Hi Ashley! First of all… I LOVE your site. It’s awesome and very pretty and fresh. I came across it while searching for “etiquette” questions about book blogging. I’m having a hard time finding my answer. LOL
My question is: Is it okay to have one book blog for all genres of books? The reason I ask is because I read all different genres, but mostly Young Adult and what would be considered Extremely Adult Content. (Erotica etc.)
I would like to blog about both on the same blog so that I don’t have to create and maintain two blogs, but wondered what the etiquette is to have them on the same blog.
I’m thinking that the fairly new genre “NEW Adult” falls between these two that it might be acceptable so long as I have a warning on my site about the content?
I’m just very unsure and before I start blogging about both on the same site I wanted to get some input from experienced bloggers.
I’ve only been blogging for a few years and don’t have a lot of followers but still, I don’t want to accidentally offend someone.
Any insight into this would be most appreciated.
Carrie
Hi Carrie! Thank you for your kind words about my site. 🙂
So the main question I’m going to address here today is:
Is it okay to review books from a variety of age groups (YA, Adult/Erotica) on the same blog?
My short answer is: absolutely! The important thing to remember is that your blog is your own. It can be about whatever you want, and have whatever content you’re interested in. There are no rules or regulations when it comes to blogging!
So I guess the bigger question is: will reviewing a variety of content turn people away?
Look at it like this: you are interested in young adult, new adult, and adult/erotica. Guess what? So am I! If there are two of us, then surely there must be more readers who are interested in a variety of different genres and age groups and would love your blog!
I’d say the only “requirement” would be to put a content warning on any erotica posts (or clearly label when a book has sex in it). Here’s an example of one of my erotica warnings: On Dublin Street by Samantha Young.
The warning is at the very top and highlighted in red. It’s impossible for anyone to miss! This gives people the chance to BAIL OUT NOW if they don’t like erotica. I think that’s really important if you review a variety of age groups on your blog.
But beyond that: just follow your interests. Don’t hold back because you’re afraid people won’t like your posts or the books you read. Not blogging how YOU want to blog is the quickest way to get tired of blogging!
Don’t try to manage two blogs
Honestly, the very idea of trying to juggle two blogs makes me feel like I’m drowning. I can’t imagine keeping up! So personally, I wouldn’t even attempt to go down that route.
Oh yeah, I am a big believer of having all different kinds of books on a blog. I love YA, NA, Adult, and Erotica. And I review all of them. I think it works because I can appeal to different type of readers.
Totally with Ashley on this one! 🙂 I real all kinds of genres and I also review all of them on my blog, giving a warning when necessary. If I had to just review one genre, I would get sick of blogging very fast. And doing two blogs? I can’t do that, I can barely do this one on my own lately. XD
I review everything on my blog that I have something to talk about. I like YA, NA and I read Literature too. I even review Dutch Literature that have been translated in English of course, so that followers can get a taste of that as well. I just review whatever I find interesting. A warning sounds like a useful thing. I haven’t really reviewed any Erotica yet, so I didn’t need that yet.
i have very eclectic reading tastes and I read pretty much everything, including a lot of books on fitness/nutrition. I also struggled with this question when I started my blog and went back and forth about including some of these non-fiction books on my blog.
I decided to go ahead and so far I’ve gotten some really positive feedback about the non-fiction books I’ve included 🙂 My blog is still new, but so far I’ve blogged about everything from YA dystopia and cookbooks, to books about strength training and a book about Viking Vampire Angels lol. My blog is definitely eclectic 😀
Finley Jayne
http://finleyjaynesbookshelves.blogspot.com/
Oh I absolutely do. I actually do juggle two blogs, but only one of em is my review blog, and on it I review everything. And I don’t warn. I don’t find warnings necessary. That’s just me, though! Great advice to give Ashley. It’s important to “do you.”
I have an eclectic taste and I my blogging buddy does too. So we just do the content warning when she reviews erotic novels. I don’t think I could handle two book blogs.
I review a variety of types on mine. I mostly have YA, but I also review Adult and NA. I think it’s more fun to have a variety, especially if you’re into reading a lot of different things.
