Lola’s Ramblings is a feature on my blog Lola’s Reviews where I ramble on about a book related or a non-book related topic. These are discussion type of posts where I talk about a topic and readers can weigh in on the topic in the comments. Usually these posts are everything that doesn’t fall under any standard header, like tours, cover reveals, memes, challenges, recaps or reviews. Lola’s Ramblings posts are discussions of a certain topic and my point of view on them. The banner for this feature is designed by Michelle from Limabean Designs.
I am keeping things simple with reading challenges this year and decided to only join two reading challenges, but I wanted to still set a few goals or things I like to achieve this year, but didn’t feel like joining a challenge for that. So I decided to make one post that, where I list all my goals. Some goals are very specific, others more broad. I am hoping I will reach a lot of these goals, but not going to stress if I don’t. At the end of the year I plan to look back and see how I did.
Bookish and blogging goals
- Read more books by Tracy Krimmer, Tracey Alvarez and Veronica Scott. These are three authors who were new to me in 2015 where I read my first book by them. And I already own multiple of their others books and I want to read more of their books in 2017. I really like Tracy her writing style and want to read more of her books, I read two of her books in 2016 and hope to read at least that many in 2017. I read my first Tracy Alvarez book this year and I love how she writes romances, I bought book 1 and 2 in that series I started (I started with book 3) and own the first 5 books in her other series, so enough books to read. I own about 4 of Veronica Scott her books by now, but only have read two of her short stories in anthologies, so I hope to read some of her full length books this year.
- Finish Alisa Woods her Wilding Pack Wolves series. I read the first book in this series this year and hope to finish it in 2017. she publishes book so fast, so I want to keep reading her books, so I don’t far too far behind.
- Stay up to date with the new releases from Kelley Armstrong, SJ Pajonas, Siobhan Davis, Jill Shalvis, HY Hanna and Craysa Locke. These are some of my favorite authors and I want to do my best and keep up to date with their books and review them as soon as possible around the release day if possible.
- Try to keep up with ARC team books. For 2017 I hope to stay up to date with my arc teams and review the books in a decent time if possible. I joined these teams as I want to read their books and have fallen behind with ARC’s for some authors and want to catch up and stay up to date where possible.
- Try to get that netgalley percentage above 70% finally. This was one of my goals for last year and I failed, although I did get very close. This year I hope to get it above 70% and maybe even higher. I still plan to get new books, but also be picky about which ones I do request. And above all try and read and review the books I already have or get.
- Keep reading cozy mysteries. In 2015 I tried my first cozy mystery and I love the genre, I read a lot of cozies in 2016 and I hope to keep reading a lot of them this year. I already have some cozies I hope to read this year and some new releases I am excited for as well.
- Focus on newly acquired books first and on older ones later. This is a strategy I seem to do well with lately and it fits my moodreading tendencies as I am usually in the mood for books I recently got. So I want to keep going ahead with this as long as it works for me. Read those newer books first and focus on the older ones whenever I am in the mood for one. Don’t worry too much about the older review copies as long as I can do well by keeping up with the new review books (in the last 6 months – a year) I get. This is also the reason why I signed up for the 2017 new release challenge.
Personal goals
When it comes to my personal life I want to keep working hard on my blog and business, but also be a bit more relaxed. I want to take some time off now and then and don’t push myself to hard. if I have to miss a post now and then that’s okay. Or if I can’t comment back to every comment, that’s okay too. Although I will keep trying to keep commenting back on every comments if possible.
- Don’t push myself too hard. Yes I am making this a goal. I do want to keep working hard, but also take a break now and then. I am already taking things slower on the weekends and I hope to keep doing that and to take time for myself during the day as well. Sometimes take a small break for lunch or take things calm when I have a headache or feel one coming.
- Keep trying new recipes. In 2017 I want to keep trying new recipes regularly, but I also will be making a lot of recipes I already know as that’s easy and familiar.
- Make two pies this year. I hate making pies, but love eating them. So I am making this a goal for this year just like last year. There’s this ambrosia pie that got shared in Speak no Evil that I hope to try making soon. And I have a whole pinterest board filled with inspiration.
- Keep blogging fun. I hope to keep blogging fun in 2017, so far I haven’t been in danger of falling into a slump, but I got close end 2016. It all got a bit overwhelming and I want to do my best to keep things fun in 2017 and don’t stress myself out too much.
- Visit other blogs besides commenting back. I usually manage to comment back, but I also hope to do some visiting of blogs when not commenting back. I think facebook is going to help me with this and I plan to try and like and click on blog posts when I see them in my facebook timeline so I see these throughout the day and can visit a blog post now and then.
