Book Blogs: Definition, Types, Income & 25 Examples [2022]

Bookworms love to share their favorite stories with others, and book blogs are the perfect way to do it.

When you create a book blog, you have a specific location on the internet where you can share what you’re reading, reviews of books you’ve read, and recommend your favorite stories to your followers.

What Is a Book Blog?

A book blog is like any other blog, whether it’s about fashion, recipes, or healthy living—except it’s focused on reading.

There are different motivations for starting a blog, and sharing your passion is a great reason.

Book bloggers can write about their favorite books, share reviews, interview authors, and help promote new releases.

What Does a Book Blogger Blog About?

Book bloggers have no limit to their content topics.

You can share your thoughts on the latest book you’re reading in real-time.

You can post thoughtful reviews of books you’ve finished.

You can recommend books to other readers based on criteria like:

• Age range
• Subject matter
• Book genre
• Overall theme

Book bloggers can post roundups of their monthly reads or compile a list of books about specific topics or holidays.

You can also promote new releases or review advance copies of upcoming books.

What Is Included on a Book Blog?

There are so many different genres and books that there’s no limit to what you can include on a book blog.

These features are some of the key posts that you’ll want to share as you grow.

It brings readers to your site to get your opinion, and they’ll visit more often as they get to know you.

Book Reviews

Almost all book bloggers include book reviews because that’s what the audience wants.

While you can find book reviews on sites like Amazon, LibraryThing, and Goodreads, those reviews are often more sparse.

Bloggers have the space to share detailed thoughts about the books.

They can compare titles and give their followers an idea of if a book suits their interests.

Book Recommendations

Book recommendations are the second most popular post.

They read your book reviews to learn about other titles they might like.

When you post a book recommendation, they will likely check it out.

If your followers like the same books as you, they trust you to give them a good idea of what to read next.

Reading Challenges

Reading challenges are fun ways to push yourself to read more or get out of your comfort zone.

Set tasks like “read one book in a day”.

Make it fun and exciting to choose books to read, and invite your audience to try a different genre than what they usually read.

You can get a lot of content from a reading challenge, so it’s a great way to keep your blog active and engaging.

Book Hauls

Book hauls are fun ways to show what you’ll be reading for the next while.

You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars at a bookstore for an engaging book haul.

Consider finding books at a thrift store or used bookstore.

Some bloggers even do library book hauls and generate quality content without spending anything.

To-Be-Read Lists

Bloggers love sharing their TBR or To-Be-Read lists.

You can take a picture of the stack of books you plan to read next.

Your followers can comment if they’ve read certain books or agree to read along with you.

You could even ask them to vote on what book you should read next to boost your engagement.

Other Things That You Can Find on a Book Blog

• Book and Movie Adaptations: Read a book and watch the movie version, then write a post comparing and contrasting the two.
• Listicles: There’s no shortage of listicle ideas for book bloggers.
  Write lists of your favorite fictional characters, your favorite authors, and more.
• Upcoming releases: Most book bloggers depend on reviews of already-published books for content, but you can also hype upcoming releases.
  Generate excitement about books you’ve heard about and speculate about the cover or story twist with your fans.

Types of Book Blogs

• Book Blogs for Fiction: These review fiction books for children and adults, offering book recommendations for readers based on the previous books they’ve read.
  They may help market books and include interviews with fiction authors and teasers for potential sequels in the works.
• Book Blogs for Nonfiction: These blogs cover nonfiction books and try to become resources for the topics the books cover.
• Book Blogs for Novels: These focus on a subgenre or age group.
  They narrow down on a specific angle and may become fan clubs for authors.
• Book Blogs for General Books: These bloggers read anything that appeals to them and review them. Each time they offer some insight into their choice of book and other books that readers may like.
• Book Blogs for Science Fiction & Fantasy: People love books that are out of this world.
  These genre bloggers appreciate the morality tales hidden amongst the magic.

Do Book Blogs Make Money?

Yes, book blogs can make money.

The amount you’ll make depends on what outlets you pursue and how much work you put into it.

How Do Book Blogs Make Money?

There are different types of blogs that make money and various ways to do it.

You might have a better chance at selling book-related merchandise, like bookmarks, book shirts, and comfortable reading pillows.

You can run ads on your site and become an affiliate partner with brands that suit your brand and personality.

Some publishers partner with book bloggers for paid content, but you need to know all terms before you agree.

You don’t want to get paid for a review and feel forced to write positively about a book you hated.

That could break your trust with your audience.

How Much Do Book Blogs Make?

Bloggers can make good money if they put effort into their sites.

You can’t install ads or consistently post affiliate links and expect to make more than a bit of passive income.

You need to be open and honest about affiliate links, so your followers understand what they’re clicking on and how you’ll benefit.

