Yearly Wrap Up: Achievements, Not Reaching Goals and Thank You!

2013 has been an amazing year, and I'll admit, I will be very sorry to wave it goodbye when the clock strikes midnight tonight. From getting nominated for a Journalism Award and getting to travel to the Royal Society in London for the competition final, to becoming a published-poet and seeing my review featured in an actual book, to making friends through blogging that have become huge parts of my life because they make my day, every day, I really have loved this year.

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the year:

Andy Robb and my blog ended up on a school wall! Well,
our writing did!

One of the best days of the year!

I finally got to see Buckingham Palace!

That Police Man was laughing at my awkwardness!

 Big Ben - which will be lit up with fireworks in half-an-hour to welcome
in the New Year!

 

Some of my favourite moments blogging-wise this year have been: Reaching my 25,000 pageviews and finally seeing '100 followers' on my side-bar, how  well-received my week about anti-bullying was and seeing other bloggers share their experiences and being confident enough to do so and meeting new bloggers and becoming better-friends with the one's I knew last year. It's a crazy feeling but, as my first full-year of blogging comes to a close, I know it's been a good one! Joining Twitter was one of the things I did this year and I never thought it would have such an impact on blogging but, it has! I've also received a lot more ARCs than I did previously, which I'm always extremely humbled to receive through the post, because it means the publisher actually trusts me enough to write an honest review.

 

Last year, when I was writing a post about my goals for this year(I will be writing a similar one to welcome in 2014 tomorrow), I set seven goals, which, now I think about, was definitely not thought out. Those goals were:

1. To achieve something I have never achieved in before. 
2. Join a club or group where I can meet more people whether it is a writing club or drama.
3. Read a different variety of books and genres including the classics. Finally read the Harry Potters!
4. Write more. Possibly write a novel-however short it may be.
5. Achieve in school: work hard, get good levels, do well.
6. Be more confident-be more comfortable in different situations and in-front of my peers.
7. A really important one for me is to stand-up for myself. I always feel like I allow myself to be picked without saying anything because I'm naturally afraid.

 In terms of achievements, most of them have been in blogging and writing, which is something I'm really proud of. I haven't done any new this year, as I haven't had time to fit-in anything else but what I love around school, so there hasn't been time to achieve in something I never have done before. Even so, I did join a Writing Club at school, and despite knowing everyone there already, and spending most of the time chatting, I haven't discovered new competitions and things from there that have been fun to do! I managed two classics this year; not exactly many, or what I had planned, and one of those I had to read for school. I know a lot of people will be wondering why, so sorry, but I still haven't managed to read the rest of the Harry Potter series(I've read one and two)! I think I've half-achieved in these so, 2014 is one where I'm setting goals that I hopefully can reach!

 

There are a lot of people who have made these things happen though: the publishers that continue to send me books, and wait until I finally get around to reading them, the authors who supported my 'Anti-Bullying Blog Week' and made it the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and something I'm excited to be continuing in 2014, to the bloggers and readers who take the time to read what I still believe is the complete-rubbish I write, and leave comments that make blogging something I enjoy even more. Yes, at times it is stressful and hard-to-fit-in, even I have thought to myself wouldn't I rather be reading a book, instead of blogging about a book? The answer to this question is clearly no, but more than anything else this year, I've realise doing something you love takes a lot of work. Work though, that does pay off and makes you feel like it was all worthwhile - whether you feel that by seeing a comment, going to an event or getting a book through the post.

 

A huge thank you to: Amber, Hawwa, Charli, Jack, Sunny, Ruby, Georgia, Zoe, Rita, Erika, Orli, Kyra and Lucy for chatting to me endlessly on Twitter, and being your normal, hilarious selves! You are fantastic and have been a huge part of my year. Happy New Year, I hope you read amazing books and attend lots of great events! I'm sure at some-point I have missed someone out, but thank-you to every blogger for being-bookish!

 

Also, thank you to: Dom, and the rest of the team from Nosy Crow, everyone at Hot Key Books, Curious Fox publishers and the rest of Team Fox, Bloomsbury and Harper Collins for sending me review-copies of books this year, and other things including bookmarks, posters and chapter-samplers for school-displays!

