One of my New Year's resolutions is to update this blog on the regular (and to apply again to be an Avon Addict when sign ups go up again, this time with a year's worth of kick-ass blog posts in my repertoire). Right now I've set up a schedule for myself to follow that looks a little like this:
Every Monday & Thursday: book review
First Tuesday of the month: Recap of last month's reading and challenges participation
Second Tuesday of the month: Discussion post
Third Tuesday of the month: Guest Post: Peekaboo's Corner
Every Friday: Down the TBR Hole
I want to also allow some flexibility for things that don't fit in with those few categories, like link-ups, giveaways, Top Ten Tuesday type of deals...
What are your favorite types of posts to read? Book reviews? Deep discussions? Lighthearted observations? Funny quizzes? Top Ten Tuesdays?
As the first Tuesday of the month, today should be a challenge recap post day, but as it's also the first Tuesday of the new year, I'm just starting all my challenges so I don't have anything to recap! Are challenge recaps something you like to see? Do they inspire you to work on your own challenges?
Here is the basic template I'm thinking of using. Let me know what you think. Am I missing any important info?
2018 Reading Challenge
Books read in [Month]: 0
#LetsDiscuss2018
Progress in [Month]: 0/1
Total Progress: 0/12
#2018BeatTheBacklist
hosted by Novel Knight
Progress in [Month]: 0
Total Progress: 0/20
#2018AtoZChallenge
Progress in [Month]: 0
- [Letter] :: [Title]
- [Letter] :: [Title]
Total Progress: 0/26
Unapologetic Romance Readers 2018 Challenge
Progress in [Month]: 0
- [#. Category] :: [Title]
- [#. Category] :: [Title]
Total Progress: 0/50
#12Months24Covers
Progress in [Month]: 0/2
- [Category] :: [Cover]
- [Category] :: [Cover]
Total Progress: 0/24
#IntoTheForest2018
Progress in [Month]: 0
- [#. Category] :: [Title]
Total Progress: 0/12
Wellllll... What do you think? Too much information on those challenge recaps? Not enough? Just the right amount? (Where on earth is Goldilocks when you really need her?!)
Does this seem like a good balance of posts to you? Are there other types of posts you'd rather see? Or like to see as well? Let me know in the comments, because I'd like to make this blog as enjoyable to my readers as I can!
And what about you? If you blog, how do you decide what types of posts to do? What are you favorite to write versus fave to read? Let me know in the comments!!
I'm doing the discussion challenge this year too because I really do love those posts - serious or silly, doesn't matter to me - and I want to do more of my own. I'm also doing the backlist challenge because I NEED to focus more on the books that I already own. haha I like the team aspect so that should help motivate me more too. I think challenge recaps are fun, so go for it! It probably would help inspire me to work on mine too if I need more of a push. Honestly, whatever you like to post about the most is what you should spend your time focusing on, though I understand wanting to please readers. It's a balance. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
You're definitely right about the balance. I just have so many ideas!! Right now I'm trying hard not to post multiple posts in one day, haha. But I'm still new to blogging, I'm sure I'll start to feel burnt out eventually... Thanks for your feedback!
DeleteAnd YES, the backlist challenge!! My physical MOUNTAIN of books I've bought and have not yet read is ridiculous, and I need to start getting through it or my bookshelf might collapse under the weight!! One of these days I'll post a picture of the horror (or endless delight, depending on how you look at it! ;) )
I am always a fan of quizzes, I love hearing your thoughts on books, I love all the challenges you come up wtih, and I enjoy nitpicking your TBR pile. Also Peekaboo's corner is a must!
ReplyDeleteI mean, of COURSE you've got to love Peekaboo's Corner. ;)
DeleteQuizzes, eh? Hmm... HMMM... The ideas, they are spinning!
