Today, I’m questioning the continued existence of this blog. It’s reached the point where I can no longer deny that visitor stats are in decline. Ignoring the ludicrous bump they took after being Freshly Pressed in March (and the overflow to the following month) and the mysterious slight rise in October, my visitor counts have decreased since 2010.
I have no reliable way to know how many people might read my posts in email or a blog reader, so I tell myself that I still have tons of interested readers, they just don’t come online to be counted. But am I fooling myself?
It’s been a weird year on this blog, for many reasons. I admit my posts have deteriorated from hopeful excitement leading up to the publishing of The Brevity of Roses, to disappointment, grumbling, whining, and bewilderment. Hmmm … sounds like a good way to send readers scrambling, doesn’t it?
- Novel thought—maybe I should work harder to write quality posts.
- Maybe I should post less frequently. I, too, get overwhelmed trying to keep up with some bloggers.
- Maybe it’s not my particular blog. (I’m grasping here.) Maybe blogs are passé. Maybe everyone has moved on to something else. Something shinier. If so, I didn’t get that memo.
- Maybe it’s cyclical. Many of my earlier followers have gone on to be serious writers, and some of them serious bloggers. They have their hands full with their own followers. Others are still working toward publication and they want blogs with helpful writing advice, which they’re increasingly hard-pressed to find here.
- Maybe that’s the thing— I’m comparing apples and oranges again. I blog, but I’m not a Blogger. I don’t have any clout—or should I say Klout? I’m not destined to have a big following. I shouldn’t expect a growing readership. Accept that. Be thankful for the readers I have (and I am). Move on.
Many I know have quit blogging, or greatly curtailed it, so apparently they don’t miss it. But I believe I would. And since I’ve already concluded that I’m a bust at Twitter and Google+, my blog is my only real “public” presence. Still, I’d hate to be the last to realize it’s time to mark this blog expired and remove it from the shelf.
*sigh*
I’m stubborn. I’ll probably be the last blogger standing. But maybe some changes are due around here.
Any suggestions?
Linda Cassidy Lewis 
Blogging comes and goes in cycles. And, don’t fret about the visitor count. With regard to what to write, I like it. Hang in there. If you quit, how else we’re going to find out about your next novel, collection of short stories, etc.?
Writing for one reader is just as good as writing for a thousand.
😉
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😀 Indeed, fivecats, how would you know how
insanemixed-up I am, if I didn’t blog?LikeLike
It’s funny, Linda cause I view you as a quite proliffic blogger! I guess it’s coming from where I am – I read this post the first day you posted it and it’s taken me 4 days to have a chance to come in and comment – to me your blog is succesful. But, it doesn’t matter what it means to me, it’s your blog and has to bring to you what you need from it. I think blogs change their purpose to their owners as we go on. Maybe ask yourself what you want from you blog, if you’re not happy with it. Take the changes from there. Sorry, no suggestions for you other than that, I like you just the wayyyy you are 🙂
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Jennifer, until I read your comment I didn’t realize it had been four days since I posted! You’ve been a regular here for a long time, and I appreciate that. I know you’ve seen me question whether to continue blogging more than once. But I love it, so I’m not going anywhere. Maybe it’s just time for a new theme, or at least a new header (after Christmas). And more positive posts. 🙂
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Linda,
I love what Jennifer says here. I don’t think I can add too much. Measures of success really depend on perspective, so Jennifer is right. We bloggers/writers have to decide if our blog is still feeding our writerly selves.
Some days I wonder about the legitimacy of my blog as well, but I often think that as long as I enjoy what I’m writing, I’m doing okay. Slowly, but surely, readers will follow. The key is “slowly”, which means I avoid staring at stats as much as possible 🙂
One thing I have grown to love, which also helps in blogger burn out, is to find people to guest post on my blog and to do author interviews. But really, anything to break up the pattern – guest posts or what not – helps.
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Something to consider, Christi. Of course, your blog has more depth than mine. I don’t really think I could stop blogging. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something even when I can’t settle my mind to writing fiction.
And “slowly” is much harder for me than I ever would have thought. 😉
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Hi, Linda! I read many of your posts in my Inbox these days. I rarely comment on any blogs or forums because of time issues, but I still like to check up on online friends.
Did you know you can see your e-mail followers under Site Stats? Right now (for me, anyway) the list is accessible from Totals, Followers & Shares, blog followers (link), then Email Followers (tab/link).
Keep blogging for as long as you enjoy it, and people will continue to enjoy reading your posts.
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Hi, Ann, I’m glad to know you take the time to read my posts. Thank you. 🙂
Yes, I know I can see those who subscribe by email, but only if they use the button on my blog to do so. I can also see those who subscribe to my post feed, but only if they also have a WordPress blog. Stupid rivalry between platforms! 😦
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Oh Linda, I feel the same! I’ve been having an insane time keeping up with all of the blogs I read and blogging lately. I now have googlereader, so I keep track there. I used to have a lot of blogs sent straight to my email, but that got overwhelming. I now have the googlereader app on my iPhone. It makes it easier to read a blog here and there, but still I don’t stop to read them that often. Today when I logged in I had 200+ blogs to read. I wanted to cry. The folders option helps me to weed through them based on what type of blog it is: writer, author, agent, book blogger, etc.
I’ve always kind of viewed my own blog as me talking to myself. If someone else reads it, then Woohoo! It’s icing on the cake. With the holidays and everything else going on in my writing life, I’ve decided to change my blogging schedule all together. I can’t keep up, but I want to keep posting regularly. I tried to keep up with everyone else and post all the time, nope, not for me.
I do read all of your blogs, but I’m awful with reading them in a timely manner and commenting. Don’t fret over the stats. I feel like I’m in the same boat you are most of the time. 🙂
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I know what you mean, Heather. Sometimes I get so far behind on blog reading, and then I feel like I have nothing to add to the conversation so I don’t comment.
I started out just talking to myself here, so I suppose it will go full circle and I’ll end up that way too, long after everyone else has moved on to the next big thing. 🙂
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