As I mentioned in my last post, I'm almost done with my next Civil War horror novel. After it's done it goes to my crit partners and I'll start working on a new project.
I'm doing National Novel Writing Month for the first time. November is generally a bad month for me because I usually have a nonfiction book deadline in December. This year I don't, so I'll take the plunge and write a short post-apocalyptic novel that's been stewing in my brain. After that, I'll be in Tangier all December finishing up my novel set there. It's contemporary fiction. After that I'll probably work on a World War One action novel called Trench Raiders, which may turn into a series a bit like Jack Badelaire's Commando series. If I can be half as good as he is with the action genre, I'll be happy.
Anyway, it may be some time before I get back to Civil War fiction. My two books are linked but stand alone, so there's no pressing need to write another, although eventually I will.
Which brings me to this blog. While I intend to continue with it, my writing queue is drifting away from its core subject matter. What to do? I'm thinking of reviving my old blog Midlist Writer. I can give it a much-needed redesign, trot it out as my NaNo blog, and use it as my main writing/travel/randomness blog, keeping the Civil War and Old West stuff on this blog. Or perhaps I can feed that stuff onto Midlist Writer as well so I don't have to double up blog posts on those days?
Does that sound like a good idea? How do I make the switch without losing followers? Anyone out there done something like this? I need your advice! Oh, and I'd love the input of the larger blogger community, so if you could link to this question on your own blog that would help me a lot.
I have a hard enough time keeping up with one blog, I can't imagine trying to maintain two or more. I would just revamp this one to include the other elements. I'm all about less work ;)
ReplyDeleteFor a long while, I ran a tabletop RPG / fantasy and science fiction blog called Tankards & Broadswords. It's still up, but I don't post there anymore because my own interests drifted away from that subject matter, as my hobby focus moved from RPGs to Writing. I feel bad about abandoning the blog, because at its height it was getting quite a lot more traffic than PMP gets now, but trying to maintain two blogs was a lot of work. Post Modern Pulp as it exists today is a much more generalized blog, and while not every visitor is going to like every article, roping in a lot more content has definitely helped.
ReplyDeleteSo the way I look at your situation, do people come to this blog of yours because of the Civil War, or do they come here because of you? If it's because you're writing it, I think you're better off shifting to a different, more generic blog. Perhaps post something here once a month, just so you show up on feeds, and have a great big link to your new page. There's nothing wrong with leaving this blog live, but I found that trying to maintain two blogs that are sort-of-but-not-quite-related far more trouble than it is worth.
I know I can only keep up with one blog at a time. And usually I only follow one blog if someone has multiples, although I do make exceptions!
ReplyDeleteWhich blog has the most followers and traffic? If it's this one, why not revise the title a bit and make it fit for everything?
I haven't seen your other blog but that would be a great place to continue with new things. Perhaps you could back off of this one a bit but keep it going without too much stress on your time. There must be a way you can link them together so people can see new posts on both. BTW, have fun with NaNoWriMo. It is a great experience. I'm not doing it this year because I'm in the midst of another project but I've learned so much in past years. Good luck whatever you do.
ReplyDeleteYou can rename this one Civil Midlist Writer War. lol Seriously, I can barely keep up with one blog and can't imagine two, but if you think you can do it -- go for it!! Just make sure to link to the new one when you go so I can find you. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think that being open about any changes, and letting us all know ahead of time helps keep followers! We'll just chase you down, as long as we have an address. Best wishes with NaNo and all your projects!
ReplyDeleteLexa has a great idea. Combine them into one. For a long time I was maintaining a blog on Blogger and my website. Gah! I made the switch over a year ago to solely my website. I did lose followers, but I'm saner. So I'm good with that. Your sanity and what's best for you should be the priority. If you move, keep the site up with a link to the new site as the post. That's what I did. My old blogger site still exists, but it tells everyone to go to my website.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help, folks! I think I'll make the move to Midlist Writer in time for NaNo. I'll keep this blog open since the SEO is good for my novel. I'll post my Civil War and Wild West stuff here but also post it on the other blog as well. Midlist Writer should have a post every day but be broader in coverage.
ReplyDelete