2020 Recap – A Year in Blogging

Some Quick Info and Stats

Well, 2020 was a crazy year (I have the feeling I’m saying this a lot lately as I get to all these various year-end posts). Regardless, I somehow managed to keep up on my blogging throughout:

  • a global pandemic
  • working from home for several months
  • stressing about possibly losing my job
  • looking for a new job
  • election nightmare
  • starting a new job
  • 2.5 month long kitchen and bath renovation

So I’m going to pat myself on the back and call this year a win despite how chaotic it was.

I’m still trying to review every speculative fiction book I read and this has resulted in 120 reviews this past year on the blog (including the mini-reviews I’ve done).

For actual yearly blog stats, not that they matter, but I do like to share because I feel like this part of blogging is kept in the dark so much. I have nothing to hide so here they are (these are 01/01/20 through 12/27/20):

  • 35,653 total views (34,410 in 2019)
  • 17,175 total visitors (15,514 in 2019)
  • 12,812 total likes (11,068 in 2019)
  • 6,185 total comments (5,369 in 2019)
  • 363 total posts (351 in 2019)
  • Currently sitting at 1422 followers (980 this time in 2019)

There was, not unexpectedly, a HUGE dip in traffic in February and March when the pandemic first kicked into high gear. It took until June for my stats to bounce back to where they’d been in January. Since then things have been going pretty good with growth (although there’s always a dip in early Fall as well, I suppose that’s due to school starting…). This December saw my best month ever at Way Too Fantasy.

Again, not that stats really matter at all, but it’s fun to see an audience grow over time and look at the trends.

Blog Related Events

Here are a few events I participated in around the blog-o-sphere over 2020:

  • 2020 Audiobook Challenge hosted by Hot Listens and Caffeinated Reviewer
  • Wyrd & Wonder hosted by Lisa @ Dear Geek Place, Jorie @ Jorie Loves a Story, and imyril @ onemore.org
  • 20 Books of Summer Challenge hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books
  • Spooktastic Reads hosted by Lisa @ Dear Geek Place, Jorie @ Jorie Loves a Story, and imyril @ onemore.org
  • SciFi Month hosted by Lisa @ Dear Geek Place, Jorie @ Jorie Loves a Story, and imyril @ onemore.org

I had so much fun with all of these events! And while I didn’t do as well with the challenges as much as previous years, it was still fun to participate and be a part of the community. I also started and then NEVER did anything with Start on Your Shelfathon by CW @ The Quiet Pond and I feel terrible for totally dropping that challenge but I wound up just taking too much on as per usual. (Why do I never learn??? Well, hopefully this will change in 2021.)

Also in non-blog related events, our HEA book club for romantic fantasy is still going strong on r/fantasy after more than a year! You can check it out here if you’re interested. Really excited about some of the discussions we’ve had about our book selections this past year.

Reading Habits as a Blogger

The past two years I finished just at or over 200 books for the year, but this year I’m under that due to *gestures* everything. But that’s okay because I’ve still read a lot of amazing books over 2020 and at the end of the day (or year) that’s all that really matters.

I’m continuing to really love ebooks! Although this past year I’ve really gotten into collecting special edition physical books. I’m a sucker for some sprayed edge pages, apparently LOL. I love that these kinds of editions are keeping people buying physical books. Of course my big change is audiobooks. I still love them but I seem to have less time for them since switching jobs. Perhaps that will change as I get used to listening to them more at home and less at work.

I’ve been really careful over the past year with the amount of review books I take on and this has helped a lot with cutting down on some of the stress that comes along with book blogging for me.

I’m still not super great at DNFing books however I did have my first official DNF this past year, I even made a shelf for it on goodreads so maybe this is something that I can continue to work on.

Goals for 2020

I’ve been doing pretty good at keeping ahead of the game so I’d like to continue to do that because when I get into a funk of depression and don’t feel like blogging I’ve got posts already scheduled and I don’t have to panic or stress. (Of course now I’m starting to panic when I’m not 20 posts ahead because I wouldn’t be me if I don’t have something to panic over haha. ha.)

I’ll still have the TBR Shelf Cleanup posts going for several months on Friday’s but those should end sometime in 2021 and then I’ll have to pick a new meme to join in on Fridays. But I have some time to think on that.

