Blogmas Day 6: Top Ten Tuesday Freebie

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

A freebie for today, and I’m going to use an idea I had after the Thanksgiving freebie. I figure around this time of year, people look for ways to show their appreciation, so whether you’re an author who appreciates bloggers reviewing your books, a blogger who loves reading others blogs, or a casual reader and you really enjoy someone’s blog, here’s my –

Top Seven Ways to Thank a Blogger

1. Let Them Know You Purchased a Book!

Showing appreciation doesn’t mean spending money, but if you purchased a book after reading a particular review, or even added it to your wish list/TBR, let them know! It helps remind us that our words really do make a difference and helps authors, especially if the blogger reviews a lot of indie books.

2. Support Their Other Projects

Some of us have other projects alongside our main blog. This might be across social media – maybe they’re also on Instagram or YouTube – or they are part of another website, etc, but if you check out a blogger’s bio and see they have something else up and running, check it out! See if it’s something you like, too. As an example, I co-run Divination Hollow and co-host Esbat: A Bookish Podcast. Maybe your favourite blogger is on the team for something, or a panellist, or has guested on a podcast if they don’t have their own. Maybe by checking it out, you’ll have a new favourite thing to enjoy.

3. Donate!

Truth is, some people don’t realise a lot of bloggers run their sites at a loss. There’s costs involved in maintaining and hosting a website, not to mention if you want more image based stuff, there might be fees involved for using photos or pro versions of graphic websites, etc. To emphasise: most of us do this out of love, and are happy to ‘take the hit’, so to speak. But maybe have a look and see if your favourite blogger has a Patreon, or Ko-Fi, or accepts PayPal donations, etc. Even if it’s a small amount, every little helps!

4. Check if They Have a Wishlist

Some of your favourite bloggers might have publicly available wishlists – if you have space money maybe get them something from that! Keep an eye on social media too, as people often share theirs around different events, and if you can brighten someone’s day with a gift, why not?

5. Word of Mouth

If you can drive readers to a bloggers website, well, that’s a lovely way to show your appreciation! Maybe they’ve written a review or post you really enjoyed – share that link on your socials! Or just a general “Have you checked out @bloggersname? Their blog is great!” is a really wonderful way to let them know you appreciate what they do.

6. Invite Them to Your Projects!

Whether you have a blog, podcast or YouTube channel, maybe you could reach out to the bloggers you like to see if they would like to guest. It often feels like bloggers and reviewers get overlooked in these things, and a little acknowledgement goes a long way.

7. Recommend Them

If you have writer friends, recommend your favourite bloggers as places they can submit books to. (If they write in the genres the blogger enjoys, anyway.) Of course always check they are open to reviews, but similarly to word of mouth, it’s great to spread the word.

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There’s not many more I can think of right now, but if you have any other ways to thank a blogger for all their hard work, please feel free to let me know in the comments! And of course, use publicly available information – make sure you check policies on the bloggers’ page and don’t, say, use their address to send random stuff too, if you have their address via providing an arc etc. Always be respectful.