A Special Thanks to 500 People
I want to simply thank everyone for visiting my blog!
As of today, I have had 500 unique visitors just since I relaunched my blog in August after a 15 months of a hiatus (due to beautiful baby boy!)
UPDATE: OMG - I just realized I hadn't started my counter until Nov 6th - this is just in a month! Cool!
Now, in just a short couple of months. I've somehow, managed to lure, trick, attract, snow-over, tease, or cyber-touch 500 people!
My husband was shocked to say the least. (I think he's an avid reader by the way :) But he still counts right?
I think he thought what I said. "Just think. There are 500 people out there that may enjoy what I have to say?" Really??
This milestone was almost as exciting to me as the possibility of someday getting my perfect agent, committed editor, and multi-book/movie contract.
OK not quite - but it was close! I'd give it a 7 out of 10 on my "squeal factor". That's kinda sad if you think about it. That having people read my blog is a 7 out of 10? Oh brother. I need to get out more.
This is a crazy-fun, bizarre, exciting, wierd, reflective blogger world. I mean some of you know more about me than my best friend (So she'd better be reading my blog!) I sure wish all you "lurkers" would leave more comments - even if they are anonymous., but only if they are nice. I'd love to hear from you! It's good to know I'm not alone here though.
So thanks for taking the time out of your daily life to connect with me - in a cyber-way. I appreciate it.
Hopefully, the marketing info is helping some people out. It's my niche in this blogger world for authors and it's the talent I could really contribute to all you published authors out there in return for your advice and good books. For some reason, Marketing doesn't seem to be talked about much, especially book world.
If you are lookginf ro more blogs on Marketing from the publishing world, check out the Shrinking Violets Promotion. They even have a personality test for your blog.
Happiness is contagious!
OK so onto the real matter of the blog and title.
Today, I came across this article on NPR, talking about how "happiness is proven to be contagious!"
Reading this article made me so happy (amazing! it is already working! :)
Move aside Misery - I refuse to love your company! (Though I promise to call you when I throw a damn good pity party). Happiness - come on in - my lifelong friend.
I'll give you the main points, especially for those who loved reading the Cliff Notes as I did in high school. (Uh-oh. I can hear all you authors out there groaning. I read YOUR books. I swear! I guess Confessions of a Young, Closet Cliff Note Lover may now have to follow in a later blog).
Here are the points I took away from the article:
- Happiness spreads through social networks (for us, that;s facebook, blogger world and oh yeah and those awkward face to face conferences when you don't know anyone).
- When a person's happy, a friend has a 25% chance of becoming happier.
- Spouse/Partners in crime experience an 8% increase (This actually surprised me - I thought it would be higher than a friend? I know when my hubby's down, I get down too. Cant help it - he's with me everyday).
- When one person's happy, the social network effect can spread up to 3 degrees!!! — reaching friends of friends. (amazing how many people you can impact witout knowing).
- The people at the center of the social network tend to be happier. (What does this mean? Where is the center? I want to go there. Does anyone know if they are in the center?).
Here's my thought....
Maybe, we all can try and not focus so much on how bad the publishing biz has been, is, may be... and focus on the positive things that may come out of this obvious turning point. I don't exactly know what those changes are going to be, but with change, comes evolution, opportunity, and hope.
I don't believe the book business is going away, I think it's going to evolve. How exciting is that! Of course, this is not meant to diminish all the people negatively impacted right now and my thoughts have been and still are with them, especially this holiday. What is happening is wicked stinky.
But for those of us on the outside looking in. Maybe, for now, we can just keep our heads down, write, and have faith that everything will work out the way it is supposed to and a new time will come. A different time.
Maybe my time :)
So let's not worry, it doesn't help. If anything, it will just make it get bigger.
Let's find a way to be happy about what we do. There are people out there who HATE what they do and will never have an opportunity to do what they really love.
That's not me or any of you.
All I need to do is write and I'm happy. I can't get caught up in the destination. Just need to enjoy every moment of the journey.
Whether it's writing a blog, marketing piece, or a book...writing makes me happy and I hope it always will.
So, hopefully out of 500 of you, I can impact at least 3. (or I'll be calling NPR!)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97848789&ft=2&f=510221
9 comments:
Great post, as always. Congrats on your 500 hits!
I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about the publishing world, too. Naturally I'm sorry for those who have lost jobs, agents, contracts, etc. because of this, but at the same time, we're still the future of publishing and we need to carry the book business into the future with good cheer and hope no matter what happens.
Wow! Shelli, that is so awesome. 500 people! But ... how do you know? I can see profile views on mine, but I have no idea how to tell how many people have visited my blog. Am i missing something?
Then again, if I could check, I'd be checking every five minutes, just like I check my amazon ranking!
I can relate. I get ridiculously happy anytime someone posts a comment. They like me! They really like me!
Life is good! Congrats on your 500 and best wishes for many more.
Well, you deserve it. It is a GREAT blog!
Happy...happy...happy! Congrats on the 500 hits in such a short period of time. And thanks for always dropping yours over at my place! I love having new blog friends.
I'm so glad for you're 500 readers, but what really makes me happy about your post is the positive message. As you know, this is a big issue for me, too. I'm so tired of the negative spiral, and I've been theorizing about the power of focusing on the positive. So I'm really glad to have NPR prove me right!
Wow. I'm impressed by that 500 hits thing, but not surprised. I think you're filling a much needed niche here, and it shows!
As for the state of the publishing industry, I know exactly what you mean! Yes, it's a little scary/frustrating to be trying to break into a business that's in turmoil, but when I think about it, it doesn't really change anything about what I need to do. I need to become the best writer possible, and not be an idiot. I'm not going to go off and buy something expecting to sell a book for a million dollars next month, but I wouldn't do that anyway! So I'm just going to keep on keeping on. :)
The idea that happiness is contagious is so cool. it's so true. I wonder if writers/artists by nature are more sensitive to other people's feelings...
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