Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge – Blogger Resolutions

Posted 1 January, 2014 by Danny in Challenge, Danny / 35 Comments

Happy New Year!!!! And when I saw Parajunkee’s New Year Challenge I decided it would be a great way to think about 2014, what I want to do and decided to join.

newyearschallenge

Today, it’s all about our Blogging Resolutions.

Danny’s Blogger Resolutions

This year will be a big part of going Back To Basics

Well, this entails a lot, and it’s something I might have lost last year, mainly because I was too wrapped up in work, that blogging took a backseat and a few things that make blogging so much fun.

Comments

There is no denying that I’ve been a bad little blogger lately as I barely took my time to comment back and it actually makes me very sad! This is the one things about being part of the Blogging community that is very rewarding, both personally but also for the blog and I want this back.

So, I will take more time to comment this year! That’s a promise!

Time won’t always let me to comment back here AND go out and visit other Blogs, but I will make sure I will go at least to these bloggers who are so wonderful and stop by so often here at the Bookworms.

 

Design

I spend a lot of time to fusing over my design and how my posts look like. I’m still very much in love with my layout, so there is no need for me to change the design. It’s pretty and exactly how I love it.

But, I also spend a lot of time making graphics for my posts, making sure to have a 3D cover for my reviews and so on. Honestly, it takes up a lot of time and I’m not sure it’s entirely worth it.

So while it won’t stop my doing the occasional graphics for Discussion posts, I won’t do any 3D covers to prep my Reviews anymore. Saving 10 minutes means more time to comment. So, I will save this time from now on.

In the end, I think people care more about what’s written.

 

Reaching out to Authors

The other aspect about blogging is the contact to the authors. I absolutely love this aspect, going all fangirl over an author and then reach out to them to so something special, inviting them for an Interview or something else. I didn’t do that so much anymore last year and it’s actually super sad. I remember during the first 2 years, whenever I read a book that totally blew me away, I would contact the author letting them know how much I loved their books and asked them for an Interview.

Last year, I didn’t really do this. Like with Rainbow Powell after I finished Fangirl. I loved this book so much, so why the heck didn’t I shoot her an email, tell her how insanely in love I’m with her book?

MaybeI got lazy – but this I most definitely want to change next year!

Now, onto the new Resolutions I’m planning! 

Scheduling Posts

One new thing I want to try next year, will be scheduling posts earlier to keep out the pressure. I never did that and always wrote the posts the evening before the post  was about to get up. So now, I will try to conduct a post and a review as soon as I finished the book instead of waiting for the day to come that the review is due!

This will be the biggest change for me and I hope it will work out. This is a big transition and I’m sure it will take some time to get used to, but I hope it will be something that will take away the pressure and make blogging more smoothly for me.

 

So here they are and I’m think many of my resolutions are not entirely different from yours, still I’m excited to hear about them and also if you have a few tips for me as well! 

After nearly 4 years of Blogging, things slowly become more routine and I’d love to get a little spunk back. Don’t get me wrong, I still love blogging, but I think it might be not the worst to get a little back to basics! 

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And here are the upcoming Topics. I’m not sure I will be joining every day, but a few posts I’m definitely want to do!

{Day 1}  YOUR BLOGGER RESOLUTIONS.
{Day 2}  YOUR PROS & CONS OF BLOGGING LIST.
{Day 3}  THE BOOKS OF 2013 YOU ARE SAD YOU MISSED.
{Day 4} THE BOOKS OF 2014 YOU WON’T MISS.
{Day 5} WORST BOOK OF 2013.
{Day 6} BEST BOOK OF 2013.
{Day 7} TOP TEN BOOK BLOGGER PET PEEVES.
{Day 8} YOUR FAVORITE BOOK BLOGGER MOMENT.
{Day 9} CONS OR EVENTS YOU HOPE TO ATTEND.
{Day 10} NEW THINGS YOU WILL BE DOING THIS YEAR.
{Day 11} TBR SHELF: HOW MANY?
{Day 12} HOW DO YOU PLAN ON GETTING MORE FOLLOWERS THIS YEAR?
{Day 13} SHARE A BLOGGER HORROR STORY.
{Day 14} BLOGGING WISH LIST OF 2014.

