As the year draws to a close, many of us reflect on what we have achieved during the past twelve months and start planning for the future, This morning, I'm thinking about my blog posts.
Since 2013, I have worked on a regular monthly pattern:
Week one: pot luck, whatever I feel like posting; maybe a comment on a news story or something that's happened to me in the past few days.
Week two: Elizabeth chats with..., an interview, usually with an author, but sometimes with an illustrator or other creative person.
Week three: pot luck, as in week one.
Week four: A Broad Abroad: anecdotes and reflections on my twenty-five plus years of overseas working.
On the rare occasions when there are five Mondays in the month, I throw in another pot luck.
In addition, I periodically post daily pieces, based on my current travels; although this is much less exotic than during my working days; it's usually somewhere in UK or Western Europe.
Like many bloggers, I monitor my statistics. In my top five most popular posts, I have three interviews and two 'lessons learned' pieces: on self-publishing and on travel tips.
So now, I have a choice: I can carry on with the same format; or I can revamp it. I am tending towards the latter. Interviews are very popular - and there is no shortage of willing victims, I mean volunteers! The monthly travel writing seems less so, although the one-off trips gain a fair number of readers. The popularity of the pot luck pieces varies widely with topic, as would be expected. I am about to embark on the pre-publicity for my next novel, which is coming out in July, so will certainly be talking about that every so often.
So gentle reader, I'm throwing this question open to you: what would you like to see in my 2016 blog schedule? More interviews? Less travel? What will make YOU pause in your rapid perusal of Facebook or Twitter and click on the link to read my blog among the so many others that are calling for your attention?
I love travel posts because I like seeing new places, and photos are easy to peruse!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Icy. I'm happy to say that 'A Broad Abroad' will continue to make an appearance during 2016. E x
DeleteI like your travel posts because I love the photos! Self-pub ones are always interesting to read, as long as it's a new slant on something. As for the interviews... well, you do ask the best questions! How did I do in comparison with Julia, btw????? :^D
ReplyDeleteShe's had over 2300 views against your 1400+ (with an extra two months exposure), but you're way ahead on comments: 37 against 10. I will be doing more travel posts - and certainly more interviews, although I might throw in a few more questions to mix it up a bit. I don't have too much to say on self-publishing that hasn't been said before, so I tend not to do that too often. E x
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't think I'd get anything like as many as her because I was a bit over exposed in Oct and Nov!!! Because I'd had a new book out so many lovely people offered me guest spots and I'm guessing people got fed up reading about me, ha ha!!! Also, writers are probably your biggest audience, and people like to read about proofreaders.
DeleteYou understand that I have four planets in Virgo so have to do an analysis of everything. Also justify why more people wanted to read about Julia than me!!! *gnaws fist" :^D
I always look at travel posts, I love them!