I've heard from a lot of people in the writing world that it is good to have a blog. I have one, but I need to increase my traffic. One of the best ways to do that is to visit other blogs and leave comments. One author I know got her name out there and her book by commenting on 25-50 blogs a day! I'm compiling a list of blogs to make that easier on me. (I figure if I have 1000 blogs to select from, I can find at least 25 a day to read and comment on) But first I need to make my list. So does anyone here have a writer's blog? Have a friend with a writer's blog? I'd love to add it to my list.
Posted by pdblake (Member # 9218) on :
I've had a blog up and running for a while now and have yet to attract a single comment:)
I think though, if I went trawling the web for 25 blogs a day to comment on, I'd never get any writing done.
Posted by mrmeadors (Member # 6378) on :
My advice--WRITE. Followers will come when you've earned them . Seriously though, the best way to get word out there as to who you are is to write and publish stories. The Net is full of blogs of writers who blog about writing, but never get any writing done. I suppose it depends on what your passion is: is it reading blogs all day, or is it writing?
My blog is http://melaniermeadors.blogspot.com/ I update maybe twice a week. But as far as reading, I have a couple blogs I check in with a couple times a week, for my own purposes, not to increase hits to my own blog. But I am a writer, not a blogger, and so I try to divide my time accordingly. The internet is such a time-sink, it is, at least for me, the most dangerous thing to my writing. If I read 25 blogs a day, I would never get around to writing a word!!
As I said, if you write what you want to write, people will check you out. But all things have their time. Your blog is pretty young, too from what I see. Don't worry. Follow your heart and don't worry about outside stuff. If you do what is important to you, and are consistent with it, people will want to know more about you.
Melanie
[ January 15, 2012, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: mrmeadors ]
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
My blog is Smaug's Musings, but it isn't strictly a writer's blog. In fact, if the wrong people read my blog, because of my political views expressed therein, I might be blacklisted from some publications. On the other hand, I don't care much. If people are shallow enough to avoid accepting my stories because of my political views etc., then they can bite my rear end.
So, back to the topic of the original post. That's an interesting concept. I read a bunch of blogs from time to time, but rarely comment. I wonder how that helps. Is the idea to get others to add your blog to their list of blogs they read, and thus increase exposure?
Posted by mrmeadors (Member # 6378) on :
Smaug, other people who comment or read the blog often click on the names of the commenters, and check out their blogs too. So there are several ways commenting on other blogs can help your blog out. It just gets your name out there for other people to see.
LOL, and as far as biting your rear end, I for one enjoy reading things by people with strong opinions, whether they agree with mine or not, as long as they are intelligent and not just mindless ranting. You can't live in fear, right?
Posted by enigmaticuser (Member # 9398) on :
Haha, that's funny Smaug. I ended up creating a writing only blog for that specific reason. I don't think people should be so shallow, but unfortunately the world is full of shallow people.
I limit myself to about 500 words plus any comments that need responding per week. That way it's something I can hammer our quickly and not eat into time for writing because usually in my day there are moments of time when I can physically write, but creating a world takes a lot more concentration than semi-entertaining blogs do.
Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :
I tend to post about whatever interests me at that point in time. In fact, my current interest is making haphazard NFL playoff predictions.
I like to read the blogs of my fellow Hatrackers...not as often as I'd like, but I do. Some of you, though, need to post a bit more frequently than I do.
When I clicked on that, I got a message that says "blog not found".
And also, when I tried to add them to the list of blogs I'm following, blogger.com is saying it can't find a feed for either crank's or enigmaticuser's blog. Pdblake's worked just fine though. Hmm. Well, I'm not so tech savvy that I can figure that one out, because I've never had that problem in the past and I'm following a bunch of blogs.
Posted by LeetahWest (Member # 9402) on :
I haven't taken the time to establish a blog yet, but an author friend of mine has an exceptional one that is extremely funny. She started it just under a year ago and was so aggressive in her devotion to it she averaged over 10k views a month last year.
There's also a list of a few other writers' blogs a little way down on the right side of my blog. I need to update that, actually.
Posted by Heresy (Member # 1629) on :
And yeah, I need to finish my list of blogs on my own page, Meredith. Not all of mine are writers, but people can pick and choose who they want to follow/bookmark, I figure. They are all ones I enjoy.
-Julie
Posted by MAP (Member # 8631) on :
A few of us hatrackers have started a group blog called The Prosers.
I also started a thread here to advertise your blog topics in groups here. So when you write a new post, post a link to it there. It seems to generate a decent amount of traffic when I use it, and I for one visit other hatrackers who post a link to their blog there. So you'll get at least one hit.
Inpageant is a fun place to advertise your blog and see what other writers are blogging about. There are a lot of really useful posts that I've read from there.
Reading 25 to 50 posts a day sounds insane to me. Why not just start with five? You need to have some time to write your brilliant novel.
[ January 15, 2012, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: MAP ]
Posted by mrmeadors (Member # 6378) on :
When I clicked on that, I got a message that says "blog not found".
OK I fixed the link I think above by copying the actual link... the web address is right, but when I clicked on the link it gave me the same result as you, Smaug. Weird. It SHOULD work now. http://melaniermeadors.blogspot.com/ Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :
Flores Factor is my blog. I don't know about that commenting just to get followers thing. I suppose it doesn't hurt, but my Wordpress traffic has never shown any traffic from a comment I made.
I read blogs to find out what is going on with my fellow hatrackers or because they are topics that would interest me. 95% of the posts I read are read because someone else suggested them.
My blog traffic mostly comes from the Tags I use for each post or from references by others.
All that being said, you are welcome to come read my blog and comment if you wish.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
If you've got a blog that's not on the blogroll, let me know. Also, I'm not maintaining my owasm.com any longer.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
I read one blog on a mostly regular bases. Dean Wesley Smith's but he also will to other blogs he reads such as to his wife's and the passive guy .
Plus I read the blogs of three people here on what is right now a rare bases. Used to be more regular but been busy and forgetting lately. I have five, I think, blogs listed on my blog that I follow and if I went to my blog every day I would get an update on those blogs but I post on very randomly. Sometimes one to five in one day and skip between one day to five weeks.
My blog has hardly any comments.
I do mostly writing posts: venting, new techniques, updates on my writing and when I send out stories, but also some political comments every now and again and the same with religious-Christianity comments. And rarely humorous posts also.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I also have a New Year's Resolution to put more on my blogs. I have a folder stuffed full of blog ideas and all kinds of notes, I even have two different blog posts (one for each) currently sitting on my hard drive. You've inspired me to go get them posted. I recently guest posted on The Prosers, too. Lovely group, that one. Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
quote:My advice--WRITE. Followers will come when you've earned them
I think that's the best line in this thread. Kudos, Melanie.
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. Seriously though, the best way to get word out there as to who you are is to write and publish stories. The Net is full of blogs of writers who blog about writing, but never get any writing done. I suppose it depends on what your passion is: is it reading blogs all day, or is it writing? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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