The Holy Grail: Blogging for Readers - You Can Be Perceval

All---

As I mentioned  in this post (go comment now -- there's a contest!), I am interested in blogging for readers, not just for other writers, though I appreciate all the writers who stop by and I hope even more do.  I think for many authors in the blogosphere this is held out as the unattainable dream.  We want a presence that attracts readers, we're told we need one, and yet we're told readers don't read author blogs.

I think it's doable, and I'm about to give you some tips, but first here are two more tips that may relieve some of your stress:

You really don't know how many readers are reading your blog.  I happen to know I have several readers who check my blog pretty regularly, but just never comment and don't sign up as followers.  They just bookmark the page or click through Twitter.

But if they read, why don't they comment?  Many authors track their success in terms of followers.  Some track their actual hits.  Some count comments.  Why would readers show up almost only as anonymous hits?

Writers write.  Readers read.  Yep.  You've read it hear first.  I'm being glib, but it's also true.  As writers it seems natural to express ourselves in writing.  For many readers, that is not the case.  Maybe this will help you.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has 2,451 reader reviews on Amazon.com.  Sounds like a ton of reader feedback, doesn't it?  Only... The book has sold an estimated 30 million copies.  Let's say 1% of those copies were sold through Amazon: 300,000.  May not be accurate, but it seems reasonable, given that their huge and increasing market share.  The 2,451 reviews would be less than 1% return on reader feedback.  If I get 2,500 visits a month, maybe that's 125 hits per blog post, and if I know that 75% of those are writers, then maybe I have 32 readers checking out each post.  And 1% of 32 is less than 1.  So if I never get a reader comment,  it's still within the percentages.

Don't get too caught up in the numbers.  The point is this: You may already have readers, and you may just not know it, and until you're famous and generating gabillions of hits, that's not surprising.


But, that said, there are some things that I have done and will be doing to increase my readership among non-writers.  You all can do these things, too


1) Be proactive about showing your well-roundedness.  I know a lot of writers who blog about broader topics of life and popular interest.  A couple of them use photos and tags in a way that might generate a few accidental web hits.  That's a bit of the battle, but here's the real secret to doing this: get out of the writing blogosphere.   Go read and comment on blogs associated with other hobbies you have and other interests of yours.  Be active outside of writing, and your readership will over lap.  Andrea Eames is excellent at this and she has one of the most diverse blog readerships I've come across.  She's a writer and she's into vintage clothes, and her blog is a place where the two communities overlap.

2) Be a font of cross-over information.  In case you're not, Clarissa Draper's blog overflows with information about the broad field of forensics, compiled for her own research and then posted for the public to use as a great starting point.   Every Monday, Lydia Kang features a new medical malady, condition, or procedure, each one crazier or more obscure than the last.  In both cases, most of the blog readers seem to be readers, but I always see a few comments from non-writers who just find the insight fascinating.   If a few are commenting, probably even more are reading.  These aren't accidental web hits, these are people who stay and return because the font of information appears predictable and bottomless.  I anticipate LT Host having similar success as she continues to develop her series on horses.

3) The internet is more than the blogosphere.  Maybe you don't "get" Twitter, or you see Facebook as a time-sink.  That's all well and good, but those are both great ways to reach out and make new net friends and contacts beyond the bubble.   I'm just now exploring how to use Facebook optimally, but most of my contacts there are and will always be most readers, several non-blogging writers, and a few from the blogosphere.  I've begun extending my Twitter chat out beyond the strict writing world and have made contact with people in comedy, martial arts and other areas of interest -- and they sometimes check in on my blog, and will be potential readers when I release stories.


4) Don't look for readers.  Just look for people.  Stop thinking about your writing career for a while.  Stop trying to enlist readers.  Stop trying to build awareness among potential reading populations.  Stop trying to build a dang platform.  Just.  Go.  Out.  And.  Meet.  People.   Seriously.  Check out of the writer's mindset, and just meet people.  They'll figure out that you blog.  And they'll check it out.  But stop trying to make it happen.  Just be yourself.


You really are pretty/handsome, and you're so smart and funny; if you're just yourself, I know they'll like you.


.Nevets.

Soundtrack for writing this post provided by Eric B and Rakim.

It's Like a Casserole

All---

So tomorrow morning I've got the next author-overcoming profile.  You will not want to miss it.  Seriously.

But because I  posted on Sunday, I didn't post yesterday, so I feel like I should post tonight.  But I don't want it to be anything too earth-shattering since I have another post going up in the morning.

