Yesterday I received an unexpected message from some people called Feedspot. They have created a Top Thirty of UK crime fiction blogs and websites. The details are here and if you take a look, you'll see that this blog ranks fourth. In fact, of the blogs created by a single person, it is top of the chart. So I'm duly gratified.
The list is said to rank the best blogs 'from thousands of book blogs on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers and freshness'. When I enquired further, I learned that Feedspot's editorial team searches for relevant blogs and measures them against various criteria. I must confess that I don't really understand how such things are evaluated, since I've always been remiss in figuring out the technical side of things when it comes to my website and blog. I'm well aware that there are various techniques to improve search engine ratings, but I simply don't have the time or expertise to attend to these things as efficiently as would be ideal. Given the need to prioritise, my energies are focused on the actual writing of material rather than tech stuff. I'm pleasantly surprised that, on objectively assessed measures, the blog is doing so well.
Having said that, I should repeat what I've said before. I write these blog posts for one simple reason - because I enjoy doing so. There are all sorts of benefits to running a blog like this, most of which I never anticipated when I started out in 2007. The reason the blog is called Do You Write Under Your Own Name? is because, back then, despite the fact that I'd been a published novelist for sixteen years plus, relatively few readers were familiar with my work.
To some extent, this blog forms a record of my writing life, so that I can look back and remember past events and trips. That in itself is very rewarding. And it's a great memory jogger. There have been many times when I've been about to watch a film, for instance, only to check the blog and realise that I'd not only watched it before but written a review. Eeek! It's sometimes fun to watch again anyway and see if my opinion of the film (or, on occasion, TV show or novel) is the same as it was the first time around.
Above all, I value the personal contacts I've made through this blog. Some people who have got in touch over the years have become good friends. There are many who have given me information that is helpful to my researches - or just plain interesting. Your comments are always a delight to read. And the messages of encouragement I get from blog readers are enormously motivating.
At the moment, I feel my writing is going as well as it's ever done, perhaps better than it's ever done. There are several reasons for this, but undoubtedly they include the motivation I get from responses to my blog posts. I don't take these things for granted, believe me. I'm very grateful to all those people, from around the world, who support this blog. You've given me a great deal and I hope to return the compliment by keeping the blog going for a long time to come.
6 comments:
I am very grateful for your blog Martin. Not only have I received many a jog to explore a particular novelist through your forgotten writers posts but without it I would not have regonised you when you were browsing my stand at one York Book Fair and we would have missed all those lovely crime fiction chats (especially on Josephine Tey) over the years! Congratulations on this well deserved regconition of your brilliant blog!
Well done and well deserved. How you keep up reading and posting is beyond me. May I wish you all the best for Christmas and into the New Year.
Congratulations Martin!
When taking a look at the list, I discovered that I just squeezed into the top ten.
Like you I am a little baffled by the criteria, but nonetheless pleased to have make it on the list.
Great to see Jim Noy and Christine Poulson too.
Can't help feeling a tad overlooked here in favour of some blogs that only post twice a year...
Well deserved recognition for your blog. Don't try to analyse why or how, just keep on doing what you've been doing.
Now, that is the honest reportage but also the blog entry of a modest man. And that is what makes this blog so addictive and informative. It is as varied as it is honest, and the wide range of both books and films covered, along with the real life adventures of an eminent author, gives this blog a very particular flavour and humanity. Tubs are not thumped here, nor are egos exercised or exorcised; it tells it just like it is. Which is a lot harder than it sounds. I am not at all surprised this blog appears so high on the list of recommendations. Another well earned kudos.
(Look, someone had to say it for you, Martin! You can put strychnine in my coffee later!)
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