December 23, 2019

2019 Blogging Update

For today’s post, I’m linking up with Girlxoxo and Traveling With T for Month of Faves: Blogging in 2019.

This post is especially for blogging enthusiasts!

We blog in isolation, so occasionally I like to peek into the blogging lives of others to see how my experiences or results compare–not in a way that is negative or competitive but to maintain realistic expectations and perspectives for my own blogging journey. I hope I can provide encouragement today as I share my “steady growth” philosophy and experience. Here are some stats:

•  161st post of the year (with more planned before year’s end)
  In my first year (half-year) of blogging, I published one post per week; my 2nd year, I pushed for 2 posts per week; and now in my 3rd year, I set a goal of 3 posts per week. Many weeks I met that goal….every week in 2019 I published 2 or 3 posts per week (a few times I managed 4 posts per week). Part of my steady growth philosophy is to push myself in stages and give myself permission to back off if it’s too much.
• Total views for 2019: 58,507  (as of 12/21/19); In 2018 I had a total of 13,652, so 2019 brought an increase of at least 44,855. Although this might be far less than some popular bloggers (a blogger I peeked in on today claims 25,000 views per day!), I feel like my number is realistic for me and my steady growth demonstrates that I’m on the right track with my current strategies.
  Total Overall Views in 2 1/2 years: 75, 482
  THANK YOU so very much for your support (viewing, reading, liking, sharing)! It means the world to me! I hope you know that even though I’m talking stats today, I do this for the joy it brings and not the numbers!
• Most popular post: Where the Crawdads Sing Review (week after week and month after month since the pub date, Crawdads has been my number one search term (an indication of the hype for this book).
• The post of which I’m the proudest: I’m proud of all the work I do on the blog to bring you great reading recommendations, but I’m especially proud of the 12 blogger collaboration post published last summer: Summer’s ONE Must-Read Book.
• Followers for this blog total 1,401 (this represents my slowest growing statistic, but I’m pleased with the number and extremely grateful for each person who engages with my content week after week. I don’t participate in follow-for-follow threads on twitter because I want to grow followers organically. I desire followers who care about the content and are not following simply to get a follow back.
• Blogging schedule: Part of my steady growth philosophy involves the promotion of my blog on social media. This takes time. It takes time away from reading and from writing content; however, engaging with readers on Instagram and Twitter is part of the joy of blogging too! I am inspired by the work of others and also receive encouragement and affirmation for my work. If you are thinking of starting a blog or are a new blogger, you must put significant effort into promotion and engagement on social media and consider that a part of your blogging schedule. See this post for additional specific blogging information.
  • My general weekly routine: Every morning I spend 2-3 hours on social media with the purpose of blog hopping (comments, likes, shares, and engaging on Instagram and Twitter). Afternoons are devoted to reading, and evenings are set aside for more reading and writing reviews and blog content (my most productive writing time is between 10-12 p.m. when the house is quiet). When I post in the evening, I promote that post or share the review the next morning (Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Netgalley, Amazon). I’m recently retired, so I’m privileged to devote as much time as I’d like to my blog. I have been the most strict with myself about posting a review every Friday (at times I move that to Thursday if I’m participating in Friday’s Positivity Wave). But I decided at the beginning that ONE review per week would be mandatory for me. Sometimes I participate in Top Ten Tuesday or other memes, or write another review. (This might be time to confess that I’ve been nominated for blog awards that I’ve neglected to respond to…. this might be my weakest area of blogging and I need to say I’m sorry to my blogging friends for not following through).
• As mentioned earlier, I count the acquaintances I’ve made through the blogging experience a definite perk and joy of blogging. If you are a new blogger, you must extend yourself and make connections with other bloggers. You cannot survive as a blogger without the support of others (and the comradery is a joy!). For example, I have blogging friends in Israel, Nigeria, France, Canada, Great Britain, and various regions of the U.S. Find your people!
• Blogging goals for 2020:
  • Respond to tags!
  • Make 3 posts per week a norm
  • Hit 2,000 followers by year’s end.
  • Continue to engage with the blogging community.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my blogging life! If you have questions, I’d be happy to address them in the comments.

Related post: What I’ve Learned in Two Years of Blogging

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QOTD!

If you are a blogger, do you have comments, questions, advice, or insight?

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ICYMI

I have finished my Fall TBR!
(just in time to begin my Winter TBR!)

Winter 2019 TBR

My Nonfiction November Posts:
2019 Nonfiction Reads
Nonfiction and Racial Injustice
Nonfiction/Fiction Pairings
Favorite Nonfiction Books
2020 Nonfiction TBR
Finding Chika by Mitch Albom

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Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

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***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photo are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.