Tag: monthly recap

January: A Review

John Guillen15 Comments

January was okay on the blog. It was nothing compared to last January, but eh. I guess I’ll have to take the blame for that. The first month of the year has come and gone, and now it’s time for some numbers.

Posts: 31

Likes: 632

Comments: 431

Followers: 3353

Books Read: 2

Poems: 1

YouTube Videos: 2

I lied. January actually turned out to be better than expected. I know two books is nothing to cheer about, but at least I did get started on my 2016 Reading Challenge, right? AND I posted a poem on here for the first time in a million years. AND I’m getting a little more consistent on my channel. All positives. The other numbers are pretty average.

Now let’s look at some posts.

Top Post

On Alan Rickman

Favorite Post

Guess Who Officially Has a Custom YouTube Url?!

Post you may Have Missed

2016 Reading Challenge Book #$2: The Thomas Berryman Number

The top post of the month was pretty predictable, although I hadn’t checked before writing this. But Alan Rickman was beloved actor, and his death brought about the appropriate response from his fans. I finally got my own YouTube URL, which of course is exciting. AND I’m really planning on expanding my channel to greater heights in the coming months. Which I hope you’ll join me for.

All in all, January was pretty nice. I know I enjoyed it. How was your opening month of 2016?

 

Another Month Gone

John Guillen16 Comments

2015 is rapidly coming to a close. And the bloggity here is going with it. I barely started reading posts on here again within the last two or three days. It isn’t that I’m not interested, it’s that in the mornings I’m either sleeping or getting ready for work. And at night I’m usually watching a TV show or basketball game. But I’m just making excuses. I read a bunch of posts last night. And hopefully I will before bed tonight too. All I can do is try. Anyway, let’s talk about November stats.

Posts: 30

Likes: 458

Comments: 418

Followers: 3255

Books Read: 0

Poems: 0

YouTube Videos: 0

Welp. Lows across the board. Of course. Basically what I’ve come to expect at this point. My girlfriend says it best. I’m still on WordPress quite a bit, but I’m not really into it. *sad face* I’m trying, guys.

The one interesting thing that came out of November is that I’m thinking of doing one of two things. Maybe both. I’m thinking of reviving my sports blog OR turning that into a YouTube channel. Probably doesn’t make much sense, but the reason I don’t make more videos on my current channel is because I need to be reading something in order to make a video. Whereas in sports there is ALWAYS something for me to talk about. Always. I guess we’ll see.  Now for some posts.

Top Post

A NaNo Alternative

Favorite Post

What I Learned From Katniss Everdeen

Post you may Have Missed

Saturday Selects #21: My problem with football

No surprise about the top post this month. NaNo is something people are always interested in reading about, and I think I wrote a handful of posts against it in November. Yikes. I’m crazy. Hm. What else? The Hunger Games movies ended for me, which means the series is officially over. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little saddened by this. I love Katniss and that series so much. More than I’ll likely enjoy any series ever again. And it’s over. Maybe one day I’ll go against my rereading rule and reread those three books. Wouldn’t hurt to relive the rebellion with Katniss once again. Wouldn’t hurt at all.

So that’s it. My month in a tiny nutshell. How was your November?

Floptober October

John Guillen12 Comments

The title of this post is misleading. October turned out to be just fine. Well, relative to recent months.

In October I had even fewer site views than I did in September, which had easily been the low for the year. But eh, that’s not so bad. The number of unique visitors and comments were about the same or increased from last month. Now let’s look at the numbers.

Posts: 31

Likes: 576

Comments: 641

Followers: 3241

Books Read: 0

Poems: 0

YouTube Videos: 1

Pretty standard stuff for the current run of things. The first half of the year would have seen higher numbers across the board, but that’s okay. 2015 is still going to be a pretty damn good year on the blog. I still haven’t been reading even though I posted a new video showing y’all all the books I bought in September. And still no more poems posted here. Oh well.

Now for some posts.