They won’t mind using your links if they trust you.

You can write sponsored posts for brands, publishers, and authors.

Charge a set amount for posts and let people know you’re sharing your honest opinion, even though you got paid for your work.

Products To Promote and Sell on a Book Blog

As a book blogger, you can also make money selling an ebook you’ve written.

WordPress sites have plugins for stores so that you can set up a page of your titles.

You can find out more about publishing a book on Amazon or only sell digital files directly from your blog.

Printables

Digital files that readers can purchase and download to print at home are an excellent way for people to support a blog.

Ideas for book blog printables include decorated reading lists, book review journals, or bullet journal pages to track the reading process over the month or year.

Books

Partner with an author to sell their books, either e-Books or physical copies, on your blog.

If the author is popular with your readership, it can encourage them to purchase previous books or expand their reading to include them.

If you write your own books, this is also the place to sell them!

Best Book Blogs: 25 Examples

Before you start a book blog, check out what’s popular and figure out why readers flock to their websites.

These are 25 examples of book blogs within each subgenre previously mentioned and why their blogs can be an inspiration to the book blog you’re creating.

Book Blogs for Fiction

These bloggers review and discuss fiction books of all sorts offering book reviews on a wide variety of authors, either written or performed on video.

Like a good website, the book blogs have a slant or angle the blogger takes, such as a topic, theme, or country of origin they prefer to pull from.

Bag Full of Books

Arpita blogs about fiction books on Bag Full of Books from her home in Kolkata, India.

She heavily emphasizes reviews of the classics and children’s books.

She also shares library hauls and collective book reviews set and written from all over the world.

Want to know her top 10 books of 2015?

She has you covered.

Kath Reads

Kath in Germany reads all sorts of fiction, primarily focusing on young adult, middle-grade, romance, and literary books.

The majority of what she posts are honest book reviews, weekly memes, book challenges, library hauls, and book lists.

She offers creative recommendations as well for specific selections of books.

Miranda’s Notebook

Miranda loves reading cozy fiction classics in the UK and runs a book club for other readers.

Her blog encompasses her written journal entries, the reader side with her book club, and a youtube channel.

She discusses what she has read and offers opinions and recommendations for others in various videos.

The Bibliofile

The blogger behind the Bibliofile loves fiction books on any theme, reading classics as much as new releases.

There are plenty of reviews to read and use when selecting a new book.

One of the highlights of the Bibliofile is the number of listicles and book lists.

There are a wide variety of themes.

The Book Satchel

The Book Satchel reviews books in roundups, such as short story collections or books by one particular author.

She explains each collection or author in detail and makes recommendations.

There is also a feature when the blogger reviews the monthly book subscription book offering insight into its contents.

Book Blogs for Nonfiction

Nonfiction readers often have specific subjects they like to read about and know a great detail about that topic and its niches.

Find the best nonfiction bloggers covering true crime, children’s informational books, or memoirs.

The Nonfiction Detectives

If your kid loves learning, but you have trouble finding the right nonfiction book, these librarians can help answer your query.

The blog uses tags to help categorize all the entries, making it easy to narrow a search down to just a handful of posts about the subject.

The blog posts also use easy-to-understand language.

SMS Nonfiction Book Reviews

A lover of nonfiction, SMS Nonfiction Book Reviews focus on the many aspects of nonfiction, organizing them with an extensive tag system and a variety of topics.

The reviews on this blog include cookbooks, psychology books, educational manuals, and true crime studies with the rare book event thrown it.

My Business Book Blog

The blog does what it says in its title; it is a blog devoted to business books.

This blog has reviews of many informational books that revolve around creating and running a business.

They also include books about motivational speakers and entrepreneurs that have evolved into successful business people.

What’s Nonfiction?

When a fiction lover found herself exclusively reading nonfiction, she started a blog to share her reviews.

The books reviewed are a wide variety about the blogger specifies that she doesn’t review cookbooks or dating books, aiming more towards history studies.

She also offers copy-editing services through her website.

Grace’s Review of Books

Grace reviews anything nonfiction with short and focused book reviews.

Her favorite subgenres include memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies of celebrities and historical figures.

She’s also dabbled in TV show tie-in series like books that explain the background of TV series like 1960s advertising in Mad Men.

Book Blogs for Novels

Crime By the Book

Abby loves crime novels, especially those set in Scandinavia.

Check out her book reviews for opinions on the latest Nordic Noir novel.

Take in one of her recommendations if you want a suspenseful read of a psychological thriller or a mystery to unravel.

She also has a read-along section with Twitter hashtags and attends popular book events.

She Reads Romance Books

This blogger exclusively reads romance books and dishes about the best of them.

