Now I’m not going to tell you that blogging is a quick path to riches because it’s not. Harsh reality is that most blogs fail. Most get less than 1,000 visitors a month and some never, ever make a single penny. Yes, blogging may be a passion, but there are costs associated and doing it for the fun of it get’s old real fast.

I believe that most bloggers can maximize their earnings in a shorter amount of time if they educate themselves in the beginning on how to start and run a successful and profitable blog. Education can be received through e-books, which is why I’m recommending 5 must-read blogging books to get you started.

Many seasoned bloggers will tell you that it took them several years to make any money from their blogs. When you start to peel back the cover to their not-so-overnight success, you’ll find that most of these bloggers admit that they only started making money once they took their blog seriously and treated it like a business.

Just imagine if these bloggers put together a business plan and a marketing strategy BEFORE they even put up their first post. I bet that some of them would have made money sooner-rather-than-later.

*This post contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.*

Most newbie bloggers will throw up Google ads and hope for a miracle, only to be disappointed when at the end of the month they noticed they only made $10 (a real bummer when the payout threshold is $100).

I did the same thing and was frustrated when I couldn’t make any money, even when I spent a lot of time posting great content and sharing my posts on social media.

Below I have listed 5 books I highly recommend for newbie bloggers who are trying to turn a profit from their blog. These books are written by women who walk the talk and are making serious money.

Must-Read Blogging Books I Recommend for Newbies

How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup

Most bloggers have heard of How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul and for good reason, too. I consider it to be the Holy Grail when it comes to blogging as a business. For me, it was one of the first books I read that gave me the idea that I could actually make money from blogging.

I mean real money, not just grocery or going out money, but money that could pay my mortgage and replace my teacher’s salary. Ruth Soukup blogs over at Living Well Spending Less and has created not only this book but an entire academy on blogging as a business.

In Blog for Proft, Ruth not only gives you case studies of bloggers making money from their blogs, but also the different ways you can bring in some income.

This book explains how important it is to diversify your income and help you to consider which ones are best for your blog and brand.

How to Blog for Profit is available on Amazon. I purchased the Kindle version first but soon wanted to have my own copy to hold. I refer to this book often and having a personal copy made it much easier for me to highlight and refer to later.

If you are considering starting a blog or interested in making money from a current one, this is the book to start with.

The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekaterina Walter

The Power of Visual Storytelling is not a blogging book per se, but if you are selling products and services online – you need this book. Listen to me when I tell you, – you need this book.

I first became aware of this book after listening to one of my favorite Periscopers. She mentioned this book as one of the must-have books for business owners. I think it is especially great for content providers such as bloggers.

I purchased my book from Amazon and was pleasantly pleased when the book arrived. This book includes a lot of practical advice on how to become present in an online space and how to leverage not only the content you produce and share with others but also through your social media platforms. The author actually goes through each platform and explains the best times to post as well as the best content to share on each specifically.

The author discusses how the world is becoming more visual. In order to be heard, you must put a strategy together that presents your messaged in a visual format. She discusses how powerful visual storytelling is and the importance of creating content that reflects this. In blogging especially, why images are important, as well as how social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram have exploded.

Blogging on the Side Where Passion and Profit Meet by Becky Mansfield & Paula Rollo

I wish I could tell you how I stumbled upon Becky & Paula’s blog, but I can’t. Maybe I came across from a pin from Pinterest or via a Google search. It doesn’t matter how I found them, I am just thankful that I did.

Becky and Paula both run separate blogs. I would call them mommy bloggers since they tend to blog quite a bit about parenting and family.

In addition to their personal blogs, they run Becky & Paula where they discuss in detail how to start and run a successful and profitable blog. Each found that they were receiving a lot of blogging questions from readers. So much so, they decided to dedicate this blog to helping people build their blogs.

Each alternating chapter in this book is written by the other, which is awesome because it get’s both of their perspectives on making money blogging. Both ladies share what worked for them and what didn’t. They provide practical advice that you can apply immediately to your own blog.

While reading this book, I have made several changes to help optimize my blog, including changing the sizes of my images and the design of my blog.

Blogging on the Side gives tips on how to have a work-life balance as well as give tips on how to make money with the blog. Becky & Paula make a good amount from e-books they have created and includes tips on how to create your own.

*After you purchase Blogging on the Side, you’ll get a discount code of $5 to use towards any of their other e-books, which I’m sure you’ll want to use.

Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook by Abby Lawson

Upon finding Abby’s blog, A Girl and Her Blog, I have always wanted to purchase her e-book, Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook.

I knew that if I really wanted to get serious about blogging as a business, I needed her book. It took me a couple of months before I actually purchased it because I didn’t know if this would help me more than any other blogging book I have picked up.

I mean what more could I learn from blogging that I didn’t already know?

Apparently a lot.

Building a Framework is one of those e-books that should be on the list of required reading for bloggers if they were giving degrees out for blogging. It’s really that good. Abby takes the reader step-by-step through her process of a blog to business as well as the mistakes she has made along the way.

She includes basic information such as building your blog, but also includes the different ways to make money blogging. In addition, she includes social media and how to leverage it to gain more followers as well as working with brands.

In my opinion, she spends a little too much time in the beginning, going over how to create a blog. However, it could be great for someone who has never built a blog before. If you’re like me, you could just skip over this part and start where you’re at. I do like how she shows her actual marketing strategy on social media.

Though you can’t expect to duplicate her results, it sure helps to get insight into how she turned her blog into a success.

Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers by Tasha Agruso

Affiliate Marketing is one of the main ways I have ever monetize my blogs. In the past, I would create blogs and just slap affiliate links throughout the post. Needless to say, this didn’t work that well. In fact, there were times I didn’t make one dime.

I even paid for a course that showed me how to create a niche site around a product using affiliate links. Trust me, the way the course showed me how to make money with affiliate marketing didn’t work.

In the beginning, I just slapped Google Ads all over my blog. Once I realized Google Adsense wasn’t working for me, I figured it had to do with the number of page views my blog received. Truth be told, there’s no direct correlation between the number of page views and money earned. Great news, because it proves it is possible to make a significant amount of money as a small blog.

Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers showed me that affiliate marketing is a great way to make money, even if you’re a small blog. If you’re strategic, upfront and honest about the products and services you recommend to your readers, you’ll do pretty well. My affiliate marketing strategy didn’t work in the past because according to this book, no one is going to buy from you if you’re just throwing links all over the place.

Her part on deep linking was very informative because until I read her book, I never understood how important it was and became a game changer for my blog.

Tasha runs the blog Designer Trapped (in a Lawyer’s Body) and earns a nice living from affiliate marketing. This strategy works well for her since she often recommends products she used in her DIY projects. At the time she printed her book, she was earning over $1500 per month in affiliate sales.

Check out the Tools I Use to Run My Blog

Well, there you have it, my list of the 5 must-have blogging books for newbies. I hope you decide to pick up one or more of these books to help you in your blogging journey. I promise you won’t be disappointed. There is a wealth of knowledge within the pages of these books, you are bound to help your blog grow.

If you don’t have a blog yet and don’t know where to begin, check out my post on How to Start a Blog for a step-by-step guide.

As always, if you enjoyed this post, please share it with a fellow blogger.