The Book Blogging Balancing Act: Part Two

 I’m doing a little series since I’ve started a new job recently (after not really working for a while which meant I had TONS of time for reading and blogging) and have had a horrible time trying to balance reading, my blog and well….real life. I decided to ask some blogging friends how THEY find that balance..because after all…blogging is NOT a full time job for most of us (and we don’t get paid for it) even though it sure could be.

Last week we talked about finding TIME to read..this week I asked some bloggers how they find time to create consistent, quality content. It’s easy to post a ton of memes and giveaways..but it really does take some time to put together reviews, discussion posts and all sorts of other content unique to your blog.

Schedule! I try and schedule out posts in advance. I’m not great at this, in fact I’m a bit behind now, but even jotting down what’s coming up on a calendar helps me plan it out. I use Firefox as my browser and the add-on “ReminderFox” to give me pop-up reminders of what’s coming up. That way I know what’s coming up, even just future releases. Also, if I find extra time while I’m tweeting or watching TV I’ll draft up posts with titles and basic info ready to go for reviews. That way when I sit down to write reviews I don’t have to spend all that time on the details. It works well for features and memes as well, which all you have to do is add content. Templates basically. — Danielle from There’s A Book!


I try to keep up with my e-mail as it comes – there are a few that hang out in need-to-reply territory, but for the most part I attack these as soon as I can – which means any sort of interview or feature I’m cooking up gets going right away.

As for *really* creative content? That is something that I let just go with the flow. If I’m talking to someone and we talk about how cool something would be, I go for it and see if it really would be cool. These are last priority for me, though, since reviews are the reason I made my blog.  — Shanyn from Chick Loves Lit

I schedule all of my blog posts at least a week in advance.  I feel like I’ve set up a consistency with my daily posts that I know ahead of time what to write (IMM, Daily Dose Monday, Tune in Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday, etc.)  But every now & then I will throw in a post off the top of my head.  They are usually random & it’s a hit or miss.  I love to talk – so it’s sort of like my own social platform, haha. — Ginger from Greads!

I have OCD with my blog and I feel weird if I don’t post. So, I normally take one day out of the week, mostly on Sunday to schedule everything for that week. Yes, it’s really time consuming but I do feel good knowing my followers will have new content for the week. — Eleni from La Femme Reader

Creating consistent content is probably the hardest thing to do, so I actually map out a schedule of my ARCs and review copies the month before so I have a plan of what’s going up and when. Then, I try to read as far ahead of schedule as I can, and then write up the post and just schedule them to go up on a specific day. That way, the reviews are fresh in my mind when I write them, but they’re still relevant when they post. — Melissa from I Swim For Oceans

I don’t do a lot of features, I did one or two when I first started  blogging but the one thing I always have hated is feeling like I have to blog. I just write whatever I feel like in whatever time I have available. I try to write a review the second I put a finished book down, even if I just save the document for later and I don’t have time to post. I also keep a little notepad on my PC open and when I think of a topic that I might want to blog about I add it in there and if I have time write the first paragraph or two. I have been known to carry a journal and write out blog posts by hand and type them out when I am near a computer later on. –Pam from Bookalicious

I do most of my blogging on the weekends. The week tends to be filled with my full-time job, friends, boyfriend, family, and everything else. I try to relax as much as I can on the weekends but also schedule out my blog posts so that I’m not adding to the stress of the work week. I also write down any ideas that pop into my head immediately so I can hash them out later. — Tara from Fiction Folio


I dedicate a large chunk of Sunday afternoons/evenings to getting my blog ready for the week. I know I’ll be way too tired on a weeknight after a long day of work to write a great review or think of an interesting topic for a discussion post. On Sundays, I’m usually fresh and able to knock out 5 or 6 posts to keep my blog updated for the week. Jess from Cover to Cover

How do you find time to write reviews and come up with quality content?  Any tips/tricks you want to share?

Next week we’ll talk about finding time to interact and comment on other blogs!