Bout of Books Readathon Wrap Up

The Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon is now over and I (drumroll please)... Didn't. Meet. My. Goals. *facepalm*. Ok, before you all start feeling bad for me keep in mind that I finished one book and am well over 100 pages into four others, so it's not like this readathon week was a complete failure for me. This also was my first readathon, so I didn't really have a strategy going in. Since I enjoyed the readathon this time around, I plan on participating next year as well. Here are some things I plan on doing differently...

1. Plan, plan, organize, and plan some more. I felt like one of the biggest blunders I made this week was not creating structured reading times. I think it would be very beneficial to set aside a couple of hours each day that I could devote solely to reading during the readathon week. That way I know I can at least get through a hundred pages or more everyday. I could have also set aside time for blog posts, challenges, etc. I also should have given my reading selections a little more thought. Most of the books I picked were 300 - 400 pages long. I think it would have helped my reading momentum if I had put a few shorter books (200 pages or less) into the reading pile. That way I would have something that moved along a little faster if I felt like I was in a reading slump.

2. Utilize the community. In the beginning of the week, I used Twitter and the Bout of Books hashtag frequently, but by the halfway point of the readathon, I wasn't accessing the community at all. Seeing how other people were doing with their goals was a great motivator for me in the beginning, and I really should have tried harder to stick with that community throughout the readathon.

Overall,  the readathon was a great experience. I'm certainly not discouraged because I didn't meet my goals. I feel like I'll do better as I get more experienced with participating in readathons.

What are your readathon strategies? Sound off in the comments!