Image By Natthawut Kulnirundorn (Bangkok, Thailand). (http://9591.openphoto.net) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
I’ve decided to change a few things about my online presence in 2013. While last year was all about adding content to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I think my bull-in-a-china-shop strategy of peppering the internet with meaningless frivolity was perhaps not the most well thought-out or useful strategy. While I may have had a bunch of fun doing it, I believe it did me a disservice in the end, because all it really amounted to was a whole of useless content nobody gives a rat’s petutie about.
Enter 2013: Blog posts that have meaning. This year is all about having useful and thought-provoking blog posts that may actually result in something more than a passing eye roll. I've known for a while, thanks to information I've read through Kristen Lamb's work, that "high concept" blogging is the way to go, but I haven't really understood how to execute it properly.
Recently this point was hammered home after I read the book How I sold 1 Million ebooks in 5 Months, by John Locke, and even further when I stumbled across The Tipping Point Labs blog post, What Makes Your Content Valuable?
With my new valuable content, I'm hoping I might actually see my readers want to participate in conversations, because the topics are interesting, relevant or compelling for some reason. I am no different than anyone else - when I receive multiple Facebook messages or emails from people on the same day or sometimes even in the same hour, I get annoyed! I unfriend them or put their address in my spam folder. And the thing that horrifies me the most when I look back over the past six months - is the realization that I was becoming exactly like that annoying, spam-spreading person! No more Spammy content on this blog. No Siree!
The truth is, I am not writing for my health or so I can have a keepsake on my bookshelf to show the grandkids. I'm writing because I want people to read my work. I am writing because one day, I'd like to have enough readers and people excitedly purchasing my books that I could become a full time writer. If my only goal was a dust collector on my shelf, I wouldn't have this website, this blog or be bothering with writing any more novels. But that's not me. I want it all! Who doesn't?
The added benefit of this new method is that it also leaves time for other, more important things because I won’t be wasting my time drafting up shallow, irrelevant posts. Time to write great posts about topics I’m passionate about, time to Tweet and Facebook with my fabulous readers, and most importantly, time to write more novels.
At this point, I’m not entirely sure of the frequency of posts. I’m shooting for one a week, but I'm not sure if this will work. As for length, if you know me at all, you are already aware I have the attention span of a gnat, so don’t expect anything too long!
Topics I’ve already begun to contemplate for 2013 include:
Dangerous heroes and why we love them.
Why do we love Christian Grey and Edward Cullen more than we love our own husbands? Especially when our instincts should be screaming at us to hate them? This is a topic I’ve found myself repeatedly contemplating, yet coming up with no answers. In this blog post, I’ll attempt to figure out what the incongruence is all about.
Bisexual heroes in romance.
I’ve recently come to the realization that my main character in my current manuscript, Forest of the Forsaken, is bisexual. What I’ve also come to realize, is the topic comes with a lot of differing reactions and opinions by readers. In this blog post, I’ll be examining this politically charged topic.
Sex scenes that grab you by the... ahem, balls.
Why do some sex scenes read like an anatomy text or Penthouse forum while others invite you to have deeper feelings for the characters and their relationship? Why do some of those scenes actually make you want to roll your eyes and throw the book across the room, and others make you want to crawl right into the pages of your novel? This is a topic I struggle with - how many, how explicit, when is it just the right amount. In this post, I’ll try to figure out what that magical formula is and how to hit the right... er, spot.
There you have it blog buds. I’m going after quality, not quantity. I’m aiming for what matters, not optimizing my blog in a Google search. This is my New Year’s resolution to myself, and a pledge to you, my readers!
What do you think of my plan? What about my post topics? Do you have any resolutions you’d like to share?
Enter 2013: Blog posts that have meaning. This year is all about having useful and thought-provoking blog posts that may actually result in something more than a passing eye roll. I've known for a while, thanks to information I've read through Kristen Lamb's work, that "high concept" blogging is the way to go, but I haven't really understood how to execute it properly.
Recently this point was hammered home after I read the book How I sold 1 Million ebooks in 5 Months, by John Locke, and even further when I stumbled across The Tipping Point Labs blog post, What Makes Your Content Valuable?
With my new valuable content, I'm hoping I might actually see my readers want to participate in conversations, because the topics are interesting, relevant or compelling for some reason. I am no different than anyone else - when I receive multiple Facebook messages or emails from people on the same day or sometimes even in the same hour, I get annoyed! I unfriend them or put their address in my spam folder. And the thing that horrifies me the most when I look back over the past six months - is the realization that I was becoming exactly like that annoying, spam-spreading person! No more Spammy content on this blog. No Siree!
The truth is, I am not writing for my health or so I can have a keepsake on my bookshelf to show the grandkids. I'm writing because I want people to read my work. I am writing because one day, I'd like to have enough readers and people excitedly purchasing my books that I could become a full time writer. If my only goal was a dust collector on my shelf, I wouldn't have this website, this blog or be bothering with writing any more novels. But that's not me. I want it all! Who doesn't?
The added benefit of this new method is that it also leaves time for other, more important things because I won’t be wasting my time drafting up shallow, irrelevant posts. Time to write great posts about topics I’m passionate about, time to Tweet and Facebook with my fabulous readers, and most importantly, time to write more novels.
At this point, I’m not entirely sure of the frequency of posts. I’m shooting for one a week, but I'm not sure if this will work. As for length, if you know me at all, you are already aware I have the attention span of a gnat, so don’t expect anything too long!
Topics I’ve already begun to contemplate for 2013 include:
Dangerous heroes and why we love them.
Why do we love Christian Grey and Edward Cullen more than we love our own husbands? Especially when our instincts should be screaming at us to hate them? This is a topic I’ve found myself repeatedly contemplating, yet coming up with no answers. In this blog post, I’ll attempt to figure out what the incongruence is all about.
Bisexual heroes in romance.
I’ve recently come to the realization that my main character in my current manuscript, Forest of the Forsaken, is bisexual. What I’ve also come to realize, is the topic comes with a lot of differing reactions and opinions by readers. In this blog post, I’ll be examining this politically charged topic.
Sex scenes that grab you by the... ahem, balls.
Why do some sex scenes read like an anatomy text or Penthouse forum while others invite you to have deeper feelings for the characters and their relationship? Why do some of those scenes actually make you want to roll your eyes and throw the book across the room, and others make you want to crawl right into the pages of your novel? This is a topic I struggle with - how many, how explicit, when is it just the right amount. In this post, I’ll try to figure out what that magical formula is and how to hit the right... er, spot.
There you have it blog buds. I’m going after quality, not quantity. I’m aiming for what matters, not optimizing my blog in a Google search. This is my New Year’s resolution to myself, and a pledge to you, my readers!
What do you think of my plan? What about my post topics? Do you have any resolutions you’d like to share?
