2021 Librivox Goals (and how did you do in 2020?)

[ColleenMc]

So, it's a good time to sum up what we did on Librivox in 2020 and set our course for new and exciting challenges in 2021...whatcha got?

My 2020 goals were to take part in more group projects/ short works collections than last year, finish my neverending solo project, and venture into BCing. I plan to do a little more work tonight, so I'll be back with my real final totals tomorrow, but they are more than last year. I did finally attempt BC-ing, started two projects and saw one through to completion and one is about 2/3 of the way there with all slots claimed.

My solo...well, my goal for 2021 is to finish it, LOL! It's 90 sections and I'm on section 29, it will have its second birthday in February.

How about y'all?

Colleen

[KevinS]

MaryInArkansas and I are planning to celebrate 200 years of the Saturday Evening Post by preparing a group project that will cover a portion of the interesting work published in the SEP in its first 100 years of material. We don't know if it will be a modest 20 sections or a multi-volume collection as of yet. It's a treasure trove of news, opinion, and literature.

[ColleenMc]

Oh wow, cool! I just downloaded a random volume of SEP to take a look at the other day but haven't really dug into it yet. I don't like how every story eventually gets continued to the back of the magazine and it's very hard to tell how long any story or article actually is.

One of my goals is to finally get a collection of New York Times news stories going....not sure if I'll go with "news of 100 years ago" or thematic collections.

Colleen

[TriciaG]

I usually don't set goals, but just work on stuff as the spirit leads me.

I would like to see Young's Literal Translation of the Bible completed, though. There are several New Testament books to go. (I saw - and did the cover for - Peter's epistles, Kevin. Thanks for finishing that!)

Other than that, I keep plugging away at my solos and start up group projects as my feelings or boredom dictate. I do have a 1925 book of dog stories ready to go for tomorrow or as soon as the Archive text is accessible. (Except for the word counts; I can't get to those yet.)

[KevinS]

Oh wow, cool! I just downloaded a random volume of SEP to take a look at the other day but haven't really dug into it yet. I don't like how every story eventually gets continued to the back of the magazine and it's very hard to tell how long any story or article actually is.

One of my goals is to finally get a collection of New York Times news stories going....not sure if I'll go with "news of 100 years ago" or thematic collections.

Colleen

Can you get NYT independent from the Times Web site? I think the Times holds onto their copyright by some legal magic. Some hocus pocus wording.

[KevinS]

I would like to see Young's Literal Translation of the Bible completed, though. There are several New Testament books to go. (I saw - and did the cover for - Peter's epistles, Kevin. Thanks for finishing that!)

I'm with you on this. Lomond has been a great help doing a lot of the PLing.

[Availle]

I've never before set goals specifically for LV. I mean, I have this very, very long list of books I'd like to read or at least see in the catalog, including a separate list for the nonfiction collection... But beyond that, no real plans because there's too much unexpected stuff coming up all the time.

However, for 2021, I'd like to record 4 books as solo:

- one by my favourite author (okay, favourite dead author, the others are still happily alive and will hopefully produce many more books)
- one in German by an Austrian author
- one that's somehow related to Japan (or Asia in general) and
- one science book.

Plus, I should really finish that German solo that I have started much too long ago.

So yeah... let's see where this year is leading me.

[ColleenMc]

Oh wow, cool! I just downloaded a random volume of SEP to take a look at the other day but haven't really dug into it yet. I don't like how every story eventually gets continued to the back of the magazine and it's very hard to tell how long any story or article actually is.

One of my goals is to finally get a collection of New York Times news stories going....not sure if I'll go with "news of 100 years ago" or thematic collections.

Colleen

Can you get NYT independent from the Times Web site? I think the Times holds onto their copyright by some legal magic. Some hocus pocus wording.

I've been recording stuff from before the PD cut off. A lot of their archives are behind a paywall (I'm a subscriber) but they have a section of free to access archived stories at https://spiderbites.nytimes.com/. It's a random assortment and it's often hard to skim the headlines (especially on the older stories) to try to guess what stories are about. I would make my selections from that archive.

Colleen

[mightyfelix]

Hmm, putting myself in the shoes I was wearing one year ago... What was my goal? As far as I can recall, I think the only thing was to finish my long-lingering solo, Malcolm, which I did in October!

As far as 2020 milestones, well, this was the year that I became an admin. Not the kind of thing you can set as a goal, really, but still a significant event for me.

Next year, I plan to finish my current solo, the sequel to Malcolm (I will not spend three years on this one!), and I think I should be able to wrap up the very large play I'm BCing right now, Aladdin. There are still some small roles to fill and one large role to be recorded, but I don't see any reason why it can't finish in 2021.

