On today's episode of Top Ten Tuesday, brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish, Midnight Book Girl will make bookish goals for this new year while her split personality Lazy Book Girl attempts to thwart her in the coming months! (I love talking about myself in third person, and referring to myself as a girl even though I'm in my 30's).
January 8: Top Ten Eleven Bookish Goals For 2013:
1. POST MORE!
2. REVIEW MORE!
3. Continue taking notes so my reviews don't completely suck. My reviews are getting better because even if I wait a long time I have notes to refresh a book in my mind so that my reviews aren't all: Um, this book is good, I rated in 4 stars on Goodreads so it's probably save to recommend it to you. Also, the cover is pretty.
4. Tweet authors when I give their books a good rating, and...
5. Send some of my review links to actual publishing houses so they know I like their authors.
6. Go to BEA 2013! *this actually happening, in large part because of the awesomeness that is Midntye Reader.
7. Keep better track of book stats- I read enough to complete most of the challenges I sign up for, but I fail to really organize my reading into categories. I'm shooting for an end-of-the-year-pie-chart-loaded post, but I'm also going to try to do some kind of monthly break down.
8. Comment and tweet more- this is always a goal, and some days I do well. I'm also re-dedicating myself to replying to every comment on my blog starting... Now!
9. Cull my TBR books. I need to do this. I have too many books. Yes, even for a complete book-a-holic I have too many books. A significant portion are books I bought prior to book blogging, when my literary world was still very small and I didn't really know that it was possible to mostly read books I loved. Plus, when you're a book reader people think they can gift you any book and you'll like it simply because you read. I get it, I'm a reader, I fit in a nice little gift buying stereotype. But that doesn't mean that the book you find in the reject bin at the dollar store is a book that I'm going to make time to read.
10. Go to more book signings!
11. Limit the books I buy from Amazon and really try to keep it to ebooks for Amazon and Barnes and Noble. If I really want a book because the cover is gorgeous than I need to be able to pay a little more and shop from a local, independent bookstore.
I have others, but these are the most important. I'm not ever going to be a huge blogger- I don't do lots of giveaways and I'm too lazy to turn this blog into a job so that I can really sell my blog to publishers who will shower me with free arcs and host giveaways for me. I admire those bloggers, but I'm not terribly organized or driven, and I think most bloggers who have highly successful blogs are. I really admire them, and if it was a disease, I'd willingly infect myself. But I'm not a Type A person, I'm a Type E as in Er... It took me awhile to figure out what kind of blogger I wanted to be and find a way to be okay with not having a million followers- although I'm shooting for 700 GFC and Feedburner followers by the end of the year. I just want to be more involved in our wonderful community!!
So, what are your goals? How many of you are planning on being at BEA this year?
Great goals!
ReplyDeleteYour reviews do not completely suck (or even suck a little bit). I probalby should have added twitter to my list because I'm awful at it. You WILL get to 700 followers because you are awesome. BEA will be awesome. And more signings are already happening!
I know! I'm so glad we're going to more book signings!
DeleteYour goals are great! I keep telling myself to take better notes while I'm reading, but it's hard sometimes if a book is really good. I get too engrossed in it. :)
ReplyDeleteLol, I'm pretty good at writing a bunch of notes in the beginning so at least I get the main characters listed (I have a horrible memory for names, especially with YA when they all seem so similar, even the more unique ones). Then I just try to write down one or two observations that I can discuss without spoiling the book for others, but yeah, once I get engrossed, all notes are off. ;)
DeleteI especially like #9 and #11, mostly because they sound a lot like me. I culled my TBR pile recently and it was REALLY HARD, but I still have too many so I'm keeping going, slowly but surely. It's amazing how much lighter I started to feel once some of my more impulsive charity shop buys and oldest unread titles were gone. I feel like I have space for the good stuff now! I also have a bit of an Amazon addiction, which not only kills me a little bit but also means I have far too many incoming books, so like you, I'd like to tone it waaaay down this year. Good luck chuck! :)
ReplyDeleteIt almost feels ridiculous to complain that I have too many books, because I don't really mean it. What I mean is, I'm not a mega-millionaire and thus I can't afford a Bat Cave full of books. Allegedly it's good to have floor space not covered with books, and some people expect laundry baskets to actually be for clothes and not books I can't fit on the shelves...
DeleteI do have a design idea for my hallway to show off some of my favorite book covers, I just need to work it out. Most people decorate their hallways with family portraits, but books are family too!
Great goals! I am envious about #3 I have always been a bad note taker, even though I know it would help me in the long run.
ReplyDeleteBEA is going to be awesome. And I am going to SLAUGHTER my TBR pile this year.
ReplyDeleteAwesome list! I need to do #1 and #2 as well. And I love #11! Didn't have any local bookstores at my old place, but have found two really cool indie bookstores in my new town and I want to support them as much as possible!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
YAY for the girl comment in the beginning! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat goals you have and have fun at BEA.
Ahhh going to BEA would be SO MUCH FUN! I hope you have a blast!! Good luck on all of your goals :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my Top Ten!
I'm impressed with your goals. I don't want a massive crazy blog either. It seems like no matter what I do my reviews sound pretty pathetic. Maybe taking notes would help.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, so many of my reviews end up being "umm, I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads, so I must have liked it"! But I never feel like taking notes. I really should learn to.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, Kate! It has been awhile since I stopped by. Hope all is well with you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the blogging. I enjoy blogging about books, but I never want to feel like it's a chore or a job. I may take your lead and start taking notes too. I've had a lot on my mind the past couple of months and so my reviews suffer because I can't focus and have trouble remembering the important aspects of the book and how I felt about it. Another great idea you had...tweeting the author when you review their book. I like it!
I did my first Top Ten Tuesday yesterday. Not sure why I waited so long to jump on the bandwagon. =O)
Great list of goals and I wish you the best of luck. I'm with you on the blogging as a job thing and wish I were a type "A" too but I am far too easily distracted to ever put that much effort into it.
ReplyDeleteI need to read and post and review more too! Great goals you have here. Good luck!:D
ReplyDeleteMy Goals for 2013
Waiting on Wednesday
Go to more Book Signings! Whoo Hoo! I support that! my goal is to stalk David Levithan More
ReplyDeleteYay for your goals! You can do it! And yes, I highly recommend writing notes while you read. Unfortunately it can slow you down, and if you're already a sllloooowww reader like me, it makes it worse. But it really helps when you don't get around to writing that review for a while.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm still hoping to go to BEA this year, although I'm not sure if it will happen or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!