Last time I gave you 4 Monetary Tips to Reduce your TBR pile. This post is going to give you some ideas on how organizing your TBR pile can motivate you to get through it.
1. Start a Spreadsheet.
Enter all the books from your current to be read pile and then all the books you've read that you have on your bookshelf. Before selecting any new books for your collection double check your spreadsheet to make sure there are no repeats.
2. Group by Common Denominator.
Put your organizational skills to work and group your TBR pile into smaller piles. Sort your books by a common denominator such as subgenre, author, size, year, or similar titling. Do it however it pleases you best and make it a goal to read one book each month from your new smaller piles. By getting your TBR pile manageable, you are not faced with the daunting task of choosing a book to read or the prospect of a book avalanche.
3. Challenge Yourself.
Did you know that supposedly the average romance novel reader can read 10-40 books in a month? This statistic is pulled from the Romantic Times advertising page. With that in mind and knowing that some people work best with goals, I challenge readers to reading the mean - 20 books - with sub goal of reaching as close to 40 books as possible this month. Here's a game to get you started (and remember only choose books from your TBR pile!):
Books 1-5 by authors you've never read before.
Books 6-10 by your favorite authors.
Books 11-15 in a genre or sub-genre you've never tried.
Books 16-20 in your favorite genre or sub-genre.
Repeat for books 20-40 if you get that far. Do this challenge with a buddy and now you're accountable to someone other than yourself. Get together once a week and go for coffee. Talk about the books you read and if you're on target to the goal you could even swap a few and read for next month.
4. Purge: Be Ruthless.
Yes, I know, it's a sad thing to even contemplate, but it's for your own good. Go through the pile and anything you bought more than six months ago seriously consider removing, permanently. If you weren't inspired to pick it up and read it six months after purchasing the book, chances are you'll never get to it. Donate the books to your local library and get a receipt for tax purposes or use the books as swapping material on Paperback Swap.
5. The 3 Strike System.
Start a 3 Strike System. If you pick a book up and decide not to read it mark the side of the book (not the spine, the pages) with a pencil. When a book gets its third strike, remove it from your TBR pile. This system can be modified to 4 or 5 or 6 strikes, but be consistent and don't waver once you get to the last strike. The book might have sounded good to you when you first got it, but it's not calling to you anymore. Pass it on.
*This idea originally came from Willa in the Paperback Swap TBR Reduction Thread.
6. Keep it Simple. Start Slow.
Make the goal easy. Did you put last week's purchases on the floor because there was no space? Read enough from your pile to move those babies off the floor and onto the shelf.
Are your books in six locations? Pick a location and read them. All of them. That's one less location to trip over your books and a simple goal that allows you to focus on your reading instead of your buying.
7. Share Your Reduction Tip!
Now it's your turn to talk about your TBR pile and what you do to keep it under control. Leave a comment in the form below!
Busy, busy, busy! No rest for Mr. Romance. Charles Paz is already off working on photo shoots and got a wicked sunburn for his efforts. Don't worry Charles, I know right were the aloe is and I can help rub it in... I mean... uh... ahem... right. Where was I? Oh yes, between some crazy antics at the shoot and aloe rubbing Charles and I sat down to go into detail on his win at Romantic Times 2009.
How does it feel to not only win Mr. Romance, but to also be Readers’ Choice?
I was shocked and surprised. Winning Mr. Romance is truly an honor and a privilege. I'm very excited to be a part of all of this. A year ago I wouldn't have thought I could be anything; now I have this. Winning this competition is cool because I get a cover contract, and getting to come back next year to be a part of the ceremony is an extra cherry on top.
Winning the Readers' Choice, in my opinion, is just as sweet as the cover model win. I'm glad that I made a great impression with the people who attended the convention because, let's face it, this week was all about them. It's about them having a great time and enjoying themselves. For me to be a part of their experience and getting to contribute to them having an awesome time is something I can't explain. I'm just very honored to have met such wonderful people at this event and want to let them know that this means a lot to me.
