Simply Mine and Yours

Zestful Blog Post #172

The other day I was surprised to see that Zestful Writing inched into Feedspot’s list of top 100 writing blogs. The list uses web metrics rather than somebody’s subjective judgment to rank the blogs. It gets updated once a week. (At the moment, Zestful Writing is #94.) Feedspot is essentially an RSS aggregator.

I was surprised because my subscriber base numbers in the hundreds, not the thousands (though the blog gets more visits from nonsubscribers), I have relatively few Twitter followers, and this blog doesn’t have its own Facebook page.

Moreover, I’m a little surprised my blog gets much attention at all, because I don’t do two key things bloggers these days are supposed to do for health, wealth, and ever more subscribers:

1)     Have guest bloggers write posts, and

2)     Repurpose other people’s material by quoting from their articles, books, and blog posts.

Oh, and as far as writers’ blogs go, I also avoid focusing on how to make money from your writing. This is a huge difference between me and many others.

I’ve been asked to guest post here and there, and have always said yes. And my writing has been excerpted in other blogs, and I’m fine with that, when proper credit is given, of course. Was downright honored to have some of my stuff excerpted in a high profile writing blog recently.

But Zestful Writing is an old-style blog. Isn’t it insane to even use the word old when speaking of a blog? But yeah, to me, your web log, or blog, is supposed to be written by you, not other people. It’s supposed to be your take on things, your reportage of your activities vis-à-vis your subject. I’m missing out on the networky advantages that come to you when you vigorously exchange guest posts with other bloggers and when you aggregate other people’s material. So be it. Exposure, publicity, marketing! So be it.

[Graffiti on a stall wall in the women's room at John King Books in Detroit this year.]

I always lose interest when a blogger I’ve been following starts publishing guest posts. Because I want to learn about THAT person, not his friends. HER ideas, not her friends’. Is it nitpicky for me to say, “Well, then, don’t call it a blog, call it a newsletter.”?

This blog is idiosyncratic. It’s mine, and I alone write it for you. I write about my best ideas on how to write well and freely—with zest. I write about stuff that interests me as a writer and reader, I write about my life as a writer, and I especially like to write about stuff I learn—and how that relates to living the life of a zestful writer. Also, I almost always use my own photographs/images to illustrate this blog.

When I post things about my blog on my personal Facebook page (which is also my author and blogger Facebook page (come friend me)), I usually put up an excerpt from it and a reference to the blog. But not a link to the blog, because FB puts links lower in the feed, and I want to share my material, not necessarily get you to click through to the blog at all costs.

If you like reading this blog, you’re my friend. We are in synch. I have the best readers. Thank you.

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