Why Blog—From the Writer Who Said Goodbye to Blogging

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post is by publisher and author L.L. Barkat (@llbarkat). She’s always been a most welcome guest here, and I’m delighted to have her back after her break from blogging.


I promise it wasn’t a stunt. Since it’s been more than five years, I’m thinking you’ll give me that.

See, in late 2012, I said goodbye to blogging. I even wrote about it in a bold way here at Jane’s place. But, just this week, I started blogging again.

To the outside eye, this makes no sense.

After all, I’m still that “experienced writer” I advised should leave the blogging world. What’s changed?

For one, blogging itself.

During what I like to call The Golden Age of Blogging, reciprocity was currency. If you were going to blog (unless you’d built your audience during blogging’s Bronze Age and had the luxury of an already-built readership), you needed to engage in the marketplace of bloggers. The currency? Reciprocity.

Reciprocity operated on several levels. You had to read other bloggers. You had to get their buttons (and figure out how to get those buttons into your darn sidebar). You had to comment on their posts. At first, this wasn’t hard, because you were having fun (I know I was). But as the years went on, and your blog circle grew larger and larger and larger, suddenly you were no longer a writer but almost a kind of business owner (whether or not you knew it)—engaged in the constant exchange and glued to the screen as you tried to adapt to market conditions.

For experienced writers, I recommended walking away. For newbie writers, I suggested taking an approach that emphasized the chance to find expression, cultivate discipline, and gain experience—moving their social interactions to social media instead of their blogs, to relieve some of the burden of reciprocity.

As I come back to blogging, I come knowing The Golden Age has passed. Reciprocity is no longer key, or it doesn’t need to be. Social media, which once felt like the new play place, has now become mired in similar reciprocity issues, not to mention the feeling that you’re being accosted and bombarded.

Sometimes going back is going forward—especially if you refashion the old, sloughing off what became untenable. This is why I’m going back to blogging. While every writer won’t find my reasons of interest, plenty of writers might want to explore their possibility.

So here are five “why blog” reasons I’m excited about right now.

1. The Introvert’s Advantage

I am a very, very outgoing person. The kind you sometimes question the wisdom of (like when I recently met Neil Gaiman and arranged a shoe photo incident on the spot).

Because I am very outgoing, I always assumed (wrongly) I was an extrovert.

Bad call.

Without going into the details, let’s just say that years of blogging, followed by years of business promoting, left me incredibly burned out. For the first time in my life, I contemplated not getting out of bed in the morning. For months on end, I dreaded facing the day’s tasks. All I wanted was to be taken care of, except that that was not going to happen. Like most everyone else in life, I have a lot of responsibilities, and I do not have a butler like Bruce Wayne does, and I wasn’t about to let my writing die or my business die, just because I couldn’t face each new day. What to do?

It has taken about a year-and-a-half to figure out the answer to that question. And I still haven’t worked out all the details. But this has been key: I realized I must find a way to run my private life, my writing life, and my business life as an introvert.

The new blog world offers just that advantage. My blog does not have comments enabled. It does not have pictures on every page. It does not even have prominent promotion elements (not even a free newsletter signup). In short, it is a peaceful place for me and for my readers. And this is in line with the times. People are tired of online life, but they still want to read good writing and find ideas that help them live and love and laugh—in their private lives, their writing lives, and their businesses.

If I want to know “how the blog is doing” on various levels, I can measure that with Google Analytics, rather than attending to the number of comments or social media shares. This is introvert heaven. I can explore what I need to explore when I need to explore it, on my own terms. I can breathe again, letting background technology do the heavy lifting.

2. A Hybrid Opportunity

With the new blog, in one simple place I can feature the current nature of my professional life, offer readers a quick guide as to where to find my writing and my books, and I can just write. While it’s possible to functionally do this at an author website as well, I wanted that introvert’s peace I mentioned above. I also wanted a very specific voice. And this is built into the URL and name of the blog itself: llbwritesto.me.

