I’m Glad You’re Finally Over, April

April reminded me of months from the middle of last year in which I operated the blog exactly the same as I’d done before, and it just wasn’t producing as well as I’d like. This isn’t me complaining, this is a simple fact. I have no idea why, but April was the first month that actually went down in terms of site views compared to the same month in 2014. Which is going to be even worse because May is also going to see a decline in site views compared to last year. How do I know that? Because May of last year still holds the record for most views in a calendar month. BUT all of that is fine because there were some positives to come out of the month. Let’s take a look. As always, the previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 765 (837)

Comments: 967 (2121)

Followers: 2712

Books Read: 0 (4) <- this is only for 2015.

Poems Posted: 1 (2) <- same as above.

Everything looks pretty normal from afar, but this was actually the second best month ever in terms of Likes. And it was the best month of 2015 for comments. I was on a pace to finally hit a thousand comments again for most of the month, but ultimately fell just short. With the extra day coming in May I fully expect to hit that number.

My reading is still stuck and I’ve hesitated to post any new poems because WordPress hasn’t been letting me format the text in those particular posts to my liking and each time I post one it’s just a big hassle that I don’t want to deal with. Here are some posts:

Top Post

I’m Going on Vacation!

Favorite Post

Stop Eating While Reading

Post you may Have Missed

If you Could Meet one Author, who Would it be?

Guys, I know I fooled a number of you with my vacation post. So now this is me telling you that it was indeed all a joke for April Fool’s Day. It’s been the top post of the month for every single day of April. I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen before. Anyway, y’all were nice about it and I decided to let it play out. Eh. I’m not sorry. It was all in fun and no one got hurt.

So that’s it! My month of blogging in a nutshell. Tell me about yours, please.

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On this day in 2014 I published An Open Invitation. Guys, I’d highly recommend taking a look at the posts I mention in this section this month because there has to be a reason last May was so much better than any other month. Perhaps the posts were just better.

 

What’s the Status of Your 2015 Reading Goal?

April is over. Which means that we’re through a third of 2015. And don’t say how fast it’s gone by because everyone says that about everything and it’s just annoying. Anyway, at this point you should have some idea as to whether or not you’re going to reach your reading goal. Unless you’re me, because I have no idea.

My goal for 2015 (as it is every year) is to read 50 books. Guess how many I’ve read so far? Just guess. I’ll give you a second. Got your guess? Okay. I’ve read four books. Ha! And none since January. Why? I don’t feel like reading. That’s all. But this happens every single year. I go through a period of not reading. It’s just how I am. Maybe it’s my way of taking a little break from words and words and words. I don’t know. But I have no issue with it. I’m not one of those super readers who reads 125 books a year without blinking an eye. That’s just insanity.

So my total for the first third of the year is four books, right? Now I’m going to predict how many I think I’ll read during the next four months. Hmm. Based on absolutely nothing, I’ll say by the time the end of August comes around I’ll have added 20 books to my current total. Let’s see how I do!

Two questions for this one. First, what’s the status of your 2015 reading goal? Second, how many books do you think you’ll read in the next four months? Most of y’all better be doing better than I am.

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On this day in 2014 I published Quoting Your Favorite Authors via Their Books.