The disadvantages of blogging in English living in Switzerland

Las week I explained, why I prefer blogging English. Living in Switzerland that is not always easy.

In previous posts, I explained that some publishers don’t send me books or don’t accept my request on Netgalley, because I don’t live in the country. I review in English and my readers are from English speaking countries, but that doesn’t change their opinion. Just recently I came across a publisher starting a newsletter for UK and Ireland bloggers, to inform them about proofs etc. UK only once again… The story of my book blogging life. I got used to that though and I still receive plenty of books and still have enough time to read the books I want to read. And yes, I actually buy them.

A lot of bloggers in Switzerland either blog only in German or in both languages. I wouldn’t even have the time for it and I don’t see the point, since my readers are mainly from the US and the UK.

The big disadvantage though is that I cannot really collaborate with brands in Switzerland or Germany. The are not interested in a blogger like me. I don’t want to complain, but some collaborations would be interesting. I barley have any Swiss readers. Yes, some of my friends and colleagues read my posts, but other than that. It’s not that I only write about English books, my posts range from lifestyle, to fashion and more.

Blogging events is another of these things. I get invited to a lot of bookish events, book launches and author events. The disadvantage: they are all in the UK. I have made some of them, but I can’t always travel to London and most events are in the middle of the week. Being a teacher makes that really difficult. Bookish events in Switzerland don’t really interest me. I have thought about talking to a local bookstore though and maybe inviting one of my author friends, that’d be fab. It would also be interesting to attend some blogging events here, just to see how it’s different from the events I know. However, it’s the same as with the products, I rarely get invited to events here, because I don’t blog in German.

There are plenty of advantages of blogging in English as well and that’s why I will continue to do so. I feel more comfortable in English and I the negative parts just play a supporting role in the end.