SERIESous Tips: Using Trello to Keep Track of Reviews

*I want to be clear that this post isn’t affiliated with Trello in any way, this is just my personal experience!*

I first talked about how I use Trello in 2016 during a Keeping Organized Tips Series I ran. At the time, I mostly highlighted how I use Trello to keep track of ARC Requests and only briefly mentioned my Review Board. That’s about to change here!

Back in university, a co-coordinator for an event I was running showed me Trello as a tool for keeping organized. The list-maker in me loved it and I used it a lot while organizing various things. But I never thought about using it for book blogging until I read a post by Brittany @ Book Bumblings about Trello. After that, everything just clicked and I created my own boards to keep track of things!

>> Check out Brittany’s guide here!

Trello is great for a number of reasons. First off, it’s free (there is a premium version you can buy with more features) and the options are endless for the free version. It is a very fluid web-based program. It’s super easy to move things around and has a ton of customizing features (which I’m going to highlight a little more below). It also has an app for your phone so you can use it on the go if you are so inclined.

Let me introduce my Review Board:

What are you looking at?

These are my lists I used to keep track of reviews and blog posts. I’ll break it down for you:

1. To Do
   • This is my brainstorm list where I keep track of ideas for blog posts I might want to do in the future
2. ARCs
   • This is where I create review cards for Request copies I have received
     • I’ll detail what’s on those cards below
3. In Development
   • These are reviews/posts I am currently writing
4. Started
   • These are reviews that are finished, they just need something else before they can be published
5. Cross Post
   • This is where review cards go after I’ve finished writing my blog post
   • This is where I keep track of what other review sites I need to post my review to
6. Pending Sequels
   • These are drafted series reviews that I’m holding off on posting until I’ve read all the available sequels
7. Done
   • This is where all review and post cards go after I have completed all their requirements

As I’m sure you can predict, when I’m writing a post from my To Do list or from my ARCs list, they get put in the In Development column. After they are complete, they either get put in the Cross Post, Pending Sequels or Done columns depending on their posting requirements.

What’s On a Review Card?

There are 4 features I use the most when it comes to creating my review cards.

1. Labels (colour codes)
   • This is great for seeing things at a glance. I colour code all my reviews based on their source (ARC or Blog Tour), if they require a Recap, if I need to Cross Post or if I need to Update a previous review and/or stats. I also have a special colour for Promo posts like blitzes.
   • If a card gets a certain label, it usually has an accompanying checklist (see #3).
2. Due Date
   • This is the date I plan to post on my blog, not necessarily the book’s publishing date.
   • This is super handy because you can sort lists by their due dates chronologically. I do this for posts that I have to cross post to external sites.
3. Checklist — My FAVOURITE Feature!
   • We do a lot of repetitive things when it comes to blogging and sometimes it’s hard to remember them all.
     • See the section below for more details!
4. Comment (not pictured)
   • I use this mostly for post cards for Tags or posts inspired by other blogs and I want to remember the source or ideas for the post

Why the Checklist Feature is the BEST!

Certain reviews require certain things. For example, when I write a series review, I need to make sure I’ve added a recap section (if applicable) to my Recap Page and put the series on my Series Sequel Spreadsheet. If it’s a review for Netgalley, I need to make sure I’ve added my review to the site as well as the links to my cross posted reviews. I even have a list for those cross posts! And the lists go on and on…

What I love about Trello is that you can create unique checklists for every card and you can see at a glance how many items you’ve completed from that list.

But the greatest thing is that you can copy checklists from other cards to your current card!

I have a card I’ve titled Master Checklist. On it, I’ve created all the checklists I use on a regular basis and when I create a new card, I import the lists from this card. If I need to make a change, I do it on this list so that a new cards going forward have this newly changed list.

Other Notable Features:

• Assign Tasks by Team Member
  • This would be great if you have multiple blog contributors!
  • You can leave notes too for each other on the card and see what others have done.
• Calendar
  • You can enable a calendar that will put your cards on those respective dates
    • I don’t use this feature as I use a Word Doc do keep track of my dates for everything (posts, library due dates, etc). Learn more here.
• Tracks Activity
  • Any changes you make to a card (and when) are noted at the bottom

This way, I always know where I am when it comes to my reviews!

While I try to do a little bit of blogging each day, I don’t always get the chance to with my job. But Trello makes it easy for me to pick up where I left off and to see what I need to get done and when. It truly has become an essential tool to my blogging experience.

>> See how Carrie @ Reading is My Super Power was inspired by my other Trello post!

How to you keep track of the reviews/posts you have in the works?

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