Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogger’s Imposter Syndrome

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

May 12: Book Blogger’s Imposter Syndrome
 (Aria)

Prompts: How long have you been blogging? Do you feel like you’ve ‘figured out’ blogging, or do you ever doubt yourself? Do you feel you ever have book blogger’s imposter syndrome? How do you find confidence with your blogging and writing?

Quite a long time now – I had another blog before this one, under a completely different name. I updated it infrequently but it became a sort of my introduction into indie and self-publishing, when I would have authors reach out and offer me review copies before I even knew what an arc was! I started this blog back in 2016, and took it a bit more seriously. It’s only been the last few years however that I posted frequently and often, and got more arcs!

Hm, I’m not sure if I’ve ‘figured it out’ really – my blog has quite low stats, and I’m not really great with the social media side of things, but I do this more out of enjoyment than anything else. I do it because it’s honestly something I like to do, but yes, sometimes I do doubt myself, and wonder if I should keep going with it, but I try to remember why I started and continue to do this. I think I often get struck with ‘imposter syndrome’, partly because I see so many amazing bloggers out there who seem to be doing everything right, and I occasionally wonder what it would be like to be a ‘successful’ blogger, but again, these moments are short lived.

As for finding confidence, I think overall it’s one of those things you just have to go for. If I’m feeling particularly uncertain, I remind myself I’m doing this for myself, because I do like talking about books, and I like being part of this community and checking out other’s posts and participating in Let’s Talk Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday, etc etc. Blogging is definitely something you get better at as you go, but something else that’s really helped me is having a structure, knowing what I need/want to do for each day so I’m not spending too long stressing out over topics, and can usually get stuck straight in with writing a post.

Is imposter syndrome something you’ve struggled with, and how do you help yourself get over it, or gain your confidence back? And if you’ve got a Let’s Talk Bookish post for this, definitely link it in the comments, as I’d love to read it.