1/01/2014

Bookish Resolutions for the New Year

Happy New Year! 



2013 was quite the year for me. I had some really exciting adventures (like my first trip to NYC!), made some wonderful new friends, and did a lot more with this blog than I ever expected. But that doesn't mean I don't want to do even better in 2014! So, to help me get on track, here are my bookish resolutions for 2014:

1. Get better at commenting.

When school and life get crazy, I get really bad at integrating myself in the bookish community through commenting on other blogs. It's terrible of me and it's something I feel bad about a lot because I know how much bloggers love comments. So this year, despite how nuts I see my life getting, I'm going to make a solid effort to get better.

2. Read more adult novels.

Don't get me wrong, I love my YA and I'm so happy with the stories it is full of. I'm still going to be reading tons of it this year and in years to come. I just want to expand my horizons a bit more and since there is some adult fiction coming that sounds really exciting, I'm going to make a solid effort to read and review some of it. I'm personally really curious about The Queen of the Tearling, The Invention of Wings, Red Rising, and The Swan Gondola in particular but definitely let me know if there are any that you think I may love (historical fiction especially).

3. Search more seriously and actively for an internship in the book world (with a publisher, literary agency, author, etc). 

Since I really hope to work in publishing when I graduate, I want to start building my experience bank sooner rather than later. I was casually browsing in 2013 to see if anything popped up that I should apply for, but this year I want to get more serious about looking and applying and hopefully I'll be able to find somewhere that I can be a great help and learn a lot.

4. Do a blog redesign.

While this is definitely not something I'm capable of doing on my own, I'm hoping I'll be able to find someone wonderful who is willing to help me create a new, updated look for my little blog this year. It's just time for a change.

5. Expand Sophomore Spotlight.

I started an original feature, Sophomore Spotlight, last year in May and I've absolutely loved doing it. It's always fun to interview authors and to get to help spread the word about a sophomore novel that may not be getting all the attention it deserves is great, too. I have a big list of authors I hope to contact for 2014 and am definitely welcoming suggestions and voluteers because I want to be able to have at least a spotlight a month up!

6. Organize my posts and reviews.

This one is more of a tedious job that needs to get done rather than an actual goal, but I'm sticking it on here to help hold me accountable. I want to update my review archive, start actually tagging my posts, and go through and cross-post the reviews I've missed to GR, Amazon and the like. Housekeeping more than anything, but stuff I get lazy about!

7. Not feel guilty about taking a break.

I'm going to the UK with my boyfriend this coming spring to spend two weeks in England and one in Scotland. I don't want to have to worry about blogging while I'm there; I want to enjoy everything the UK has to offer. So I need to get into a mindset that will allow me to step back and not worry for those three weeks. I just have to remind myself that my blog will be here when I get back.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but I very well may add more in later on as I come up with more. I want to know, though, do you have any bookish resolutions this year? What are they?
Good luck and Happy New Year!

4 comments:

  1. Hey, girlie! Long time no talk! I love this list!!! Sounds like a great to-do list while also being real with yourself and allowing yourself to breathe :) I'm coming back from a huge breather.

    Happy New YEAR!! <3

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    1. Megan! I'm so glad to see you back! It has been a long time! That was what I was going for with that... still want to be realistic. :)
      Happy New Year to you as well!

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  2. You have such great goals, Jess! I'm thinking about a blog redesign as well, which terrifies me because I don't know who to do it and what I really even want...just someone to do it for cheap/free and have a better idea than I do! And I wish you good luck on the internships (and the UK travel, eeep!) and a great 2014 :)

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    1. Thanks, Sunny! Changing your blog design is totally terrifying, especially when you know almost nothing about actually doing so... hopefully we can both find something we're happy with this year. And yay, I'm so excited (and nervous for internship stuff)! Thank you very much, I hope your year is wonderful too! :)

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