Thursday, January 1, 2015

Reflections on 2014, Resolutions for 2015

With the year coming to a close, I'm taking a moment this morning to think about 2014 and blogging.

I learned a lot about blogging this year - about what my weaknesses are, about what I need to improve and about what I really care about in relation to it.

First, I learned that I have a real rhythm when I blog. I go at it pretty enthusiastically for a few months, and then burn out for a few weeks and have to scramble to climb back through all the books I've requested for reviews. I need to both build up a buffer of books read, reviewed and scheduled for posts, as well as giving myself a couple of weeks way from it every three months or so in order to refresh.

I learned that I don't have as much time to participate with the broader community as I'd like to have. I participated in various memes in fits and starts, and half-planned other posts that weren't completed in time to be relevant. 

I learned that I really love reading books - I read 243 in 2014, according to my 50bookpledge account, which I think is awesome. I sometimes binged on books, and then was stuck writing a handful of reviews in a row. I enjoyed the binging part of the process but not trying to catch up on reviews.

I learned that I like fussing with the format of posts, as in blog tours and blitzes and such, but that it's very time consuming.

I learned that as much fun as tracking page views and visitors and such is, I'd rather put that time into writing more thoughtful posts.

So!

For 2015, my blogging resolutions are:

1. To create a buffer of three weeks of 3-4 reviews per week.

2. To give myself a week off of blogging every two months - once I build my buffer of three weeks, I'll work towards a fourth week that will cover so I can have the downtime.

3. To be diligent about monitoring my books on hand for review so that I don't overcommit myself.

4. To mock up tour posts of all kinds within 24 hours of receiving the information in my inbox so that these are scheduled and ready to go (pending addition of my own reviews where necessary).

5. To use my Twitter account more often.

6. To build time into my schedule for participation in fun posts, thoughtful posts and challenges.

That's more than enough to work on this year, I think! 

What are your resolutions? What did you learn about your own blogging/book reviewing process in 2014?

No comments:

Post a Comment