Litsy

Tracking Game | Margaret Mizushima

Hey friends!! I am looking for some input. I absolutely love hosting #BookSpin/#BookSpinBingo & am planning to continue the challenge for 2022 (woohoo!); however, the most time-consuming part for me is tracking whether people have read their picks for each month. I'm thinking about having everyone fill out a GoogleForm where they would check off what picks they read that month (i.e. in March I read March BookSpin & caught up January DoubleSpin) ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) What I'm wondering is (a) Does this seem like too much to ask people to do? (b) If I did, would it be better to have everyone fill it out monthly (i.e. what they read that month) or wait until the end of the year & have everyone fill out in December what they read for the whole year?

I'm thinking the form would be a list of check boxes, two for each month, & you would just check off what you read. I appreciate any & all thoughts!!!! 3y

TheAromaofBooks Secondary question - is there a way for people to edit their same form each month?? Like I remind them and they go to their own form & update it as they go?? I'm not super familiar with GoogleForms, so any thoughts about it would be very helpful!! 3y

HeyT From a tracking standpoint it would probably be easier on you if you just did one form at the end of the year. If you had people fill out monthly you'd still have to pour through the data and double check which months are for who over multiple forms. 3y

See All 49 Comments

wideeyedreader I know people can fill out a form more than once, but I agree that one end-of-the-year form might be easier for everyone 3y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Ask @BookishMarginalia she started the #LitzyAtoZ challenge which has a tracking form and I believe you can go in and change your answers at any time throughout the year, but she only needs to look at the end of year forms (edited) 3y

bookandbedandtea I agree that it would be easier for you if we all filled it out once at the end of the year. As @HeyT mentioned, if we all submit monthly forms that still seems like a lot of tracking for you. 3y

Lcsmcat I think that‘s a good idea, and like @Riveted_Reader_Melissa said, @BookishMarginalia is a great resource for this. I know you can go in and edit your form as you go. I just don‘t know what she saw/did on her end. 3y

BookDadGirlDad I'm not sure what you do to track now. I understand we are to tag you for each read in the challenge. I think a massive year end form would be crazy to get thru if you are verifying the reads thru the tagged reviews. I suggest 1) Monthly sheet filled out by the participant. 2) Chosen reads must be read in that month. No backtracking, thus simplifying tracking. 3) Get an assistant!!(Not volunteering) 3y

sharread Could we at the end of every month check off out bookspin card the books we read. Some do that already. Post the Book Spin card finished with squares xed off of finished books then #finishedbookspinnovember ❤❤❤❤ 3y

kimmypete1 Love the idea of a google form. You can make it editable for the people filling it out. But it might be easier to post a monthly form that people can fill out. Make one form, and each month as it happens (if that makes sense). I can help with the spreadsheet on the back end to make that part easy to go through. 3y

kimmypete1 I don‘t know as much about forms as I do about spreadsheets, but happy to help, email me! 3y

fredthemoose Happy to do whatever works for you! Honestly I care much less about any potential giveaways than the community of it in real time. But I think it‘s totally reasonable to ask people to do their own accounting at the end of a month or year through a spreadsheet or form. Thank you for doing this! 3y

Susanita I‘m okay with a google form on whatever timeline works for you. It will help me stay on track too! 3y

Soubhiville Good luck! I concur with #AuthorAMonth tracking is kind of a pain. I keep a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, but I do have to go in at the end of each month to update it. I ask everyone to record their totals in one post, so I don‘t have to search a bunch of back-posts. Will you include me in your conversation if you take it off-Litsy? I‘d love to find an easier way too. 3y

DivineDiana Agree with @fredthemoose. I just try to get a Bingo. It is helping me read my shelves! 3y

rockpools Definitely not too much work for us to do - I don‘t know how you‘ve kept up til now! @BarbaraBB and @Librarybelle - is this what you do with the GoogleForm for Reading Asia? We can go in and update as and when (but I don‘t know what that looks like from behind the scenes…) 3y

IndoorDame I think it‘s totally fine for us to do our own tracking. It would be easier for me to track as I go, but you can definitely create Google forms that we can edit all year long and you don‘t have to look at till they‘re done in December. So I‘m pretty sure people could choose to do it monthly or at the end of the year on the same form. 3y

swynn (a) No, it's not too much to ask. (b) I am ambivalent about monthly vs. annual reporting, and support whatever approach works best for you. 3y

Yuki_Onna I absolutely second @swynn 's opinion. a) It's not too much to ask at all and b) supporting any choice you make. :D 3y

reading_rainbow Not too much! Do what‘s easiest! 3y

Librarybelle @rockpools You‘re right! It‘s super easy for anyone who uses the Google form to go in and update as needed. As the admin for the form, I have the choice to be notified when someone responds (I do not have that selected), but I can go in at any time and see what has been reported. The participants just need to save the form link in their inbox or on their computer, as I cannot send their specific results to them through the form. @BarbaraBB 3y

cwarnier Yes you can make a Google form that can be edited later. Maybe just set it up for us to put in the book title ( spin and double spin) for each month and and have access all year to edit this. If you need help setting it up just let me know, I have done an editable form before 3y

