Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

Last week was fairly normal and one thing that kinda threw a curveball at me was Pinterest. I love Pinterest, personally and for the blogging promotion. But the new algorithm has changed quite a bit and my numbers have fallen drastically in the past few days.

Normally, I would not have bothered but not knowing why it was happening is frustrating. I am working on it and have to check how this fall affecting my site traffic.

How seriously do you take your traffic statistics? Are you on Pinterest and did this current change in algorithm affect you? Let us talk. Click To Tweet

What I read this week

I am currently reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and I am loving it. I didn’t expect to like it as much and I was quite intimidated to read it. There will be a review shortly.

I am also between two manuscripts that I am commissioned for beta reading. Quite loving the change.

What I watched this week

Continuing my last week’s attempt to reduce TV binging, I spent only a few hours on watching TV.

I finished watching Line of Duty, a British investigative shop and alternating it with an episode or two of Community.

On my blog

In case you missed out on some of my posts last week, here is a quick recap.

My June 2020 – An Update: Sunday Musings #82

June 2020 Feature

Here is a review of Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People By Sally Rooney Feature

On Wednesday I discussed the 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging

things I wish I knew when I started blogging Cover

A quick round of quiz on Can Find The Famous Authors?

Find these famous authors Cover

I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme

Around the blogosphere

Woohoo, I found some fabulous book blog posts last week. Here are some gems for your eyes.

I loved the post from Valerie on being a better ally on her blog Wellness & Wanderlust.

If you are a fan of “if you like this book, you will like that book” idea, then you should check out Wendy’s Book like this one.

Every book blogger should read about how much book blogging paid post from Angel at Avd Reader.

From the Insta-world

Feel free to show some love to my Instagram posts, pretty please.

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Let us chat

How seriously do you take your traffic statistics? Are you on Pinterest and did this current change in algorithm affect you? Let us talk.

Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

Can You Find The Famous Authors: Quiz

You thought my last quiz (Find The Name Of The Authors) was easy? Well I come prepared this time. I am warning my third edition of find the famous authors from their books is gonna be tougher.

I am warning this edition of finding the famous authors from their books is gonna be tougher than the previous ones. Go on, give it a try. Don't forget to share your result with me in the comments. #Quiz #BookishQuiz Click To Tweet

Find The Famous Authors

So are you ready for this? Let us do it.

Don’t forget to share your result with me in the comments.

Find These Famous Authors Pinterest

You may like these too

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Let’s chat

Did you do better than the last time? Was it any harder than the previous ones? Which was author was the hardest to guess from their books? Let us talk.

Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

10 things I wish I knew when I started blogging

Last week, WordPress reminded me that it has been four years since I signed up and that got me thinking about the things I wish I knew when I started blogging.

There are lot of things that I wish I had learnt faster, and much earlier. I wish I had given a thought about several things that I did out on a whim, some of which turned out fine and others not so much.

Here are the things I wish I knew when I started blogging. We are all just in different levels of the same game. Do you've a learning to share? Let us talk. Click To Tweet

Things I wish I knew when I started blogging

I have been blogging for quite a while now, first at Musings Over Nothing and now at Elgee Writes. I have no doubt there is a lot more for me to understand, to implement and to make my blog better. But I also understand why it took so long for me to reach where I am.

Here I am to spill my wisdom to others, so that you will figure things out faster than me. I am sure there is something for both new bloggers and experienced one alike. Let us get on with it.

Figure out your why

Identify the reason(s) behind your blog. Blogging demands a lot of time and effort and you need to figure out why you want to do it.

Are you planning to earn through blog? Is it going to be your portfolio? Or do you want to be known as an authority? Or is it just a way to express yourself or for fun?

Knowing why and how you are going to be blogging right away, will help you plan your next steps.

The older blog I had was strictly personal, for me and my friends. But Elgee Writes is more than that, and my content and promotion strategy is entirely different from the older one.

All I am saying is figure out what you want from your blog and work accordingly. Not all blogs are same nor yours have to be.

YOU decide on on the level of your privacy

Some of us consider our blogs as a place to discuss only books, or whatever is your niche, while others take it as a personal space to talk about their lives and more.

It is your blog and you get to decide what and how much you want to share about yourself. The same holds good for your social media profiles as well. Take charge of them, as you want to.

Just a word of caution: be wary of what you post out there.

Clean and minimal blog design

We shouldn’t judge the book by its cover. Sure. But it is a fact that we all love a clean blog and we can’t deny it.

