Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014 Blogging and Reading Goals


2014 is here!  I can't believe it.  It's time for some goals.


Book Blogging Goals:

  • Get my netgalley percent up to the 80% I discovered it's supposed to be at  (discussed here) ... who knew?  If you don't get your rate up you'll be more likely to get denied access to books.  
  • Attract more followers.  I want people to come to the blog have fun and for them to want to talk about books!  I don't really have a number of followers in mind.  I guess I would like to start getting higher number pages views a day.  Maybe more like 60-80 page views a day.  
  • Keep improving my blog layout.  I have had the same blog design for a few years now but don't want to change it because I think people identify my blog with it.  But I do like to keep tweaking things. 
  • Keep up my Sunday Post... I never did this because I didn't really enjoy taking pictures of the tons of books I got from the library.  Then I saw people not just talking about what they received in books.. but what they would see out on the blogs, and just all kinds of other information.  I love it when those posts are fun and hope to make mine better and better. 
  • Have an event of some type at the blog.. a readathon... or another month of fun (like my Wizard of Oz month). 

Reading Goals:

  • I want to hit my goal of 100 books this year.  I am determined.  I feel like I read a ton of books but I never actually reach 100. 
  • Keep reading with my goodreads bookclubs.  Trust me this can be hard and annoying.  I have to set up the polls, get people motivated to participate, and all that jazz. 


Go to Book Blogging and link up your goals and resolutions.

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45 comments:

  1. Good luck! I hope you reach your 100 books goal.

    Happy new year.

    Sarah

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  2. Happy New Year! My biggest resolution is just to be more active- post more, comment more, tweet more. Although, I guess part of that is to attract more followers. I definitely lost a lot when I moved from Blogger to WordPress, but it didn't help any that I got lazy with blogging.

    Good luck reaching 100 in 2014!

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    1. That is one thing I am afraid of with moving from Blogger to Wordpress. I have worked so hard here at Blogger and then to transfer would be a bummer to lose everyone. So I am going to just hang out here at Blogger.

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  3. Sounds like you have some good goals for 2014! I look forward to reading what you come up with!

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  4. Oh, those are some nice goals, Angela! :) I think it's so cool that you're determined to reach 100 books this year, and you will, no worries :D Also, good luck with your Netgalley ratio! I stopped messing around with that site once my ratio went off the hook horrible, but I shall send good vibes your way so that you reach your goal :) All the best for the new year!

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    1. 100 books... yea when I start to think about it that's a lot. 10 books a month. Maybe if I don't watch so much TV it will help me meet that goal! LOL!

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  5. The NetGalley percentage is something I'm struggling with too! Awesome goals this year-I hope you meet all of them and more :D

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    1. It's too bad! When I first started I didn't realize I needed to post up reviews and have a percentage. I suppose that makes sense. They don't want to give away free books if people aren't going to review them.

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  6. Good luck with reaching 100 books! And I hope you can get your ratio up to 80% soon :)

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    1. YES!! I am about to start reading a book I got from netgalley right now... well you know... right after I mess around on the blogs.

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  7. Those are really great goals! :)

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  8. Good luck with your goals! I have the same thought with TSC's blog layout. Our blog is about eight months old so it's probably too early to want to do a blog layout change when the one we have works and people identify with it. At the same time, it's fun to change things up a bit, right?

    & I know what you mean about your Sunday Post feature. I didn't like taking pictures of books I received either, so I decided my weekly feature would only include the book I was reading and had read, and a bunch of random stuff.

    100 is one of my goals too. I got to 91 this year, but 100 is a much better number imo.

    Good luck with your goals! And happy New Year!

    -P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex

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  9. 91! Wow you got close! I am enjoying my Sunday Post much more now. Guess I was just following the In My Mailbox format which was boring. I mean I don't enjoy just seeing someone's books. I want more substance to that post. So for I am liking it.

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  10. I missed my reading goal this year, but hope to hit 100 books in 2014. And I need to work on my NetGalley score too. Good luck with your goals! And Happy New Year!

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  11. I am hoping to increase my readership as well. I will be interested in seeing what you do. I feel a little perplexed on how to do it.

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    1. I think that getting more readership really is getting your blog out there. There are so many book blogs that if you don't get people to at least stop by and see you then you just won't get noticed. Hoping to comment on more blogs this year!

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  12. These are awesome goals and goals that I definitely empathize with. Since I've come and gone a lot in the blogging world, I know how difficult it can be to build up any sort of readership. But the whole reason I started a blog was to spark discussion with people so writing posts that no one ever reads doesn't quite achieve that purpose.

    Best of luck with all of your goals and Happy 2014!

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    1. Thank you!! In 2013 I did several more discussion posts and that is what has really lead the readers here to my blog. Those posts turned out to be the posts I had the most fun with also. Now that is actually even what draws me into follow a blog. Do they talk to their readers... try to make a bond with them??? I love that!!