I did great at my discussion post goal last year but I don’t know if I want to keep up with that because coming up with topics that haven’t already been discussed to death in the blog-o-sphere is really tough. So this is not a goal, per se, but just another thing I need to figure out.

I think I’ve continued to grow as a blogger this past year–not talking about stats but just my commitment and scheduling and what I want to get out of it. And I hope as we go into the new year and leave 2020 behind I’ll continue to grow and improve and make more friends because I love being a part of this wonderful community.

Once again, thank you to everyone who stops by here and reads my posts and leaves comments and likes talking to me about books here or on twitter or on instagram. Every one of you are awesome and it’s what makes this whole blogging thing worth all the work. 🙂

30 thoughts on “2020 Recap – A Year in Blogging”

  3. Briana | Pages Unbound says:
    Reply

    The funny thing is that I always think our stats dip in the summer, like people are online during the school or workday but not in the summer because they’re having fun outside??? I have no idea! This was definitely a weird year for stats in general because of the pandemic, though.

    I hope you have an awesome 2021!

    • waytoofantasy says:
      Reply

      Yeah, I never see a dip in summer but definitely early fall. I guess a lot also depends on your audience haha.
      This year was really weird!

      Thanks, hope we all have a most excellent 2021!

  4. Bob/Sally says:
    Reply

    Thanks for sharing your stats – I always wonder how mine compare. I saw the same Jan/Feb dip, but bounced back in March, which was my best month of the year. View and visitors were still way down compared to previous years, though, which is why I switched back from WordPress to Blogger.

  6. Tammy says:
    Reply

    Congrats on your year, Lisa! I’m amazed with all your distractions you were able to do so well. I need to think about my blogging goals for next year, I may even join a reading challenge, which I usually don’t do.

    • waytoofantasy says:
      Reply

      Thanks, Tammy! It was a very strange and busy year for me, I’m also surprised I managed to keep up with things somehow! LOL
      Ooh, reading challenges can be fun although I’ll be avoiding them myself next year–my year of relaxation reading haha. Hope you find one you can have fun with!

  9. Zezee says:
    Reply

    I love seeing stats (reading & blogging), which makes this one of my fav part of the year. Your blog is growing and that’s really awesome! More people are discovering the great content you produce.
    Hopefully 2021 will be even better.

  11. Pingback: Monthly Wrap Up: December 2020 – Way Too Fantasy
  12. maddalena@spaceandsorcery says:
    Reply

    Great stats and an equally great reading goal, indeed! You deserve many congratulations 🙂
    But you’re right when you point out that the best part of book blogging is the sense of community and the possibility to share our thoughts with like-minded people.
    Here’s to a new year filled with books and… good company 🙂
    Happy 2021!!!

  13. Realms of My Mind says:
    Reply

    I have to agree, stats aren’t everything, but they are fun to look at! I’m just happy my numbers kept going up last year, even though I was posting less due to life changes. Congrats on the shelf weed out project!

    • waytoofantasy says:
      Reply

      Yeah, I think they’re interesting to look at. I’d love to see more people talking about them. 🙂 I’m surprised I was able to make a come back and actually come out ahead of last year with that huge dip in February and March. It will be interesting to see how things go this year.
      Maintaining through posting less is fantastic!
      Thanks, I’m having fun with the TBR clean up.

  14. @lynnsbooks says:
    Reply

    You’re right of course, stats are something of a taboo subject and I’m never quite sure why – it’s almost like ‘rude’ to ask isn’t it?
    You did great – it’s good to see growth even through such a difficult year. I was similarly surprised that my numbers were up this year because Feb/Mar/Apr were absolutely shockingly bad and I could barely make myself post.
    Here’s hoping to a better 2021 for us all.
    Lynn 😀

    • waytoofantasy says:
      Reply

      Yeah, I’m not quite sure why more people don’t talk about them. Maybe it feels like bragging to some people? Not sure.
      Thanks! I’m happy with where I ended up at the end of the year.
      I know I had very high numbers near the end of the year so you probably did as well. It’s kind of crazy how much that made up for all the loss earlier in the year.
      I also hope we all have a better 2021! ❤

  15. JonBob says:
    Reply

    It’s really nice to see Way Too Fantasy growing and you growing as a blogger too Lisa. I really love your blog and even though our reading tastes don’t always align I still always enjoy reading your reviews and posts, regardless of what you’re writing about. Here’s to another great year of blogging and reading 🙂

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