This feels like the best of both worlds. Understated brochure and blog, both—a hybrid opportunity.

3. A Public Sandbox

I’m a writer and a business owner with a fairly large audience. People have a lot of questions about how I got where I am and where I’m going next (not because I’m that intriguing, but because they are eager to learn how to do the same, from someone who cares about their success).

It’s important to me to be able to share the complexity of my writing and business life, and to work that out in front of people, on an ongoing basis, without having to engage in a high level of personal correspondence or social media activity (refer, again, to the introvert issue, but this is also a concern for most people with a fairly large audience and active business).

Enter the blog.

Here, unlike other places I write for (Edutopia just isn’t the place for this!), I can discuss what I’m dreaming of, how it connects to the past, and the possible ways it might be worked out in the future. I can think out loud.

4. Shaping Society by Promoting Great Ideas

This winter, as part of my effort to figure out how to stop dreading the work of a writing and business life that I actually love, I majorly switched gears for a full month. I apologized deeply to two writers whose books were slated to be published, and I put their works aside until the New Year.

In gear-switched mode, I wrote my very first fairy tale and worked with an incredibly accomplished artist, to create The Golden Dress (forthcoming in May). The story surprised me. I’d written it for children, but it seemed to serve dual duty for adults who’ve not yet learned to turn a life of self-focus into a life of generosity.

The Golden Dress has given me a way forward, in so many ways, one of which is choosing to shape society by promoting the great ideas of others on the blog. My plan is to do this by listening (specifically to great podcasts), then by engaging with the ideas of the podcasters over time. The first project is an exploration of the concept of Energy from at least 30 angles—a project I’m undertaking because I’m so impressed with the vision of Joshua Spodek.

5. Blogging as a Playground

Somewhere around the middle of my burnout, I was taking a walk by myself, and I said aloud to the air, “I just want to put poets on sticks.” (If that sounds odd to you, I assure you, it’s just a cut-n-color endeavor that’s part of Take Your Poet to Work Day.)

In other words, I was exhausted from the serious demands of my business. And I wished for the key that’s been the hallmark of almost every great thing that’s ever happened through our organization: whimsy, laughter, joy, fun.

The new blog is my writing version of “putting poets on sticks.” The voice is casual. The topics are variable. The tone is quietly humorous. It’s a place to play. And, at least to this publisher, the writers who know how to play are the ones whose work tends to be most vital.

Going Forward

I can’t promise I won’t be here at Jane’s in another five years, quitting blogging again, for who knows what reasons.

I also can’t promise you’ll find blogging to be the exciting opportunity I find it to be.

But if you’re looking for a different way to approach your writing life or even a current blog, I suggest you give “the new blogging” a try—from sandbox, to golden dress, to playground.

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Shirley Showalter

Welcome back, fellow introvert-who-often-looks-like-an-extrovert. I have been blogging for nine years now and keep evolving along similar lines. I’ve even taken short breaks along the way. One advantage blogs have over social media is that you own the site. I am not a great organizer of my own ideas. So another great function of the blog is search. “Didn’t I blog about that?” Is the question that takes me to an answer faster than most other methods of archiving. I think I just might have to go pre-order The Golden Dress.

L.L. Barkat

Nine years. Wow! I wasn’t able to sustain it that long. Impressive.

Ohhh, I wish you could pre-order The Golden Dress. It won’t be working that way. I can hope that in May, when you see the golden daffodils on the hills and in the hollows, you’ll remember The Golden Dress and go search for it on Amazon.

Thanks for the welcome back, Shirley. 🙂

Caryn Sullivan

I love this. I’ve spent far too much time this past year working on the legs of my business – updated website, new speaker sheet – to the detriment of my creative endeavors. I find myself hating what I do because the pressures to be out there on social media, to have an impressive website, etc. – none of which come easily to or interest me – are a huge distraction. I just want to write. I just want to speak. I have words in my head that need to come out! With those tasks finally complete, I am ready to roll. I look forward to reading your blog. Best of luck to you.

L.L. Barkat

Thanks, Caryn.