In that light, here is a casserole of random goodness:

Don't forget to like my Facebook page.  Next week there will a contest, and at least one prize will only be available to Facebook fans.

Speaking of contests, if you never read how I Nevetsized a moment of Deb Markanton's life, you should.  Not only is it a fun story, but there will be a new opportunity soon to possibly have a moment of your own life re-written as if it were part of my dark, twisted tales.

In news unrelated to Nevets-QST, I would point you to the two give-aways that Michelle Davidson Argyle is having on her blog right now.

In other news, every time I watch Deep Space Nine, I remember why I used to write sci fi.  All benefits to focusing on my genre duly noted, there's just something powerful about being able to manipulate an entire universe against your poor hapless characters.

Back to books for moment, it's recently been announced that RJ Ellory's next release in the US will be A Simple Act of Violence.    RN Morris has released a small teaser of the cover for his next book, The Cleansing Flames.  And while there's no cover art yet, you can pre-order Jennifer Hillier's debut thriller, Creep.

Okay, Tex Mex Hotdish.  This is what Minnesotans would eat if Minnesota were in Mexico.  In a baking dish, one layer of ground beef, browned with diced onion.  Next, a layer of corn, rotel, and green chiles.  Next, a layer of cheesy salsa.  Finally, the layer of tater tots.  Then bake per the tater tot directions.  It's not health food, except for putting a smile on your face.

Random enough for you?

.Nevets.

Random Chatter, Nevets-Style

All---

I feel like blogging, but I'm also tired and scattered, so consider this some random chit-chat just before the weekend.  Chime in with your own in the comments!

Oh, first, I added a Facebook page.  You will want to like my Facebook page, because in the next little while there will be both a Facebook-only contest (!) and some Facebook-only story content.  So follow the link, click like and you're set.  Do it!

So this weekend I'm going to try and get a bunch of time in on Sublimation.  Next week, though I want to try and wrap up a nearly-finished short story.  It's a mystery.  It's a western.  It's about a forensic anthropologist in the American west.   Trying to decide whether to submit it as CN Nevets or another pen name.  I plan on writing more in that series, and some other, perhaps more traditional Western stuff.  Given the market (or lack thereof) for Westerns, it's tempting to isolate my Nevets writing from that material, even though it will be up to the same standard of quality.  Any thoughts?

Earlier this week I checked out a few different videos of Slick Rick and Doug E Fresh preforming "La Di Da Di" live.  That led to a video of Doug E Fresh performing the classic with Snoop Dogg.  Further down the rabbit hole, that led to my discovery of Snoop Dogg's cover version of the song.  While his version isn't quite to my taste, I'll grant its quality for what it wants to be.  That said, there's great irony in a cover version of a song whose original version decried those who were, "bitin' their rhymes, because, um, they're back-stabbers."  This irony may escape you, but trust me, it's there.

Speaking of cover versions: Tesla, I'm sorry, but the original Five Man Electric Band lyrics were just fine.  "Blocking out the scenery" was still meaningful and intelligible when you recorded your version, and changing it to, erm, what you did, was a cheap move.

Today, the third of my three really good friends with whome I started my aborted second masters program passed her oral defense.  I'm very excited for her, as I was for the first two.  I'm proud to have known them, and I look forward to their contributions.  On the other hand, it does sting a little.  I'm not jealous of them, but part of me regrets that I never got to see that one through to completion.

Gabriel's Pancake House in Marion makes amazing breakfast food, all hours of the day.  Best bacon and hashbrowns in the area.  Plus the food never leaves with that greasy, "Ugh, why did I eat that?" feeling.

Congrats to writers Michelle Davidson Argyle and Gary Corby for getting through their copy edits this week!

Congrats to Ryan David Jahn for the spiffy cover for Good Neighbors, the upcoming US release of his award-winning debut thriller, Acts of Violence.

Finally, just a sobering thought that's not new to any one out there trying to start a writing career.  I talk a lot about the importance of approaching writing like a job. It's not my hobby.  It's not something I aspire to to or to become.  I want to approach it with discipline, dedication, and organized energy.  That said, I'll admit that it is very difficult, especially this time of year, to treat writing like job when I already have a job and also volunteer with the ambulance.  Inevitably, something must give.  Too often, by necessity it's the writing.  Hopefully that will not always be the case.

So, I don't ramble often, or blog when I'm sleepy often, but a change of pace is good every once in a while.

Can't wait to hear from y'all!  Comment back or just do your own random ramble.

.Nevets.