Discussion Post | The Book Junkie's Bookshelf

Confession time! I used to blog on Blogger. Do you want to know why I left that particular format? Drum roll please…..I LEFT blogger because of the GFC Follower widget. Yes, you read that correctly. I LEFT a blogging format because of one little widget. But apparently, that 1 little widget packs a powerful punch with certain individuals not only in the blogging community itself but also in the publishing world.

I didn’t like the math of the whole situation. I had something like 300+ followers and I was only getting 1 or 2 comments on a post if I was lucky. That is NOT why I blog. I blog because I LOVE books and I want to actually have a discussion with my readers. I’m still working on getting my reviews and discussion posts to a place where they encourage MORE discussion but I’m headed in the right direction I think.

Now that I’ve moved to wordpress, I feel I have a little more freedom. I feel like I’ve liberated myself from the ever-present GFC Follower widget. This is also about the time that I realized that I prefer blog READERS (people who read my blog and take the time to comment) to blog FOLLOWERS. Now this post isn’t about telling other bloggers how to run their blogs, that isn’t my intent. And I really don’t feel the need to explain myself either. I just wanted to take the time to say Thank You to those who read and comment on my blog.

Why do I prefer READERS to FOLLOWERS? Great question. I spend a LOT of time on my blog and it makes me feel really good when someone leaves me a comment on a review or something that I’ve posted because they took the time to drop by and READ what I’ve got to say. It makes you feel like your headed in the right direction with your blog when you know you have people who READ what you have to say on a regular basis. Right now I’ve got a small following of regular READERS that drop by on a regular basis and comment. LOVE YOU GUYS/GALS!

In NO WAY am I saying that Followers and blog stats aren’t important. They are, I fully admit that. But for me personally, right now I blog mostly for myself and those who READ my blog. Right now, all that other stuff is just that stuff.

I read a post recently about how to get Blog Followers versus Blog Readers. I really enjoyed the article. It’s actually one of the posts that pushed me to become a follower of that blogger’s blog. All of the suggestions are great suggestions…Twitter, Facebook, email, comments…3 out of the 4 I’m TERRIBLE at. I’m working on being a better commenter. When I post a post the link is automatically sent to my Twitter account and my Facebook account, but beyond that I’m failing on my failboat with those forms of social media as well. But my main focus right now is to better my content on my blogs. Followed closely by getting better at all of those things.

So what do YOU think? Do you prefer READERS to FOLLOWERS? What are your thoughts on the GFC Follower widget? Do you think I’m splitting hairs?

Everyone has goals right? Wether it’s in life or blogging goals give us something to look forward too. I just took over Tales from the Crypt and The Book Junkie’s Bookshelf on January 1 and I’ve come up with some realizations and goals for the coming year. So let’s take a look at them shall we:

Realizations

I realized that with the pending birth of my niece in March and some other things that I have going on in real life that I just don’t have the time to maintain 2 book blogs.
I need to be better about the giveaways. I have to come up with a better system.
When I got handed these two blogs I got handed EVERYTHING including a sending out a prize to a winner from a giveaway that ended a while ago.
That I have gotten entirely too caught up in keeping up with the “Jones'” of book blogging. (There will be a separate discussion post about this later on)
That I like having discussions on my blogs.
That the blog itself needs some work.
The Blogger needs a little bit of work too.

Goals

My reading goal for 2012 is to read 110 books through out the course of the year.
To get the reviews and discussion posts that are on Tales from the Crypt moved over to this blog before February 1. As of February 1, I will be blogging here exclusively with the exception of the challenge link ups on Tales from the Crypt.
I am going to start accepting self-published novels on a limited basis…I’ve already updated the review policy.
I need to add links to other blogs. If you want to be added to my link list drop me an email (moretalesfromthecrypt@gmail.com) and let me know.
I need to add a reviews page. I’ve decided that on the reviews page you will be able to see reviews by genre and series (if applicable) for now. I’m sure I’ll revise as things start to progress with the blog.
Keep things simple. This goes for giveaways too.
Finish at least 4 reading challenges in 2012.
Read at least 20 of my own books in 2012.
Try at least 2 new to me authors/series.
Read at least 12 library book in 2012.
Use my public library more.
Host at least 2 reading challenges for 2013.
Accept review requests for books that interest me.
Be a part of more blog tours.
Figure out a posting schedule that works for me.

For now those are my blogging goals. I’m sure that I’ll probably add more along the way but this is a pretty good list to start with I think. How about you? Do you have any blogging goals for 2012? What are they?