Stuff on Sundays: Getting on Track

How do you keep track of all the books that make their way into your house?

I mentioned in my post on Monday that I’ve been spending a bit of time lately organising my book collection, largely because the software I use to keep track of my overflowing real and virtual shelves, Book Collectorz, recently had a major upgrade which makes its companion App much more useful to me. It took a while to update my catalogue, adding the books that have made their way into my home over the last year or so and with a collection that grows by around 30 books a month, give or take, I realised I needed to adjust the routine that I already have in place  to ensure I keep it up to date.

So here is what happens when a book makes it way into my possession…

The first thing I do is add the book to the appropriate shelves in my Goodreads account

Next I add the cover to the months upcoming Bookshelf Bounty post, which I have scheduled in advance

If the book is for review then I add it it my review schedule page along with release dates and any planned feature date

Then I add the book to Collectorz on my desktop, and when that is done I can then upload to the cloud so I can update the corresponding app on my iPad and iPhone.

The app upgrade also means I can now reverse that process – add a book to my collection via the app and then upload to the cloud to synch with my desktop and other device.

There is an extra step or two if it’s an electronic book.

I always download a copy to my desktop – I don’t like relying on the cloud for sole access.

All e books are then entered into Calibre and converted where possible, I like to have both an epub and mobi copy.

Next the ebook is copied to my Kindle/ iPhone/iPad as appropriate – generally all three.

The final step is adding the book to my draft reading/review schedule. I write it in my personal planner  and I also add it to my IPad calendar which I sync to my iPhone.

And the print review books then get stacked on the left hand side of my desk where they patiently await their turn to join the precariously stacked book shelves.

It probably seems more complicated than it is, and I cant deny it is not time consuming routine, but it works for me –

What works for you?