What was your favorite part about the competition and the convention?
My favorite part of the competition was winning, duh! HAHAHAHA! Seriously though, I enjoyed giving the crowd a show and making sure they enjoyed themselves. Hearing the crowd react to things I did during the competition was very cool and reassured me that they were being entertained, which was the main point of the competition.
As far as the convention goes, I'd have to say that seeing a group of people so passionate about something all gathered in an area is always an awesome thing. I'm very new to this world of Book Lovers. Seeing and experiencing what they love was something I will not forget. Probably one of the coolest things was seeing the readers meet the authors that they love and getting their books signed. The smiles on these ladies faces were priceless.
What were some of the things you did behind the scenes at RT?
Most of the time behind the scenes was spent rehearsing for our show. If we weren't at an event, we rehearsed. I didn't get much downtime, but I did manage a few gym sessions while I was there. It was almost like a trip in Vegas, where the only time you are in your room is to take a shower and a power nap. LOL. I spent a lot of time as well chatting with people by the pool and around the convention. I didn't stay in my room, I made sure I was out and about.
Funniest thing a person said to you while in Orlando:
Funniest thing someone said to me? Well, if it was said, I guarantee it was said by fellow contestant Franco D'Angelo. The entire time he had all of us guys cracking up. We were like two sides of the same coin. My stomach hurt from laughing so much.
One of the things that was kinda funny, that actually made me blush a lot, were the women there that would tell me, "I'm too old for you, but my daughter is not. You should meet her." It was said more than just a few times and it was very flattering.
How do you think winning this competition will affect your image?
I hope that this will boost my image and help me get seen. I'm on Model Mayhem. That was what I have been doing before this event. You can actually see my work by going to that site and searching my number #591117. It's just a sample of what I have done. I'm looking forward to doing the book cover for Dorchester Publishing and hope that the this can help me land other covers and possibly acting as well. I'd love to take this win as far as I can and hope that you all will see me again.
One piece of advice you’d give future Mr. Romance candidates:
The best advice I can give to the other guys is this... The competition is cool and fun, but remember the real reason why you are there: the people. Somebody told me this is their Christmas, their one chance to get away and have a vacation to have a good time and relax. Make sure you remember that when you are speaking to them. You will get noticed by publishers and authors, and you will get business cards for future projects, but make sure everyone there is having a great time. I can safely say that me and the other guys did a great job doing that. Every time I looked around, I saw them engaged in conversation with people and they all looked like they were happy. That's what matters most!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I would love to thank everyone I met this week. You all helped make it one of the best times of my life. The contestants, the readers, the organizers, all of you guys are very much appreciated and words can not express how thankful I am for all of this. I hope everyone got home safely and that I am looking forward to seeing you all next year! =-)
Sarah from Smart Bitches and Jane from Dear Author are co-hosting another contest. The prizes are pretty sweet and well worth the time to get involved.
First things first, what contemporary romance started this contest?
The answer to that is Victoria Dahl’s debut novel Talk Me Down. The heroine in this novel, Molly Jenkins, is an erotica romance author. She publishes under a pen name, not because she's ashamed of writing erotica, but because she knows how awkward it would be for family and friends. Molly Jenkins leaves city life to return to her small home town after some unpleasant activity with her law enforcer ex-honey/stalker. A small inheritance makes moving back home easy, but Molly is stuck. She's not inspired to write again until running into an old high school hunk, Ben Lawson, now chief of police.
Sarah says this about the sexual interactions within this book: "This, folks, is realistic sex. Gritty sex. Passionate pent-up sex. And most of all? FUN sex." While the Romantic Times reviewer labeled the heroine "as a dog in heat." In response to the RT comment Jane says, "I’m not going to even try to rebut it because that’s one of the things I liked best about this story." Based on these different reviews, the conclusion to be drawn from this is that the sex is frank, up front, and enjoyable if you like your sex in romance novels to be frank and up front.