I review both YA and Adult books on my blog. I decided to limit it to the mystery/thriller genre (since I read much more than that, but thought it would be overwhelming otherwise). I have found that not only do I have many followers who like both types of books, but that some who read only YA or Adult have been inspired by my reviews to try something from the other. So, it’s a win/win.
Thank you so much! I kind of figured that it was basically up to me, but didn’t want to offend anyone. That’s what I’ve done with my current posts is put the “content warning” on them. I finished playing around your site and saw that your reviewed all kinds of genres as well.
I’m really glad because I’m having a hard enough time setting up my new WP blog (switched over from blogger last week). So the idea of managing 2 of them scared the hell out of me! LOL
Thanks again, Ashley, and everyone else who commented.
PS: You’re welcome for the kind words… and by the way… if it weren’t for you and your sites I would have never managed to switch to WP. I find your knowledge quite invaluable to say the very least!
Yes, definitely review whatever books you want to. I read for all ages, too. I will review younger children’s chapter books, YA, Adult, and adult romance on my blog. And I love blogs that have a lot of variety in the types of books they review, because my tastes are so eclectic.
Great discussion! I totally agree with your answer too Ashley. When I was reading the question I was thinking the exact same thing.
Naturally, I try to stay far away from erotica because I’m in high school… and teenagers should not be reading erotica. ‘Nuff said. I read a lot of YA aimed at readers ages 16+ (because I fit into that age group). I also read some new adult; Easy by Tammara Webber is one of my favorites. I enjoy reading college new adult because the characters are more mature than YA but still have a lot to learn in life.
A book blog’s reader demographics will depend on the books reviewed regularly. Blogs are all about communication. You want to attract the type of readers that you can discuss books with, the ones that you share similar taste with. Honestly, can you picture a grown woman who reads erotica and NA/YA having a deep conversation with a sixth grader who reads middle grade and early-YA just because they both read The Hunger Games and Divergent?
I’ve often wondered about this too, and whether I was doing the right thing by posting reviews of books from across the age groups. I decided, like a lot of others. that as long as the review post has a warning at the top then I have done my part in alerting people about the content.
Great question, Carrie, and great response, Ashley!
I mostly review YA, but also some of the adult books books that I read, and middle grade as well (my son reviews these in the blog). I cannot fathom having to maintain more than one blog! I think a blog is very personal and you should do as you please.
However, I think that YA and erotica are VERY far away from each other and the inclusion of erotica, even with a ‘warning’ before each of those posts might discourage some of your younger readers to stop by.
I agree with you. I think it’s way better to have it in one blog than two because that’s really hard keeping up with two blogs. Plus, it’s better to have it in one blog because then your blog will have more variety.
I agree 100% . You should be allowed to review any time of book you want . Lovely discussion
I LOVE this! I am totally in the same boat as Carrie and I notice when I review my erotica or even strictly adult fiction books, I get a lot less comment love or views. Sad face. I’ve considered not reviewing certain genres and then I’m all, forget that, this is me, all of me, and these are my reading tastes. Basically just like you said, this is your own site and you can handle it and write exactly what you want. SO much love for this post!
I think this is a great point! If you love a wide variety of genres, even if they’re “intended” for different age groups, it’s a good bet that other readers feel the same way. I personally read YA as well as a ton of adult genres.
I put the warning notice on and I’m glad about this because my blogger blog before I switched over to WP has been pretty dead because I’ve been reading so much adult books lately instead of my YA and of course wasn’t writing reviews about them… not that I had a lot of followers to begin with, but I wasn’t doing any updates for anyone to read even if I did have a slew of followers. I’m hoping now that I’m going to be doing reviews for “everything” I read it’ll pick up a bit.
I’m glad this turned out to be a good question. I was worried it was a stupid one. 😉
Definitely! So far, I’ve reviewed Adult, MG, YA and NA books on my blog, and I don’t have any problems with it. I don’t see why it’d be a problem. It could even be a way to get others to branch out of their comfort zones, even. 🙂 Awesome post!