Top Post

Saturday Selects #20: Gun Violence in America

Favorite Post:

No, These Book Series are not the Same

Post you may Have Missed

Books and Chill

I’d have to go back to verify it, but I think this may have been the first month in which a Saturday Selects post took the top spot. And it isn’t surprising. I knew the day I posted it that it would make something of a splash. And it did. With the presidential election here in the US coming in 12 months, I imagine it won’t be the last time I bring up a political or social issue on the blog. Heck, Saturday Selects will be here again this week. And the topic has already been decided upon.

So take a look at those posts if you happened to miss any of the three, and don’t forget to tell me about your month on WordPress. We’re all nice around here. Mostly. How was your month and Halloween?

September was one big Fail

John Guillen4 Comments

Welp. In my August recap I declared that I’d be better at blogging regularly and reading posts. Turns out I lied. I’m pretty sure I read posts from only one blogger all month. I took forever to reply to comments at times. And I just barely managed to keep my streak of posting everyday alive. There were multiple days on which I posted just minutes before midnight. Oh well. Now let’s look at some stats. Previous record in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 566 (837)

Comments: 516 (2121)

Followers: 3220

Books Read: 0 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 0 (3)

Lows across the board. This month ended up being very similar to January. Which had been the worst month of the year. I didn’t post everyday. And I struggled to find any kind of rhythm. I didn’t read a single page in September. I didn’t post any new poems on here. But I did write a few. And it just wasn’t the kind of month that I’ve grown used to. My plan is to write multiple posts at once so I’m not having to worry about them each night. Now for some posts.

Top Post

I’m Scared to do This

Favorite Post

Saturday Selects: It’s all about control

Post you may Have Missed

Here we go Again

I wish I could tell you for certain that I’ll get back into the swing of things here, but I have no idea if that’ll really happen. I still like blogging okay. I still like interacting with y’all about a variety of things. But I just have no motivation at the moment to stick to my regular schedule. Before it took power outages to get me to write posts outside of my regular time, and now I do it every week for no reason at all.

In other news, I’m about to finish up my probation period at Half Price Books. So that’s exciting. I think I’m doing just fine over there. And I think I’ll be getting to work on some new YouTube videos soon. Today or tomorrow, perhaps?

But who cares what I’m doing? How was your month?

August is Over, Fall is Near

John Guillen10 Comments

Whew. August is over. Can’t say it was better or worse than any other recent August, but it wasn’t so bad. And some rather interesting things happened along the way. But as always, first with some stats. Previous record in parenthesis.

Posts: 31 (31)

Likes: 793 (837)

Comments: 936 (2121)

Followers: 3205

Books Read: 1 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 1 (3)

Nothing too spectacular to discuss here. It wasn’t really too bad at all. But it could have been much better. But there were some days that I just didn’t feel like getting on WordPress. I actually did not read a single blog post all last week, I just didn’t feel like it. And I was sleepy. But I’m not going to “catch up” as other bloggers might do. No one writes posts specifically for me to read. I’m sure everyone is just fine with or without me reading their stuff. But I’ll be better this week. I already have been.

The one thing I will say is that I did actually write a poem for the first time in months. And I think it was pretty decent. But it’s not for the blog and I won’t be revealing why I wrote it in the first place, just that I did.

Last thing before I get into some posts. I made the decision about halfway through the month not to make any more videos until September. It was mostly a time thing. I’m not stopping completely. Making videos is actually pretty fun for me.

Now for some posts.

Top Post

Killing Main Characters

Favorite Post

Day 1 at Half Price Books is Done!

Post you may Have Missed

Auto buy Authors

There aren’t too many firsts once you’ve been blogging steadily for more than two years, but something happened for the first time this month that hasn’t happened before. The top post of the month wasn’t written by me. It was written by Amy. I’m calling it luck. Her top post had only four more views than mine. Oh well. I guess it’s finally happened. Someone has posted on my blog and become more popular than me. *sigh* It actually very nearly happened earlier this year when I had my week of guest posts, but I was able to come out victorious. Ha!

And I haven’t forgotten that I started working at Half Price Books about halfway through the month! It’s been fun. And I think I’ll be getting a few more books tomorrow after my shift. I think. I’ve learned plenty and still have more than half of my training left.

