Things We Don't Speak Of

Oooh, secrets today, my pretties.

Admit, you're still here because you think I'm gonna go all word vomit and spill a bunch of stuff you're dying to know. I don't know what that would be since pretty much everything about myself is already out there.

But here goes:

1. Yes, my title's been changed. I l-o-v-e it! My young adult dystopian novel is now called POSSESSION and is still slated to come out next summer. I *think* I've gone through to all the sites that I maintain and have changed it. If you have it on your site anywhere, could you make the switch? I'd be ever so grateful.

2. As an author, you should never discuss certain things on your blog. Someone spoke about this during WriteOnCon, but it bears repeating. These are the Things We Don't Speak Of: your advance, your relationship with your agent/editor, your neurosis. These things are private, and should be discussed privately with the appropriate parties. Side note: It's rude to ask someone how much their book sold for. Just sayin'.

3. I have officially cleared my plate of specific things. Namely the QueryTracker blog. I have loved every single minute at QT, but it's time for me to set sail. I've been hoping to announce what I've been doing besides blogging for QT, but that time has not yet ripened.

My friends and I have also discontinued blogging at What Writers Read. It's a good idea, and a fun blog idea, but none of us really has the time to devote what needs to be devoted to it at this time.

4. The best part of the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid was when Rodrick wore guyliner. True that.

I think that's it for this round of Things We Don't Speak Of. What do you have to add to my list? What are some things (not like, Cold War secrets or anything, please!) that you just don't speak of? Did I go too far with the guyliner? Sigh. Probably. *wink*

Things To Think About re: Blogging

Okay, lean in a little closer. Closer... closer... Okay, that's a little too close. *grins* (And I should send you like, a dollar if you know that movie.)

More secrets today. Are you ready? Some of these are not really secrets. Maybe just things to think about. Things that might make your blog easier, faster and more entertaining to read.

Let's start with the basics.

1. Your blog layout.

• Dude, consider carefully before you use a black background. I used to have a dark bluish one, and I loved it. But I realize it's hard on the eyes, and I like light backgrounds much better.
• Absolutely no neon type, please. I'm begging.
• How big is your font? Too small, and I'm skimming from second one. I won't squint to read your blog.
• Look at your white space. Consider the principles of design found here. (Yeah, I teach these in the computer lab. So sue me.)
• Look at the length of your paragraphs. Huge blocks of text intimidate me. They make me think I'll be stuck on your blog reading and re-reading that monster graf for the rest of my natural life. And that's never good.

2. Your blog content.

• We've discussed having and sticking to a schedule.
• We've talked about posting meaningful content for your target audience.
• Lastly, consider the length of your post. I try really hard to stay under 300 words. I'll freely admit I skim uber-long posts. Susan R. Mills, Shannon O'Donnell, Jessica Nelson and T. Anne Adams have fabulous blogs with short posts. Check them out if you're not already following. They say a lot in a little.

3. Your blog audience.

• Be yourself. Share a bit of personal stuff without going overboard on the big 3: Religion, politics or sex. Right? Right. Remember your blog audience. 
• Rants should be saved for private Skypes, chats or emails. Remember your blog audience.
• Share about your book, successes and whatnot without shoving it down our throats. We all want to celebrate, but we don't want every giveaway to be your book. We don't want every post to be your book signing schedule, etc. Remember your blog audience.
• Give your blog audience what they want. Don't know what they want? Figure it out. Then deliver. For this, I leave you with one of my favorite quotes of all time. You can insert anything you want for "street sweeper." Writer. Blogger. Whatev.

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tell me what you like about blogs. What do you think of mine? How are you doing on your blog layout, your blog content and your blog audience? Do you consider all three of these things? If not, dude, maybe you should...

I'm going to address something entirely different next week (or whenever I feel like it): "But my blog is for me. I started it for me."

So feel free to leave me your OP on that too. You know I won't hold back!

Now Take Your Functioning Blog And...

...Make it something people want to read. Every day. They'll want to come back and comment. They'll have your blog address memorized so they don't have to be reminded by their Google reader or sidebar or dashboard that your blog exists.

Easy, peasy, right?

Uh...

Okay, so you've set a goal. You've chosen a schedule. You're posting meaningful content.

Now what?

Bring more readers to your blog.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?

I mean, that's what we want. We want readers to come, enjoy themselves (and not just cuz we're droning on about biting ducks), feel inspired to leave a comment, and then -- COME BACK tomorrow.

I'm going to share a couple of dirty little secrets with you (and hope you don't feel badly toward me because of them) that have helped me increase my blog traffic, make my blog followers swell and hopefully turned my name into one people recognize.

DLS #1: Follow blogs like there's no tomorrow. See how I have like 965 followers or whatever? *whispers* I probably follow twice that many blogs. Or at least 1200.

No seriously. I don't read them all every day, but I follow A LOT of blogs. Following is almost reciprocal. You follow me, I'll follow you.

Now, I'm not quite getting 950 hits on my blog every day. So not everyone is coming to read. But you know what? It sure makes me look popular, doesn't it? *insert snarfing here*

DLS #2: Comment. I've found that commenting is almost always reciprocal. I comment on your blog, you'll come comment on mine. I try really really (REALLY) hard to do this for all of you who comment here. Sometimes I make it. Sometimes I fall short. But I try.

We've discussed commenting to death here and here, but if you want more comments, you must comment more yourself.

Major tip: Right now, all you've got is your name. It's free. Spread it far and wide, wide and far by leaving your name everywhere you go. In the future, when you've got your name on a book, people will go, "Oh, yeah. I know that girl. She's scared of ducks." Or something.

Which leads me to...

DLS #3: Use your name as your blogger handle. It's name recognition, which is how you start to brand yourself. I've started meeting quite a few writers in real life. What's the number one thing they say to me after I say, "I'm Elana Johnson." They go, "Oh, you comment on my blog."

Me: *nodding* "Yes, yes I do." (See DLS #2)

It's like we already know each other, except they still can't pronounce my name right. But as I told someone over the weekend, I'll answer to almost anything!

DLS #4: Breed authenticity. Okay, this is the hardest one, I think. But I gave up a long time ago trying to be someone I'm not. You can't force humor. You can't force your voice. You just have to sit down and let yourself flow from you.

You are the only you out there. You're the only one with your name. You're the only one who can write your blog the way it should be written. So you must listen to yourself and be yourself and build a name for yourself that is different from everyone else.

Super easy, right?

I could go into a personal story here, but I'm worried this post is already freakishly long. So I'm going to torture you with more waiting. Hey! This is publishing. Get used to waiting.

I'll come back to this topic of breeding authenticity in a week or two. Next week I've already got something super exciting planned. And I'm taking tomorrow off the blogosphere unless, like a meteor hits the earth or something equally shocking.

But what do you think of my dirty little secrets? These specific ones are designed to increase your blog readership. I have more that relate to other areas of my goal. Many more. I'll spill them another time. In the meantime, start following, keep commenting, get your name out there and search yourself for who you really are.

Okay?

Okay.