Her blog includes book reviews, quizzes to find the best new-to-you romance recommendations, and a shop to purchase reading lists and journals.

The blogger also features many library hauls and reviews for annual ‘best of’ lists.

The Espresso Edition

Nothing goes better than books and coffee.

This blogger shares the novels she’s reading in cozy photos of coffee and stunning backdrops.

While she features plenty of book reviews, she also branches out into advice with lifestyle tips and fashion discussions.

Her book blog is cozy and aimed at a crowd that wants to simplify their life.

The Literary Lifestyle

Jules Buono shares novels she’s reading and invites women to read along with her book club.

Her book reviews have been featured on several television shows, and he’s been invited to the Oprah’s Book Club segment and read a piece on the Today Show.

Her blog aims to be a women’s book reading corner on the internet.

Never Enough Novels

As the title implies, this blog is about novels of any genre.

Check out mini reviews so you can quickly decide if you like a title or not.

Alongside the reviews, the blogger also includes book lists and a romance reading challenge where prompts are given, and readers attempt to read books that correspond to them.

Book Blogs for General Books

These bloggers read anything that strikes their fancy, from fiction to nonfiction, so you’re sure to find a book that suits your interests.

They also include elements of their lives with their book reviews, so you get the perfect mix of a book blog and a lifestyle blog.

What’s Hot?

Laura runs a blog about books, travel, and her life.

She loves to share what she’s currently reading and tie it into her daily eating adventures.

She includes simple and delicious recipes for those dishes along the way so you can read and eat along with her.

Juliet’s Library

Juliet is a photographer and book lover based in London, the UK, that shares stunning photos of what she’s reading.

She typically shares roundups of books she’s read each season or year grouped by date, genre, or theme.

Juliet also produces photographs for book covers giving her an insight into the industry.

The Ardent Biblio

Michaela reads all sorts of books, mostly literary fiction or fantasy.

She posts reading roundups, library hauls, and lifestyle articles and aims to gather together voracious readers who pursue reading like it’s a type of lifestyle rather than just a hobby they dip into from time to time.

The Literary Edit

Lucy posts book reviews of all genres, author interviews, and photos of beautiful bookstores.

In addition to a store, she offers “bibliotherapy sessions” where for a price, readers can contact her, talk about their literary interests, discuss what they would like to be reading, and receive recommendations about which blog to invest their time in next.

Books and Bao

The bloggers behind Books and Bao have diverse tastes, but both love to showcase books that tell of cultural experiences worldwide.

You’ll find posts about manga, dystopian novels, translated books, and horror novels.

Their reading lists about bookshops sit nicely alongside their food and drink sections featuring culinary adventures and discussions about art.

Book Blogs for Science Fiction & Fantasy

If you love escaping reality in favor of science fiction or fantasy, check out recommendations from these top bloggers.

Each blog is aimed at a different audience, from young adults to speculative fiction readers, and focuses on different aspects of the genres, including thoughts on classics and new releases.

My Literary Soiree

Started as a way to keep their books in order, the blogger at My Literary Soiree loves fantasy books and reviews them honestly.

They also include TV and movie recommendations alongside their lengthy list of books to read.

An exciting feature is that they review books they didn’t finish, which could help readers avoid a book they may not like.

The Spine View

A self-described bibliophile, the blogger Lisa focuses on science fiction and fantasy, especially for young adults and middle-grade readers, although she reads almost everything.

She rates her reviews on a five-star system and makes recommendations alongside her reviews.

She also includes a wishlist or to-be-read section and annual reading challenges.

Reader Fox

The blogger at Reader Fox loves science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction, so you’ll get great recommendations from her page.

Other features of her blog include Passalong Pages, where books travel from person to person with the intention of more people getting access to great books.

She also features reading challenges, book lists, and a wishlist database.

Fly Into Books

This blog focuses on science fiction novels and poetry, with detailed reviews to help you decide what to read next if you like what they’ve read.

Each review includes cultural tips, curated book lists, and how-to articles and recommendations or snapshots into other lifestyles a reader could investigate.

SFBook

This page reviews science fiction books, both new releases, and classics, from classic outer space battles to books about crimes committed in space.

The author features a diverse collection of reviews spanning over twenty years that also includes horror as well as author interviews, award lists, and curated recommendations.

How To Become a Book Blogger

If you’re a reading fan and want to share your book reviews and recommendations with others, follow these steps to learn how to start a blog.

Determine the Direction of the Blog

Think about what you like to read and your ideal audience.

If your interests are too broad, do keyword research to uncover opportunities.

The results will give you an idea of what type of content you can generate to attract an audience.

Select a Niche

If you’re unsure how to choose the right niche, think of what you like to read.

Look at your shelves or Goodreads page for patterns in your reading style.

