Happy New Year! Blogging Resolutions #BloggersLife #Blogging #NewYearsResolution

On By R&R Book ToursIn Uncategorized

Happy New Year!!!

Well, the holidays are coming to an end and most of you are either nursing monster hangovers or still sleeping. Or, maybe you’re like me and are already wide awake contemplating this new year laid out before you.

Yep, January 1st is upon us and it’s time to come up with this year’s resolutions. More specifically for me, my blogging resolutions (Unlike my personal resolutions ie. to get fit and lose weight before my wedding ugh!).

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As my 2nd blogiversary approaches this February, I can’t help but reflect on the last year. I’m happy to say that Reads & Reels has grown exponentially in the last year in comparison to its first. I’ve learned so much and gained many new readers (love you guys), but I know that I have been neglecting my blog in the last few months. As a result, I’d say that the blog closed with a whimper instead of the big bang it should have. Totally my fault as my personal life had taken priority. 2017 was a very trying year for my family and though I’m happy to say that things are on the up now, Reads & Reels has definitely suffered a little.

That’s why I want to lay out my blogging/ reading goals for this year. Really give my blog the love it deserves and you all can bear witness lol.

Read More

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I need to read more books! After finishing my Goodreads challenge for the year, I have to say that I was kind of disappointed with my result. I read 117 books this year, surpassing my challenge by 2 books. 117 books is A LOT! I know that. To the average person, this number is HUGE and I had many friends tell me that they have never read that many books in their whole lives (so sad). But in the last few months of 2017, I had only read a handful of books and I know I could have done so much better.

Having had so much going on in my life, I pretty much stopped accepting submissions from authors and barely touched my TBR. No new books meant that I was unable to share new content with you all on a regular basis (I’m sorry).

Additionally, I had suffered major blog fatigue this past summer and was completely overwhelmed by my own calendar, submissions, blog tour commitments and my own unwillingness to slow down.

I took a vacation, cleared my calendar (mostly) and tried to approach blogging with a less regimented, more relaxed style. I’m pretty sure this was a big mistake because I went from one extreme to the other and my numbers really reflected that.

So my goal is to get back to what I’m good at and what I enjoy (reading), and stick to a more consistent schedule in terms of reviews. I will try my best not to burn myself out again, but I need some kind of schedule in order to read and post at a level that makes me happy.

Bookstagram

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I really want to up my Bookstagram game! I follow some of the most amazing bookstagrammers, including some superstars right here in our blogging community, and while I know I probably won’t become the next big thing on Instagram, I really want to start posting pics that people would like to see in their feeds.

Some of these amazingly talented people post gorgeous images daily and I am so impressed with their skill and level of committment. These drool-worthy pics require a ton of time and effort and my hat goes off to them.

I enjoy photography and used to do lovely mini shoots of my daughter when she was a baby. I’d really love to do this with books too.

Blogging

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As I had mentioned above, in addition to reading more books, I would like to blog more about them too. I would like to include more features, have more guest bloggers, and generally just dedicate more time and focus to my blog.

Part of being a good blogger is interacting with other bloggers. I count myself lucky to be part of this awesome community and I would like to take more time to interact with you all. Share ideas, recommendations, maybe even do some buddy reads.

It’s with the best of intentions that I resolve to do all or many of these things to the best of my ability this year. This is more than just a hobby to me, it’s my passion and I think I owe it to myself to stick to these goals.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you nothing but health and happiness for 2018.

What goals or resolutions have you made for yourself for 2018?

 

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26 thoughts on “Happy New Year! Blogging Resolutions #BloggersLife #Blogging #NewYearsResolution”

  1. It’s definitely important that you think about yourself and your family first, even if the blog has to suffer. I do hope 2018 will prove to be a magnificent year for you and that all these resolutions will be kept all the way! Here’s to a fantastic year of reading and blogging! 😉

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  2. I read… 16 books out of the 25 I’d set out to read (2 of which were my own. Is that cheating?), so 117 is superb! Good luck on your goals. I have blogging goals of my own for this year in addition to writing and running goals. YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR! That is very exciting. I’m glad you took time for yourself and your family. I had two months of unproductivity too, but I needed it to get a few books read and a few miles run. Now I’m energized and ready to get to work on writerly things. And ready to connect with more readers and writers and bloggers. HAPPY 2018!

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    1. Thank you so much! Yes and we’ve decided to sell our house and buy a new one! We never do anything small lol. Yes reading 2 of your own counts lol. Best of luck on your goals! I’d love to organize tour for you soon. Happy New Year!

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  4. Those sound like great goals! It’s fine to take a break or slow down, of course. Even more so when you have some pressing family issues like you had. But it’ll be fun to see more content from you when I drop by. 🙂
    Happy new year!

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  8. Happy New Year and good luck with your goals! Lots of people (including me) seem to be talking about finding a better balance in their blogging this year – it’s important to remember it’s supposed to be fun… 😀

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  10. I’ve realized that blog burnout can happen when we take too much on. It starts to become more of a job than an enjoyed hobby. I’m going to make sure I enjoy posting, and I’m only going to commit to reading books I feel I might like, and not allow myself to feel pressure. That’s what I’ve done over the last few months, and I’ve resolved to continue that this year as well. Blogging should be fun after all, right?

    I’m glad things are going better for you, and I look forward to reading your posts this year. 😊

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