Blogging books to read this year

There are so many blogging tools and books on the market these days it’s hard to know which are the ones worth reading! Becky and I frequently get asked what our favorite blogging books are, so we decided to share the ones we love most here.

edited to add: We are starting a blogging book club to go through some of these together! You can join it here. 

Some of these are affiliate links.

 

Tasty food photography was written by Lindsay Ostrum from Pinch of Yum. Her photos are nothing short of extraordinary… this woman knows her stuff. I purchased the book and was not disappointed. Even in just my first 5-minute glance through the book I learned so many useful tips. It’s PACKED with useful information and will take you step by step through how to take more amazing photos. Helpful with a big fancy DLSR camera for sure (she talks about settings etc) but many of the lighting and staging tips work great no matter what camera you have, even your phone! 

Blog Traffic Ebook – In this book Lena Gott shares her experiences going from 17,000 to 350,000+ monthly pageviews in 2015. She says she tried many different traffic generation strategies but found that only certain ones were worth it and that she had been over complicating things. The ebook is 82 pages of her trial and error to save you time and help you grow your blog! It includes screenshots, examples and worksheets. 

31 Small Steps to Grow Your Blog teaches you to think of your pageviews as what they really are: PEOPLE. Our blogs are not about numbers, but connections with individuals who make up your community of readers. When you connect with people, you WILL grow and that growth will be significant because you are working to create real fans, not just one-time readers, not just page views. Blogs can be authentic AND large. They can also be authentic and PROFITABLE, so you will also find 7 Revenue Streams for Your Blog. (Yes, more than just Adsense and Affiliate networks!)

Unmarketing –  I got this book for Christmas and it did not disappoint. It has been a long time since I last read a book that had me taking notes, but this one did it. I read it quickly over christmas break and plan to go over it again after I finish his newest book, unselling. These books are all about how to do marketing (which is what blogging is…) in a way that will keep customers coming back to you, and building relationships instead of just chasing viral. This is ethical business at it’s finest and produced in a no-nonsense, sometimes sarcastic tone. I loved it!

30 days to make and sell a fabulous ebook – For those wanting to take the leap into self publishing this year this ebook will get you started on the right foot. I used it years ago when I published my first and I’ve gone on to make 7 more since… Definitely a great read and worth every penny!

Blogging on the Side – Okay, we wrote this one, so maybe we’re a bit biased…but this is the book that Becky and I wanted to read when we were starting our blogging careers. We couldn’t find it, so we wrote it! Step by step we go through how to gain pageviews and how to start monetizing your blog in many different ways!

We have a few more books that you might be interested in too…

Becky and I have been talking about starting a blogger book club, to work through some of our favorite educational blogging books with friends. We will be starting in Feb 2016 with Unmarketing and likely do more from there. It is  a fun way to connect and talk about the good and bad in each book, troubleshooting and good accountability to take the time to actually read books! Let us know what you think in the comments.