Blog Contact Page Tips For Book Bloggers

As a just starting out book blogger back in 2013, I craved for the days where I would be contacted by authors and/or publishers asking me to review their books. That was something set aside specially for the top dogs in book blogging – those at the top of the game whose opinions and reviews were crucial for that particular books promotion and development. But what I didn’t really get was that a lot of it was down to me – and my blog. I needed to make it clearer that that’s what I could offer, too. A great way to do this is from your blog contact page.

Photo by Andrijana Bozic on Unsplash

After 3 years of book blogging and a helluva lot of book review requests later, I started pride myself on being in a position where I could possibly help newer bloggers who may be unsure how to approach this blogging issue. Not in a patronizing way but just because when I was starting out, I wish I had someone who could have helped me with these little, specific but important areas of blogging in order to move forward.

Related: Book Blog Post Ideas – 25 Ideas for Book Bloggers

Your blog contact page is really important – especially for book bloggers. So don’t sleep on this page! It can help potential authors and publishers determine whether you’re appropriate for their book and can also help YOU whittle down the requests you receive, so you only receive requests about books you ACTUALLY will want to read.

Related: Tips For Writing Book Reviews

So, you’ve got a book blog? Or want to become a book reviewer? Wicked! But don’t quite know how to go about your contact page and telling the world you accept review requests? These tips for your blog contact page will help guide you through how to create a perfect contact page for your book blog.

6 blog contact page tips for book bloggers:

Be specific on your contact page

What type of genres are you accepting? Do you accept paperbacks and eBooks? Do you accept self-published authors as well as traditionally published ones? All of this information is important so an author knows if you’re a correct fit for them to contact. It’s better to provide all this information upfront, rather than having to send lots of, “I’m sorry, I don’t accept your genre…” emails.

Make your chosen contact method noticeable

Everyone wants things to be as easy as possible. You’ll know it yourself when you’ve been on a companies website looking for the ‘contact me’ page or a phone number and you get taken to 13 different pages, down the rabbit hole, into Narnia and back again in order to find it. Whether you use a contact form or you just leave your email, make it noticeable! But make sure you have BOTH options available.

Don’t make your contact page too long

You’ve not got to declare your life story on this page. Make it short, sweet and as clear as possible so authors who may be wanting to contact you can know everything they need to know within a few minutes – so they can either contact you if you’re a right fit for their book, or go elsewhere and not waste anymore of their time.

Try not get annoyed if people don’t read your guidelines

People don’t read your guidelines. A lot of people will but a lot of people won’t. I haven’t accepted review requests for years now but I still receive emails and Facebook messages asking me if I would review a book. Although now, my own ‘Disclaimer’ page includes information for brands, it’s stated in bold on the very first paragraph that I no longer accept review requests so any I get, I simply ignore.

Always update your blog contact page when circumstances change

If you feel you can’t accept requests for a certain period of time or no longer enjoy certain genres – always update it on your contact page when situations like that arise so authors know at the time of contact. And never feel bad for not accepting review requests for any reason. It’s your blog after all!

Don’t forget the boring stuff!

All the stuff you’ve heard a million times before; that all your views and opinions on books you’ve read are your own and in no way biased. That you’re not paid for book reviews. That you’re sometimes sent books by authors and/or publishers in exchange for an honest review and that you’ll always state this in your review; make sure it’s all there! Having a disclaimer page is also really important.

Do you have any other tips to share on what to include in a book blog’s ‘Contact Page’? Are you a new blogger and have any questions? Leave me a comment and let me know!