Last week I talked about blogging and set up my schedule. Thank you to everyone who commented. There is no question most folks are tired of cover reveals, blitzes, and the same old interviews.
On my blog, many of my most popular posts are guest spots. Any time I'm hosting another author, I see a jump in visits and comments. The highest rated ones are those posts that are different too.
Giveaways also attract attention. Yet many people seem bored with Rafflecopter and prizes of ebooks. Giftcards are the most sought after prize. My Goodreads giveaway last year had a huge response.
A lot of people stated they enjoy posts that are personal. Nothing long and rambling. A peek into that blogger's life. Maybe something funny, a goal reached, or an issue that means a lot to them.
Writers like reading about writing, of course. But there are so many articles about the craft out there. Posts about the author's personal writing journey are more interesting. This is one of the reasons the IWSG is so popular.
After all the talk about blogging in the community, have you or do you plan on changing your blog content?
Hi Christine - I agree I am tired of the blog hops, reveals etc - where we're inundated across the blogosphere with repetitive information. Though I quite see authors need to get their work out there and marketed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not intending to change my blog content imminently though I know the posts are long ... but I'll see what happens as life goes on ...
I do love blogging and the community, and I enjoy visiting IWSG folk! Cheers Hilary
Yes I sense a change of focus across the blogosphere. I am not posting as often as I once was and a lot of my content is about my life or writing journey. I'll still do the odd cover reveal or hop but I guess I'm just not going to do it all.
ReplyDeleteIt has been interesting reading posts about this topic over the last few weeks.
I'm still trying to get back into the swing of blogging, but I like to hope my blog has a somewhat nice balance of posts at the moment. I probably annoy people with the things I choose to talk about, though, haha...
ReplyDeleteI'm not doing cover reveals anymore and am scaling back the promotions. I want to get back to the movies, music, and geek stuff I used to feature, plus a bit about me.
ReplyDeleteAs for popular posts, the IWSG posts lead most of the time.
I agree that people are getting tired of all the cover reveals and somewhat of the e-book giveaways though I still see giveaways as very popular. That's why I continue to do them with all my interviews and guest posts. I do think a lot of people still prefer print books. I have noticed that our TBR list is getting too big to always enter.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on doing what I've been doing because people seem to like it. I have ideas for doing more, like agent Q&A or query critiques, that people liked but just don't have time right now to set it up.
I totally agree with the personal part. It's when you feel like you have insight to a person's soul that you bond with them, and thus want to support them. We're not selling books or content, we're selling us. (As scary as that may sound.)
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about blogging is you can change things up if something isn't working. I do plan to change my blog schedule a bit come 2015.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to focus my content around the upcoming stories I'm working on. I'm not sure if that'll be interesting to many people, but hopefully it is. *crosses fingers*
ReplyDeleteI still enjoy some interesting blog hops but on my regular posts I keep them short and usually mix a little personal in with some interesting business or news stuff.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the insights into blogging and posting! I have been giving a bit of thought to my posts this summer and I still feel like I'm in a quandary. I like interviews but I think guest posts are more interesting, and learning about both the writing life and the craft/business side together is something I think is awesome - those are some of my fave posts. I like a look at how the personal mixes with the creative and business parts of the writing life. (yes, I want it all - is that bad?)
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, like Alex, I long to return to blogging like I did a long time ago with a focus on eclectic interests and blessings. (I had a year of "blessings" once)
I do know that I miss hanging out in the blogsphere (notice the huge comment), but life and my family and my writing have all been pulling me away. I have to juggle again and see which balls I can keep up in the air.
I quit doing cover reveals, except for a select few.
ReplyDeleteI'll attach promos for books to a post I wrote. Since I went down to blogging 1x a week, it's necessary.
I want to appeal to a reader, so only talk about writing on IWSG day. The other days I retooled my articles to coincide with what I write about and what I love.
I don't think there's anyway of getting around the promotion, and I don't want to. I want to help people out. We all need that help.
I quit doing bloghops about a year ago. The Realms Faire is a big promo opporunity for the community... if they care to take us up on it.
Again, thank you to everyone. I'm learning a lot about what people want to see on blogs these days. It does take a lot of time to keep up on things, and I think many of us what to make more efficient use of our blog time.
ReplyDeleteI guess if I was strictly writing about writing, I'd want to change the content of my blog. But since my stuff is all so personal, I don't feel like I need to change a thing. It's just a matter of having enough content.
ReplyDeleteI don't know...our blogs are about us. We all know we have readers, but they started following our blogs because they liked us, I hope. So, I try not to let what gets a lot of views influence what I post. Book reviews get a pretty big hit for me. Also, anytime I'm ranting about something, I guess because those tend to be funnier posts. But I just keep the doing the same thing because it's what I enjoy doing and it's sustainable for me. Plus, you never know what kind of odd post is going to attract attention!
ReplyDeleteI have two blogs and right now I'm only blogging once a week on each. There might be an occasionally extra post if I join a blog hop or something else special. I think I need to expand a bit on what I post so that there is more variety. I'll keep working at it. : )
ReplyDeleteI just do whatever, whenever. I am a rebel blogger. LOL. I will keep promoting friends. No paid tours though. Mary and Crystal do it smart. They add a little promo at the bottom of a post. That clever Crystal has that truth and lie game. Man, I'd envy her and talk bad about her behind her back, but she's so freaking sweet and helpful that I just can't.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that lately, my book reviews and cover reveals aren't as popular as posts I make with more general content that appeals to most/all writers. I'll still promote others, but I'm trying to have enough of my own content in there as well.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, as today I found the opposite. I tried something new and blogged about a very current event (they found an old skeleton buried in our town) and six hours later no comments at all. Go figure. I thought it was pretty interesting.
ReplyDelete