I have been blogging, tweeting and Facebooking my writing for a few years now and one thing I have noticed is that there are literally hundreds (probably thousands) of blogs telling you how to make your website more engaging, how to bring more people to your blog and how to monetise your stuff. None of these ever mentions what to do if they don’t work!
I’m no Kardashian, in fact I’m quite the opposite. I’m a bald guy with a beard pushing ninety kilograms while eating myself into shape (read: round). Today I found that if you are a picture of a cat, or a video of someone failing, you will get far more reach and likes than I ever have. I mean, so many people read blogs and stories, but why don’t they share a good story with a friend like they would a book?
I have a conclusion, it’s simply not what people have done. I mean, even I am guilty of it. I can’t remember the last time I actually used the reblog button in WordPress. My thinking is a bit dirty on that though, I mean reblogging is great to share someone else’s post, but I guess I’ve always felt it was lazy to not write your own post. After all, isn’t my blog about me and my capabilities?
Also, in this wonderful world of social media, I have sent out a number of tweets and surprisingly they’ve been shared a lot easier than my blog. Although I can’t seem to break thirty views on a single tweet… yeah laugh Kim Kardashian… thirty views a nanosecond I’m sure. But that aside, I suppose I really just want to meet people to talk about writing, people with the same passion and zest for creating as I do.
My Facebook author’s page is quite dismal, very quiet and little to no action there. I once saw a comment from a tumbleweed I think. It unfriended me. The fact of the matter is, all of this time spent trying to create an image… all of this time spent trying to foster relationships with people who are likeminded and in the industry and I could have been writing. Hmm. That being said though, I must say it is extremely exciting to have met most of you out there beyond the typing glass. It has been fun to share ideas and get feedback from you… but I suppose I need to also give back. As of right now, I’ll take any requests for visits to your blog and will read anything you want me to read.
Don’t worry, I’ll still write. I’ll probably even post a few things. But I think I may start focusing on smaller blog posts and sharing around some of the people I come across. After all, despite being a blogger for the better part of a decade… I’m still so new at this. I treat it more and more like a journal. Today that changes! Let me know what sorts of things you’d like to see me reblog or share! After all, I’d love your feedback so I can better serve you in the future!
For now, back to editing which is… super fun. So fun. Actually one of my tweets that was pretty popular was this:
#Editing is like sitting down to do your#writing, but instead of loving it, you’re on fire, and so is everything… because you’re in hell.
You may recognise that from a popular Facebook post that makes the rounds about how easy dieting is. I simply changed it to my current love for editing because every time I see it come up, I laugh to myself.
Oh one final thing, does anyone have any legitimate tips on how to better use social media for your writing? I am open to any and/or all suggestions! Leave it below or message me anywhere!
I’ve been thinking about this a lot too. The truth is, I don’t have the time or inclination to do a lot of blog READING … or writing.
I’ve spent many hours staying abreast of what’s going on at other people’s blogs, but my (bad) ulterior motive has been to get those bloggers to visit mine. I’ve recently realized I don’t want to have to fight for an audience, one person at a time, especially knowing that they have the same motivation I do.
Everything I do on my blog now has a GOOD (personally beneficial) ulterior motive. My Macabre & Mysterious Media posts are first and foremost about me not missing a show or a movie I want to see. My posts about the hotel are a sort of therapy for me as I deal with the emotions that come up in me when I’m in that environment.
I help to promote folks sometimes. (I’ll be featuring some short clips from an interview I did with a horror author soon, for example.) Which is really about networking for the future. Plus, I like the people and the work, of course. I don’t think many people will actually press play on those videos though. even if they “like” the post. They need to hurry on to tend to the needs of the other bloggers.
I’ve made good friends and good contacts here in the social media world, but I know I don’t want them spending a lot of time reading my stuff if it isn’t personally useful to them. In all cases, I’d rather they be writing on their works in progress. I hope they feel the same way about me.
For the record, I don’t think giving away shorts or episodic fiction on blogs works. I know I never have the have time to read it when I cruise through.
For me, because I try to keep the focus on the world of horror and darkly beautiful things, I also write the occasional investigation or article that might do well in a search engine. I’ve got about three of those which have gone (sorta) viral and they bring most of my hits to the blog. THOSE people though, rarely leave likes or comments, because they don’t live the blogging lifestyle and don’t know what those kindnesses mean to a blogger.
I’ve come to the conclusion that what I’ve been doing on WordPress, Twitter* and FB** has been about making some friends and laying down the foundation for the fans who will come looking for more from me AFTER they fall in love with my fiction.
Big, popular blogs are for non-fiction writers, humor writers, and people who already have a fan base.
As for the platforms:
* Twitter doesn’t really work for me as a user BECAUSE everyone is trying to use it to networking tool. I don’t want to be told to buy this book by this author. I don’t want those retweets at all. I don’t mind a quick, “I just read and loved ____ (with a link) ” or (better) a line quote from an article or a book that is genuinely exceptional along with a link that points me in the right direction. Otherwise, I want clever, elegant, pretty or amusing little snippets that inform my day. They are hard to find in that twitter feed that races past, full of nonsense.
**Facebook is a joke. It SHOULD be exactly what most working writers are looking for.( A quick, handy way to check in with clever people, see links to interesting content, and read personal asides.) BUT Facebook itself is working very hard against that kind of use by refusing to show our posts to the people who have SUBSCRIBED to the page, let alone to a wider public. That’s just dirty, if you ask me.
Wow. I kind of went right off there, didn’t I? I told you I’ve been thinking about this. 🙂
Wow Renae, just… Wow. Thanks for the guest blog post! I totally understand not having the time to do what you want. Work, life and pesky friends and relatives get in the way. It is a sort of war out there and by helping others through your own blog is almost undoing what you really want for your blog I suppose. This whole blog thing might just be a sham, or not what we want it for.
Hmm. You definitely make a lot of sense, as I too have enjoyed these sort of moments where you really connect with someone but at the same time it’s really hard because as much as you want to help, you’re also looking for help.
I suppose I both agree and disagree with your comment about giving away episodic fiction. You’re probably right in the sense that is seems a waste to simply put it out there only for no one to see it. In fact, it’ll be a damn shame if that is what happens to get me popular after I die or something (I don’t want to be a Lovecraft!) But I also love writing… and not only that, it is exceptional practice with the chance that someone may swing by and like what they read or offer feedback! In that sense I have no regrets!
I think your point of this stuff being important AFTER being published is spot on. You need to engage your community, but right now, I have just over 400 followers and even if I released a book tomorrow, I believe only a few of them would actually buy it because as you said, your followers aren’t necessarily those who are interested in your writing. Some may have followed you back when you followed them, or from an event (such as NaNoWriMo).
I’m glad you had a bit of a vent there, as you make a lot of sense. Making me look at my post a day in a whole new light… Thinking of all the time spent blogging which could actually be spent submitting to different magazines and short story competitions.
Thank you so much for your rant Renae, it has most certainly given me something to think about. Also, good luck in your writing!
For some reason, I didn’t get a notification that you responded to my comment. I just ran across your new post (today’s) and happened to click the link that brought me back here, so I could review what we both said.
So, yeah. I responded with a comment to the new post.
😀