The Bookblogger’s Guide to Bullet Journal

If you haven’t guessed it already, a bookblogger blogs about books. Though an avid reader of books myself, I did not come across the term until a couple months ago. I was looking for ways to promote my blog and found the Book Blogger List, where I could list myself as reviewer. Since then, I have journeyed further into the world of bookblogging. Today, I want to share what a bullet journal for bookbloggers looks like as well as what is involved in being a bookblogger and how you can get free Advanced reader copies of books. 🙂

If you are an avid reader and use a bullet journal, you are in the right place! Here are some must-have spreads to add to your bullet journal. Whether you review books on a blog or are just looking to keep track of books you have read, these ideas are for you too.

Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.

Lena Dunham

Bookbloggers read a lot. Hence, the reading tracker.

Since I started using the bullet journal, I have always had a reading tracker to record the books I am reading or plan to read. Some of these trackers have spanned months while most of them have been monthly. Sometimes my aim was to read everyday (the second and third pictures above) and other times, I wanted to record the different kinds of books I was reading.

Bookbloggers have to read before they can blog about the book. Hence, the bullet journal for bookbloggers must have a reading tracker! I made the following changes to the book tracker for this month:

1. I added a space for a review date. As a bookblogger, it is my responsibility (and pleasure) to post a review about the book on various platforms, such as Goodreads and Amazon. It is easy to read a book and then forget to write about it. This is where the ‘Review?’ comes in handy in reminding me if I reviewed the book I just finished.
   
2. If you have a blog, youtube channel, or anywhere you discuss the books you read, you can invite authors for an interview. I have contacted some authors recently and it is a pleasure to host them on my blog. For example, this month, I will be interviewing What we see in the smoke author Ben Berman Ghan and The Boy in the Photo author Nicole Trope.
   
3. You can also feature a book that just came out recently under the ‘New Book Release’ section. This is specially handy if you are talking about books that have not been published. You can get free Advanced Reader Copies (ARC) from websites like BookSirens and Netgalley. That’s where I get half of my books every month now! Note though, by getting ARCs, you are agreeing to give an honest review to the book. Post your review within 30-60 days of getting access to the book – that’s why ‘review?’ is a good reminder! 🙂
   
4. Books takes us to new places. That’s why I adapted traveled miles pages. Just for fun!

Bookbloggers host Book Tours.

I am new as a bookblogger and for now, am dedicating most of my time to reading. Bookblogging is not just limited to reading and writing a book review; you can do so much more as I have recently discovered. I have contacted authors and asked them questions about the book and their writing process. I have also signed up for booktours by Tomorrow Comes Media!

On the release of their book, authors often make appearances on multiple blogs. As the bookblogger signed up for the tour, I can post the review of the book, do an interview with the author, or let them publish a guest post on my blog. There are many possibilities! In the spread above, my aim is to keep track of the books I will be writing about, the kind of post related to the book on my blog as well as the date it will happen.

The previous spread was all about remembering to review a book. This step is about making sure that the books I like make an appearance on Armed with A Book and get some more attention through my social media accounts, i.e., Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Last but not the least, an optional scrapbook of books

Instagram got me hooked to attempting to take (better) pictures of the books I am reading. I have spent sometime reading about and investing in props for around the books but like any art, it will take much time and practice. In any case, my bullet journal is my scrapbook and catalog. I cannot just take pictures of books, post them on my social media with a short review and not put them in my bujo!

Personally I think if you are into taking pictures, the bullet journal for bookbloggers is incomplete without a scrapbook like this one. I took photos with my phone and then used my new Canon Ivy to print them! More on the Canon Ivy in the future. I need to play around with it more before I recommend it to you.

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Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.

Louis L’Amour

For bookbloggers, this quote is true to the core. We love reading and we do a little bit extra to remember their stories better, talking to the authors and showing our support to them through our writings. I do this for pleasure and to quench my thirst for reading. No matter what your reasons, no reason is a bad one to be reading and writing about books, and the bullet journal is the place to document the journey you are taking! 🙂

I am still new to bookblogging and would love advice if you have some! I will continue to share about my journey, as a learn more about bookblogging and photography. In the meantime, please share your bookblooger bullet journal spreads with me on instagram and twitter! And keep following Armed with a Book for ideas related to books, technology, psychology and more! There is much I plan to post about – novels are the bonus to the reader in you!

Happy reading!