So that’s it. My August in a nutshell. Plenty of sleep. New job. And the seventh consecutive month of blogging everyday. Oh, and I made an Instagram account! How was yours?

On this day in 2014 I published The Reader in Me Part II.

 

June is the Start of…Well, Something

John Guillen13 Comments

The month of June was a bit of a roller coaster down here in the Lone Star state. Hurricanes. Floods. Power outages. Ugh. But I STILL managed to post everyday, which makes it five consecutive months now! And I finally decided to start my YouTube channel, which has been several years in the making. And I finally broke out of my mini reading slump. I hadn’t read a book since January, but I read a couple this month. But still no writing. And still no poetry. *sigh* Here are some stats. As always, the previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 804 (837)

Comments: 1020 (2121)

Followers: 3034

Books Read: 2 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 3

Obviously two books is hardly anything to even talk about, but it’s something. I’d rather my total for the year be at six than at four. This was the second month in a row that I reached a thousand comments. I actually was on a feverish pace throughout the first half of the month and then slowed down big time in the second half. I’d say mostly because I started working about double what I had been, and that makes discussions a bit more difficult.

My favorite part of the numbers above is the THREE YouTube videos. I hope I can do even better this month now that I’ve found an editor I really like. Let’s talk about some posts.

Top Post

Ursula Le Guin is Clueless

Favorite Post

I Introduce to you…Johnny Reads!

Post you may Have Missed

Amazon’s 100 Books Everyone Should Read: 1984 by George Orwell

The top post of the month is actually the top post of 2015. But it wasn’t because of me, it was because when I linked to her original article my post appeared as a pingback in the comments section and people kept clicking it. But eh, views are views.

June was a solid month here on Write me a book, John! and wasn’t a bad month in real life. Who’s ready for more in July? *raises hand*

What about you? How was your month of June, blogging or otherwise? Tell me!

On this day in 2014 I published The June Bug of Blogging.

 

I’m Glad You’re Finally Over, April

John Guillen7 Comments

April reminded me of months from the middle of last year in which I operated the blog exactly the same as I’d done before, and it just wasn’t producing as well as I’d like. This isn’t me complaining, this is a simple fact. I have no idea why, but April was the first month that actually went down in terms of site views compared to the same month in 2014. Which is going to be even worse because May is also going to see a decline in site views compared to last year. How do I know that? Because May of last year still holds the record for most views in a calendar month. BUT all of that is fine because there were some positives to come out of the month. Let’s take a look. As always, the previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 765 (837)

Comments: 967 (2121)

Followers: 2712

Books Read: 0 (4) <- this is only for 2015.

Poems Posted: 1 (2) <- same as above.

Everything looks pretty normal from afar, but this was actually the second best month ever in terms of Likes. And it was the best month of 2015 for comments. I was on a pace to finally hit a thousand comments again for most of the month, but ultimately fell just short. With the extra day coming in May I fully expect to hit that number.

My reading is still stuck and I’ve hesitated to post any new poems because WordPress hasn’t been letting me format the text in those particular posts to my liking and each time I post one it’s just a big hassle that I don’t want to deal with. Here are some posts:

Top Post

I’m Going on Vacation!

Favorite Post

Stop Eating While Reading

Post you may Have Missed

If you Could Meet one Author, who Would it be?

Guys, I know I fooled a number of you with my vacation post. So now this is me telling you that it was indeed all a joke for April Fool’s Day. It’s been the top post of the month for every single day of April. I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen before. Anyway, y’all were nice about it and I decided to let it play out. Eh. I’m not sorry. It was all in fun and no one got hurt.

So that’s it! My month of blogging in a nutshell. Tell me about yours, please.

On this day in 2014 I published An Open Invitation. Guys, I’d highly recommend taking a look at the posts I mention in this section this month because there has to be a reason last May was so much better than any other month. Perhaps the posts were just better.