Speaking of plays, it seems that I have gotten more involved as DPL in the dramatic forum over the last year than I had been before. I didn't plan that either, but it has been fun!

Who knows? Maybe I'll get really crazy this year and make some cover art!

[AngeliqueAnja]

Well, I've only been with LV a month, so I'll ignore "how I did in 2020" and just say, way better than I could have ever imagined when I decided to sign up.

As for 2021, my first Solo and more shorts and plays I think...

Annie

[Piotrek81]

I can't recall setting any goals for myself when 2020 was about to start, but at some point in 2020 I decided to contribute monthly to ongoing group projects and this I've been doing consistently, usually in the Short Works forum. They know my name in several collections
As for 2021, I started a solo in November and hope to be able to finish it this year. Other than, there's this epic poem I've been thinking about recording...

[ColleenMc]

Well, I've only been with LV a month, so I'll ignore "how I did in 2020" and just say, way better than I could have ever imagined when I decided to sign up.

As for 2021, my first Solo and more shorts and plays I think...

Annie

Getting started on here is a huge hurdle! I had a log in and lurked on the boards reading suggestions and looking at current projects while I worked up the courage to jump in....so don't sell yourself short. And it sounds like 2021 is going to be even better for you!

Colleen

[ColleenMc]

Formal list of goals for 2021:

1. Finish my solo (will definitely have to pick up the pace)

2. Participate in each short works collection (except the ones requiring singing or foreign languages)

3. Be entirely caught up on my prooflistening at least once a week!

4. BC 3 projects, not including solos.

5. Participate in the remaining volumes of World's Story and World Events by Great Historians.

6. Don't wait til the last day of the month to do the Short Poetry collection.

7. Finish my self-assigned project of creating a Book Suggestions entry for each year of the best-sellers list up to...well, 1925 now!

8. Never receive a reminder from a BC that I'm approaching the deadline for a section I volunteered for!

9. Trying new things category: participate in at least one group fiction project, and one dramatic reading/play project, and participate in at least one weekly/fortnightly poetry project.

10. For every group project selection I sign up for (free choice), sign up and do one section from a book that has been languishing at the bottom of the readers wanted list.

This past year I developed a really effective (for me) tracking system for all the varied projects I'm working on, which is huge with my ADHD! It's a paper notebook (I tried spreadsheets, but I'm not a spreadsheet person -- writing things down and checking them off is so satisfying). And I came up with an effective weekly checklist where I list my priority projects in order that I want to do them, that way when I sit down to work I don't waste time debating which project to work on, I just look at the next item on my list.

So much of my life can still be so scattershot (I'm working on it!) that it feels really good to have my LV stuff so organized!

Because I have my notebook, I can say that in 2020 I completed:

* 10 dedicated prooflistening projects

* 1 book coordinator project (with a second underway)

* 76 short works project contributions

* 85 group project sections

Short works breakdown:

* 6 Childrens Short Works

* 4 Coffee Break Collection

* 2 Dreams Collection

* 7 Short SF

* 9 Ghost/Horror

* 7 Short NF

* 23 Short Poetry

* 5 Myths/Legends

* 3 Short Stories

* 2 A-Z

* 1 Frauds/Forgeries

* 1 Love Stories

* 1 15th Anniversary Collection

* 2 Mystery/Suspense (so glad this series is revived, as we are about to enter into a golden age of short detective fiction with stuff coming into PD!)

* 2 Christmas Short Works

* 1 Insomnia Collection

Colleen

[Kazbek]

This was the year when I did my 1-minute test and ventured beyond PL. How did I do? Well, I believe I got hooked.

In 2021 I want to muster courage for a solo project in French, and also get into reading medieval Latin. On the BC/DPL front, I'm planning to help Ezwa and Sonia by launching another collaborative French project for our fine and productive Francophone readers. I think I'll start with something modest, a universal history of the past millennium in 12 volumes, similar to the Cambridge histories, though somewhat less academic. There's nothing like it available in the world of French audiobooks, so why not?

Also, I'm planning to do an unusual "twin" solo project: a history of Russian literature in English, coupled with an anthology of works discussed there (excerpts from longer works), read in the original.

Michael

[Piotrek81]

In 2021 I want to muster courage for a solo project in French, and also get into reading medieval Latin. On the BC/DPL front, I'm planning to help Ezwa and Sonia by launching another collaborative French project for our fine and productive Francophone readers. I think I'll start with something modest, a universal history of the past millennium in 12 volumes, similar to the Cambridge histories, though somewhat less academic. There's nothing like it available in the world of French audiobooks, so why not?

Michael

In case you want to start with something more modest, this thread lists 3 abandoned projects in French: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22757