It’s a new year and I’ve been thinking a lot about how things have changed since I first started blogging. There are so many things I’ve learned, much has changed in the community and in my life. So, I think it’s time to think about where it is exactly I want to go this year. Here’s a few thoughts I’ve had about what I want to accomplish…
1. Reconnect with people
Let’s face it, in real life I’m a bit recluse. I like to sit down with a book or get behind my camera and I don’t interact much. I’ve made some amazing friends since I started blogging and it seems like I’ve lost touch with so many people. Taking a year off site to regroup made it hard to stay in tune with those around me. My break was necessary and inspired, but coming back in I still feel like I miss the community of friends, authors and publishers. It was hard to jump back in and feel “out of touch.” It’s very easy to compare and compete in this business and I don’t want to. Here’s to a new year: meeting new people, finding new blogs to follow, attending events when I can, talking to authors and feeling back in touch with those I already know. Hoping to make it to BEA or ALA again this year and meet up with fellow bloggers, authors and publicists there.
2. Figure out WordPress
I just made the switch from Blogger to WordPress as a self hosted site and there is a lot to learn. It hasn’t been smooth and easy, but then I knew it would be a learning curve. There is just so much to know, at times I feel a bit tech illiterate. I am just learning about SEO or search engine optimization, broken links, plug ins statistics and categories. It feels a bit overwhelming to plug in my old reviews to the UBB plugin and reformat–so, not sure I am going to do that yet. I want to create more fonts and graphics. Learn how to tweak my posts and format them cleanly.
3. Redesign Little Red Reads
Did you know we have a sister site? Yep. Littleredreads.com. I’m planning to earn enough money soon to give it a custom design and then update it more frequently with middle grade and children’s reviews. I want a place kids and parents can write about what they read.
4. Use Book Likes
I just signed up today and can’t figure out how to import my Goodreads shelf. Anyone out there want to help me out? I’m hoping to feed my posts to Book Likes and find more good books to read. Eventually will customize the page with help from a designer.
5. Buy and Review Locally
In the past, I have focused a lot on LDS and Utah authors. I want to get back to my roots and follow my passion for promoting locals as well as clean reads. Hit indie bookstores, find and tweet local authors and continue shooting photos and doing live interviews. Seeing people face to face has been super rewarding. I would love to host more blog and book tours to help get the word out about books I read and love.
6. Be more efficient
Figure out how to cross post on all my social media effectively and efficiently. What plugins, blogger posts with tips and hints have helped you the most?
7. Shoot more author photos
My favorite part of last year was capturing authors on camera and I’m praying I get to do that again. I want to take a photography and editing class. I have a new camera, Â so am ready to go!
Megan @ The Book Babe's Reads
To import your goodreads shelf to Booklikes, you just need to download the .xml file from goodreads – I think it’s called import/export? Then you just upload that file to Booklikes. 🙂 I hope this helps!
Megan @ The Book Babe’s Reads recently posted…The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski + Guest Post
Heather
Got it figured out! Thank you. Here I am http://fireandice.booklikes.com/
Lizzy
I need to start using Booklikes too. I made an account, but haven’t bothered getting involved in anything on there. I do like that it’s more blog-like than Goodreads.
Local authors are awesome. I’ve found quite a few that I’ve loved by going to signings at my indie bookstore. They have a whole section dedicated to local authors, so easy to find them. It’s nice to support both the local authors and the local bookstore at the same time.
Lizzy recently posted…Day 2 — Your Pros and Cons of Blogging
Heather
YES! Booklikes is nice because I’m excited to customize my page. Is there a way to import your feed or is it all manually posting?
I love my local authors. My fave is interviewing them face to face. Our indie is about 30 minutes away but well worth the drive.
Jess@Fairday's Blog
Love your goals for 2014. It sounds like you have given them a lot of thought and you have some great things to works towards. I am glad your blogging break was helpful and don’t worry about being gone too long! You will find you are right back in the community. I love the idea of your sister site. 🙂
you the best of luck in 2014! Good luck with your goals.
~Jess
Jess@Fairday’s Blog recently posted…Author Interview with Mary Casanova
Sara (of The Page Sage)
I want to start using BookLikes more, too. It’s a really fun site! To import your books from Goodreads just go to “Settings” and then “Import” and then upload the Goodreads file. 🙂
Sara (of The Page Sage) recently posted…Book Review: Going Rogue by Robin Benway