So your business is mostly conducted online? If so, let’s talk about the introvert’s way to run it. 🙂

terry gene

This is something that confounds me. Why blog? What gets people to read, then act on the content of a blog?

I started during the ‘reciprocity age,’ and discovered that I was reciprocated only one out of 10 times. I put someone’s ‘badge’ on my front page or in the side bar, and waited, waited, and waited.

I moved to the blog-tour, book-review model, got ARCs, advance copies, read them and did my best to put out quality book reviews. I never got my blog cross-posted or even linked-to on any of the sites, including some For-profit book tour companies. Apparently, they were only interested in getting cheap exposure, not in any form of exposure of others on their site.

I moved to a blog about the weird stuff I was fact checking. “Matryoschka” has lots of weird stuff in it. In other words, I indulged in my odd side. This strangely bloomed the blog membership to over 2400. I never understood that as I didn’t put out fresh clickbait pointing to my blog.

Later, I discovered that my blog could autopost to all my social (unsocial?) media pages. Yippee! Except that the ‘conversion rate’ plummeted. cause-effect? Beats me.

Then I converted from blog members to newsletter subscribers. Jane explains the difference in one of her articles. To my horror, only 1600 members had legitimate e-mail addresses. Who would put in a fake e-mail address when you only get a rare notice of something new posted? There has never been any declared members-only beneft.

It’s time to get serious about the newsletter. “Matryoschka” has an tentative release date, so another experiment in media pandering starts.

cheers!
terry gene, http://terrygene.com

L.L. Barkat

Amazing, on the number of legitimate email addresses! I hope you’ll return and tell us how the newsletter approach goes for you. Newsletters are also something I’m changing my mind about, since they are quite costly to maintain when you have a large audience.

This requires, then, a solid promotional approach to the newsletter, if you’re going to be able to sustain it. At least for me, that has also been a problem. The approach is too extroverted. So I pay to carry the audience, but the audience doesn’t pay.

Due to that, believe it or not, I now actively delete people from the list if they do not engage. (But first I offer them a chance to either unsubscribe by themselves or get onto our “free prompts” automation, which is a great, introverted way to market. See the difference between it and a free newsletter: http://tweetspeakpoetry.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9e5e4dd4731a9649c1dd1cf58&id=91dba29644 )

Erendira Ramirez-Ortega

How did you convert members (who follow your blog on WP, I suppose?) to subscribers? Is there are switch click to obtain the emails of followers? I don’t understand…

L.L. Barkat

Subscribers.:) Oh, I meant to a newsletter that’s sent through MailChimp. You can add a sign-up form to your blog and the subscriber fills it out and then is part of your newsletter list.

You have to create the MailChimp account first. And you have to design (or use one of their templates) a newsletter, add content (or fill in your RSS feed from your blog, if you don’t want to keep adding the content yourself), and schedule it to send on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

https://mailchimp.com/

The trouble comes when you have a very large list and have to pay for carrying it. If the list isn’t a clear match with the content you’re trying to sell, you will be paying for a non-paying audience. This can get expensive and untenable. 🙂

Lynne Spreen

I’m a writer of women’s fiction, with main characters over age 50. I started platforming in 2009 after an Editor’s Intensive Workshop with Jane in Cincy. I stopped blogging a few months ago, after nine years! Because I’ve seen the weather change as well.

I am so burned out on blogging and the reciprocity of, for example, FB groups in which reposting of blogs is the main content. Like you, I despaired at the churn, and when I went hunting for insights, I noticed most prominent authors weren’t blogging anymore.

It always comes down to the objectives question: what do I want to accomplish? The answer was twofold: in addition to marketing my books, I need my online friends. I enjoy our conversations.

