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April 2017 Reflection



I forgot to say this in my last post, but happy May everyone! Since it's the first Friday of the month, you know what that means: A monthly reflection! (Yayy.) Okay, so maybe that doesn't sound all that exciting. "It's just a way for them to look over their statistics for the month", you might say, and, yes, this is true, but this can also be helpful for you, too! You might be interested in this post because...
  • you want to compare to your own blog or bookstagram to ours
  • you'd like to see how we do it
  • you are honestly interested in how we're doing (thank you ♡)
  • you want to laugh at how much I probably failed my goals (it's okay: let it out)
  • you want to know what's coming up for the blog and bookstagram
Whatever the reason may be, I hope you enjoy this post! For those of you who are very confused right now because you don't really know what this post is, allow me to explain. In these posts, I not only reflect on the past month for our blog and bookstagram, but I also tell you what is coming up in the future and whether or not I completed the month's goals.

And with that, let's dive in! 

Looking Back Into April


The Blog
I would say that the blog did better than last month! With a 75% increase in the total number of pageviews and a post on every day I was supposed to post, I would say that I did a pretty good job, considering my performance in recent months. (Giving myself a sorta deserved pat on the back.) While I did change the schedule for posts a few times, pushing some back to post others, I still was prepared every time to actually have a post. (Even if I did last-minute tweak some.)

Bookstagram
Yes, yes: new heading! Might as well write "bookstagram" than "Instagram" because that is what we are, after all: bookstagrammers.



Moving on, we did see an increase in followers, ending at around 1,650 followers. Unfortunately, I can not give a percentage because I am not sure how many followers we ended March with. We also changed up our theme a bit, now having a more spring and yellow theme that I'm actually happy with! We've been trying to be more creative with our pictures. The other exciting news is that we landed our first job as a bookish shop rep for @demureforestfae's shop that sells galaxy-themed bookmarks.

Goals
So, as usual, I made a total of three goals for myself to complete during the month of April. The thing is, I never really check what my goals are, rather just think of the whole mess of goals I want to try to work towards (if that makes any sense), so I guess I'll find out how well I did now!

And...it actually looks like I did well this month!
  1. As I mentioned a bit earlier, we did keep up a theme for our bookstagram. We have especially done this ever since the start of what I like to call our "Yellow Sunshine" or "Spring Sunshine" pictures. Even before that, we had a theme of sorts that consisted of more wintery pictures.
  2. Glad to report that I did keep up with the blog (I probably wouldn't be writing this post if I had abandoned it!). Like I said earlier, I was able to get all my posts done.
  3. While I did get better at posting, I didn't really do the things I said I would do. I didn't set reminders nor did I draft posts ahead of time, but hey: at least I posted!

Comparison — April 2016 vs. April 2017
Wow. There really are a lot of differences from this past April in comparison to Reading is Inevitable's first April, which was also our first full month. For one thing, Em still helped out on the blog and the blog consisted largely of book reviews. Not to mention the fact that we mostly used our bookstagram as a way to advertise for the blog. (Nowadays, we also post regular bookish pictures you see on all bookstagram accounts.) 

Coming Up in May


The Blog
So far, I have three out of four May posting days planned out, although it isn't impossible for them to change.
Monday, 5/8: Book Review on The Glass Castle or Jackaby
☆Monday, 5/15: The Truth About Bookstagram
Monday, 5/22:  Barnes & Noble Haul - 02.04.17
☆Monday, 5/29: ?? (note: will be an addition to the Navigating Bookstagram series)

Bookstagram
From now on our pictures should have more of a spring vibe since it's spring up here in the Northern Hemisphere, but things might change a bit, as you'll soon find out below.

Goals

  1. Not only keep a bookstagram theme, but get a better one. Okay, I know that I was just saying how I was happy with our new theme, but I don't know....It's a bit cluttered, don't you think? At the least, I would like to add a bit more order and thought to it.
  2. Hit 1.7k followers on bookstagram. I know, I know: we shouldn't care about the numbers and whatnot, blah blah blah. But we've been a bit stuck around 1,650-1,660 followers lately, and it has me thinking that maybe we're doing something wrong. And that's not a good feeling to have. (This goal is connected to the previous one.)
  3. Have posts that people actually are interested in! Sure, there's no precise method to find out if people are interested in the content that I post. However, April's first two posts, my March 2017 Reflection and first post on SFS's in the Navigating Bookstagram series, got a relatively higher amount of pageviews, which I like to think means that you were more interested in those posts.


So that's all for this post! Onward to May! I guess I'll "see" you next time Monday with an actual book review! (Yay!) I haven't had one of those in a while. If I don't have much time over the weekend to last-minute write up the post, it'll be a book review on The Glass Castle (I already have a draft ready), but if I do have time, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on William Ritter's Jackaby. I guess you'll just have to wait and see! Bye!


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