Thursday, January 22, 2015

Scheduling Posts: Pros and Cons

When I began blogging back in May, I did not pre-schedule posts. As a new blogger, I did not know this was an option. If I had known, I probably would not have seen the purpose in scheduling posts ahead of time.

I began scheduling posts around the same time I joined Netgalley. I noticed that, while publishers put up books months in advance, they did not want the reviews up so early. But as an excited blogger with my first review copies, I wanted to read them right away. I have never waited to write my reviews, and at first I thought I had to remember to post them - which would have been a huge pain!

That was when I discovered scheduling posts, but I only used that feature for reviews. Especially because a lot of my posts were memes such as WWW Wednesday and Friday Finds, I could not really schedule them in advance, anyway.

I think I started to schedule posts more frequently around the time I switched to Blogger. This was also during the time where I changed a lot of my posts, and I went into a pretty bad blogging slump a bit later - making the scheduled posts really useful for when I was in the mood to blog.

Mostly, I am a planner when it comes to blogging - I have a review schedule on a word document, my blogging schedule on Google calendars, and I do schedule nearly every post I write. I can find so many pros to this, number one being: I don't have to blog every day.

Although it's great for beginning bloggers, I think after awhile everyone gets a bit tired of writing posts every day. I go back and forth - sometimes being on the blog a few times daily, and sometimes not checking in for a week or so. The scheduling gives me room to do that, while still putting out posts for my readers.

I also like scheduling posts because it keeps the blog organized. Not only does it keep the posts consistent, so I'm not spamming you guys with ten posts one day and then giving you nothing for an entire month, but it lets me know what is going up each day. It makes it easy to plan around things, to keep to my review-a-week schedule, and to make sure each post goes up at the time I need it to.

There are tons more pros to this feature, I'm sure - I really love having every post ready in advance. It has saved me from feeling guilty a huge number of times. But lately I've been thinking about the cons to the scheduling system.

This one might be limited to me, but I think scheduling posts in advance makes my posts inconsistent, or hypocritical. The thing is, I change my mind a lot. To use a recent example, in my New Year's Resolutions post, I talk about how my Goodreads goal will be 75 books, but I will raise it if needed. But later I posted a discussion about why I will NOT be raising my Goodreads challenge. These posts were both written pretty far in advance, and they were scheduled a few weeks apart - which could be enough time to change my mind. But they were also both written in 2014. I made the decision before either of these posts went up, and if I did not schedule them in advance, they would not be so inconsistent. My mind would have been made up previously and for that reason, the posts would not contradict one another.

I also find myself having to move around posts. Of course, this isn't a huge deal - but sometimes I just don't know where to put them. A post I did not plan for will need to go up very soon, and so all my pre-scheduled posts need to be pushed back. It does get to be a pain, especially if I have to move a lot of posts to make the schedule work again.

The last con I can think of is just having to wait. I'm not an especially patient person, so when I type of a post that I like, I want feedback. I want to know what others think, and obviously I have to wait as the post has not been published yet. This is especially difficult when I really like a book I review, when I make a change in post formats, and when I have a discussion post that I am super excited about.

I would love to hear what you guys think - have you found any more pros or cons to scheduling blog posts? Do you schedule posts in advance, or just publish them as you write?

18 comments:

  1. I agree whole-heartedly with this post! I didn't discover scheduling until I had been blogging for two or so months. It certainly makes Top Ten Tuesday and WoW posts easier.

    Rachel @ Rachel's Reading Corner

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    1. Definitely! I usually type up Top Ten Tuesdays and WOWs about a month in advance, which is really nice. I can do a couple now and then when I feel like it, without worrying over them every single week.

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  2. Great post! Like you, I pretty much schedule posts for reviews, mostly for ones from NetGalley. For instance, there is one book I received from NetGalley back in December, read it right away but it's not coming out until March! I have had that one scheduled for February for quite a while now. Sometimes I will schedule other posts if I know I will be gone most of that day. I am still a beginner blogger, but now I am realizing I don't have to blog every single day. :)

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    1. Reviews are definitely nice to plan ahead! It also helps when you're a couple of weeks ahead in reviews, in case you get in a reading slump - I always get worried when I'm in a slump and don't have reviews scheduled.

