Some of Our Most Successful Posts

Previously I posted about “6 Blogging ‘Failures’ at Pages Unbound” and a commenter asked why I did not post some of our successes.  Maybe posting about how great we are here felt a little too egotistical.  However, who am I to deny the public what they want?  So here it is, by request: a few of our successes over the past seven years.

Posts that Generate Traffic

Blogging Advice

It’s no secret that blogging advice generates a lot of traffic–that’s why you see so many book bloggers turn into blogging advice bloggers.  Some of our most-trafficked posts include “A Complete Guide to Starting a Book Blog,” “Trends I Think We’ll See in Book Blogging in 2018,” and “52 Discussion Post Prompts for Your Blog in 2018.”  None of this is surprising.  After all, people want to be cutting-edge on their blog and they are looking for discussion post ideas since it’s well-known that discussion posts generate more traffic than views.  However, my personal favorite here is Briana’s “Complete Guide” because I like that it has everything in one place and does not make new bloggers scour our blog for relevant posts in a piecemeal fashion.

Book Reviews

“A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (Spoilers)” and “Nerve by Jeanne Ryan” are two of our most popular book reviews.  I assume the first one generates interest because it has spoilers and people want to know what others thought about the book in-depth.  The second one seems to be popular through luck; Briana had written one of the few reviews for the book when the movie was released.

“The Dilemma of Delphini Diggory (A Criticism of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child)”

We have done several book discussion posts over the years, but most do not  seem to generate traffic.  Two years later, however, Delphini is still going strong.  I like to imagine that people who don’t like her character at least begin to see why she might have been included in the play, after they read my post.

Writing Rambles: Tips for Writing Historical Dialogue

I guess a lot of aspiring writers want to know how to write convincing historical dialogue.  Awkward historical dialogue is one of my pet peeves (along with people who say Shakespeare wrote “Old English”) so I wish these writers success.

Some Personal Favorites

Because success means you enjoy what you do.

Classic Remarks

I think that discussing books with people is one of the most fun parts of blogging, so I loved that our bi-weekly feature invited other bloggers to discuss books with us.  People are still answering the questions and linking back to us, even though we don’t run this meme anymore.

“How Can Book Bloggers Promote Literacy?”

Promoting literacy is really important to me, so I loved seeing the discussions this post generated and all the ideas others have for promoting literacy.

“How to Obtain a Library Card When You Can’t Leave Your Home”

I see a lot of people say they can’t access their library.  So I thought it was cool to be able to offer a partial list of libraries where you can obtain cards online and then use them to check out e-books–often without ever having to leave your home!  (Though policies across libraries do vary. Some ask  you to show up in person to verify your e-card.)

“Six Easy Ways to Support Your Library”

I’m a fan of libraries and would hate to see any close or reduce services because tax dollars are withdrawn.  I think it’s important to remember that supporting libraries doesn’t have to be burdensome but can be as easy as placing items on the in-house cart to be counted for statistics.