A Letter to You, My Readers: Where I’ve Been and Where I’m Going

January 10, 2014 / 9 Comments / Uncategorized

Hi guys,

For the past few months, I’ve been taking a lot of me time. You may have noticed that this blog has been silent, even though I’ve been tweeting about books and things.

The reason for this? Mainly, being busy. When I made my blog manifesto a few months ago, I promised that real life would always come first. And this time, it really did. A few personal things happened that caused me to stop blogging in October, and then I just…never really got back. 
Part of this was because I started two new jobs in the space of about four months. That uncertainty made me reluctant to blog, because I wasn’t sure what my obligations were going to be at work. And I guess it translated to uncertainty at home, and some major depression.

I feel like I’ve gotten more of a handle on things now. I spent a lot of this time away thinking about how I could make this blog manageable, feasible, and still fun despite having a really busy work and social life. This is what I came up with, and this is what you can expect from Mostly YA Lit for the next few months:

1) Shorter, More Personal Reviews – I’ve long thought that my reviews are too long for the internet, and definitely too academic. My most popular posts have been ones that were driven by passion and my own personal feelings and experiences. I want to give you guys more of what I feel when I read. 
2) More Use of the Bonuses Section – That section of my reviews tends to take me way too long to write because I always feel like I’m repeating what I’ve said in my actual review. The solution? I’m going to use the bonuses section more, making it easier to organize my thoughts, and giving me room to write shorter, personal reviews. 
3) Occasional Creative/Fun Posts – I started a few new features in the fall that I want to keep up with, but I have ideas for more one-offs that aren’t memes or reviews or even book-related that I hope will keep things fun and interesting.

4) Less Emphasis on ARCs and New Releases – Part of the reason for my blogging slump is because I wasn’t feeling overly inspired by a lot of what I was reading. I’ve been looking backwards and going for books that have been reviewed and loved, and it’s been so refreshing to read whatever I want to read, with the knowledge that the book is beloved by the book community. This doesn’t mean I’m giving up on ARCs – but if I do read and review an ARC or new book, you’ll know that it’s because I was super-pumped about it.

5) Fewer Posts – This is, unfortunately, very necessary, as my new job is keeping me late more nights than I’d like, and I’d like to have a life. I’m unable to keep up with the reading and blogging schedule I used to set for myself, and it tends to make me feel guilty when I don’t. For now, I will be working on a schedule of about two posts a week. Hopefully, one will be a review or a fun post, and the other will be a meme, most likely Waiting on Wednesday.

I’m hoping this is going to work for everyone. I’m excited to start blogging again – I’ve really missed putting my thoughts out there and hearing from you. Please bear with me as I try all of these new things – and please let me know what’s working and what’s not in my comments, on Twitter, on Facebook, or by email.

I’m looking forward to being part of your book community again.

Love,

Tiff 


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9 responses to “A Letter to You, My Readers: Where I’ve Been and Where I’m Going

  1. It seems like a lot of bloggers are doing the same thing this year. Less focus on ARCs, slower blogging pace, and just more relaxation all around. I hope you reduce your stress level! I'm going to focus less on new releases as well. I want to re-read some of my books and visit the library more.

    • Yeah, definitely. I feel like we all get really excited about new releases, but there's a lot of pressure to get those ARC reviews up, and it sometimes sucks some of the love out of the reading experience. I definitely miss browsing my own bookshelves and the ones at the library. It's good to hear that others feel the same way. I hope you find some gems in your re-reads and library visits!

  2. You definitely need to do what works for you so blogging doesn't feel like a third job! I also plan to cut back on review books this year and focus on reading all the unloved books on my shelf!

  3. Since I went back to work for the holidays, I also had to lessen my commitment to the social media scene. We each have to do whatever it is that works for us and our families. I'm hoping to stay on at my job, it was a seasonal spot, but it would mean that my Twitter book feed would once again suffer. However, I'd be talking about books in my day job, so it's still awesome! Cheers to a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year! 😉

  4. It is nice to go back and read some older books. It's good that you are putting real life first too. I am not a blogger but I used to follow a lot of blogs, and then real life caught up to me and I no longer had the time to sit and visit blogs. But here I am again a year later, it was sad to see some of the blogs that I used to follow gone, but also good to see how much some of them changed. All that's left to say now is Welcome back to the book community!

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