Tomorrow is Original Content's ninth anniversary. Since I avoid the Internet on Sundays in an attempt to improve my character, I am mentioning it today.
I have probably linked to my first blog post a few times on other anniversaries. Birthdays tend to be the same old, same old.
What is particularly interesting about this anniversary is that I've sort of cycled back to where I was when I first started this thing. I have no idea what my readership was the first few years, but I had very little interaction with readers and there were very few children's literature bloggers for me to interact with. I was also only posting about three times a week. (I recall that as my weekly objective at one point when I was doing weekly objectives.) Things picked up for me around 2005/06 when children's lit blogging exploded. I invested in a site meter for my entire website (this blog was a part of it), and I was posting nearly every day. I was definitely on a roll for several years--up and down a bit, of course, but a roll nontheless.
I crashed and burned, I think in the summer of '10. The blog is no longer connected to the website, and I have a site meter just for the blog that indicates that readership is way down, as is interaction with readers. I'm also unable to post as frequently.
So, really, it's like the old days.
Original Content is very much me in that I am seriously into perseverance. I stick with things. Quality may vary. My attitudes may or may not remain the same. But I persevere.
See you next March.
Wow, 9 years! Despite things slowing down I think it's wonderful you've been at it so long. Congrats on your blogaversary!
ReplyDeleteMy blog waxes and wanes too. Here's to perseverance! Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHappy blogiversary!! Nine years is pretty impressive! I don't have time to post as much as I used to, either. Hang in there, and know that you are a valued voice in the Kidlitosphere.
ReplyDeleteGail, your perseverance is amazing. I know what it's like to crash and burn - I think we've all been there with different projects. One thing I've noticed is that site meters are inconsistent and do not pick up all the traffic that comes to your site.
ReplyDeleteHappy blogiversary! I am impressed! And, as Sheila says, you are definitely a valued voice in the Kidlitosphere - on this blog and through your books.
9 years is a lifetime in blog-years, Gail. I'm just glad that you're still here (and that I can count on you still being her next year).
ReplyDeletePersonally, I've found interaction with other bloggers more difficult this past year. This is partly because I have less time available for my blog. But I think it's also because there are now so MANY blogs - it's impossible to keep up with them all, and often I find that it's easier to tune out completely than to try to sort through the many choices.
But I've always valued your voice in the Kidlitosphere. Happy 9 years!
I don't think there's any more important character trait to have than perseverance...so keep it up, and accept yourself and your ups and downs. It's the nature of life! Happy writing, happy blogging!
ReplyDeleteNine years!! And here I was thinking Tanita and I were old-timers for having a 6-year-old blog. :) Happy blogoversary to you. I really admire your perseverance, and I can definitely relate to the ups and downs. Like Jen said, especially lately, there's so much going on in the book blogging world that it's impossible to keep up with everyone. That's why I really value the longtime voices like yours--even if I don't always have time to regularly visit or leave a comment. (That is the story of my life with MOST blogs these days. Sigh.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, congratulations and cheers!
Thanks for the good wishes, all.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann--I have my doubts about site meters, too. But their inconsistency means that the one that was giving me such great stats back when the blog and website were counted together was probably wrong a lot of the time, too.
Jen and Sarah--Yes, I think the number of blogs has become overwhelming and has been for a while now. I know I've had to cut back on the ones I follow and follow some much less regularly than I did back around 2005 when things were first taking off. I'm sure other bloggers have had to do the same thing.
Congratulations! Nine years is quite an achievement!
ReplyDeleteAnd I echo what Jen and Sarah said about the number of blogs and what that means for the dialogue. We'll need to work on that.
Congrats on Gauthier's 9th! I just hit my first anniversary of committing commentary mayhem at my friend's poetry blog Scarriet
ReplyDeletehttp://scarriet.wordpress.com/
and my 30th anniversary of taking religion, um, seriously.
Seriously, Nooch, whenever I've visited Scarriet there has seemed to be some kind of brawl going on. Since I don't understand sports or poetry, I can barely follow the action. Picketing over Robert Penn Warren? For real? Though I do find myself drawn to the idea of rereading All the King's Men. By the way, I think your people are going to wait a long time for a comment from Robert Penn Warren, but I admire their optimism in hoping for one.
ReplyDeleteChildren's literature is doing a March Madness thing over at School Library Journal http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/, but from what I saw of the proceedings last year, those folks are engaged in a lovefest. I don't recall anyone calling anyone else a "New Critic."
Basketball and poetry are rough-and-tumble affairs, not for the faint of heart. Lovefeasts are great on Sunday mornings, but they don't win ball games!
ReplyDeletehttp://scarriet.wordpress.com/