What You'll Need to Start a YA Blog...

With new blogs popping up every day, I thought I'd share some of the things I've picked up in just over a year of blogging.

HTML Skills:
Surprisingly, you won't need to know much about HTML. Blogger has everything set up as easy as pie so even your granny could italicize her entire post.

Interest:

The only interest you'll need is in reading and sharing your experiences of this. Don't fret if you've only read one book this week, month or year that'll all change when you start a wish list and can't stop it from growing.

Money:

Truth be told, you could run a blog on almost no cash at all. Of course, you'll need regular access to the internet but other than that a free layout should keep you covered for a few months. Hit up your local library to get ahead with reviews and do your best to avoid The Book Depository at all costs to save your bank account.

Personal Info:

The great thing about running a blog is you don't need to share a great deal of personal info about yourself. It's fairly common for followers to not have the faintest idea what their host looks like or even know where they're from but I personally love to read blogs with lots of personality in the writing, it makes for a more fun experience. 

Programs:

The minimum is really a web browser of your choice and maybe a calendar to keep track of post dates. A web cam is an optional extra if you'd like to make a video edition of In My Mailbox every now and then.

Services:

There are a few options when picking a host for your book blog (wordpress, tumblr, etc) but for the most part you'll find all the YA kids on Blogger. An email account is a must if you're planning on contacting authors for guest posts or hosting giveaways and you'll find Goodreads will become your brand new best friend to help organize your books and reviews.

Time:

As little as a couple hours on the weekend when you're starting out. Once you get a bit more addicted, you'll find yourself forgetting about facebook in favor of checking out the new comments on your blog.

Writing Skills:

Basic grammar and spelling is all you really need, I'm nothing close to an aspiring author and I'm doing okay for now. Writing reviews can be a little tough at first but once you find your comfort zone, it'll get a lot easier. 

Got something bugging you about your blog? Leave a question in the comments and I'll be sure to check it out.