Sunday 17 June 2012

Free Sex and Money! Here!

I read a very interesting blog today by an American author called Toby Neal entitled "Is anyone reading blogs anymore?"

It was about the endless round of author interviews and guest blogs, etc, she did when promoting her first book - now, about to release her second, she wonders if she can be bothered to do it all over again.  Her question was, does anyone actually read them?  Apart from those who know the author, anyway.  My initial answer was 'no'.  My point being that most of them are all the same (some aren't - Tracie Banister's is a bit different, has more interesting questions).  Also, there are hundreds of thousands of bloggers, hundreds and thousands of indie authors out there - yes, your book and what drove you to write it is fascinating to you, your family and some friends, but not of THAT much interest to everyone else.  I highlighted my point by saying that although I had seen Toby's name up and down Twitter for ages, I hadn't actually investigated anything she wrote until she wrote a blog with  a title that caught my eye.  Now I know about her and the name of her book.  Blood Orchid.  See, I even remembered it, an hour later!  I might even check it out!

Hence the title of this blog post.  Did it make you read it?  Well, perhaps not.

Then I thought about the subject more (I do tend to leap in, it has to be said).  Whereas doing an author interview may not get 100 people going "hey, this girl is OUT THERE! I must buy her book, review it and recommend it to all my friends!", it is all a part of the interaction with people and goodwill thing amongst the writer community.  Also, it might get both you and the blogger new followers, who you might really like/start helping each other out....  as another writer had commented on Toby's post, it's a slow thing.

One of the other problems with this blogging thing is that there are so many zillions of them out there that you can miss a good one; I read about 3 a day, I think, ones that particularly catch my eye - if I like a post by someone, I might read another of theirs.  If I like that, too, I might spread the word about the blog as a whole.  Quantum of Thought.  That's a good one.  http://quantumofthought.wordpress.com/  (No, nothing to do with me, it's not a self-plug!)

Before I became part of the Twittersphere I used to post blogs (occasionally) on Facebook and MySpace.  They always got a stack of views and comments, but on Twitter there are so many being posted that they don't stand out.

To sum up - give your blog post a title that will make people look at it!  Maybe not like this one, though...!




11 comments:

  1. Interesting post, I read it because of the title =)

    New follower from Goodreads!

    I would love a follow back at http://endlessdaysofbooks.blogspot.com/ If you would also like to 'Like' my Facebook page that would be great as well!
    Candace

    ReplyDelete
  2. Since I was unable to leave a comment on Toby's blog earlier, I will sort of leave it here. I think people do still read blogs - my Lucky 7 post on Fri gained me the most hits ever on my blog in only 2 hours! However, I think it IS about the post content & the blog post name (to entice new visitors - your regulars will come regardless). More importantly, I would love to know how many hits you got on this blog post percentage-wise compared with a regular post! Good luck with Nobody's Fault today - my favourite of your books - just!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yay, I'm able to read it now. Great to "meet and tweet" with you, Susan.
      Post name.
      COntent.
      Got it. I work hard on my content, which is why I only post about weekly... but all that writing for guest posts is so draining. I wonder if I can just make a few really catchy ones and recycle them to all guest bloggers. Food for thought!

      Delete
  3. Candace - sure, I'll do so in a minute!

    Susan, I'll let you know re the hits!! Not for a few days, though, as I'll have to give it time to be seen!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ..... Candace, I haven't got any friends called Candace on Goodreads! I've just looked twice! Can you send me a proper link to your blog? I put it into google and nothing came up. I don't know your surname either so can't look for your FB page, but if you want to like mine I will like yours back immediately!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You sure have a catchy title and a way with words! I'm grabbing your book, Terry! Thanks so much for the mention!
    Much aloha,
    Toby Neal

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ah, hello Toby - thank you! ha ha!! xxx And I STILL remember the title of your book!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, I found this post whilst Googling for... something else.

    Sorry to disturb you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes yes, very good, Michael!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I saw a link to the post about 'does anyone read blogs anymore' but didn't actually read it - which maybe says it all!?
    But yes, title is crucial I now realise, especially for Twitter. Think 140 characters inc link, then people know what they'll be getting. By the way I used to read blogs via a feed reader, but now I just wait for a Tweet. I must have missed so much. Have I gained any time? Time to revisit some old friends, perhaps.
    Ali B

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great posts :) found you through twitter and yes this post ironically caught my eye

    ReplyDelete