 

March Sets a New Record

John Guillen14 Comments

February set a new record for most views per day in a calendar month, and now March has set the record for most Likes in a calendar month. March was actually on a record-setting pace for most of the month, but then slowed down a bit. Let’s take a look. Previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 31 (31)

Likes: 837 (714)

Comments: 839 (2121)

Followers: 2582

Books Read: 0

Poems Posted: 2

Very recently I reached 700 Likes for a calendar month for the first time (January) and now I’ve gone ahead and reached 800. Go, me! But I know what you’re thinking when you read those numbers. You’re thinking about the donut next to the number of books I read. It’s okay. I’m not worried about it. Everything else looks fine to me. Now for some posts.

Top Post

2500 WordPress Followers and Surprise!

Favorite Post

Saturday Selects #13: Love has no labels

Post you may Have Missed

20 Years ago Today…

Everyone has always loved it when people write about how great their blog is doing, so I fully expected the top post this month to be the top post. After a quarter of the calendar year I’m well on my way to posting the number of poems I’d like to post and reaching my other blog-related goals. AND I’ve now posted each day in February and March. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up with my trip and just being sleepy most days, but I’ll go as long as I can.

Tell me about your March. My favorite part was that Spring finally arrived here in Texas!

February Sets a New Standard

John Guillen2 Comments

Welcome-February-Images-4

Photo Credit: FIP

No. I wasn’t my best month ever in terms of site views. Mostly because there were only 28 days in the month. BUT it did break the record for average views per day! So that’s exciting. It did better than last May, which is pretty remarkable. Let’s get into some stats. As always, previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 28 (31)

Likes: 693 (714)

Comments: 820 (2121)

Followers: 2,439

Books Read: 0

Poems Posted: 1

Uh oh. My goal of reading 50 books this year took a little hit and I’ve only posted three poems since the start of the new year. But I’m not worried. One can accomplish many things in ten months. Now for some posts.

Top Post

Do Your Books Have a Prologue?

Favorite Post

Stop Smelling Your Books

Post you may Have Missed

#WCW Bookish Edition

I almost had one of my guest posts take the top spot for the month. I think it ultimately finished third. And I’m not forgetting about that. The week of guest posts (last week) had my single best day of the year, and then followed it up with my second best day of the year immediately after. But for whatever reason there weren’t as many comments on the guest posts as I’d have hoped. I’d had three consecutive weeks of 240+ comments until I didn’t come anywhere close to that number last week. But it’s okay! Overall, February was a great month with a number of great posts. Definitely looking forward to March, and I’ll have a surprise for all of you soon. Stay tuned!

How was your month?

 

January’s Great Start to 2015

John Guillen16 Comments

january_3499c

Photo Credit: The Telecom Blog

I didn’t know what to expect in January. Last year when my blog was still a baby, the entire month of January had a grand total of 38 views. I hadn’t yet adopted my new posting philosophy and I think I still had some posts about my own writing. But last month turned out quite well. It became my third best month ever, only eleven views from taking the second spot. So it was a nice month. Anyway, let’s get on with some stats from the month. I’m changing it up just a bit for the new year. And as always, previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 29 (31)

Likes: 714 (689) New record!

Comments: 604 (2121)

Followers: 2325

Books Read: 4

Poems Posted: 1

Nothing special here. This was actually the first month I ever hit 700 Likes. That’s exciting, but it would be more so if those people would comment instead of just hit Like and move on. Eh. But if you’ve read my previous monthly recaps then you know I’ve added two new categories. I’m going to start including the number of books I read and the number of poems I post in my monthly recaps. It’ll be an easy way to see how close I am to reaching my goal of reading 50 books and posting 25 poems in 2015. Now for some posts.

Top Post

How Helpful are Writing Books?

Favorite Post

Writers, Stop Saying You’re OCD

Post you may Have Missed

Amazon’s List of 100 Books Everyone Should Read: #44 Moneyball by Michael Lewis

And just a quick announcement. I’ll be posting everyday in February. Woo! Cause I know you’re so happy to hear that. I typically only miss one or two days a month anyway, but February is such a short month that I don’t see why I can’t just go ahead and post each day. So I will. AND I’m going to be asking y’all an important question in the coming days. Stay tuned!

How was your January?