You may have noticed my new feature, 2021 Release Radar... interested in the blogger secrets behind that series? Read on! This year, I'm determined to stay on top of new releases by doing what I do best... data! I've compiled a spreadsheet of all my anticipated books of 2021 and I'm ready to share it with you. This list has been assembled through a couple of methods: first, subscribing to Publishers Weekly's Kids Bookshelf newsletter, where they post deal reports months or years in advance for newly acquired books. This allows me to track upcoming books and know what I should be watching for in coming years, although this is the first year I can do so with any accuracy, having only been a subscriber since late 2019. Secondly, the Goodreads YA Releases of "____" Month lists are, if not entirely accurate, fairly complete repositories of upcoming releases. I'm also considering scouring Edelweiss listings and publisher's catalogs for some of the fall months, which are looking a little sparse elsewhere. As for my data categories, I've attached a photo of my headers, but I'll describe them in more detail below. Title, author name, publisher, and release date are all for convenience. I typically sort my list in chronological order by date, but occasionally if I want to know which titles I plan on requesting, I'll make use of the filter system I have set up. Google Sheets allows me to create views of the sheet that filter by publisher, so I can see them individually.
Then, I have some variable categories. Each book gets assigned to one of these, and the Total in column K assures me that I've categorized them all. As of right now, I see there's two books I haven't sorted. To Buy, Library, and Book Box let me know how I'm going to read. Certain authors are on my autobuy list, some books I want to try before committing to, and some have been chosen as Owlcrate books--the only book box I subscribe to. All ARCs automatically get listed as Library, even if the author would usually be on my auto-buy list, because I want to ensure I review the book before buying it. Have ARC and To Request are blog-oriented categories that don't have any bearing on the Total, and so aren't part of that cell's function. Briefly: the colors in column 1 help me know which month a release is. I like to use alternating highlights to help me read digitally, so I can't code the whole row by month, but having the little color boxes help me differentiate between the end of one month and the start of another when all the titles start to run together. I read around 150 books in 2020, so I'm sure you've noticed that I'm definitely not going to make it through this whole list in 2021. I do aspire to try most of it, but of course I also prioritize backlist reads, so we'll see how I do. Hopefully this spreadsheet helps me keep track of this year's blog features and new reads, even if I don't make it through the whole list. I'll spare you my entire set of books to watch, but again, I'll attach a few photos if you want to see how the filters work. Furthermore, any current newsletter subscribers will receive a free copy of this sheet (as well as my Shelf Index, for tracking the books you own) in my next monthly newsletter! If you're interested in subscribing, go ahead and reload this blog in a new tab, or email me at [email protected] with the subject line "newsletter." Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy this Blogging Mechanics post!
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It's almost here! The New Year, blessed 2021, what we've all been dreaming about since... March. I'm determined to make next year better than the last in so many different ways, and that starts with setting goals. To me, New Year's resolutions are just more ways to feel bad about myself, so I'm not one for last-minute grandiose promises. However, I do have some goals for my blogger life.
That's it! I think those are admirable goals, and of course I'll be updating you with my progress throughout. Do you have any goals for the new year? I'd love to hear about them below!
Popping in with an update on my NetGalley shelf and to give a short preview of what's to come in the future! For non-bloggers: NetGalley is a website where reviewers can request e-copies of books (known as eARCs or e-galleys) for the purpose of review before they are published.
