It's Thursday and that means it's time for another Booktastic Link It Up Thursday!
A few guidelines:
Please link up any posts you have, past or present, about books, reading, and literacy. This link party is all about sharing about books. Joining in is easy; just click “Add your link…” and copy/paste the URL of a blog post (not your homepage). Blog posts ONLY please. Other types of links will be deleted.
Follow me on any social media of your choice (I'm JoLinsdell everywhere). Of course, I would love it if you subscribed to my newest posts ;)
If you would be kind to post a link back somewhere on your post or blog.
Why join the link up?
Linking up to parties and leaving comments on other posts is a proven way to increase traffic to your blog and grow your blog’s followers!
Please grab the Booktastic Link It Up Thursday button and share it somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, bottom, etc.) and please share about this party with any book-lovers you know.
Let's grow this party!
Click to tweet:
Everyone works hard on their posts and loves visits/comments/pins from others. Please visit AND comment on at least one other linked post if not more.
Now on to the party!
Today we're discussing ways to super charge your productivity as a book blogger. Us book bloggers can often feel overwhelmed by it all, so this post is to share some tips and tricks to help us along the way.
Here's a few things that work for me:
1) Have clear goals. Knowing the what, why, and how of the content you post makes a huge difference. You can then break it down into achievable and measurable tasks. Ticking things off a list is so satisfying, and can be a great motivator.
2) Do a brain dump. Getting everything out of your head and down on paper makes it easier to deal with, and allows you to become more focused on what needs doing. You might also discover some awesome ideas for new blog posts while you do it.
3) Routine is your friend. When you get in the habit of setting aside the same time each day to work on your projects it becomes much easier to stay on top of everything.
4) Keep an editorial calendar. This makes it much easier to keep track of what needs posting, and when. It also means you can clearly see which posts you've programmed, and which ones you need to work on. It saves loads of time searching for content, and makes it quick and easy to track the content you post on your site e.g. frequency, type of posts, etc...
5) Batching. Batching is a great way to get a lot of content completed at once, and follows on nicely from point number 4. When you know what blog posts you want to post over the next few weeks/month, find some time to sit down and write up the first drafts. Even just getting down the skeleton of the posts makes a huge difference. You can easily batch a whole month of content in one day. This is particularly useful if you have a holiday, or other busy period coming up.
6) Templates, templates, templates. Keep templates on file for regular posts. Not only does it make it much quicker and easier to write up the posts, it also helps create consistency on your site and therefore strengthens your brand. Create templates of branded graphics for your site too (I love Canva.com for doing this), as it will save you loads of time, and help give your blog a professional look.
Tips from book bloggers
I reached out via my social media channels to see the ways that other book bloggers super charge their productivity and this is what they have to say:
"Unless I am walking or in a social situation, I will read anywhere and everywhere. Even standing on the tube in a crowd full of people squished up against one another, I will have my book out reading, ignoring everyone. I also make sure that if I’m struggling to finish a book by my intended date, I will make either a partial review post or an unrelated post about publishing or whatnot so my readers stay engaged and I don’t lose followers."
@polesofie
"I do two main things to make sure that I have material to post about and to keep my sanity. One, I set aside one hour every night to read, more on the weekends of course! Usually right before bed, because it relaxes me. But also because then I make sure that I get some reading in each day. Of course you could set a different amount of time, but I'm a fast reader so this allows me to finish at least one book a week. The second thing I do is never set a posting schedule. I know this seems weird, but it works for me. I find that I actually want to post more when I don't have a schedule, because then I feel no pressure."
@ForLoveandBooks
"I try to join in with tags or weekly blog posts, reading/reviewing new releases and taking part in blog tours help with my productivity."
@BookishBitsBlog
"I stay productive because I have a love of to-do lists. I have post-it notes everywhere as well as a couple of notebooks and a planner. I keep a list of books requested to me as well as books I want to read and go through them in order. I try to read at least 50-100 pages a day (or for an hour) and that allows me to read at least one book a week if not two or three."
@RPoli3
"Super charge productivity? With two kids 4 and under? Blog after bed :)"
@ginger_mom17
How do you stay productive with your book blogging? Do you use any of the ways suggested in this post? Got some tips and tricks of your own to share?
Want to discuss more ideas for marketing and branding?
Another busy week has come and gone. Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to.
My kids had 2 days off school again this week due to the school being closed for the elections (it was one of the voting venues). Seriously, they spend far more time at home than at school lately. At least their teachers decided not to take part in the school strike that was planned for Thursday.
Talking of Thursday, I had my hospital appointment. All went really well, and the doctor was a super nice. He did say my cysts were "cute" though, which is not the word I would pick for them. Must be a Doctor thing. Anyway, I now have the date for my operation to remove my semisolid cyst (11th April). The rest we just keep an eye on and hopefully they will go away by themselves in time.
I've also been getting organised for our upcoming holiday. So much to do, and not that long left to do it all in. I'm sure I'll get there though. As our trip is going to involve flights, and a very long car ride, I'm looking to add some books to my kindle app for the kids to read. Any suggestions? My 10 year is currently working his way through the Beast Quest series, but need some nice picture story books for my 6 year old. He loved Spoon and anything and everything by Julia Donaldson.
Moving on, here's where I've been hosted this week:
My book 365 Days of Quotes for Writers was featured at
https://bookwormscorner801578463.wordpress.com/365-days-of-quotes-for-writers-by-jo-linsdell/
Remember 365 Days of Quotes for Writers is available for FREE 10th-11th March 2018.
How's your week been?
A small request
I'd really appreciate if you could post a quick review of the book to the Amazon product page once you've read it. It will only take you a minute, but makes a big difference for me.
The number of reviews posted are considered in the Amazon algorithm and so you posting a quick review will mean they show my book to more potential readers.
Reviews also help potential readers decide if the book is for them or not.
Not sure what to write? Here's a few things to ask yourself:
1) Did you like the book? Particular reason why?
2) Who is the audience? (i.e. age, reading level, interests, specialties…)
3) Would you recommend this book to others? Who?
4) Highlight any notable aspects, good or bad, of the book’s design. Consider aesthetics, typography, cover, design, images, table of contents, etc...
Thank you in advance for your support.
Welcome back for another Booktastic Link It Up Thursday! I hope you're all having a good week.
A few guidelines:
Please link up any posts you have, past or present, about books, reading, and literacy. This link party is all about sharing about books. Joining in is easy; just click “Add your link…” and copy/paste the URL of a blog post (not your homepage). Blog posts ONLY please. Other types of links will be deleted.
Follow me on any social media of your choice (I'm JoLinsdell everywhere). Of course, I would love it if you subscribed to my newest posts ;)
If you would be kind to post a link back somewhere on your post or blog.
Why join the link up?
Linking up to parties and leaving comments on other posts is a proven way to increase traffic to your blog and grow your blog’s followers!
Please grab the Booktastic Link It Up Thursday button and share it somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, bottom, etc.) and please share about this party with any book-lovers you know.
Let's grow this party!
Click to tweet:
Everyone works hard on their posts and loves visits/comments/pins from others. Please visit AND comment on at least one other linked post if not more.
Now on to the party!
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