- Play games. Playing games is one of the the hobbies I drop first when things get busy and I hope to keep making time to game in 2017. I love gaming and it makes me feel happy, so I want to do my best and make time for this in 2017.
Business Goals
While 2016 wasn’t a bad year for business, I also can’t call it a good year for business. In 2015 I organized 35 tours, while in 2016 I only organized 30 tours. I did make a bit more money on a yearly basis but only a few hundred euro’s more, which isn’t much and mostly thanks to the extra assistant work I did last year. I want to continue to grow my business, so I am hoping to do that in 2017.
- Grow my tour hosts list. I don’t care with how much, but I want to keep growing my tour host list. I hope to grow my list with at least 10% or 30% preferably.
- Grow my newsletter for authors. I 2016 I started a newsletter for authors and while I am really happy with the amount of sign-ups so far and how many open my e-mails, I hope to focus on growing it even more in 2016. It also goes well with my next goal. I hope to grow my newsletter for author with 25% or double it.
- Do more discounts. I have been against discounts for a long time and I am thinking it’s one of the reason my business isn’t growing much. I am not attracting enough new customers and I think discounts will help me do that. I am planning to do more discounts in 2017 and even have already planned out which discounts I want to run in 2017. I think my prices are fair and fit the slogan “affordable quality blog tours” that I aim for, but people love discounts and I am hoping doing some discounts will attract some costumers and is a nice gift to returning customers. I ran one review opp discount this year and started a big discount for tours that run in January and February and so far they are doing great. So I think doing more discounts in 2017 will be a good move.
- Organize more tours than in 2016 and 2015. In 2015 I organized 35 tours and in 2016 I organized 30 tours. I hope to organize at least more than 35 tours this year, but hope to reach the 40 tours this year. I am hoping the discounts will help with that.
- Keep evaluating and improving. I want to keep evaluating what works and what doesn’t and keep improving myself and my business.
I think it’s a good idea to have a plan and to have that plan in writing so you can evaluate how you did later. These are a good variety of goals that are challenging without being too high to reach. I wrote out my plans, too.
Good luck with your goals, Lola!
Sophia Rose recently posted…The Trouble With Dukes by Grace Burrowes
I think it’s a fun and handy way to keep track of the goals and to have it in writing so I can look back at the end of the year. I hope you’ll do well on your 2017 goals as well!
I don’t have many goals for the year as I like keeping things simple-reduce tbr, catch up on series, blitz the ebook pile, watch more TV series and films, etc. I do want to achieve more for my blog though. I don’t worry so much about number of followers but I want my blog to be more fun to visit so that’s the main aim! It looks like you have a firm idea of where you want to go this year so I wish you lots of luck in achieving it!
chucklesthescot recently posted…Chuckles Cover Love #8: Vampires!
Keeping things simple is nice. And those do sound like good goals. And I am looking forward to see what you’ll do blog wise.
Lots of great goals! I want to read more cozies this year. I liked them but tend to go for other genres first. Netgalley ugh. I had my % up to 80 for so long and just lost it. Hopefully I can get it back up there. Good luck with these!
Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog recently posted…2016 End of Year Book Survey
Cozies quickly have become one of my favorite genres and I have found some good series to follow, but I am hoping to start some new series as well this year. I got a lot of cozies form netgalley, although that doesn’t help with the netgalley percentage ;).
Aw, Lola, I’m glad you enjoyed my books and want to read more!
You have some great goals set. The personal ones are nice — it’s important to take care of yourself and take time off to enjoy life.
Professionally, I want to release 4 books (maybe 5), which is pretty ambitious for me. I also want to move my mailing list to Mailer Lite and start automation. Personally, it’s more massages for me 🙂 Ha, ha!
Tracy Krimmer recently posted…In With the New …
I decided to just go ahead and make it a goal as there are some authors I discovered last year and want to read more of and I hope to make that happen this year.
I hope to do well on the personal goals too, I figured those probably will be the hardest ones.
I like your goals and releasing 4 books sounds as an ambitious goal indeed. I hope your transition to mailer lite goes well. I really like Mailerlite and haven’t had any issues so far. I even have an automation set-up, which is the welcome e-mail you receive when you sign-up for my author list ;). I just have to keep remembering to update it sometimes.
These are great goals Lola! I especially appreciate the one to not push too hard. Sometimes we can get so focused on all the other goals, we forget to do the simple things that let us take care of ourselves. Good luck with your goals!!
Berls recently posted…Are You Too Tired to Read? | Fun Questions
That’s probably going to be the hardest to reach! It’s so hard to just slow down sometimes and not push myself too hard. Who knows, maybe setting it as a goal will help 🙂
These are awesome goals Lola. I’m still listing mine though, so I’ll definitely make this my inspiration for mine hehe
Vanessa recently posted…Best Books of 2016
I am looking forward to see which goals you set for 2017 🙂
I think it’s a very good idea to set goals for yourself, and I really like that you’ve separated your goals the way you did – it makes them seem more attainable in a way.