Maybe you want to focus on short book reviews.

Or perhaps you want to share illustrations in your favorite picture books.

Select a Name

Your book blog’s name is crucial because it will become your online identity.

Choose something clever and attention-grabbing, but not something so cutesy you’ll get sick of it.

If you need help coming up with a blog name, think of your favorite genres or titles and see if you can make a play on words.

Select a Blogging Platform

There are different blogging platforms available, so you should shop around and see what best suits your needs.

You can host a blog for free on several platforms, like Wix or Blogger, but you won’t get a custom domain name.

Your URL will be BlogTitle.Wix.com or BlogTitle.blogspot.com.

You might also have trouble customizing your site with a free platform.

With limited access to templates, your blog might look like countless others online.

There are affordable blog hosting options that also include a domain name, giving you more freedom.

Register a Domain Name

It’s easiest to bundle your hosting and domain name, but you can find the best domain registrar on your own, too.

Your domain name can be the full name of your book blog or an abbreviation.

Remember that the domain name is what many people remember, so it should be similar to the blog title.

Get Web Hosting

Now you’re ready to secure web hosting. We suggest managed WordPress hosting because it’s easy to use, even for beginners.

You lease space on a shared server, keeping your maintenance costs low.

WordPress updates and manages the servers, so all you have to think about is your website content.

Build the Blog

Building the blog is the next big hurdle to overcome after you get your domain name and web hosting.

Thankfully, WordPress makes it easy with all its templates and editing options.

Themes

First, you need to install a WordPress theme.

The theme is the overall appearance of your site.

You can customize it regarding colors, headers, and layout, but looking at the samples will give you a general idea of how it will look.

Once installed, you can alter it as you need.

You can add menus at the header and footer.

In the sidebar, you can list categories or tags to make your posts easier to find.

Plugins

WordPress plugins can further customize your site and make it easy for you to manage and for your audience to navigate.

Plugins can automate processes on your site, so you don’t have to work as hard to update things.

You can research what specific plugins will do for your site and read reviews before installing them.

SEO plugins are a helpful way to ensure your site ranks highly in search results.

Essential Pages

You’ll regularly update your site with blog posts, but there are a few essential pages for your blog.

You want your audience to click around your site, so make it easy to navigate with fixed pages and menus.

Produce Content for the Blog

Now comes the fun part—creating content for your blog.

Don’t jump in and overwork yourself, though.

Consider mapping out some post ideas and creating a schedule.

Maybe you post book reviews every Monday and a roundup of what you’ll read over the weekend on Friday.

Think about visuals, too – adding an image to each post ensures it gets more attention.

Launch the Blog Publicly

After doing so much work, your blog is ready to go.

It can feel intimidating when you’re launching a new blog, but you’re a book lover and have great reviews of your books, so don’t stress.

Test your blog on several browsers and devices.

WordPress lets you preview layouts on any device, so you get an idea of how your site will look for users.

Have a few posts up before you launch the blog so your audience has content to explore.

Promote the Blog

Find fun, natural ways to promote a blog.

If you have social media profiles, promote your book blog with the hashtag “bookstagram” on Instagram.

Follow your favorite authors and tag them only when you post a positive review.

Similar Blogging Types to Check Out

Though people blog about different topics, it’s fun to share others’ passions.

You might also get ideas for themed posts or post structures you can try on your book blog.

1. Music Blogs

Just as you started a book blog because you’re an avid reader, there are also blogs for music lovers.

When you think of all the types of music, it’s understandable that there are as many music blogs as book blogs.

There are blogs for fandoms surrounding specific artists, with information, concert pictures, B-sides, and trivia about the band.

2. Self-Improvement Blogs

A popular blogging niche is self-help or blogs that help with self-improvement.

Self-improvement blogs also have various niches.

Fitness bloggers help you improve your strength and how your body feels.

Healthy living bloggers often share recipes and meal planning tips.

There are also bloggers that share their experiences relationships or business so you can follow their examples.

3. Personal Blogs

One of the most popular niches is personal blogs, where people share their daily lives.

Many parenting blogs like to share what they do each day with their children.

Travel blogs include those run by digital nomads.

Personal blogs that include an element of fashion often post their “outfit of the day.”

Frequently Asked Questions

You’ve learned what steps to take when you’re creating a book blog.

You also read about different types of blogging so you can do research for your own posts.

In case you need more information before getting started, check out the answers to these frequently asked questions.

Wrapping Up

It’s fun to start a book blog to share your reviews and thoughts with other readers.

These blogs are a great way to practice your critical thinking skills when you write a review.

You can connect with other readers around the world and often develop beneficial relationships with publishers.

Follow the steps above to create a book blog and make passive income from your passion.