Blog Talk: My favorite book blogging communities
Previously I posted on how to have a successful first year blogging. My biggest tie-together point was that it is absolutely necessary
to have community involvement if you want readers and other bloggers to know
that you exist. I included many of the social media sites that I’m involved
with that have helped to connect my blog with others. But when it comes to
community engagement, I don’t consider Facebook and Twitter on the top of the
list. Mostly because of all of the other posts they get covered up in on
newsfeeds and the wonky visibility ratings that these sites casually roll out with
every month. Compiled here are a couple of the sites that I go to whenever I am
on my blog. These are sites that have a variety of discussion posts, blogging
and writing tips, and a general friendly environment. If you’ve been around the
book blog/writing world for a while you’ve probably heard of these. If you have
others to suggest, please leave links in the comments!
In no particular order...
In no particular order...
Pros:
I love this site because it is one
of the most comprehensive sites that brings authors, publishers, marketers, bloggers,
and readers together.
There are 100’s of very active
groups to get involved in based on interest. Unlike many G+ communities which
go dead or are spammed a lot, many of these groups are pretty well moderated
and the activity stays current
It’s another place to blog and keep
track of your favorites
Cons:
There are a lot of hit and run
posts. AKA link dropping. Scan a community once you join to determine if it’s
something that’s actually stimulating for you or if it’s another “drop a review
in the comments” group. Many of these comment drops end up lost and dead.
Pros:
Much like book blogs, it has a
comprehensive community and many groups to join
You can specifically search for
discussion on authors, books, genres, etc.
Cons:
The classic lit and politic threads
seem to stay very lively. Those aren’t my genres and so I often find myself
searching for a good New Adult thread or contemporary book discussion thread
that is to my taste.
Pros:
It has a variety of groups that you
can get involved with based on genre and general interest.
It has groups separated by
region/country. This is a nice way to connect with others about more than books.
Cons:
It seems to have a smaller pool of
users but to be fair it is only about a year old. It has great potential!
Pros:
The classics club is exactly that –
a place to reach out and talk about your favorite classics.
They have a pretty extensive list
of blog members,
so if you’re looking to peruse some new blogs that is the place to find them
Cons:
I’m not actively involved with this
site so I don’t have any cons. It looks like a great place that stays UTD
with well written posts
Pros:
This is my all-time favorite
Google+ community. Even over mine! One reason that it’s so great is because it
is tightly moderated. You must be a book blogger, you can only drop links on
certain days, and you must contribute to discussion. It may sound strict, but
if you’re looking for a true community then why else would you join?
Cons:
I don't find this to be an issue at all, but if you do have a link that you'd like to share, it can only be shared on Wednesday or Saturday.
I could probably go on with this list, but these are really
the best ones I’ve come across and I don’t feel the need to Google every single
community. Maybe someday I’ll feel the itch to make a comprehensive site list.
But so many are come-and-go that it would make it difficult and not worth the
time. These are more of the tried and true sites that have been around a few
years and gained some amount of respect in the book community. A big one you
might notice missing is Goodreads.
While I enjoy the idea of Goodreads, I think that it has become really spammy. I still go there for reviews but the discussion boards are
far from my favorite.
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