Bloggiesta Wrap-Up

Bloggiesta

Well, my first Bloggiesta is over. For having only found out about Bloggiesta on Thursday, I’d say I had a very productive weekend! I started out with a to-do list, and I got almost everything done. The few tasks I didn’t finish had to do with actually writing posts, which I’m used to doing on a daily basis, so no problem there. Here are the highlights of what I got done:

  • I finally invited Erin Reads readers to be my reading buddies! Check out the post and sign up if you’re interested. I’m excited!
  • I fiddled with my blog layout a little, adding, combining, and removing some elements from my sidebar. New sidebar items include posts by topic, recent/popular posts, and a feed of Google Reader items I especially enjoy (thanks to Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness for that one)!
  • I created a landing page for the Erin Reads Facebook page! I’m not sure I’m fully happy with it, but I’m pleased I got something up. If you’re on Facebook and would like to stop by, I’d love to see you over there.
  • I added a LibraryThing button to my Subscribe & Connect box! I wasn’t able to make my own, but Rebecca from Rebecca Reads was kind enough to share hers. If you’re on LibraryThing, come say hello!
  • I installed a lot of plug-ins that are already helping me blog more efficiently and will, I hope, generally make Erin Reads a nicer place to be. Most visible of these are my Contact page, related posts, and a copyright notice, but there are some cool behind-the-scenes ones too. I also deleted some unused plug-ins.
  • I learned to label and archive my Gmail inbox. It took many hours, but I got my inbox down from 3000+ messages (mostly read but not deleted) to just 14!
  • I made more improvements to my Google Reader! Rebecca’s post on the Book Lady’s Blog about taming your feedreader was hugely helpful. The Firefox add-on she suggests? Magic.
  • I updated LibraryThing and GoodReads with review excerpts and links.
  • I worked out the details for a few new post formats I’d like to use and created buttons for them.
  • I added a few bells and whistles to my existing post formats, including My Week in Books and my review posts (“Book Thoughts”).
  • I cleaned up the blog files I keep on my computer so that I can actually find things!
  • I cleaned up my categories to better reflect the posts I’ve been writing so that you can actually find things!
  • I participated in 18 mini challenges, all of which helped me improve Erin Reads.

I ended up working for a total of 35 hours (whoa!). I’m so glad I participated in Bloggiesta and can’t wait for July, when the next one rolls around!

Your Turn!

If you participated in Bloggiesta, how did it go?

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30 Comments

  1. Oh my, 35 hours! I’d really like to take part in a Bloggiesta sometime but I always find I’ve just finished all the updates I wanted to do when they come along. I like the Posts I’m Reading feature, and I love your Further Reading list, it looks really professional!

    1. Luckily we had nothing planned for the weekend! My husband worked on a project of his own, and I worked on my blog. It worked out well. I’m bad about keeping up with updates, so Bloggiesta was great for me. I’m glad you like the new additions! I must admit, the Further Reading list is a plug-in. I wish I could write a pretty gizmo like that myself!

  2. I didn’t technically participate, but it did motivate me to finally clean up our twitter account – put everyone in lists, follow back some folks, and weed out some others (mostly publishers or authors who are out of our YA focus). Sounds like you got a lot done!

    1. Eek, I didn’t even think to work on Twitter! Oh well, next Bloggiesta. I’m glad you got some nagging tasks done, even if you weren’t officially Bloggiesta-ing!

  3. Sadly I only ended up having about 7 hours to spend on Bloggiesta this time because I did so much traveling around. I wanted to spend so much more than that. I’ll be continuing with the tasks I didn’t finish a little bit each day, I guess…

    1. You still got a ton done for only working for 7 hours! Wow! Even if everything didn’t get done during the actual Bloggiesta hours, I’m guessing we’ve probably generated to-do lists that we’ll keep plugging away at for the upcoming months.

    1. I had to learn, when I moved over to self-hosted WordPress last fall! WordPress without plug-ins is pretty boring. The problem is, getting into them is like opening a can of worms. There are tons of them out there! Luckily for you, I don’t think they tend to hang out in alleys, so I think you’re safe πŸ™‚

    1. Thanks! I had fun! I’m glad you found me on LibraryThing. I have a feeling there are lots of bloggers on there, and I’m hoping now that I have a button up we can all find each other. I love seeing which books I have in common with everyone!

  4. This was my first Bloggiesta too. I wasn’t as productive as you, but I managed a number of things that I had wanted to get done and never quite managed to get to. Your site looks good!

  5. Goodness, what a productive week for you! I need to get my act in gear and fix up a whole bunch of things on my site. Tomorrow’s a public holiday, so perhaps I’ll get on to it then. πŸ™‚ Thanks for the inspiration!

    1. A lot of it was mindless…like the many hours I devoted to cleaning out my Gmail! Thanks…I’m glad I got so much done πŸ™‚

    1. Thanks! It was far more productive than I’d anticipated. There’s always next Bloggiesta! πŸ™‚

  6. Wow, that’s totally inspiring! I do like the idea of devoting a large chunk of time to this, rather than feeling like you’re always picking at it, constantly shifting something, adjusting something else, with an endless to-do list nagging.

    1. It was great to just get a bunch of projects out of the way. I came to this Bloggiesta a bit late in the game, so I didn’t get to plan out my list in advance, which is something I’d like to do next time. Perhaps we’ll be in the next Bloggiesta together!

  7. Wow, Erin, that’s fantastic! I will definitely look at all your improvements in more detail and probably steal a few too! And I’ll be sure to look at your reading list, would love to do a buddy read with you! I’m so bummed to have missed Bloggiesta!

    1. Thanks, Joanna! I’d love to read a book with you. Just let me know which you might be interested in. There’s always the next Bloggiesta!

    1. Thanks! Luckily I had a clear schedule for the weekend. It was nice to get a lot done at once, but I know a lot of people are too busy to devote a whole weekend to a blog…I’m soon to be one of them!

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