The Story is About   +  TIME

Dear Story Siren is sort of an advice column for bloggers. Or it's at least my way to try to help other bloggers with questions they may be having. Plus address questions from my blog readers too! These answers are my opinions and my opinions alone... I'm by no means an expert on book blogging... so take this advice with a grain of salt.

If you have a question, be sure to check the past posts to make sure your question hasn't already been answered. You can find a link below that will take you to a page to view all Dear Story Siren posts and where you can submit your own question. If your question has previously been answered (or a similar form of your question) I probably won't answer it again, so be sure to check there first.

In this post: Getting Followers, What to post, Google Docs, About Me pages, Cover images & Ignored emails

Dear Story Siren,

I have just started blogging and I can't seem to get my website or youtube popular. I have been trying really hard but nobody will check my website or channel out. How did you get yours so popular?

Thanks,
Katherine

Dear Story Siren,

I update my blog everyday 5 times a week and have been doing so for over 8 months now. My blog isn't growing when it comes to readers though. It's not that I want to have a billion followers or anything, I just feel like I am putting all this work into my blog and I don't have anything coming out from it. What do you recommend I do? When you first started how did you get the 'word' about your blog out?

(Sorry for the two questions)

-Lonely

Dear Story Siren,

I'm a new blooger and find it discouraging that I haven't had any followers yet. How long did it take you to have a follower?

Sad Blogger

Dear Story Siren,

I have been following your blog for about a year and it was one of the very first I had followed when I started out. I have seen how hard you work on your blog and how much it means to you and was wondering how you felt when you first started? I know I felt a bit hopeless but I was just doing it for myself so kept going. Did you feel the same?

Anonymous

Dear Teen Book Fiend, Katherine, Lonely, Sad Blogger & Anonymous,

Since these questions are so similar, I'm going to tackle them all together. Most of you are asking... how do I get people to read my blog.

I want you to notice the key words that most of you used in your question: 'new blogger' 'just started' 'first started'... except for Lonely's question, but this still applies. Your blog isn't going to have a thousand readers overnight, it's probably not going to have a thousand readers in a month, it may not even have a thousand readers in a year. IT. TAKES. TIME.

I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear, but there is no magic formula. You know how many blog readers I had when I 'just started' when I was a 'new blogger' ... NONE. If you go to my blog archive and look at my earlier reviews you can see the proof. I was lucky to get three comments on a review. Looking at my blog now, it's easy to assume I've always had readers, but I didn't. We all start at the bottom of the totem pole.

There weren't any "follower" options, and I didn't have a subscriber option until I'd been blogging for a year or so, so I can't even tell you how many people started following and when. Honestly I'm glad I never knew. My advice: DON'T STESS ABOUT IT SO MUCH!

Did I ever feel discouraged. Not at all. I didn't start blogging to get followers. I started blogging because I loved to read and I wanted an outlet to share that love. I never expected to have readers... (I mean really? Why the hell would anyone even want to read about what I thought?) The fact that people actually read my blog is just a huge bonus, an awesomely gigantic one! (And that's not to say that I never get jealous of my follow bloggers and their opportunities and doubt myself at times, because I do.)

Would I still be blogging if I only had one follower after three years? Yes, I would.

And I don't want to come across as conceited, because I appreciate and love everyone of my followers, I know they don't have to follow me and I'm blown away at that number everyday. But, there is so much more to this than just your reader count.

And if you'd made it through that whole thing, I applaud you. It's not b.s. by any means, but sometimes people choose to ignore what they don't want to hear. If you want to know how I "networked" my blog a great place to start is by reading the Blog Advice posts. Because if no one knows about your blog... how will they know to visit?

Thanks for all your help,
-B

Dear B,

Whatever you want. Plain and simple as that. You want to write a post about your favorite nail polish because it looks good with the cover of the book you are currently reading, go for it. It's your blog darling, do what you want.

Thanks!
-Contest Noob

Dear Contest Noob,

Once you've had Google Docs... you won't ever go back.

If you don't have a Google account, what are you waiting for! Get one now. If you have a blogspot blog, you already have a Google account. Not only do you know have the option of Google Docs, but you have access to Feedburner, Google Calendar, Reader, Analytics and more... but back to Google Docs.

So, Google Docs are very simple to use. Once you've signed into Google, you'll want to choose the link to Docs under the "My Products" section. That will take you to the Docs homepage. If you are wanting to create a form you'll need to choose 'form' from the 'create new' drop down menu, on the left side. This will open a new page for you to make your form. The form will already be prompted with two 'text' questions. The text option allows the person to leave a short answer, such as a name. There is a 'paragraph' option for longer answers, "multiple choice,' 'check boxes,' etc. You can customize your form anyway you like. You can also change the background, by choosing the "theme" option on the top information bar. You'll also find the option to 'embed' your form in the drop down menu "more actions" in the information bar.

Once your form is posted you'll be able to view the submissions in a spreadsheet within your Docs account at any time. You can also edit the form after submission from the spreadsheet page as well.

The spreadsheet also numbers every entry so when it comes time to choose a winner it's easy to plug the information into a random number generator, no more having to wade through comments!

Thanks

For me personally an "About Me" page is essential. I'm more apt to care about what a person has to say, and actually trust what they are saying if I know a little bit more about them.

I'm not saying you have to share your life story... I don't need to know your name or where you live, or what you look like, but I'd like to know "who" you are.

What kind of things do you enjoy doing, what kind of books do you like reading? Are you an ax murderer... that sort of thing. I mean there are people that read my blog because of my dog... (I'm talking about you Cat) If I didn't share that info, think of that awesome reader I would have lost!

I just find myself enjoying a blog more when I 'know' who is behind it, but I could be alone in that.

In the Dark

Dear In the Dark,

Check out this post The Real Deal on Cover Images. In this particular post, I'm more so addressing the use of taking images out of publishers catalogs (which I should mention a lot of publisher catalogs now have disclaimers that images SHOULD NOT be copied and pasted to share on the internet, out of their catalogs.) But I think some of the information there might be helpful in answering your question too.

The publisher's site is always a great resource to use when gathering this type of information. Publishers don't care if you post the summaries and covers... they just want them to be the right (final) ones. If you can't find a good picture on the publishers website another good place to check is the author's website if they have them. Some authors have a 'press' page where they offer high resolution author pictures and cover art. This is a great place to get a crisp clear, cover image!

That "look inside"thing is a pet peeve of mine... it just looks very sloppy.

Ignored

Dear Ignored,

I think that most bloggers who list their contact details have that posted so that people can and hopefully will get in touch with them. Why they don't write back could be for a variety of reasons.

I can't speak for every blogger, so I'll just speak for myself.

I intend to reply to every email I receive... but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes, I reply to them two or three weeks later... and it's not because I don't think they aren't important, it's just that I have other obligations and sometimes finding time to answer my emails isn't one of them.

I go through my spam folder but I'm sure I miss an email here or there.

I don't reply to every review/galley request and I state that plainly in my 'review policy.'

I don't know the specifics of your situation, so I can't really be more precise in addressing it, except to say that bloggers are only human. As such, we make mistakes. If you're feeling ignored you can either choose to give the person the benefit of the doubt, or assume that they have their contact information there just to taunt you and never plan on replying to any emails. (That was supposed to be funny.)