New Year, New Books: THANK YOU!

Well. New Year, New Books is officially over. (Okay, well not quite, since the Grand prize giveaway of 2 surprise 2014 ARCS+ signed swag is still going on... Plus a couple of other author ARC giveaways are still being outcasts and lingering around, just waiting for you to enter and win amazing book...

But anyways.

Guys. January was freaking incredible. This was my first time doing New Year, New Books and although there were some rocky times, I am so glad I didn't give up and I just let this crazy idea plant and grow in my head. But I did mess up sometimes, and here's a list of things where I went wrong: (The good part about making mistakes is learning from them.) *please note that this IS NOT a list of complaints. It is merely me admitting my weak points*

1) Didn't manage my time well. 

This, my friends, was my main problem. From scheduling posts to scheduling tweets, I fell behind a little and that led to an insane amount of stress.

2) Didn't promo well enough.

I might have JUST discovered HootSuite about 2 weeks into the actual event. *apologies go out to the authors who felt neglected!*

3) Didn't keep track of the authors. 

Major, major hugs go out to all these amazing authors who were willing to dedicate their time and books to New Year, New Books. In rounding up an amazing group of authors, I had so much amazingness that I had to feature two authors on one day!

4) I let the criticism get to me.

Drama. I hate it. One thing I've learned from New Year, New Books is to not let the criticism or lack of enthusiasm get to you. You can't please everyone, and you learn that petty people just are not worth it.

5) I didn't pick winners quick enough!

Eeeek I really do have to remember to pick winners quicker! It would have saved a lot of people time and energy if I had just picked the winners as soon as possible!

And the killer.

6) It got mixed in with school, work and life.

I love blogging. So much. And I loved New Year, New Books. But one thing I didn't love was the extreme stress that came along with midterms and the responsibility of priorities. Again, see number 1. Time management. Something I have to learn rather soon. ;)

AND NOW.... FOR THE "THANK YOUS!"

New Year, New Books couldn't have happened without some truly amazing people, authors, bloggers, and friends alike.

The following authors (in order of the post dates) put so much time and effort into their posts, and put up with my craziness, and gave away amazing prizes too. How much better can they get??

1) Courtney C. Stevens 

2) Sara Raasch

3) Natalie C. Parker

4) Megan Crewe

5) Tracy E. Banghart

6) Elsie Chapman

7) Crissa-Jean Chappell

8) Amalie Howard

9) Emery Lord

10) Philip Siegel

11) Brandy Colbert

12) Michelle Krys

13) Skylar Dorset

14) Jen McConnel

15) Liz Czukas

16) Kristin Rae

17) Bethany Neal 

18) Rebecca Serle

19) Dahlia Adler

20) Kate Ormand

21) Amy Zhang

22) Jennifer E. Smith

23) Heather Marie

24) Stacey Nash

25) Justina Ireland

26) Page Morgan

27) Alexandra Duncan

28) Laura Wettersten

29) Lindsay Cummings

30) Joy Hensley

31) S.M. Johnston

32) Kristine Asselin

33) Tiffany Schmidt

34) Elisa Ludwig

35) Natalie Whipple

36) Lori M. Lee

37) Claudia Gabel 

38) Cheryl Klam

39) Stephanie Diaz

40) Kristi Helvig

41) Clara Kensie

42) Annie Cosby

43) Amy Rolland

44) Kristen Simmons

45) Teri Brown

46) Emma Pass

47) Heather Demetrios

48) Bethany Crandell

49) Maria Andreu 

50) Anne Blankman

50 authors. All willing to be on my little blog. That thought in itself makes me so incredibly happy, but when you combine it with the fact that just getting to know these authors was fantastic, you have a teary Jayne.

And don't even get me started on my bloggy friends. They were so incredible, not just with spreading the word and practically stalking my blog, but also just being there to cheer me on and leave the most loveliest of comments. Y'all know who you are, and I cannot thank you enough for this. 

Now here's what I think will happen NEXT YEAR with New Year, New Books:

1) #NewYearNewBooks Twitter chat!

Twitter chats are hard to pull off, and props to those who can do it so successfully, but hey. It's just an idea I'm going to throw out there!

2) An even better grand prize.

This year, I was fortunate enough to be provided with 2 2014 ARCs and some signed swag of my own to give away! Next year, will it possibly be a box of arcs?.. Let's hope!

3) ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN.

Okay, well, not everything. But you get the point. I want to hear what you all thought about New Year, New Books! Feel free to leave comments, questions, ideas/suggestions for New Year, New Books 2015!

*Please refrain from leaving negative comments on this post. If you have anything you would like to say to me, please email me directly at fictionthenewreality@gmail.com. I had an "anonymous" user leave a nasty comment for me once, and personally, I think that's quite immature. So please. Let's end January on a positive note, huh?*

And, PLEASE! Feel free to come visit my blog any time you wish! I'll always be here with reviews, special features, and giveaways! ;)