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35 Responses to “Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge – Blogger Resolutions”

  1. I am totally with you on the commenting goals! I was so bad this year, despite the fact that this was the year I met even more wonderful bloggers in real life at BEA and various book signings in DC. I just got lazy with commenting. And I lost so many followers when I switched from Blogger to WordPress, which was still worth it and would have been fine if I hadn’t suddenly got lazy with blogging and commenting. But I’m going to BEA again this year and I’m determined to comment and interact so much that people actually remember, however vaguely, seeing my blog pic somewhere at sometime. 😉 Happy New Year, and good luck with your goals and resolutions, I’m going to try hard too!
    Kate- Midnight Book Girl recently posted..Rebel Belle ReviewMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    Kate, we must met when you are at BEA!! I will be going too and yes, it’s makes blogging even more exciting:))

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  2. AWESOME resolutions!!! I LOVE that you took some aspects of what you were doing and totally nixed them in the butt! I hear you on the graphics part. I spend a ton of time arguing with WordPress on getting the just the pictures to line up correctly in my posts. I’m hoping once I’m on Thesis (and I understand it) that will fix that problem and cut down posting time.

    I’m totally copying you on the reaching out and going all “fangirl” on authors 😉 That’s why we all mostly got into this, isn’t it???

    Happy New Year!!!
    Kristin @ My ParaHangover recently posted..Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge Day 1: ResolutionsMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    So yes on the fangirl part. I used to reach out to Authors much more, and it was so amazing – but then last year I got so lazy and I feel like I’m missing out. Definitely need to get back to this!

    Happy New Year!!

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  3. Scheduling post isn’t as demanding as it may sound. My personal trick consists in having a post scheme in place for my reviews, so that, whenever I click on “New Post”, it appears, and the nasty bit of the work (i.e., the formatting) is already done. Of course, if I want to write a different type of post, I simply erase the scheme. Also, I usually put all the book info into the scheme as soon as I have it in place, while I actually write my review later. And I feel better having part of the work accomplished when I get to write it :).

    On a side note, I’ve never gotten the chance to discover this blog before, and it’s really neat – I decided to follow by email, as a matter of fact. Love the colours and graphics. Looking forward to explore the content!

    Have a great new year :).
    Roberta R. recently posted..Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge Day 1: Your Blogger ResolutionsMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    I have templates for all my posts, it’s a neat plugging called “post templates” and I love it. This helped me a great deal!! Then together with Ashley’s Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin and formatting isn’t a problem. It’s more the actual writing that takes my time. But again, I promised myself to be better this year°

    So glad you like the bookworms and hope to see you back in the future:)))
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  4. Scheduling posts is a great idea, and allows you to have posts ready to go for when you’re not in the mood. One suggestion is to go back through your older posts – could you have written then different? Do you have anything to add that you forgot when you wrote it? Now you’re older is there a different stance you want to put forward? You can either repackage it as a new post, or write a new post (linking back to your previous one) going “you know what……”
    Nordie recently posted..Book Review: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie MacomberMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    Oh I never thought about going back to old posts, but then.. this would be soo much work and I’m not sure it#s worth it for me.

    I’ve been blogging for 4 years and .. I actually do not even want to read my earlier reviews as I might cringe over what I wrote back then.. haha!!

    Happy New Year!!

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    Nordie 1/2/2014

    you dont *have* to revisit if you dont want to! It’s just another source of material should you run out of ideas

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  5. Yeah, let’s work on getting that spunkiness back! I’m definitely with you on that. I’ve been pretty good about commenting, though I’d like to expand a bit and find some more awesome people to follow. Scheduling…yes. Your blog design is beautiful — I need to update mine, since it’s been the same for, what, two years? Yeah. That’s too long and I’m bored with it. Here’s to a year of the spunky blogger!
    Mary @ BookSwarm recently posted..Happy New Year!My Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    You are AWESOME about commenting my friend!!
    I think you are a spontaneous blogger like me right? So, it will be hard to change this but I have all intends to change this neyt year!
    And see here I am commenting back – feels good 🙂

    *hugs*
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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    Mary @ BookSwarm 1/2/2014

    Yeah, I’m definitely a spontaneous blogger, which is why I get so far behind in my reviews! Very hard to change but we’ll have to encourage each other with this. *hugs back!*
    Mary @ BookSwarm recently posted..Speed Date with Atticus: HUNTED by Kevin HearneMy Profile

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  6. I know how you feel about commenting and scheduling–I used to be really good at the latter, but at some point I stopped and it just added more stress.