I am also doing the Goodreads Challenge, the Discussion Challenge, and the Beat the Backlist Challenge. I like your idea of updating your progress each month because I was very lax in that area in 2017. I need to push myself to update them, even if it's tedious. =P I think that it might be best to update the challenges when I post my book reviews so it is easier.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite types of blog posts are ones that include gifs. I know that sounds silly, but they are so engaging. I like any discussions about books, any topic really. I enjoy lists - so Top Ten Tuesday and any other list. =] I also enjoy monthly/weekly recap posts that show the books that were read and any book mail.
What I'm doing for my monthly updates is starting a draft of a blog post, and updating that draft each time I finish a book. That way I'll (hopefully) be able to keep track of which books I read in which months, haha. We'll see...
DeleteI love gifs too! It's not silly at all. :) But how do people post so many of them? Maybe using BlogSpot is limiting my formatting options or something? But I am drafting a post about fandoms that is super gif-ful (because as a part of the Supernatural "we have a gif for everything" fandom, obviously I need all the gifs) and I'm already sick of seeing the 8 billion gifs showing up in my library of images for my blog. Hmm, something to think about.
Thanks for your reply! BOOK MAIL! I have a few bookish and fandom types of boxes I got as "gifts" for myself for Christmas (Ahh, anything to justify buying more stuff...) that I'll be posting either reviews or just "look at the pretty!" posts of once they arrive! :) Excited for that!!
I will probably do the same. Just update my post each time I read a book. It seems like the easiest way.
DeleteI use blogspot and I can post gigs. I just save them to my computer and then upload the images to my posts. =]
I do love Book Mail posts and similar posts. They are so fun to see. =] I have never been able to get a book subscription box, but I hope to get some when I get my income tax return. =P It'll be my little splurge. =]
I'm giving the discussion posts a go, but starting easy with one a month, planning to post my first one on the 16th of Jan to give me a chance to get into it all.
ReplyDeleteI also do the Goodreads challenge and I'm trying a couple of memes to add variety to the book reviews. Top ten Tuesday and WWW Wednesday sprinkled lightly for a bit of a mix.
Happy challenging!
Thanks for your comment, Rosie! What kind of memes are you doing to add variety to book reviews? I have come up with a template that I'm fairly comfortable with (but am of course always tweaking!)
DeleteIt can be really hard to figure out a balance of what to post. I say, post what you like and go from there! I personally enjoy all of the types of posts you listed. The only kinds of posts I'm not crazy about are those with little actual content---spotlight posts with just a giveaway or Waiting on Wednesday posts (because it's really just a link to a book). Everything else is great reading, as far as I'm concerned!
ReplyDeleteI also update my challenges monthly in my monthly recap. I think it really helps me keep track. I include books that applied to that challenge each month, but I'm thinking of cutting that out because it makes my posts longer.
By the way, I love your Avatar. I immediately recognize it as you. When you requested to be a friend on Goodreads, I saw it and immediately knew exactly who you were! :-)
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Nicole. I'm still toying with whether I will list out each book as it applies to each challenge or not... Maybe I'll try it for the January recap, and if I feel it makes the post too long I'll not do it going forward! There's always room for experimentations!
DeleteAnd thanks for the note about my avatar - I use it EVERYWHERE, haha. I used to feel it looked like me, only I got lasik about 5 years ago and no longer wear glasses, and I just chopped my hair all off this past Friday! Maybe I'd better go hunting for a new visual representation of myself... ;)
We're both doing a lot of the same challenges! Woo! I'm so excited for the 2018 Discussion Challenge and Beat the Backlist! I love reading list posts (Top Ten Tuesday, etc), recommendation posts, and discussion posts! My favorites to write are discussion posts and Read This Book Posts where you just fangirl/gush about a book or series. :)
ReplyDelete-Rose Red
goldiloxandthethreeweres.blogspot.com
I'm participating in the Discussion challenge and BTB, too! I, personally, love to see challenge progress posts because they definitely inspire me to keep working on mine :D I'll be excited for Down The TBR Hole posts, too, because sometimes I find a few books from my own TBR in there and a fellow blogger's acceptation/rejection of that book helps me make up my mind, haha.
ReplyDelete