Good luck on reaching them in 2017, Lola 🙂
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews recently posted…Thirsty Thursday and Hungry Hearts #98 – The Gamble
I like setting goals and how at the end of the year I can look back to see how I did. Once I came up with the idea of making a goal post I came up with so many things I wanted to achieve this year that I felt breaking it up like this would work best :).
Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: Goals for 2017
I had already left a comment here Lola, so sorry if this is a duplicate. I hope you achieved all these goals but most importantly the one about not pushing your self too hard. I hope your business grows much more than you expect to make up for last year 🙂 I’m looking forward to more of your Armstrong’s reviews and coking recipes!
Dragonfly @ Our Familiarium recently posted…A Foodie’s tale: Stuffed Pork Loin
I don’t see another comment, so I figure dit might have gotten to spam. i really hope I can achieve all of these. And indeed pushing myself not too hard is very important, but also the most difficult one on this list probably. I really hope to grow my business a lot this year, fingers crossed I can make that happen.
Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: Goals for 2017
These are all great goals! I also hate making pies. Lol. They’re so much work! I should try to make more as well. I love your “keep blogging fun” goal too. That’s so important. My whole year will be about fun, so I want to do this too.
And thank you so much for including me and my books in your goals. <3 That means the world to me!
S. J. Pajonas recently posted…What I’m Thinking About This Wednesday…
Yes it seems we’re on the same line with the having fun this year :). I love eating pies, but I really hate making them, like you said they are so much work. I rather just stick with cookies, cakes and brownies and such. Much easier.
That goal fits well with the keeping fun thing too, I want to make sure I keep up to date with my favorite authors their books as I love their books and want to make sure I make time to read them.
Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: Goals for 2017
Tracy Krimmer moderated the NaNo FB group I was in, so I’m glad you mentioned her—I need to make it a goal to read at least one of her books. (Actually, it looks like one of hers is free on Amazon right now, so I’ll start with that one and go from there!)
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…Why Does Technology Scare Me So? Let’s Discuss!
I have read two of her books last year and I really like her writing style, so I hope to read more of her books this year. And she’s such a kind person too. Neat you got one of her books for free, I think I got that one too, although I haven’t read it yet. Oh and if you sign-up for her newsletter you get a free book too, at least that was when I signed-up.
You guys are so sweet! 🙂
My latest blog post links you up to my free novella for newsletter subscribers only!
Tracy Krimmer recently posted…In With the New …
Thanks for posting the link! I was thinking about that novella as well, as that’s also a free one.
That’s how I am with my goals too. I’d like to reach them, but I’m not stressing over them. And these sound like great, doable goals 🙂 I think I might actually see if I can temporarily leave one of the review teams I’m on since I’m just not into the current series anymore :-/ But anyway I’m going to try and the do the opposite of your goal to read newer review copies since I would like to finally get to the older ones.
Good luck with both your reading goals and your business goals 🙂
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: Shadows of Humanity (The Immortal Coil Book 2) by J. Armand
I do think most of these should be doable at least in some degree and I really hope to reach them, but I don’t want to stress myself out over them. I am sure that review team you’re part of would understand if you want to skip one series. I signed-up for quite some teams and I hope I can try ad sty up to date with them this year.
So many great goals you have posted here 🙂 Good luck with growing your business, a discount might help 😀 Can’t wait to read about your new recipes, I always find them exciting. Great post.
Thanks Benish! I am glad to hear you enjoy my recipe posts :).
Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #212
I’ve got a few authors I really like too where I want to read more of their stuff, that’s a good goal. And more Kelley Armstrong too. 🙂 I’d like to read a few more cozies too but I’m pretty picky w/ them.
Playing games is very important! 🙂
And good luck with your business goals! I hope 2017 is great for that!
Greg recently posted…Starflight
I thought it was nice to focus on some of those authors whose books I want to read more of and keep up with the new releases of some fo my favorite authors.
I think I am less picky with cozies than you, but also have found some that didn’t quite work for me. Luckily I also have a bunch of authors and series that I know I enjoy.
I agree playing games is important, but it seems to be always one of the first things I drop when things get busy :(.
I really hope I can achieve my business goals and 2017 will be a good year for business!
Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: Goals for 2017
I am sure Tracey Alvarez will appreciate your enjoyment of her books. Great goals, I like setting them too and usually I aim to achieve most of them.
Have you read any of Tracey her books?