Make things easier for your reader’s eyes, especially the menus and side bars. We understand the need of ads, blog rolls and buttons, but keep only what is essential.

I learned this one the hard way, because I somehow thought all those badges and GIFs on my sidebar were essential. Now I am all for minimal look.

Be open to learning more

Any blog would look a lot better with custom design, some personal photos and graphics. Of course You can use a default theme, stock photos and book covers as well.

But learning the basics of photography, coding and even a bit of designing might help somewhere in the future. There are so many resources just a click away on Google. Utilize them wisely.

Dig deeper into Google analytics and maybe SEO too. Here is a starter post on SEO for book bloggers will nudge you in the right direction.

Search Engine Optimization is really important if you want your site to be on Google’s first few pages, so the early you start the better. I wish I knew how to do this in the early stages of blogging itself.

Involve your readers

The main goal for most bloggers is to boost the blog engagement. But often we fail to let the readers know what is expected of them. Calling them to perform an action is critical.

Ask them to follow your blog. To share the post. Link up to your other posts. Keep them interested. Always end the post with a question and tell them to reply as a comment on your blog. And lastly respond to all the comments in your blog.

This is one of the main things that I wish I knew when I started blogging, because I am spending a lot of time now to edit my older posts to add it.

Blog engagement – Quality over quantity.

Another tip to improve your engagement is by leaving comments on other blogs and open a conversation. Ask a question or make a comment that is valuable to the blogger or the other readers.

When you leave comments like ‘great post’ ‘lovely review’, it doesn’t create a rapport nor adds value to anyone. Think about it.

Being civil and polite never hurt anyone

Of course you want people to remember you, but for the right reasons not the wrong one.

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If you disagree with anyone else’s post, be polite and remember it is their opinion in their own space. If you wanna talk about it, do so politely and state your reasons in a civilized manner and WALK AWAY.

Don’t be a keyboard warrior or a grouch. There is enough space for everyone in the world wide web. The sooner you understand this, the better.

YOU be YOU

Try to stay as original as possible. Avoid trying to be everywhere and joining every link up and meme possible. Do not let your blog be driven by the hype and read only the books that everyone is reading.

Or read just the ones that are new and popular. Do just what you want with your blog and read what you want. Do not let your blog change that. At least, not too much.

Do not be hard on yourself

Most of all do not be too hard on yourself. Blogging takes a lot of time and it is not always easy to be the fun cheerful persona you may have taken in front of leaders. But that is okay.

Life happens and everyone understands that. Take a break when you need it and your readers may miss you, but they are gonna be there when you come back.

There is no one way to measure success.

You will never find the right way to blog, because it doesn’t exist. There is no instant success formula. Every one does what they think is right and they drive to the success they perceive it as.

For some it might be the number of followers or visitors while a few others blog for the free ARCs they receive from the publishers as a recognition. Strive for what you want for your blog.

So there they are. My ten little things that I wish I knew when I started blogging or a little bit earlier. We are all just in different levels of the same game. So if you ever need a patient ear or a solution, feel free to reach out, new blogger or not.

Previously on blogging tips for book bloggers

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Let’s chat

What are the things that you wished you knew when you started blogging? Do you have a bit of learning or suggestion to share? Let us talk.

Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

Normal People by Sally Rooney – A book review

Have you read a book that makes you an emotional fur ball and then climaxes with an open ending? Do you love or hate such a book? Let us talk about Normal People by Sally Rooney, shall we?

Have you read Normal People or anything else written by Sally Rooney? Do you like character driven plots? What other books that handle emotional abuse and depression exceptionally well? Let us talk. Click To Tweet

About the book

Normal People By Sally Rooney Book cover

Book Name: Normal People

Author: Sally Rooney

Genre: Fiction – Drama

Characters: Marienne and Alan, and their mother Denise Sheridan , Connel and Lorrainne

Setting: Ireland

The plot

Normal People begins with Marianne and Connell as teenagers who are from different social backgrounds attending the same school. Connell’s mother works in Marianne’s mansion. Connell is kind of the popular jock at school while Marianne is ostracized and is rather invisible.

They begin a sexual relationship but later puts an end to it, because Connell doesn’t want his friends to know about it. When they enter University, their roles reverse. Now Marianne’s intelligence and wit wins her friends while Connell feels so out of it and gradually slips into depression.

Their on/off romance continues and they lean on each other time and again, whatever their romantic entanglements were then. Did they end up with each other forms the rest of Normal People by Sally Rooney.

My initial thoughts

As I was saying earlier, Normal People made an emotional wreck of me. I rarely get affected so much by a book that I had to stop take catch a few breathes while I am reading. This book did that to me.

