Booksellers Blog

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Several months ago, I posted Frequently Asked Questions about Blogging, which ran over the course of 10 days. Since then, I’ve spoken to many booksellers about blogging, and now I have a few inquiries to add to the list of “frequently asked questions.”

Question: How often do I have to blog?

My response: if it feels like a chore and is treated as such, it won’t be much fun and your readers will be able to tell.

If you are invested in your bookstore, either as an owner or as someone who wants to make a career from bookselling, writing about books and your bookstore should be fun. Maybe I’m an idealist. Certainly there are times for me when it feels like just one more thing on a long to-do list, but once I start writing, or come up with a topic, it really is something that I enjoy.

So let’s assume that the question is phrased this way: “How often should I blog?”

Common wisdom seems to be that the more often you blog, the more your readership will grow, up to a limit. It makes sense: if there is always new content, people will keep coming back. If they find that content does not change often enough, they will forget about your blog and not visit.

Darren Rowse answers this question in his Problogger post, What is the Ideal Post Frequency for a Blog.

In his post, Darren talks about ideal posting frequency for bloggers, what is ideal (hint: it varies according to your audience), and how new bloggers should pace themselves, working up to their ideal posting level. I particularly like what he has to say about consistency:

More important in my mind than actual numbers is that a blogger find a rhythm and stick to it. This is important as it helps their readers to know what to expect and to align themselves with your rhythm.

My personal preference for bookstore blogs is to see new content there 3-4 days a week, at minimum.  But that’s just me.

If you’ve been blogging and care to share your experiences with scheduling and posting frequency, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Thanks.