Hey there! Wow, aren't I being a super duper trooper this month? I've been posting like wildfire. Well, expect the worse in the next coming months LOLJK...but you never know... Anyway, a lot of my discussions this month are somehow echoing a lot of the things that have been going on on Twitter. Things I didn't know existed until my Twitter feed just exploded like a bomb. It's pretty hard when you haven't exactly purged your following list and the talk just won't stop.
But in a way, it is healthy to have opinionated people and one recent opinion ( something that's being talked about again) is bloggers getting paid for reviewing books etc, etc, etc. My response?
I'm in the neutral, I'm afraid. I seriously don't know where to put my head into this issue. I would really like to say that I'm against it since the reason you even book blog is to actually get your passions out, before it even became a whole marketing hooha. But at the same time, wouldn't it feel great to actually get something worth out of your hard work and effort? I know a lot of book bloggers who give their time and possibly even their own money to be able to have gorgeous websites and to have quality content. And having a pretty blog that has all the right features and something really, really appealing doesn't come in for free.
But what is the fine line of this issue? What if bloggers do get paid? Decisions could get altered. Instead of really telling your true feelings about a book, you end up hyping the book, thus your revenue shoots up or you keep getting more sponsorships. Thanks marketing plug. You did not only do the author or a publisher a favor but also definitely yourself. Seems great, right? Anyone can become a book blogger with the intention of earning money by getting ARCs and being all like, "yeah, I'm reviewing this book and I'm gonna be paid a ton of money." This shouldn't be the reason why you'd book blog and this is also the reason why I don't like the idea of it.
Although, cmon! Who am I gonna be lying to here? I would like to be paid for all my hard work but it doesn't have to be all that taboo. Apparently, in the book blogging world, money is like, a huge NO-NO. This is why ARCs aren't for sale and all that gist. But in this day and age, where most people are sprawled around in front of their computers and such. you'd know that a few are making money and for the right reasons too.
Getting paid shouldn't feel entirely out of context, if not for sponsored posts, which I don't particularly like, there are other ways in which bloggers, like myself can earn. I read a post that my good friend, Hazel of Stay Bookish shared on her Twitter. It was posted by Aneeqah of My Not So Real Life. She talked about this same issue but is really up for the idea of being paid, however with ways that are acceptable to the community. Read her post to see the list of ideas you can use to get your "business" started.
These are all very acceptable things to do and safe from the controversy to be honest. If you are pretty good with web designing and making graphics, you can make a design shop or provide stock photos or even provide tutorials.
But I find these list of things a little limited to a number of people who are at least gifted with codes, calligraphy and even freakin' photoshop to make designs on Society6 and RedBubble or lucky with subscribers. Bloggers like me, who aren't as skilled can be in jeopardy of this and may not be as successful in this whole endeavor. However, affiliating can be a good way to earn enough and not seem like a total creep about it.
In the midst of a more positive take in this whole issue, I still feel that it's a little too fragile to talk about these things, no matter how long the issue may have been standing. What's important is that you aren't losing the real purpose of why you are blogging in the first place. And if you do decide to make money out of your blog, at least make sure that it's done without making the community look bad.
Do leave a comment below about what you think of this issue. Are you up for it or do you think it's absolute bonkers? Thanks so much for reading these past few weeks, misfit booknerds! Thanks for the love and support!
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