the best at keyword research and SEO. But I have been in the book community long enough to know what kind of content does well at certain times of the year. I am also a book list blogger, so new release posts do well all year. But you will want save some content for certain times of the year when you know people will be searching for that topic.
Finally, you must stay consistent! If someone finds your blog in January 2025 and you haven’t posted new content since 2023, they are probably not going to stay on your blog long. Create a schedule for yourself, set some goals, carve out time to write each day-whatever you need to do to keep yourself motivated and creating!
Growing An Audience For Your Book Blog
This can be a tough one, and I’ll go ahead and tell you I do not recommend using social media to grow your blog audience. It is extremely hard to get people to leave a social media app and go to an outside website. The algorithms also punish you for trying to send people to outside websites.
Instead, you need to focus on growing an email newsletter and Pinterest account. Pinterest is not a social media platform-it is a visual search engine. I ignored Pinterest for a couple of years before coming back to it in 2024, and my traffic has never been better!
When you set up a Pinterest account, you will want to make sure the username matches your blog domain and you want to sign up for a business account (it’s free!). You will have access to stats and Pinterest trends when you have a business account. Set up a few boards that are relevant to your niche. This is where you will post your Pins.
You will also want to create a free Canva account. This is where you will create the images for your Pins on Pinterest. You will want to create eye catching Pins with catchy titles. You also want to have cohesive branding-basically if someone sees one of your Pins on Pinterest, they should recognize that it is you because you have a uniform style.
Canva can be overwhelming when you first begin. I sell a bundle of book blogger Pinterest templates you may want to check out! The template have frames so you can drag and drop book covers in without building a design from scratch. My Pin templates are completely editable and will save you so much time!
Building an email newsletter is also important. This is going to be you most valuable audience. They are more likely to visit you blog than anyone on social media. You need to make your newsletter meaningful-what will you provide readers in return for their email address?
You will want to sign up for an email marketing service like Mailerlite, which is what I use. I started with the free subscription, which was fine for at least the first year of my newsletter. Eventually you will grow your audience and need to pay for this service, but the free account will be fine to start with!
If you sign up for Mailerlite with my link, you will get a $20 credit towards one of their paid plans!
There’s a delicate balance to email marketing, especially if you are trying to sell something. You don’t want to overwhelm people will multiple emails-as a matter of fact, I recommend no more than 1-2 per week. Don’t be discourage if people unsubscribe either-it’s all part of it and you would rather retain people who are actually opening your emails because your open rate on your emails will be better!
Making Money With Your Book Blog
This is completely optional, but it is possible to monetize a book blog!
The easiest place to start is affiliate marketing. You can provide affiliate links to books, ereaders, bookmarks, etc. and earn money when people buy something from your links. Amazon has an affiliate program that I recommend starting with.
You can also create sponsored posts, which I have zero experience with because I do not create this type of content. But basically you would create a blog post about a product and the company would pay you for featuring their product on your blog. Not super common for book bloggers, but you may be interested in exploring this option.
Another option is to sell your own products or merch. This could be products on Etsy or merch through a print on demand service like Bonfire. I started an Etsy shop for my bookmarks and stickers until the market became oversaturated. Then I switched to digital products like reading journals, Kindle lock screens, and printable book trackers.
Finally, when you grow your audience, you will be able to apply for ad networks like Mediavine. I would not waste my time with Google AdSense. The ads are intrusive and the payout is extremely low. There’s also Ezoic, but I never tried signing up with them because I knew Mediavine was my ultimate goal! I like that I can set my preferences for my ads with Mediavine so it’s not so overwhelming and intrusive for readers.
Final Thoughts
I hope you have found this post helpful if you are thinking of starting a book blog. I won’t lie to you-blogging is a ton of work and you’re going to have technical issues at times. It will be frustrating, but if you keep at it, you can build an amazing community of readers!
If there is a topic you would like more information on in a future post, please let me know in the comments! I am not an expert, but I will share my knowledge and experiences!
Shop my bookmarks, stickers, Kindle lock screens, and digital reading journals on Etsy!
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