 

Finally, I wish I could give cup-cakes to all the authors who have simply said "Thank you!" after I have written a review of one of their books, allowed me to interview them on this blog, have talked to me on Twitter or been a part of #AntiBullyingBW. Thanks to Siobhan Curham, Andy Robb, Holly Smale, Kate Maryon, Natasha Ngan, Emma Pass, Sharon Sant, Cathy Cassidy and Jackie Buckle for supporting my blog!

 

Happy New Year, everyone! I won't be back until Next Year...so, see you then!

Yearly Wrap-Up: Blogging Achievements in 2013

2013 has been my first full-year of book-blogging! This is actually a very surreal fact for me, because it feels like I have been running this blog and reviewing books since I can remember. My 'Yearly Wrap-Up' posts will go-live every Sunday between now and the beginning of 2014, and the point where it all starts again. Honestly, I will be really upset to see 2013 go; it's been a brilliant year, that I'm going to miss. I've got a feeling writing this post will give me a huge sense of nostalgia.

 

I hit my 25,000 pageviews!

This is something I was desperate to do this year; as after 10,000, I feel this is the next big-milestone that you can celebrate. I also reached 100 followers around the same time, and at that point, I noticed what I had achieved! A few months on, I've beat my target, and I'm now on my way to hit 40,000 pageviews by the time the fire-works begin to go off on New Years Eve.

 

Anti-Bullying Blog Week:

Last month, as you probably now, I held Anti-Bullying Blog Week and it had a heart-warming reaction. I cried both happy and sad tears, and got to chat to and work with so many fantastic authors to help take another step towards ending bullying. This also saw my blog end up as a QR Code on a school library wall, which I was really proud of, along with Andy Robb's infamous Coke Bottle Theory which was a Guest Post during the week. The week has inspired to me to continue in showing victims of bullying that they can go on and be successful authors if the wanted to!

 

Received more review books:

When I get a book-shaped package, I still freak-out and rip it open with excitement, admiring the cover and immediately tweeting about it. This is something I have done from the moment I got my first review books back in September 2012, but throughout this year I have been able to contact more publishes, becoming a member of Team Fox and joining other mailing-lists. I feel extremely lucky to get books from such fantastic publishers, and can never understand how they trust my opinion so much!

Organised the 'Invisible Girl Blog Tour':
This was the first blog tour I ever organised; aiming to promote Kate Maryon's book 'Invisible Girl' and focus on the issue of homelessness. It felt so good to do something worth-while, and I was really proud to see people getting involved by tweeting and writing their own reviews!

 

Attended my first conference:

 This was quite a big-achievement for me, as back in February - thanks to Nosy Crow - I was able to attend a conference, and I thought it was a fantastic experience. I got to talk to authors and illustrators, as well as people in the publishing business, which gave me an insight into where blogging could lead me. In the room, there was a New York Times Bestselling Author, and one of the people who had published 'The Hunger Games.' I couldn't help but feel both out-of-place and excited at the same time! The one thing I remember about that day, though, were that my hands were bleeding because it was so cold outside!

 

My review of 'Finding Your Inner Cherokee' was published in the e-Book:

I was unbelievably excited when I downloaded a copy of this book on my Kindle, only to see my review within the first few pages, right at the top! This is made even better from the fact that I'm joined by Charli - who is one of my best-blogging buddies on the page - and that it is also featured on Siobhan Curham's website and Amazon.
 

This GIF sums up my reaction every-time

 

Became a published-poet:

I'm yet to get my hands on the copy of the anthology, but I'm so, so grateful for all the extremely-nice comments on the poem 'Life Itself' that I initially posted on this blog, because I got a letter a few months later telling me it was going to be published. I can't believe I can say my work has been published.

 

Gained more confidence:

This probably doesn't seem like a huge one, but it's definitely the most important to me. Having a little more confidence and self-assurance means I'm happy to share my personality and email publishers and authors asking for things; rather than waiting to receive something first. If I'd like to review a book, I'm comfortable to send an email, something I would have never done before. I know love to chat to bloggers on Twitter, as they are some of my best-friends and always make me laugh, and I never thought I would talk to my favourite authors! It was only last-week Holly Smale was helping me with my Maths Homework!

Thank you to everyone who has helped me achieve these things this year - what have been your biggest blogging achievements? Next week, I'll be talking about my favourite events/signings.