Wednesday 17 January 2018

2018 Blog Goals



Something that I never do is New Year's Resolutions. I know I'll never actually start running every day or give up chocolate, but I thought something I could do was set some blog goals! A couple of these goals will be related to other bookish things outside my blog, but as they're still related to books, I'm going to add them anyway.

1. Have more of a variety of posts

So I've realised that probably 90% of my blog is book reviews on YA books. I have incorporated my reviewing the classics segment in the last two years, but I want to branch out into different bookish posts this year. I would love the opportunity to engage with authors more and have a variety of author Q&A's and guest posts. I would also love to be able to collaborate with some of my favourite bloggers on a topic we are both passionate about. This year I want to be more creative with my posts, and show that despite it's title, there is more to my blog than just reviews.

2. Start taking review requests from indie authors again

So 2017 kicked my ass for various reasons that I will go into detail about a little later, but something that I felt I had to do about halfway through the year was close review request submissions to self published authors. Now as I've probably mentioned hundreds of times, I love self published authors. My blog would probably not exist today if it wasn't for self published authors approaching me to ask if I will review their book. I didn't' read nearly as many books last year as I usually do, and this is the
firs year that I didn't actually reach my initial Goodreads goal. I got to a point where I was getting multiple review requests per day and I just couldn't keep up. My blog is something I do as a hobby, and when that hobby is causing me stress and anxiety, it's time to take a step back, which is exactly what I did last year. I hope this year will be less of a strain on my mental health, and I hope to reopen submissions to self published authors by the end of the month.

3. Understand that it's okay to take a break from blogging for mental health reasons.

This is something I really need to get my head around for my own well-being. Last November, I decided I was going to take part in NaNoWriMo. A dream I have had since I was around seven is to write my own book. I lack confidence in my writing abilities, and currently have three WIP's in various stages of completion that probably won't see the light of day. Now I have taken part in NaNoWriMo twice before, so I knew what I was getting myself into, but as I was averaging around 2K words a day and dealing with life outside my writing cave, I barely had time to read. After spending so much time working on my novel, I was always too drained to write blog posts too, but me being me, this made me anxious and worried. I know that posting nothing for a month doesn't look good. I worried that people would stop visiting my blog. I worried that people would forget about me. I worried that publishers would think my blog was inactive and drop me off their mailing lists. As I rarely get book mail from publishers these days, a lot of these worries remain, and even if my mental health has taken a turn for the worst, I often still feel obligated to make blog posts. I need to always remind myself that this is a hobby not a job. I don't get paid for my time, so I should let myself take breaks when I need them.


4. Continue writing my book

So I have a problem. Every time I decide to do NaNoWriMo, I stop writing when the calendar hits December. Finding the time to write 2K words every day becomes draining after a while, and every year I do NaNo, I tell myself I will take December off from writing and continue in January. The problem is that that never happens, and my half finished first draft remains that way indefinitely, doing nothing but taking up space on my laptop. I don't want that to happen again. I want to at least finish the first draft before I decide it's unsalvageable. It's unlikely I will ever try to get this piece of work published, but I think completing a first draft is the first step to my dream of one day becoming a published author.

5. Make booktube videos

Every year I tell myself that this will be the year I start to properly make booktube videos, and every year it doesn't happen. I always make a video to sum up my favourite books of the year (I'll be filming that soon I promise!) but then I will only make one or two videos for the rest of the year. I'm not going to become a daily vlogger, or even a weekly vlogger, but I hope to make a video at least once a month.

6. Read other peoples blogs more often

This is something I don't do nearly as much as I should, and this year I want to take the time to read and appreciate all the time and effort my fellow bloggers put into their posts. There are so many amazing bloggers who put their heart and soul into what they do. I want to engage with other bloggers who, like me, don't have thousands of followers, and can sometimes be overlooked in favour of the more popular bloggers. Small bloggers put just as much time and effort into their blog as the popular bloggers do, and I would love to give them a small portion of the recognition they deserve.

7. Read the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves

It is so easy to get a new book and dive right into it, ignoring the books that have been patiently waiting on my shelf for months (and occasionally years!) for me to pick them up. When I get sent an ARC, I feel obligated to review it before it's publication date, and often several books will be published in the same month, giving me no time to read anything else. There are a few (hundred) books on my shelf that I've been meaning to get round to for ages, and this is the year where I want to find the time to make a dent in my ever growing book collection, and find the time to read some of those books that I have so carelessly abandoned.

There are plenty more things I want to achieve with my blog this year, but as I'm in danger of making this post too long, I'm going to stop here. I would like to thank all the amazing bloggers who interacted with me last year, and all of you who have ever taken the time to read one of m blog posts. You are all totally awesome!

I hope you all have an amazing year!


1 comment:

  1. Good luck with your goals! I also need to read my shelves. I have about 60 books that are just sitting around.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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