    Good luck with all your resolutions!!

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    The one things I want to avoid is adding more stress, I was hoping to avoid more stress by scheduling posts in advance. Let’s see how that goes:)
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  7. These are some great resolutions. I’ve never contacted an author myself after reading a book. I don’t think I’m brave enough for it. Is that weird?

    Good luck with your resolutions and happy new year! 🙂
    Farhana recently posted..My Blogger ResolutionsMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    Yes I get it about being brave to do it and I always was a little scared at first too. But then, Authors (not all..) love to hear from people who just loved their books, so it’s can be as rewarding to them then to us. Again, not everyone is going to reply… But those will make your day!
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  8. I am in love with your blog design. Absolutely flawless! Nice post also. I love your writing style also 🙂
    Anila recently posted..Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge ~Day 1~My Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    *blushes* Thank you so much!!!! I’m still very much in love with my design even though I bused to change it every year. but this one will be the longest I ever have a layout and I’m still not tired of it!
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  9. OH, I’m a fusser too…and is it worth it? I think that having a design that stands out and posts that are popping good make us stand out. But, then five people copy the look etc….and then well I have to change it up again. LOL – I still haven’t figured out if it is worth it. These are great resolutions, we are very similar. It is time to go back to beauty base 1… 😀
    Parajunkee recently posted..New LookMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    Haha Rachel – I keep thinking about this myself… is this amount of (extra) work really worth it?
    When I started doing these 3D covers, I was excited and no one had it, then soon everyone had them and it felt less exciting. So this year I’m going back to basics – just the cover will be just fine I believe.

    I love pretty things, I love blogs that are beautifully designed and I love it when people put so much extra time in a post. I might not completely change, but I will stress less over it 🙂

    P.S.: Love your new look – especially the cute details when you scroll down!!!
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  10. I, too, want to comment more. I didn’t comment as much last year and I miss it. I miss the interaction. So here’s to more commenting 😀
    Brianna (The Book Vixen) recently posted..Month in Review: December 2013My Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    Cheers! Here is to more commenting!

    And yes, in the end it’s wonderfully rewarding so I will be wort the extra time:)
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  11. I’m pretty good about commenting (and I almost ALWAYS visit people’s blogs and commented when they comment on mine), so that one isn’t something I have to work on. But I am definitely guilty of waiting until the last minute to post – I should have put this on my resolution list too! In fact, I often finish reading a book the day before I’m supposed to review it! :-0
    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted..Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge Day 1My Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    I admire everyone who is so wonderful about commenting:)))

    Last minute posts are my speciality lol 🙂 My other problem is reading a book and then writing the review weeks later, which actually takes up much more time. So in order to be more organised and save more time I should write them up much faster!
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  12. Danny-

    When I have a weeks worth of posts scheduled in advance, I feel like I’m free as a bird. It doesn’t happen often, but God it’s such a relief. Definitely try to schedule posts if you can. I’m usually reading right up until the last minute, but those extra days are a blessed relief.

    I see a lot of people saying they are going back to the basics. I think that’s a great idea. I love your posts and how excited you get about the books you review. I also love the interviews you do, but I’ve been a bit of a bad blogger since June so I haven’t noticed the lack of interviews. But definitely do them! You always do a great job!

    But most importantly, HAVE FUN! It shows in your blog!

    Hugs,
    Heather
    Heather @ Buried in Books recently posted..The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ThoughtsMy Profile

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    Danny 1/2/2014

    You rock!!! Weeks in Advance? I’m jealous!

    You’ve been an amazing blogger friend *hugs*
    Danny recently posted..Novella Review: Dangerous Dream by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlMy Profile

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  13. I comment daily but only on the 10 or so blogs that I follow religiously. I want to branch out some and discover newer blogs – meet new blogger friends this year.

    It’s hard managing your own blog and finding time to do that though.

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  14. I love your design, so I’m glad that you’re keeping it as is. 🙂

    I love the idea of contacting authors for interviews and such after reading a book. I’m usually so burnt out when I get online that I don’t reach out and help give the authors exposure that I really love. I might have to borrow that idea.
    Lizzy recently posted..Day 2 — Your Pros and Cons of BloggingMy Profile

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