The Evolution of Book Blogging

I've been a bit reflective and contemplative about the past four years as a book blogger lately, and it's brought a few things to mind. The book blogosphere is an incredible unique little niche of the blogosphere as a whole, and it encompasses so many things. In the past four years, I believe that the vast nature of it has spread, as well, making it so that it embraces new genres, new authors and new mediums - all of which contribute to this ever-changing literary climate in which we find ourselves.

Whereas other blog niches seem to revolve around the same things more or less, the book blogosphere is one that seems to continue to morph with the changes and evolution of literature, as well. For example, as e-books and e-publishing have become more prevalent, I see more bloggers focus primarily on those niche markets. With the introduction of the newly-coined "new adult" genre, there are now niche blogs that focus primarily on that genre. It's pretty fascinating to watch.

However, it's brought new things to mind, as well, which I've shared with some other bloggers, as well. It seems that as the industry changes, blogs need to change with the times, as well, or they become stagnant. I've found that since my last hiatus, the book blogging world definitely changed, and I felt as though my blog lost a little traction then. I came back to a newly diverse and growing field of amazing book blogs that understood the new trends in the market, whereas I seemed to stay true to my roots. At times, it's great, but I also wonder about the overall longevity of my blog in this climate.

I know that sounds so doom-and-gloom, but it's really more of a reflection than anything else…one that's amazing and excited by all the changes I've been able to see come about in the past four years. For example:

• The rise of Netgalley and subsequent rise of Edelweiss revolutionized the way that publishers could market their books to the book blogosphere who can, in turn, market the books to the public. 
• The general acceptance and newfound prevalence of self-publishing has been refreshing to see and support, especially because it's been a hard-fought battle for many authors to prove their merit to the general public.
• The rise of genres within certain markets (ex: dystopian in YA) has led to a growth-spurt in book bloggers and book lovers looking for a new sort of book to crave. It's exciting to have watched the boom of these little genres really take off.
• The acceptance of book bloggers as grassroots marketers is an ongoing thing, but I've seen more and more authors and publishers really support and appreciate what book bloggers do, making it all the more worthwhile.

There a million other things I could probably list here, but it's fascinating to me that that list could change on any given day, week, month or year, as well. Book blogging has taught me that I need to roll with the changes, and it's something I'll be striving to do in the coming months. So long as I feel I can contribute even a little something to the book blogosphere, I intend to stick around.