AmyK1 I‘m good with whatever you go with but think it may be easier to have a form we can edit every month so we don‘t have to try to remember what we‘ve read for the year in December. But maybe it‘s just me with the bad memory 😉 3y

TiminCalifornia Definitely not too much to ask the participants to help track. I say do what works for you-monthly or end of year. Google forms work well. 3y

staci.reads Not asking too much at all! Do whatever it takes to make it sustainable for you, monthly, yearly, whatever. I appreciate you and the others who host these challenges so much. It adds such flavor to my reading life. 3y

MeganAnn I think this is a great idea! A google form can be made editable. One thing to do when setting it up is make sure you have the box checked to send an email copy of their responses. Then they have a copy in their email with a quick link to edit which takes them directly back to their page. Otherwise I think people have to make sure they are logged in every time to access what they‘ve already filled out. I‘d be happy to help set one up for you! 3y

Larkken Yes! Great idea! 3y

DrexEdit I‘m totally on board with a form. Whatever is easiest for you! I‘m only in it for the intrinsic rewards though. It feels good to check off books as read that have been sitting around too long! 3y

Zuhkeeyah A form would be great. Choose whatever is easiest for you. If you need a hand with sorting through everything give me a shout. I‘d be happy to help out. Thank you for doing the book spins! It‘s really helped me move through my TBR list in a fun way. 3y

Caryl I am pro whatever makes it easier for you! I‘m astonished by your energy and commitment each month. I love this challenge; not in it for the drawings, but for the fun and camaraderie. Thank you so much for all you do! 3y

rabbitprincess Oh yes I‘d be happy to fill in a form to help you out! I imagine it would be easier if people could fill it in as they go rather than at the end of the year. 3y

Megabooks However is easiest for you works for me! So glad you are continuing this!!!!! 💜 3y

Deblovestoread This is a great idea for you! I am all for making it easy. @BookishMarginalia uses a Google form for #LitsyAtoZ tracking and it‘s a piece of cake to go in an update my form when I‘ve finished a book. 3y

Daisey I think a year long form that can be continually edited and updated is a great idea, and I agree from my previous experience that it is pretty straightforward to use. 3y

BookmarkTavern You put an enormous amount of effort in to making this a fun and engaging challenge! Whatever you want to change to make it easier for yourself is something I‘m 100% in support of! ❤️ 3y

Prairiegirl_reading @ozma.of.oz yep totally agree ☝🏼 3y

Bookzombie I want you to do whatever makes this easier for you. I really enjoy the process of coming up with a list each month, trying to knock out the picks, and seeing other‘s posts. I appreciate the time and effort you put into this challenge. 💗 3y

Chrissyreadit I‘m just happy with the spin part! You do what works for you! 3y

sprainedbrain Absolutely NOT too much to ask. I don‘t do BookSpin to win anything, I just love it for the challenge and fun. I‘d be happy to fill out a form! 3y

sebrittainclark I super appreciate all the work you do to make bookspin happen, and I don't think this is too much to ask at all. Whatever makes this more sustainable for you is a great choice! Like others said you can set up a Google form that everyone creates at the start of the year and edits throughout the year. Everyone just needs to save their form link after they get an email with it from Google. 3y

mrp27 Just grateful that you host book spin and the prize is getting books off my tbr. If need be, I have no problem with filling out a form. 3y

TheAromaofBooks @kimmypete1 - Thank you for offering to help with the spreadsheet part haha So I believe I can download the responses into a spreadsheet, but it does seem like it puts all of the respondent's answers into one cell?? I'm going to email you the link to what it looked like when I put it into Sheets. @Soubhiville - I would be happy to share the spreadsheet with you as well if you're interested, just email me itsthegoodlife15 at gmail !! 3y

kimmypete1 @TheAromaofBooks you know I can‘t resist a good spreadsheet! I will look at it in the morning. (edited) 3y

Soubhiville @TheAromaofBooks I think I did know you could make a Google form fill in a Google sheet, but I don‘t know how. I‘ll email you, thanks! 3y

coffees Not sure if someone has mentioned it but you can make a public spreadsheet where people who want to participate fill in their name on it, then have them check in every month, you can also have them leave their links, lmk if you want me to kind of send you an example of what i mean, glad to help :) 3y

CarolynM I'm happy to go along with whatever is easiest for you. As always, I'm grateful for all you do.😘 3y

Tera66 Yes, let's make it easier on you! I'll do whatever you want. 3y

Roary47 If a form is easier for you. Excel document works when I do the #roaringwolf challenges. I can show you what we have if you like. 3y

TheAromaofBooks @Roary47 - If I'm honest, I have a weakness for spreadsheets and seeing how people use them LOL So I would love to see yours even if it doesn't end up working for what I'm doing. Would you like to email me? itsthegoodlife15 at gmail. 3y

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