Blogs - your experiences

M. Welshman

M. Welshman

Hi folks. Earlier in the year I set up a dog blog myspace.com/mwman with the idea of my terrier, Arthur-Rex yapping on about various things.  Like all good ideas, this one fell by the wayside until last Saturday when I was a guest on BBC Radio Bristol talking about Arthur-Rex's involvement in the Active Living Centres in Somerset.  Not having any details to hand re contact points for these Centres I referred to the MySpace address the idea being I put some of the phone numbers up there. This forced me to resurrect the blog.  As a consequence of mentioning it there have been over 160 hits in the past few days. I know it's not many but still fascinating to realize there are people who do bother to chase up links.

I'd be interested to hear from other TBs who have set up their own blogs and what their experiences have been with them. Have they been worthwhile?  Have they led to interesting contacts?
Thanks
Malcolm

dorothyd

I set up a blog and it had nil hits, so I haven't bothered to update it or work on it at all. Seems a waste of time.  I prefer to work out pages for my website and use that instead.  That has attracted attention, I am pleased to say.

M. Welshman

Good point Dorothy.  I've had many people say I should be setting up a website so that I can then refer people to it.  Seems to be the thing to do particularly if a published writer so as to 'spread the word'. I'm just a bit lazy and wonder whether it wil be worth the effort particularly as I'd be forced to keep it up-to-date otherwise it would defeating the objective.

Carol

Well it will help potential book purchasers find out about upcoming releases.
You can list personal appearances you're due to make in the next few months with details.
It doesn't have to be updated every week, it could be done every few months, or whenever there is a particular bit of news.
If someone googles your name it will come out in the first page- it gives you the power to make the most use of your official info.
You can put a link to the blog, and vice versa.

cooper

Buddy is still looking for a decent site.  He thinks that blogging is a good writing exercise.  Knowing my luck, he'll get published before I do.

Celtic C

If it's any consolation, my dog had a column in the local paper and nobody knew who I was but they all recognised him!

M. Welshman

Hey Celtic C,  Arthur-Rex wants to inform you he's im'pressed' by the fact your dog had a column in a local newspaper.  It's given him paws for thought. Please tell us more.

Nefertari

I have a blog with aol that I add to now and then, mostly I write about my experiences of living here in Egypt at the moment and also add bits re my writing. I don't get many hits but my family read it to see what I am doing here and that way I don't have to repeat everything in emails.

Jay Mandal

I think there's a thread about blogging etiquette. You need to beware of people who mention you in their blogs without first clearing it with you. I'll see if I can find the thread.

dorothyd

MW, the wonderful Mike Coombes, Talkbacker, does a brilliant job with websites. Check mine out,
www,circle-of-light.co.uk
all Mike's work. I provided the photos and the words, he did the rest. Not that expensive either, and he maintains it for me.

Tessa Tangent

There's a good quote in this month's WN.  I haven't got it to hand (ho hum) but it's "those who can do; those who can't ... blog". 

I found blogging a bit tiresome.

montholon

I blog as part of my website. (See the current blogging etiquette thread)

Celtic C

MW - dog was but a pup when local rag had one of their periodic "dog poo is scaring the tourists" coorrespondences going on. He decided to join in by pointing out that the canines were the innocent parties (that would be a first in his case!)but then went on to highlight all the positive aspects to our country town - the riverside walks where he could chat with the ducks and roll in the dead salmon, the hills with the rabbits and deer to play chase with, the local services and then of course, the locals themselves who constantly stopped to admire his cute but debonair good looks (a beagle pup, he had the cute factor in spades!)He took a few hundred words to take what had been a negative issue and turn it into something positive - a monologue about his good self. (He even brought the tooth fairy into it!)
It was intended purely as a one-off, tongue-in-cheek submission but proved so popular that he returned again to tell them all about his first Christmas (which he really enjoyed!) and then Valentines day. Don't know what happened with the latter - I think they tried to edit it or just missed chunks of it, but it didn't make a great deal of sense (though the love of his life, a Vizla at that time, appreciated it apparently!)
I still get asked why he doesn't come out of retirement - and now that you,ve brought the subject up, he might!
Unfortunately he went on to develop epilepsy which is proving difficult to keep under control and requires  3x daily medication - but he's never stopped being that fun-loving puppy - beagles never grow up!

Author Online

I have 2 blogs actually - the first one Podding Along Nicely details my journey towards self publication via of course POD. It took a while to get going and I have been posting a lot more these past few months since my book was placed on sale or return with Gardners. As well as posting about my own exdperiences with print on demand, I also discuss  important and newsworthy issues re publishing in general that I find from scouring the internet. Some of these have attracted interesting comments from a number of other such authors as well as small presses.

My other blog is aimed more at helping other POD authors. I noticed that a lot of such authors seem to be doing what they call virtual book tours whereby their books are featured on various blog sites. Most of these sites though are US based, so I decided to start my own one for UK authors. In practise though anyone can list their books on there provided they are published via print on demand and available in the UK. Most of those who have so far been featured have been American, since the forums that I post on are also primarily US based but a number of of other authors have used it as well. It all helps to raise ones profile after all, and although I can't guarantee that it will result in more sales, it certainly can't hurt ....

June 

Jay Mandal

Interesting. Must tell my POD publisher!

scribe

I've had a blog for about 10 months and get an average of about 500 hits per month. I think it very much depends on how often you update it and how active you are within the blogging community. If you drop by other people's blogs and leave comments, they will usually visit yours in return. If you don't update often enough, people stop checking it.