When you first start off blogging what exactly is it that you do?
We think about what we want to post about, right? I honestly didn't put into much thought about my readers when I first started blogging. I know it's our blog and we can do what we want. But don't we also have to think about our readers too? We do because if we just post stuff that doesn't attract readers, then no one will be interested in coming back to the blog.
The idea to write this post first came to me when I saw a couple of bloggers talking about how they disliked book blitzes. Posts that have been prepared for bloggers to post and promote books that
usually contain excerpts or giveaways. I looked back at my first year of blogging and there were a ton of that!! I mean A LOT! It got me a bit down because that's not what I want to this blog to be about.
usually contain excerpts or giveaways. I looked back at my first year of blogging and there were a ton of that!! I mean A LOT! It got me a bit down because that's not what I want to this blog to be about.
I actually surprised myself by what I did next. I deleted most of them because I don't even remember why I signed up to post them! I don't even remember most of these books. They were pretty hasty decisions I made. I had over 200 posts in the year of 2014 and now there's only 143 posts. But I don't regret it.
This year has been my most improved (I would say) for creating some of the posts that I've had the most fun in creating. And I've noticed that people actually comment on my tips and discussion posts more than blog tours or reviews. Gee, I wonder why?!
Another thing I was kind of obsessed with was weekly memes. I posted so much of it. I don't really post Waiting On Wednesday as much as I used to. I still do but as often. But I think blogs shouldn't be consumed by them. Otherwise, it wouldn't keep me bound to visit some blogs.
Weekly Memes aren't bad at all. It really does help generate pageviews and it's a way to put your blog out there when you're new. But there should be a right amount of other posts as well.
Nose Graze actually wrote a post when she was asked, "Why Are People Deleting Old Posts?" She talked about why anyone would want to delete posts we worked hard on. And that's exactly my point on why I deleted the book blitzes as well as some cover reveals. Because they weren't unique to my blog at all! I was given the HTML codes and that's all there is to it. A bunch of other bloggers also posted the same thing.
And I don't want to make people feel bad about posting book blitzes. If you genuinely love posting them, then do it! Don't let anyone stop you from doing something you love. Just try to add your personality to it and not just post the HTML code.
I honestly don't like looking back on my old posts because of what I'll find. It's a bunch of weekly memes and reviews and unoriginal stuff.
I've always wanted to create a feature that would be unique to my blog but I've always struggled with that. It's always hard to be original. And you won't always know if it's original or not. But I guess everyone always ends up finding their own style eventually.
So what did you think of this post? What are your thoughts on deleting posts or book blitzes?
I do not think that I will be deleting my post, thanks to bloggers who are more experienced, I am selective in picking book blitzes, and only do it when I genuinely feel that I would like the book or I will be reviewing them.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it is still a way to thank the authors/ publishers for giving me a chance to read their books for free.
but I do see your point!
keep on the good work.
ailyn
http://honesty-virtue.com
Yeah, I wish I had been more selective when I signed up for them. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. I used to think I would never delete posts because maybe one day I'll want to look back and see how I was back then. But in my eyes, it looked bad that my blog was completely overrun by book blitzes :/
DeleteYou're speaking my language! I didn't post book blitz at first, (I'm not sure what they are) BUT with that being said, I too was pretty unoriginal and scared when I started posting. But now I'm just like pfft. Whatevs. And yes it's true! We post what we want and when we want to but we do have to keep in mind our readers and things like that. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think most of us start off posting the general stuff: reviews and weekly memes. And then we start gaining more experience and knowledge. That turns into posts to help other bloggers. Or at least, that was my case :)
DeleteI just recently went through and deleted some old posts. They were book blitzes and a couple of reviews I wasn't happy with. Overall I think that the integrity of your blog is important and sometimes as we are learning we need to take out the baby blocks, we started with.
ReplyDeleteI've deleted some old posts because they're just THAT bad. My GIF-to-word ratio was horrid. I don't delete much anymore, but occasionally I will....
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books
I recently deleted a lot of my old posts because they were book blitzes or reviews with like two sentences -- yeah, I don't know what was wrong with my younger self *shudders* I also deleted/stopped doing a few memes because if you do so many it can be a bit boring. But now that I've removed all those posts, I'm really happy with my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI have recently started posting Book Blitzes more in hope of generating some more interest but I'm always selective about the books I blitz as I would only want to advertise a book I think I would enjoy! I try to personalise them too, I never use the provided HTML Code haha, I just create a post from scratch! I should write more Discussion posts too I think, I hardly ever do because as you say it's hard to be original and I work full time. This is a great post! I wish I could come up with an original Meme too, I'd want to do something that was really fun!
ReplyDeleteKatrina @ Chased By My Imagination