I have two blogs. Here and over at Blogger. Yep, I’ve got one hand in each cookie jar right now. Nope, it’s not practical and double nope to thinking I will be able to maintain both for any length of time without losing my mind. I must protect what precious little of it I have left.

So, why two blogs?

THE SHORT ANSWER

I’m trying to build a fan base with lots of hot platform on platform on social media action. No, no, I kid… but, then again, not really. Let me tell you why…

Because of course I have a LONG ANSWER.

About a year ago, when I moved my getting published marbles from the dream pile to the goal pile, I started poking around google to see how the landscape had changed. Holy Hell. It had changed all right. A lot. For one thing, self publishing is huge. Getting your work in front of the masses can be as simple as having an Amazon Kindle or Goodreads account.

Now, I said self publishing is simple, I didn’t say it’s easy. There’s a difference. The writing, editing and publishing is up to the author, we know this, right? But do you know what else is up to the author? Promotion.

Stay with me. I’m getting to my point, I promise. 

If an author doesn’t have a fan base, to who in the hell are they going to promote their book? If readers don’t know the book exists, how in the hell can you get them to read it? I mean, I’m sure it’s not impossible, but if you’re any good at math or logistics or statistics or any of that brain stuff, I think you see my point. Which is…

Writers need a fan base these days. Not just indie authors who are self publishing, but  authors who are seeking traditional publication as well. Most publishers, especially smaller ones, prefer authors come to the table with a some degree of an established audience. My guess is it’s the more highly established degree.

So, how do you build an audience? Through sharing your work and engaging with people on platforms such as Twitter, WordPress, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Wattpad, Goodreads, Amazon… and the list goes on, I’m sure.

That’s an awful lot of places for one person to be, isn’t it? Exactly why I won’t be able to keep both blogs.

THE TRIPLE TRUTH RUTH

I couldn’t figure out WordPress so I renovated my old Blogger.

After several frustrating months, I’m finally starting to figure out WP. Although I don’t have anything against Blogger, I feel like most people are on WordPress, and so, I will be phasing out my Blogger soon. And I just kind of like the themes better, even though they are a pain in the ass to customize for a non HTML knowing dumb dumb like me.