Making Friends Out of Blog Readers

The other day on my blog, I shared a funny anecdote (Technically, it was my mother’s). I’d used an incident from her teaching days as writing inspiration for a story, and so a year ago, I submitted “Snake in a Box” to a foreign children’s magazine market. Out of the blue, I heard back from the editor, asking if my story was still available.

Yep. A year later.

I had intended to blog about time in the publishing business and how one can never quite give up, ‘cause you never know when a story or poem or article might be picked up. But that little gem about persistence was lost somewhere in the post, because honestly, I got a little carried away, telling mom’s story and completely forgot to make that point.

It wasn’t until a day or two later, when checking my blog statistics, that a different point sort of knocked me over the head. Namely, that I had more views than normal on that post. And more comments, too.

Well, you don’t have to shake a snake at me to get my attention. (Or maybe you do. Hmmm…) A funny story had really engaged readers, and isn’t that why I blog? To engage readers?

Not that my blog doesn’t serve other purposes. I search out writing tips or advice, and if I have good news, I share it at my blog. But looking at my blog stats reminded me of the importance of …well, being personable. That a post that invites readers in, pulls back the curtain to the person behind the post, offers a little more than facts and figures.

Sure, sometimes, details are great. A contest, a new market to submit to, the link to a published essay—that’s part of the work my blog does. But there’s more to Cathy C. Hall than the business side of writing. There’s joy and jilts, hilarity and heartbreak, family and friends. There’s Cathy C. Hall, the person. And when readers come to my blog and find a story along with the good news or the contest particulars, we make a connection. We become friends, friends who’ll stand by and support through the ups and downs of the writing journey.

So give your readers a glimpse into your world and make new friends. (But before you go, zip over and read about mom and the challenging student and the high school principal. I promise you, it’s a doozy of a story!)

~ Cathy C. Hall