The plot as such is not anything that we have not read earlier nor very intriguing. But it is the writing and characters that made me come back for more, repeatedly. The protagonists felt so real that made me reach out to an old time friend, just to ask if they were doing fine. We all were normal people, once.

Flawed characters that are deep and emotionally broken? Sign me up. Her penchant towards self destruction and his gradual slipping into depression hurt me viscerally.

The only issue I had was not being able to understand why Marienne’s family hated her so much or some kind of background about it. Every time she felt unworthy and mistook abuse as love based on her family, especially the men, my heart broke.

I loved the social commentary parts in the book as much as inner thoughts of the characters.

What worked for me

  • CHARACTERS. Such deep, flawed and real characters.
  • I love plot-less plots, if you get what I mean. Character and angst driven plots are the best and Rooney did a great job at that.
  • This might be a make or break thing, but for me, the open ending seemed like a perfect finish to Normal People.

What may have been better

  • I wanted to know more about Marienne’s family and their treatment towards her. How and why would they?
  • Some readers may have an issue with the style of Rooney’s writing. Trust me you will get used to it in a bit.

Bottom line

If you are interested to read a character driven plot that will affect you emotionally, Normal People should be your pick. Normal People by Sally Rooney deserves all the praise and accolades it has been getting. I am definitely reading more from Rooney in future.

Similar books for you

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Let’s chat

Have you read Normal People or anything else written by Sally Rooney? Do you like character driven plots? What other books that handle emotional abuse and depression exceptionally well? Let us talk.

Pinterest and traffic statistics: Sunday Musings #83

June 2020 – An update: Sunday Musings #82

Usually I am a quick learner, but I spent quite a large part of the last two weeks of June 2020 trying to figure out the free opt-in email subscription on MailChimp and failed spectacularly.

It is not much about being unable to get it working, as much as it is about my ego, I guess. I mean ‘how can this happen to me’, you know? I would appreciate any help at all in getting it running.

What app or technology got the best of you? Tell me so that I would not feel so bad and miserable alone.

How was your June 2020? What worked well and what didn't? Here is my monthly recap. I can't wait to read about your month and more. Let us talk. Click To Tweet

Quick June 2020 updates

On the other news, I still have not got my laptop back from the service center and I am not sure when that is going to be, given the CoVid situation.

Yet another month rolls by and we are six months into 2020. And things are crazy as they were in the beginning. Here is a quick recap of the month.

  • I have been getting up at least an earlier than usual almost every day in June 2020 to catch up on some deep work and it has been doing wonders for my productivity.
  • Talking about my obsession with productivity, I am writing a series on the blog on the subject of personal development and a better you. Let me know what do you think of it.
  • I will remember June 2020 as the month I whined, complained and felt helpless about the computer. Usually,I am not one for complaining but I realized how dependent my work and I were on a working computer. I can’t wait for the nightmare to end.
  • On the brighter side, the UAE has removed most of the restrictions regarding movement with respect to the Corona Virus pandemic. And things are still under control here. I am happy that people adhere to social distancing and hygiene rules, for most part.
  • At the same time, the stories back from my home, India are scary. I can understand if it were due to literacy and education, but it seems like the problems of stupidity and sheer arrogance. Well, thanks to your stories from the other parts of the developed world (I am looking at the USA and the UK), I know it is not an Indian thing!
  • June 2020 has been really testing my patience and making furious with the world in general. But one thing that kept my flickering hope alive was the increasing number of people talking and supporting the BLM and LGBTQ movement online and joining the protests in person.

What I read this month:

While my reading was slightly less than average, I loved everything I read. I am really hard to please reader, so this is a huge deal. How many have you read?

  • Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  • Normal People by Sally Rooney
  • Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Lord Edgware dies by Agatha Christie

What I watched this month:

Last month (May) I spent a lot of time in front of TV and lagged behind the work due to that, so I reduced the number of hours I watch TV consciously. It worked mostly. Here are the ones that I loved watching.

  • Line of Duty S1 and S2
  • Community S4 and S5
  • Fargo S1 and S2

On my blog

I had an excellent blog post line up in June 2020 as well. In case you missed my posts, here is a quick recap.

I will be linking today’s post with Caffeinated reviewer’s Sunday post Meme

From the Insta-world

Oh here are some pictures I posted on my Instagram. Share some love, will you?

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June 2020 Pin me

Let us chat

How was your June 2020? What worked well and what didn’t? I can’t wait to read about your month and more. Let us talk.