I really hope I can achieve all of these, but I guess we’ll see 🙂
Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #212
I have read some of her books Lola. She lives about an hour away from me. I haven’t kept up with the series but did enjoy those I read.
Kathryn Trask recently posted…It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Oh that’s cool you live so close to her! Teach Your Heart is the first and only book I read by her so far, but it was one of my favorite books from 2016, so I hope to read more of her books soon.
Yay for recipes! That’s one of my goals as well 😀 I like that you specified certain authors/series. It’s nice to get caught up on favorites 😀 Good luck with all of your goals this year!
anna @ herding cats & burning soup recently posted…My 2017 Goals. Aka… my “Get Shit Done” plan.
That’s neat we both have a recipe goal :D. I felt like specifying some authors and series would really work for those goals, they were actually some fo the first goals came into my mind.
Great goals and I hope you meet all your goals. I don’t usually make a lot of goals but I would like to try more recipes this year.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…Freebie Friday!
Thanks! I hope you can get to try some new recipes this year :).
Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: Goals for 2017
I think these are great goals. Definitely try and keep blogging fun, and don’t stress too much. We all understand how difficult it can be to post all the time or comment all the time. I hope your business grows this year and you have a really successful time with it all!
-Lauren
Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance recently posted…Happy New Year: LGBT+ Book Reviews Around the Blogosphere
Thanks Lauren! Not stressing too much and taking things a bit slower is definitely going to be one of the hardest goals on this list.
This sounds like a really good set of goals. I particularly approve of your reading goals – like you, I aim to keep my reading fun and while it’s counter-intuitive, I think reading the books you get first is a smart move. I also think your goal of not pushing yourself too hard is a good one, too. When working for yourself, it’s all too easy to keep on doing ‘just one more thing’. But you are also a resource and let’s face it, you’re running a marathon not a sprint, so continually burning the candle at both ends is bound to catch up soon or later. All the best with these goals, Lola – I hope you achieve them and that 2017 is a happy, successful year for you!
sjhigbee recently posted…While the Morning Stars Sing
Thanks! I tried focusing on reading specific genres and old review copies books last year, but it didn’t quite work for me. So this year I am focusing on reading what I want to read and reading the ones I recently got as those are often the ones I get most excited about.
Oh yes I recognize myself so well in that do Just one more thing sentence. Working for yourself is a blessing in itself most of the time, but it also has it’s own set of challenges. Well said, I like how you compare it to a marathon instead of a sprint. Good thing to remember this year.
These are great goals, Lola! I think keeping things fun is one of my biggest too- because it SHOULD be fun, right? And oh, the dreaded Netgalley ratio hhahah. For a long time, mine was at 0%, if that helps? Like, for a LONG time, because I didn’t realize that I could leave feedback for books that I had clicked in links, and of course no one would approve me, because 0% bwahah. So yeah, I feel you there. I have been pickier lately too, and that helps a LOT. And I hope that your business goes well, and that you can count 2017 as a good year again!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Monthly Minutes at Midnight: December 2016
It’s one of the most difficult goals as well, sometimes I take things way too serious and push myself too hard. I want to try and focus on keeping things fun this year.
I kept trying to get that dreaded ratio up til 70% the whole last year and I am determined to make it happen this year finally. Those early books I requested and never read really count against me.
These are fantastic goals that you have here hun!!! I do agree that keeping blogging fun is a must and not always easy to do. I do like that you have both blogging goals and personal ones listed as well. Baking pies is a great one, I want to start baking more too.
loverofromance recently posted…Book Review-Once Perfect by Cecy Robson
I think that might be one of the more difficult goals to reach. It was fun to set goals for blogging, personal and my business. I really hope I can make some pies this year, I set a goal for that last year as well, then I baked some in the first few months and didn’t bake any pies the rest of the year.
Lola recently posted…Review: Finding Kyler by Siobhan Davis
Fantastic goals! I agree with you about keeping blogging fun for sure. Around summer last year blogging started to stress me out and I’ve had to back off a bit since then. I want to keep it fun! A goal of mine this year is to finish more series that I’ve started. I’m terrible at starting series, but not finishing them! 😬
I used to have all these rules for myself like I have to post a ramblings posts every week on Tuesday and a recipe post on Friday. Eventually I couldn’t keep up with it anymore and it was becoming stressing. So I want to worry less about that and just blog whenever I can about what I want.
I just did an Advice and Ramblings post in one week lets week and only reviews this week, it’s kinda liberating not to worry too much about those rules I set for myself.
Oh that’s good goal too. I seem to start so many series, way more than I actually finish.
Yes exactly! I’ve stopped forcing myself to keep up with TTT and WOW posts when I need to/want to post reviews. It is very liberating! 💜😀
Exactly, you can always do them when you want to without the pressure.