Hit Me

No…we’re not about to break into an impromptu game of black jack. I just realized that during the frantic week leading up to my blogfest this past weekend, that I surpassed 10,000 site hits! OMG!! That’s a crap load. When you average that over the year that I’ve been maintaining this blog (even though the counter has only been tracking hits since November), that translates to 27 hits each day. That doesn’t even take into consideration the people who read my blog in their Google reader, Facebook feed, or other RSS feeds because they never register as a site hit unless they visit my actual blog to leave a comment. And because I only average a couple of blog posts a week (with last week definitely being the exception), the web traffic I generate is even more impressive. I’m climbing toward 500 followers and the number of comments my posts generate are growing as well.

You know why all this even matters? Why it lifts my spirits and gives me reason to remain optimistic? Because it’s an indicator. If people care to read what I write on my blog, hang around and check back day after day, week after week, then maybe I’m a good enough writer to draw people to my novels. Maybe one day these site hits will transform into register rings.

Whoa…lets slow down a bit. Since when did being popular translate into having talent? We’ve all been through high school. Popularity doesn’t mean squat to an agent with a query letter sitting in front of them…or does it? Will an interested agent take the time to research your blog when deciding to offer representation? Maybe. Does that mean aspiring writers without blogs or ones with modest numbers of followers are looked upon negatively? Bottom line…strong writing trumps everything else, but a robust blog doesn’t hurt your chances.

I want to close by thanking all of you who participated (52 entries) in the High Drama Blogfest and made it such a huge success. It was an amazing experience to read the offerings from such talented writers! I’ll be announcing the prize winners in a couple days (next time remind me to have you add up your own points), but I wanted to tell you how humble you made me feel with the response to my event.

Have a great week!!