My current feedback ratio is 90%, and I'm trying to keep it there! Sometimes I get request-happy and then am surprised when I'm approved for bunches of them, which lowers my ratio, but I've been more cautious recently. As of right now, the books on my shelf are:
As a slight side note, this is the 300th post on this blog! I can't believe it's been so long, but I wouldn't rather be doing anything else. Come celebrate with me over on my Instagram page (links: --->) I haven't done a Blogging Mechanics post in so long, but I wanted to come back this week with some amazing apps I use all the time to run this blog and my bookstagram, in case anyone is thinking about getting a website in the new year! 2020 is the time for change, y'all, so get out and write! Just to disclose, I don't have any partnerships with any developers of these apps. This is just my enthusiasm, not promoted content. Evernote is my favorite writing app ever. Its free version is limited, but has great features and enough storage capacity to keep my articles organized month-to-month. The system is based on notebooks, which organize notes and can include content tags and media. I use Canva to make all of my post graphics (including this one), because their massive image library and layout offerings are unmatched. I like that I can copy layouts for consistency, and save to my own library for future use. Canva also offers a business suite upgrade, but even without it I have the ability to choose a brand color palette that I can default to. I promise this isn't promo! I just love this platform because it's super simple for beginners, and has a lot of great features such as drag and drop content creation, the choice of having an online shop, customizable themes, and... a great mobile app for managing a website on the go. I've used mine to post blogs, draft, and check my stats even when I don't have a computer. Darkroom is the best mobile photo-editing app I've ever used. With subtle and beautiful built in filters, as well as the ability to save your own from past edits, Darkroom is a great way to go for bookstagrammers wanting feed consistency. One of the features that I've used often in the past is their frames tool, which pulls colors from your photo to create a solid border. 1Password is probably the most important app in my life. Often overlooked, it is a password manager that keeps my digital information safe in a personal vault. Encrypted, secure, and easy to access (offers fingerprint login for supporting devices), it's way better than a notes app or a stray sticky note. Most of the other apps I'm mentioning here require password logins, and 1Password is my favorite way to keep track of them. I've been a bullet journalist for over a year now, but I appreciate the simplicity of a digital calendar to plan out my blog posts. I like my computer's default calendar because of its simplicity, but any app would do. Google calendar is particularly great for syncing between devices, especially when you're planning on the go. For book bloggers such as myself, GoodReads is an essential organizing system for our libraries. I use it to catalogue the books I own, the books I've read, and to keep up with their annual reading challenge (this year, I am 93% towards my goal of 150 books). However, I would encourage non-book bloggers to use it as well because it contains almost every book ever published, including cookbooks, travel books, and business books. You can discover new reads, and titles to feature on your blog, or you can keep track of the books that have helped you the most. There are five types of book reviewers in this blogging world. We are a combination of all of them, but some people fit more with one type than others. Which are you? Might annotate (or not!). Probably writes in a separate notebook while reading. Very analytical reviews. Actually edits posts before publishing them. Writes based on memory. Never knows what's going on. Did they even finish the book? Writes a lot of DNF reviews. Mixes up the plots and characters of books. Graphic design is their forte. So! Many! Colors! Every post has a header. The color scheme of their blog is obvious and delightful. Probably keeps a bullet journal. Lots of emojis! Bullet point reviews. Short, to the point. Reviews are secondary to their photos. Is an origami expert. Loves rainbows, fall, and/or the color blue. Highly consistent. Product reviews AND book reviews. Very confident. Shares everything: book hauls, currently reading, and tbr. Well-lit living space. Enthusiastic and bubbly reviews. Hello everyone, happy spring! I can't believe winter is over, because I can still feel quite the chill where I live. A few days ago, I was speaking with someone who used to live in Washington DC, and they said that spring starts mid-March there. To me, someone who's always lived in the Boston area, that sounds unimaginable. Spring is an elusive April-May phenomenon to me, and March is a dreary bog. But! Time moves forward, I suppose, and the weather will always change. Change, actually, is the reason I write today. Soon I'm making a big one in terms of organization of this blog, in the hopes that I can better serve my readers. Last month, I spoke a bit about my goals for blog organization, and invited you all to participate in a survey on kinds of content you'd like to read. (If you haven't done that, click here!) Part of that is putting out interesting content. No repeated posts, no filler. The other part is my new blogging schedule. From now on, I promise to be dependable, as I haven't been in the past. My mission with this blog is to be a reliable source of information on the bookish world, including reviews of new releases, book recommendations, and other features. Of course, I can't do any of that if I only post twice a month! Therefore, from now on I will be writing my posts further in advance and scheduling them. In an effort to encourage transparency (why shouldn't the reader see how the blog is run? Maybe that's another post) here's my sample schedule for April 2019. I used to be all-or-nothing in my blogging. I would go hard for a couple of weeks, and then drop off the face of the Earth. In January, I wrote a post per day until the middle of the month, when I pretty much stopped writing. I hope four posts a week is my sweet spot. I don't want to disappear on you guys, but I also want to avoid burnout. This way I get some time to recharge and write drafts before hitting "publish," but I also put out content that you want to read. As you can see, I've mixed reviews and rec posts with some weekly features. And because I don't want to give everything away, some blank days have content you'll have to check back for!
So here's to fresh starts, and happy spring reading! My New Year's resolution? Post every day. I want to be a reliable content creator and bring a sense of continuity to my blogging, which has been lacking in the past. For the past few weeks, I've been diligent. I've posted every day, both here and on my bookstagram, and I've included a healthy variety of content. However, I'm always looking for ways to improve. Hence, this two-part post. Part one is a survey! I want to give you all a chance to weigh in on my posts. You deserve to see engaging content that interests you, so here's your opportunity to tell me what's going right and what's wrong about my blogging and posts! Do you want more recommendation roundups? More reviews? Less blogging memes? It doesn't even have to be that general. Want me to review a certain book? Find recs for paranormal prehistoric romances? Here's the spot to ask! |
The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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