One thing that I forget about so easily when I'm writing is that blogging is work. Although I've been picking at my pages on Squidoo in the time that I've been away from the blogging world, I always felt that I could work on those pages when I wanted to, in my free time, at my leisure. And then, gradually, certain pages in my series on The Hunger Games began to improve in their ranking due to the fact that the movie is going to be appearing in theaters at midnight tomorrow. It got me to thinking about how important it is not only to promote my pages (which I've been doing off and on all along) but to get back to work on editing, updating, and improving every single one of them.
Blessedly, blogging requires significantly less time invested in the upkeep of individual pages. Posts don't require an editing process unless you are manually linking one page to the next and then into another (which I don't do in general). If I need to update something on my blog, I usually create a new post for the update and say what needs to be said. If something has changed dramatically, I expect my readers to figure that out (perhaps unfairly).
Honestly, I don't mind the work. Most of what I plan on doing here is memes, considering that the majority of my time is taken up between schoolwork and the writing that I do on Squidoo and other similar platforms. Let me be honest: I make money writing articles on Squidoo, Hubpages, Wizzley, Zujava, etc. That money isn't where I make my living; instead it provides me with some extra income to "play" with. But the fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, blogging doesn't earn me any income. Notice the complete lack of ads on this page? There's a reason for that.
Blogging is a totally different type of upkeep, and it's not an easy upkeep, either. I take both forms of writing very seriously. The difference is that I know that in order to keep a blog "fresh," I have to post at regular intervals. Amongst other things, this gives readers consistency and they know when to check in with the blog. I don't have to publish to the other services daily, or even weekly, to keep things going there. I can publish an article and let it go. It might not thrive that way, but it will make me money (over time).
It's all about getting back into the groove of things. I want to post here daily, and right now I'm also making an effort to post at least one article a day. Today's contribution to the book review and blogging theme is The Importance of Having a Book Review Policy.
It all relates back to my little rant. As of right now, I have several incomplete pages instead of having anything that is particularly useful. I still need to write my own review policy for the benefit of my readers, authors, and of course as an example for others who are looking to my articles for advice. It's hard to claim any kind of authority when I don't have a policy of my own on the blog!