So I published my last blog post, and now I interact in monthly newsletters (yes, that’s right: only once a month; it’s enough for me and I’m sure it’s enough for my readers, who are probably on overload themselves. I think the new quality blog post/newsletter will be distinguished by less frequency and more quality.) I write about the things we find interesting (like Deep Work by C. Newport, or how the aging brain changes) in the beginning of the newsletter and include a soft pitch at the end. If I need to market a little more strongly, like a book launch, I’ll do a special mailing. Thus, like you, I’ve created my own hybrid that allows my readers and me to enjoy our relationship, to do my business organically, to stay healthy enough to appreciate the magic of art, creativity, and the company of fellow humans.

L.L. Barkat

I just love this: “I’ve created my own hybrid that allows my readers and me to enjoy our relationship, to do my business organically, to stay healthy enough to appreciate the magic of art, creativity, and the company of fellow humans.”

And I’m glad you stopped blogging, since it was an energy drain. 🙂

Bryan Fagan

I jumped into the blogging world a week ago. It is basically a new born baby. I swear it keeps me up at night. I was hesitant for a long time. I think I spent about a year reading blogs like I’m doing now to get the feel of things.

It’s baby steps. What I have learned in just a few posts is that I enjoy telling true life stories while connecting those stories to the world of creativity. As long as the juices are flowing and the ideas are crisp….not to mention the writing….I’ll keep doing it.

Another reason is promotion. If it can help sell my book I’m all in. Lets face it, it’s all about selling.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I hope you come back.

L.L. Barkat

Bryan, can you share with me how you hope to sell via the blog? And, quick question: where else are you writing? (Okay, another question, too: what is your book?)

Bryan Fagan

Hey L.L. – When it comes to selling it’s all about exposure. The writing you see in my blog is the writing you’ll see in my book. I’m getting the feeling that blogging is a lot like a house party. Sooner or later you might bump shoulders with someone who has connections.

All I need is one person to give me a chance. This is my first novel so any exposure is good exposure.

As for writing. I do a lot of short stories. Head on over to Scribophile. You’ll see me there.

As for my novel – Dempsey’s Grill. It’s a romantic comedy. Told in first person about a soon to be 30 year old forced to move back home with his parents.

Thank you for asking and welcome back to the blog world. I have a feeling you were missed.

L.L. Barkat

Bryan, connections are definitely key, though it can be quite hit or miss to make those via a blog. (Exception: I met Jane when she came to mine, when she was still the publisher of Writer’s Digest.)

As a publisher myself now, I can tell you that our most successful authors have broad on-the-ground platforms, write for big publications other than their blogs, and may or may not have large social media and blog platforms (some have no websites at all).

As a business owner, I can also tell you that you will need a lot more than one person to give you a chance. You need exceptional exposure to make a book sell beyond your intimate circle. Okay, that said, starting small is the place we all start.

If you can find a way to write for bloggers or online magazines that have larger audiences than yours, I’d highly recommend.

And thank you for the welcome back! 🙂

Bryan Fagan

Your words are gold. Thank you for taking the time. I plan on taking full advantage of your advice.

Donya Day

Thank you for sharing your story and insight about being outgoing and introverted. I totally relate. Welcome back, I am new to blogging, been writing about 10 years. The author’s platform/social media and blogging is like a foreign world but I’m getting it.

L.L. Barkat

Donya, are there parts you’re especially liking? Parts you’re especially not liking? Also, I’d love to hear about why you started blogging.

joanna elm

Why Blog? Indeed. I launched my website two years ago, and have found it an uphill experience to engage new subscribers, but an uplifting one to actually write a weekly blog. According to some statistics, there are approximately 440 million blogs out there in the world, but it’s estimated that only about 37 million of those are active in the sense that their bloggers still post on them at least once a month.
So, I don’t get too concerned about readership. It’s a big crapshoot for new bloggers, but I know from Jane and other blogging experts what is supposed to work, and I find that, for example, when I leave comments with influencers like Jane my page views increase considerably.
Also, tweeting has worked somewhat for me. Through my tweets, I was approached by a website that has thousands more subscribers/followers than I do, and I am the featured writer on writingandwellness.com this week. Just in case, I get a lot of views from this exposure, I revamped my Welcome Page with links to a number of my representative blogs so that new visitors have a better idea of what I’m about.
At the moment I don’t have anything to sell, but am close to finishing my third thriller (the last two were traditionally published twenty years ago) so I listened to experts, again Jane, who has advised that authors set up an author platform way ahead of publication — which considering how slowly readership builds is an excellent idea!!!! Thanks, Jane.

