Yesterday marked my last Tuesday Deals column. Click here to check the archives and note which deals remain available (please check expiration dates mentioned in the posts and also please check prices before downloading).
While I enjoyed writing Tuesday Deals, it was an experiment designed to force me to blog more often and get out the word about Indie romance authors. Then, one weekend, I accidentally wrote a column two weeks ahead of time. So I had to write two columns that weekend, one for the Tuesday I was originally supposed and one for the Tuesday two weeks ahead. The upside to this is that I did two weeks of work in one afternoon. The downside is that I spent my entire afternoon working on the columns.
That’s when it hit me. While I enjoy writing the columns, it would likely take several months to build up enough of a following to warrant the time away from my own writing. And, what was a writer with dry eyes following laser surgery and a rotator cuff that is nearly completely healed (but why risk it?) doing blogging about other authors instead of focusing on her writing?
Well, she was being nearsighted, that’s what.
The plain fact of the matter is that readers don’t visit blogs as much as they used. I get much more interaction on Facebook and Twitter than I do on my blog. People might be reading the blog, but they aren’t commenting like they used to before Facebook and Twitter really took off. So, unless I want to be checking blog stats all the time (and I don’t; I haven’t even installed a plug-in, although I guess I should), I have no real way of knowing how many visitors are reading, unless they comment. I think readers feel more comfortable commenting on Facebook and Twitter, because they’re closed networks. A blog is open to everyone. And that’s okay.
Do you know what’s the most important thing an author can do to forward her career?
Write more books.
In the day of the ebook boom, a writer’s production is more important than ever. When readers discover you, they want to read your backlist and look forward to your front list, those books that are coming. I’ve often bemoaned that I’m a slow writer, however, I’m not willing to sacrifice quality to increase my input. And, I write under two names, which means sometimes I have to ignore Cindy to focus on my alter ego. And, when real life interrupts, you can imagine how that might affect a slow writer’s production.
The best thing I can do for myself and my readers is focus on writing more books. Not worry that people aren’t commenting on my blog. Not come up with ideas to force me to blog. Not concern myself with the fact that I haven’t updated my Dear Cindy… Q & A or Articles pages in eons. That maybe I should redesign my website so it doesn’t include those pages, so then they wouldn’t remind me that I haven’t updated them. I can update them when it suits me. I can blog when it suits me. I can interact with the public on the social networks of my choosing. And I can write.
This doesn’t mean I’m completely stopping showcasing other authors on my blog. When I happen to see a deal I think is great, and I have the time, I’ll write up a post. If a writer I admire has a new release, I might write a post. But I’m not going to go looking for deals and I am no longer considering requests. It’s kind of weird that I’m making this decision just when authors are starting to come to me instead of me searching them out. But it’s a decision I need to make.
Deal?