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  13. When Netgalley reformatted, it took out all my old request/approval numbers. So I should probably be at like 50% and I'm at about 85! I know what you mean about it being difficult to keep up Angie! A trick I use is that if I'm not into a book from NG, I post a small review on Goodreads about why I DNF'ed it, etc. and submit it to NG. That way I don't waste time blogging about it, but it's still technically reviewed for NG and my opinion is available on Goodreads too! :D Good luck with your goals.

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    1. OH WOW! Such a good idea. I didn't know that goodreads reviews counted. This is big news to me. Right now I think I've requested 15 books/comics and reviewed 7. Like you said some I just didn't think were worth reviewing.. but didn't realize at the time there was a percentage that I had to keep up. I am guessing this is why DC comics doesn't ever approve me and those are the ones I want the most!!! Great advice!

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  14. Happy New year! I'm really excited to see what you have planned for this year. Also curious to see how you tweek your layout. I want to make my blog my own instead of the templet I started. I will have to pick your brain this year for some help.

    Good luck on your reading goal. I would love to do 100 books but I'm not sure I'll have the same time to read in 2014 that I did in 2013.

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    1. The template can be a NIGHTMARE! I messed around with this template once and never was able to get my signature back at the bottom of my posts again. No matter how many times I put the code in. I know the code was correct too. So finally I gave up.. I had to start my template back from scratch and then add all the sidebar stuff again. I am a little leery about even touching it!! :)

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    2. I worry about that too but using the one blogger provides makes my blog look like others. I've found two other blogs that look just like mine. I really want to make my blog my own if I can this year.

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  15. I like both your reading and blogging goals for 2014. I just posted my reading goals for 2014 earlier this afternoon, but I never thought about my blogging goals for 2014. Now you have me wondering what I should be doing to attract more pageviews and members to my blog!

    You have a very successful blog... What are your tips increasing pageviews and new members??

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    1. Really what I did over the years is network. I like to read blogs... your included. I comment. People don't always come back to my blog but I have to remember that ... that's not the point. I want to be inspired. I like your blog What drew me to it was the unique posts you have always done. Not just book reviews and book discussions. But interesting articles I wouldn't have found otherwise. Keep that up. That will be what makes your blog unique. Once you get to networking eventually the followers will come.

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    2. Thank you for the compliment on my blog! It means a lot to hear what other bloggers think about it. :-)

      Also, thank you for your tip on networking too. I'll have to work on that in the future.

      I've recently started participating in more read-a-thons and reading challenges... Plus, I'm currently participating in my 1st blog hop. I'm happy about interacting with more book bloggers! It's a lot of fun.

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  16. Some great goals! I'm on the same page with you re. growth. I try not to worry about it too much but I still want to grow this year. It's a balancing act.

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    1. It is a balancing act that's for sure. I was so busy last night just visiting blogs and commenting that I didn't get any reading done!

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  17. I haven't had much time to look at all the changes to BB.net over the holidays, but I know I saw a NetGalley challenge in there somewhere. Maybe that could help you with your ratio.

    Good luck meeting all your goals!

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    1. Unfortunately... my old netgalley requests can't be reviewed anymore. I guess you have a certain amount of time. So I just have to focus on any books I request in the future.

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  18. I'm looking forward to coming up with a blog theme and then I will probably stick with it for a long time. I wish you luck in the new year.

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    1. Yea this theme is it. NO more changes to it!!! Thanks!

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  19. 100 books go for it, I KNOW you can do it! I love the Sunday post but I really want to try and find a way to make mine more creative too. If I sit long enough, inspiration might hit!

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    1. 100 books!! Party time.. Ok well I started to do the numbers and that would be 10 books a month. Hummm... well... humm... we'll see! lol!! Glad I am not the only one trying to use the Sunday Posts better. Those really reach a lot of people so I want them to have fun and see what my blog is really like in those posts! Happy New Year!

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  20. My netgalley rate is pathetic. I relaly need to fix that. But I haven't been using it much lately since I have so many other books to read.

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    1. I still am shocked I didn't know about this "rate". Guess I never looked at my profile on it before! LOL!

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  21. I need to work on my netgalley percentage this year too. I requested a number of books when I first joined and then kind of abandoned ebooks for awhile. I've started to like ebooks a lot better though, so I think I'll do a lot more reviewing netgalley books this year. Good luck with all of your goals! :)

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    1. I wish we could go back and review old netgalleys. That is such a bummer.

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  22. Good luck with all of your goals! They all sound pretty reasonable - the 100 books read goal is impressive! I'm not sure I could do that. I hope you're able to, though!

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    1. I am thinking I can do it.. if I add in graphic novels. I always get conflicted though. Would those be considered books??? I mean it takes about an hour to read one!

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  23. Great goals! I reached 90 books in 2013. That's my best year yet, by far. I'm not committed to 100 yet, but I'd sure like to manage at least 90 again in 2014!

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    1. WOOT WOOT!!!!! I really want to reach 100 the year. It's a big goal but I want it bad!!

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