L.L. Barkat

That’s good that you don’t get too concerned about readership (good for the soul :).

And, even if a big readership can be gained, the more challenging part is getting that readership to turn into a purchasing group. Conversions from blog to book sales can be difficult. Writing for bigger outlets, as you are doing, is great, and the best way to use that (if it’s not directly connected to your genre) is to see if you can parlay it into getting featured by reviewers in high places.

It’s a journey, of course. And, if you look at it like any other business, it should take about 10 years to build. (That’s the stat for building the average business to sustainable levels. 🙂 )

joanna elm

Thanks for the response L.L. I totally agree that neither blog nor social media followers translate into buyers for your next book. When (if) I get closer to publication, I will probably start using some of my blogs as my “portfolio” to get assignments for broader/bigger platforms. I’ve been a writer for newspapers, magazines, TV for almost 50 years so I’ve seen the changes, and view them as a bit of a challenge. I am under no illusion that my blog will result in any substantial sales of any of my thrillers. I’m just going with the flow for now (while I finish my WIP) — to see where it actually takes me. Thank you for your insights. Yours was a great post!

L.L. Barkat

Oh! Then, really, you are set, if the work receives a warm reception. I have to say that our authors who have those kinds of creds, even without big social media or blog platforms, do very well. 🙂 Come back when the WIP is done and share where it goes? Would love to hear.

Jody Collins

For some reason yesterday I flashed back on your visit in my kitchen prior to our Mischief Cafe gathering 3 (?) years ago and thought, “I miss Laura Barkat.” And here you are.
Your words resonate for so many reasons. I believe we first ‘met’ at the beginning of 2012 when the Golden Age of Blogging (and Bloggers) was growing exponentially. Because of your warm welcome, I jumped in with both feet but have since dialed back on my focus and involvement (closed a virtual door on a writing group I led, de-membered myself from another large online group). I’m still pondering the Spirit’s call to see how those changes translate to my inner world and then extrapolated to my blog where I’m writing because I want to, not because I have to.
I’m rambling; I do wish you could come over again for toast and tea. In the meantime, there’s your new place on the interwebs. That is a beautiful thing.

L.L. Barkat

Thanks Jody. 🙂 How dear to be missed. And I love that you are moving into rhythms that feel healthy and whole for your spirit.

Freddy G. Cabrera

Welcome back, L.L. Barkat!

That was a long break you took. And yes, the blogging world has changed and evolved. I started blogging back in 2011 and it is different than back then. I think things have changed and are changing in a good way. There are more opportunities with blogging now than before.

I just checked out your blog, it looks very nice and you are keeping things simple. That’s the way to go with blog design! 😀

You have quite an interesting journey. Thank you for sharing this!

I wish you the best with your new blogging endeavors!

Best regards! 😀

L.L. Barkat

Freddy, thanks for the warm welcome. 🙂 At the time, I didn’t view it as a break but rather an ending. No one is more surprised than me to be here 5 years, 4 months later, with a new blog and a new vision.

What are your favorite opportunities with blogging, at present? 🙂

Joshua Spodek

I’m honored to have helped inspire you.

Writing is a great sidcha (www.sidcha.com)!

I look forward to seeing your 30 energy angles.

L.L. Barkat

It was something about the topic of Energy that did it. Plus, Sandy’s gentle enthusiasm (great pick for a podcast interview subject!) (And, unrelated, a tree destroyed my car windshield and other sundry parts of the vehicle last Friday, and somehow this unlocked an apparent reservoir of potential energy within me and converted it. 😉 )

For me, any long-term change is preceded by thought, by exploration; otherwise, the actions are disconnected from the heart and die once the initial task or opening project is completed.