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May 16, 2010

Slapdash Sunday

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I am going to have a repeat post today of last week's Slapdash Sunday.  Seeing that last week was Mother's Day and assuming everyone was busy with real life, there wasn't much in way of feedback or discussion.  And for next week's Slapdash Discussion, here is a little teaser for you .  Mark it on your calendar!!!  You WILL want to get into the discussion, I know you will or at least hope you will.  I will be honored to have an author stop by and discuss with us his/her thoughts on EReaders and Print, from a writers' point of view and then my thoughts as a consumer.  What are your thoughts and feelings regarding this?  So remember to stop by next week and join in on that discussion !!!!!  To be continued.........

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Hosted by Kayla at The Eclectic Element http://www.theeclecticelement.blogspot.com/
Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week 'leftovers.' Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn't worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
One item on my Saturday Blog-To-Do list is to update my Challenge progress meters, which got me to thinking and is going to be the topic of today's Slapdash Sunday.
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     Many of my Challenge meters are not progressing.  First let me say that this is my 1st year of Challenges.  I signed up for most of the challenges when I was a newbie and first went "public" with my blog.  They looked like fun and at the time, I wanted to join in and participate in this great world of book blogging.  However, all this was before I was encouraged to start accepting requests for reviews that some of my blogging mentors thought I was ready for.
     So today's thoughts are regarding this situation.  I know I am way behind, a whole month behind, due to my surgeries and hospitalizations.  Hoping that I can play catch up but thinking, believing, know for sure that I will probably, definitely not complete the 100+ challenge.  When it comes to requests, I feel that I should read and review them first.  As of today there are 10 books with more coming that I know of.  I have noticed on the experienced blogger sites that they have more challenges than I do and are making great progress.
     My questions for discussion are these:  Do you alternate between books that are "requested reviews" and books for your challenges?  Do you feel that the "requests" take priority?  How long do you think is adequate from the time of receiving a "request" to finish reading and reviewing it?  What was the longest time span that you had from the book being delivered and actually writing your review?  Have you ever not completed the challenges you signed up for? 
What are your thoughts on this topic? Let's have a SlapdashPhotobucket !!!!!

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I try to make books fit in as many categories as possible as far as challenges and review copies! Don't stress so much about challenges - they're just for fun!

Curling up by the Fire said...

I often try to alternate between review requests and books that I choose myself. However, sometimes the review requests (like now) get out of hand or sometimes I get more than I bargained for (last week I requested one book and the company sent me 5 they thought I'd be interested in) or sometimes they take longer to come in and then they all come in at once. I always feel an obligation to complete the ones that I requested within 2-4 weeks, which is what I put on my pitch letter. For books that just show up, I tend to feel less an obligation, but still try to complete within that time span if possible. I still have a demanding full time job that does come first and a family.

I avoided certain challenges this year because I didn't think I could complete them. While I know I can easily read 100+ books in a year, I didn't want to be limited by genre of book so I kept to the smaller challenges.

Good luck with it and don't be afraid to turn down requests if things get overwhelming.

Julie P said...

Hi CMash (one of these days I will figure out what your name is so I can address you properly)! Anyway, challenges--I signed up for so many and mine are progressing along. The problem is I just signed up for so many! I belong to Goodreads, so I set up a shelf there for each challenge I am participating in. As I complete a book, I take it off the specific challenge shelf it is on, that way I always can easily see how many remain for that challenge. Also, I set up my to-read shelf there with all of my challenge books in chronological order. So I pretty much have my planned reads scheduled out until next February or so!

CMash said...

Kathy: I'm not stressing but am in awe of the experienced bloggers like yourself, that have signed up for many challenges and complete. Plus having a job. I signed up for a lot of them before I was encouraged to start reviewing. Thought I might have 1 or 2 lol to review. But I am thinking it is a compliment that I am staring at stacks of review books.

Stephanie: I am amazed, in awe of and even a bit jealous that you can read that many books and hold down a job too. I am disabled and still can't read that many books. Even when I signed up for the 100+, I knew I would probably not hit the goal but wanted to see how close I could get. I promise not to tell anyone but can you give me your secret or tip as to how you read so much, I know I am doing something wrong.

Julie: I belong to goodreads too and never knew that a shelf could be made up for challenges. Will have to check into that or if you have time could you email me the directions.

Thank you all for sharing in the discussion. Don't forget next week an author's personal thoughts on Ereaders/Print. I may even be able to get this author to answer some questions you may have.