Blogging/Pimping

[degsy]

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I mentioned previously that I wanted to raise my game and the moment is looming closer and closer when I might have to start becoming a bit more pushy on the old self-publicity front.

Being a throwback to the days of ZX Spectrums and MS-DOS the concept of blogging is a bit new-fangled for me - but everyone seems to do it nowadays. Not so sure about how sucessful it really is though (I surf the blogs of a few writers I admire who only seem to get a couple of views per blog entry). And then of course, since I publish under my real name, I'll have to face the inevitable enforced hilarity of my work colleagues finding-out about it (gulp!).

Any other suggestions for raising awareness? I know some boards frown deeply upon people pimping their work, so I was tempted to create a page on the BFS 'Ask the Authors' thread. But with only five published stories I thought it might be poor etiquette to try and muscle-in on the professionals....

Anyone got any recommendations for the best blogging/website front-end to use?

Degsy

[robertmammone]

Being honest, and speaking from personal experience, you won 't get much traffic. I've got a little blog where I post a few comments a month. It's now a year old and has had around 1200 hits - most of those I think because sad internet nerds confuse me with an Australian actor with the same name.

Unless you are a name author, with successful professional publications (by that I mean novels) a blog won't generate any meaningful interest.

All this is not say don't do it - after all some publicity is better than none. I regard my blog more a way to chart my progress - if people very, very occasionally comment on something, all to the good.

But don't expect people to come and flock.

[Craig Herbertson]

Thorny question that comes to us all. I was lucky because I went through this rite of passage in the music business well before writing.

I would say you are as serious as you take yourself to be. Self promotion is not necessarily being a pushy pain in the ass. Some people are genuinely pleased to find that you have more stories available and so.

Do a blog and take it as a portent of more work to come. As Robert says it's unlikely that many people will read it. (No idea how many hits I get as a writer but it can't be many.) but at the same time it helps to get into the idea of being a writer.

David Riley has just put a good article on his recent blog about blogging. See, I read it!

[Calenture]

Jul 31, 2010 20:39:12 GMT degsy said:

I'm in a bit of a dilemma... the moment is looming closer and closer when I might have to start becoming a bit more pushy on the old self-publicity front.

Being a throwback to the days of ZX Spectrums and MS-DOS the concept of blogging is a bit new-fangled for me - but everyone seems to do it nowadays. Not so sure about how sucessful it really is though (I surf the blogs of a few writers I admire who only seem to get a couple of views per blog entry). And then of course, since I publish under my real name, I'll have to face the inevitable enforced hilarity of my work colleagues finding-out about it (gulp!).

Any other suggestions for raising awareness? I know some boards frown deeply upon people pimping their work, so I was tempted to create a page on the BFS 'Ask the Authors' thread. But with only five published stories I thought it might be poor etiquette to try and muscle-in on the professionals....

Anyone got any recommendations for the best blogging/website front-end to use?

Degsy

My twopence worth...

These days I think most writers need to come to terms with the idea that we've become the 21st century equivalent of monks in isolated and solitary cells working on illuminated manuscripts.

We have a small advantage over the monks; we're able to show our stuff to the rest of the world. Whether anyone chooses to take notice is another matter - they're usually all too busy pimping their own stuff.

The only way to avoid despair in this situation is to get as much enjoyment as we can from doing the work. And to enjoy the company of other monks... friends with similar interests. Self-evident truths, huh?

This board was knocked together specifically to allow creative people to pimp their own work. Obviously if people push their own stuff too much, it gets boring and the board empties of visitors for a while. As David Riley said here recently, we need to keep a balance on posting about our own and replying to others work. Whichever board we post at.

Front-end stuff? My own preference as a blog is Blogger, now teamed with Google. It's easy to use and isn't flooded with advertising. Another good one is WordPress. Others will have their own favourites.

Probably the best thing to do is put your name to a whole string of them (look at how many Des Lewis has!) Eventually people will start linking and quoting them.

I don't believe any reasonable board should quibble about an occasional self-promoting thread. I also wouldn't worry about "muscling-in on the professionals". These days I think the professionals need all the company they can get, and if they feel it's too much competition, they're in the wrong job.

Of course I could be wrong...

Rog

[Calenture]

Jul 31, 2010 20:39:12 GMT degsy said:

And then of course, since I publish under my real name...

Another point I meant to cover: if people have nicknames and numbers when they want to post under their own name, of course they can always change their visible user name by logging in and modifying their profile.

But I know Demonik has said this at the Vault, and people still haven't done it. So if there's a problem, PM me.

I've just created a category for Members Own Blogrolls

Members can start new threads there with their own names in the subject line. Eventually, by the way, I'm hoping to add enough administrators to the board for different sections, whatever, that no-one'll notice when I'm not here. ;D