      I admire you for reading Netgalley books so far in advance! I always mean to, then end up reading them last minute most of the time.

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  3. I completely agree. I enjoy scheduling posts because it gives me a bit of freedom - I don't always have to worry about writing posts. And scheduling posts gives it a bit of consistency - Karolina's reviews go up on Monday, my reviews go up on Thursday, and the other days are just.. whatever. But we've got an idea of a schedule.

    But yes, the patience is my biggest issue. I'll write a blog post I want feedback on, or something I'm quite proud of, and then I have to sit there and wait for a week :P

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    1. I used to post reviews on Mondays and Thursdays as well! I found that I don't normally read two books a week, though, so I set it back to Mondays only :D

      It's so frustrating to wait when you're proud of a post!

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  4. I completely understand your last point! Whilst I love having a load of posts scheduled and knowing I don't have to worry, I hate it when the post I'm most proud of is still weeks away. I want people to read it now! :P

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  5. I don't schedule my posts. I mean, it's not that I don't know it's a thing and I'm not exactly a new blogger either, but it's something I cannot stick to. Which is why occasionally get absent for a long while after making regular posts, even if not on a daily basis. I'm always so deprived of ideas and I'm too much of a procrastinator to stay one step ahead and be organized as such.

    It's hard, I admit. Maybe I'll become an organized blogger one day. Only time will tell.

    Great post, Katie!

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    1. I can understand that. Usually, I will have a week where I have a ton of blogging ideas, and then I'll go for a time (normally, way longer) with none at all.

      It definitely is useful, the planning, but I wouldn't push yourself to be organized ... After all, blogging is a hobby! Do it your own way :D

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  6. I love scheduling posts ahead of time! It allows me to be less stressed and focus on what posts to write next. There's no stress or scramble to publish things, I blog more consistently and more sanely when I have scheduled posts. Lovely discussion!

    Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books

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  7. I find it really helpful for when I'm busy. Like I went away for a week without internet (I KNOW) and so scheduled a post for every day then. I'll probably do the same when school starts. I tend to do it with things like Top Ten Tuesday, because I know it has to be posted on a Tuesday. But I also go through phases of wanting to write every single thought I've ever had down, and times where I want to write nothing and hide away. So that can be difficult for deciding when I want to post. I do tend to have a lot of drafts, then when I can't be bothered I can post, but if I want to write something new I don't have wait for weeks to post it

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    1. Same. I actually did NaNoWriMo in November and scheduled about 90% of my posts in October so that I had that month free of blogging, and could focus only on my novel. It worked out really well!

      The draft thing is SUCH a good idea. I might try it :D

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  8. I love the preschedule button. I used to never do it, but now that I am a month in advance when it comes to prescheduling, it takes a lot of pressure off of reading! And that ultimately does make it more fun. I find things more organized and even when schoolwork submerges me, I can know my blog is going on. That's what I love most about it. But this was a fair post.

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    1. I usually wait until the end of the month, then begin scheduling for the next month. That way, by about the first week or so, I have the entire month scheduled out. And I agree, it does take a lot of pressure off!

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  9. This is my first visit to your blog, and I have to say that the illustrated kitten in your header graphic is so excruciatingly cute. I find myself scrolling up every once in a while just to sneak a peak at it!

    Now...about scheduling posts! I've been a rather inconsistent blogger for about three years now, and in 2015 I finally started taking advantage of the schedule post option. It makes me feel a little more organized, like I don't have to fly by the seat of my pants any more. I crank out a lot of posts when I've been bitten by the blogging bug, and during the weeks when I don't have any ideas, I don't need to worry because I already have something scheduled.

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    1. Thank you :D I like the kitten too! I was so excited when I first found it.

      Scheduling posts definitely helps stay organized! I'm glad it's helped you :D

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