Another Month Gone

2015 is rapidly coming to a close. And the bloggity here is going with it. I barely started reading posts on here again within the last two or three days. It isn’t that I’m not interested, it’s that in the mornings I’m either sleeping or getting ready for work. And at night I’m usually watching a TV show or basketball game. But I’m just making excuses. I read a bunch of posts last night. And hopefully I will before bed tonight too. All I can do is try. Anyway, let’s talk about November stats.

Posts: 30

Likes: 458

Comments: 418

Followers: 3255

Books Read: 0

Poems: 0

YouTube Videos: 0

Welp. Lows across the board. Of course. Basically what I’ve come to expect at this point. My girlfriend says it best. I’m still on WordPress quite a bit, but I’m not really into it. *sad face* I’m trying, guys.

The one interesting thing that came out of November is that I’m thinking of doing one of two things. Maybe both. I’m thinking of reviving my sports blog OR turning that into a YouTube channel. Probably doesn’t make much sense, but the reason I don’t make more videos on my current channel is because I need to be reading something in order to make a video. Whereas in sports there is ALWAYS something for me to talk about. Always. I guess we’ll see.  Now for some posts.

Top Post

A NaNo Alternative

Favorite Post

What I Learned From Katniss Everdeen

Post you may Have Missed

Saturday Selects #21: My problem with football

No surprise about the top post this month. NaNo is something people are always interested in reading about, and I think I wrote a handful of posts against it in November. Yikes. I’m crazy. Hm. What else? The Hunger Games movies ended for me, which means the series is officially over. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little saddened by this. I love Katniss and that series so much. More than I’ll likely enjoy any series ever again. And it’s over. Maybe one day I’ll go against my rereading rule and reread those three books. Wouldn’t hurt to relive the rebellion with Katniss once again. Wouldn’t hurt at all.

So that’s it. My month in a tiny nutshell. How was your November?

Floptober October

The title of this post is misleading. October turned out to be just fine. Well, relative to recent months.

In October I had even fewer site views than I did in September, which had easily been the low for the year. But eh, that’s not so bad. The number of unique visitors and comments were about the same or increased from last month. Now let’s look at the numbers.

Posts: 31

Likes: 576

Comments: 641

Followers: 3241

Books Read: 0

Poems: 0

YouTube Videos: 1

Pretty standard stuff for the current run of things. The first half of the year would have seen higher numbers across the board, but that’s okay. 2015 is still going to be a pretty damn good year on the blog. I still haven’t been reading even though I posted a new video showing y’all all the books I bought in September. And still no more poems posted here. Oh well.

Now for some posts.

Top Post

Saturday Selects #20: Gun Violence in America

Favorite Post:

No, These Book Series are not the Same

Post you may Have Missed

Books and Chill

I’d have to go back to verify it, but I think this may have been the first month in which a Saturday Selects post took the top spot. And it isn’t surprising. I knew the day I posted it that it would make something of a splash. And it did. With the presidential election here in the US coming in 12 months, I imagine it won’t be the last time I bring up a political or social issue on the blog. Heck, Saturday Selects will be here again this week. And the topic has already been decided upon.

So take a look at those posts if you happened to miss any of the three, and don’t forget to tell me about your month on WordPress. We’re all nice around here. Mostly. How was your month and Halloween?

September was one big Fail

Welp. In my August recap I declared that I’d be better at blogging regularly and reading posts. Turns out I lied. I’m pretty sure I read posts from only one blogger all month. I took forever to reply to comments at times. And I just barely managed to keep my streak of posting everyday alive. There were multiple days on which I posted just minutes before midnight. Oh well. Now let’s look at some stats. Previous record in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 566 (837)

Comments: 516 (2121)

Followers: 3220

Books Read: 0 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 0 (3)

Lows across the board. This month ended up being very similar to January. Which had been the worst month of the year. I didn’t post everyday. And I struggled to find any kind of rhythm. I didn’t read a single page in September. I didn’t post any new poems on here. But I did write a few. And it just wasn’t the kind of month that I’ve grown used to. My plan is to write multiple posts at once so I’m not having to worry about them each night. Now for some posts.

Top Post

I’m Scared to do This

Favorite Post

Saturday Selects: It’s all about control

Post you may Have Missed

Here we go Again

I wish I could tell you for certain that I’ll get back into the swing of things here, but I have no idea if that’ll really happen. I still like blogging okay. I still like interacting with y’all about a variety of things. But I just have no motivation at the moment to stick to my regular schedule. Before it took power outages to get me to write posts outside of my regular time, and now I do it every week for no reason at all.

In other news, I’m about to finish up my probation period at Half Price Books. So that’s exciting. I think I’m doing just fine over there. And I think I’ll be getting to work on some new YouTube videos soon. Today or tomorrow, perhaps?

But who cares what I’m doing? How was your month?

July, oh, July

July was an odd month. It was my worst month in terms of views in about a year and easily my worst of 2015. But the comments and Likes were only slightly below what I’ve come to expect. At first I thought my views were down because of it being summer over here, but the reasoning behind a bit of a slow month isn’t relevant. It happened and I kind of gave up about midway through the month because it was just not happening. Now for some stats. Previous record is in parenthesis.

Posts: 31 (31)

Likes: 782 (837)

Comments: 855 (2121)

Followers: 3152

Books Read: 1 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 2 (3)

The numbers aren’t bad overall. I still wish I knew why the views were way down for the month. Hopefully August can be a bit of a rebound. I am disappointed that I only managed to read the one book. I kind of attribute that to the book I’m reading now. It hasn’t sucked me in and makes me not want to read. But eh. I’m finishing it today and I’ll have my first book of August out of the way.

Also, my goal for the rest of the year is to read at least eight books a month. It sounds like a lot when I’ve only read three in the past two months combined, but I need to really go after my personal record and goal for the year. Reading eight each month would put me right there on the doorstep. And it’d give me an opportunity to keep making videos. I’m not worried about views on YouTube. I’ve already grown to enjoy the video making process.

Now for some posts.

Top Post

How Many Books Have you Bought This Year?

Favorite Post

Why you Need Half Price Books in Your Life

Post you may Have Missed

If you Could | Book Tag

I’m just a little bit surprised by the top post of the month. On the second of the month I wrote a post about acquiring the rest of the Harry Potter series and it had been the leader in the clubhouse for the entire month, but it was ultimately beaten by one view.

I think that’s all. As always, feel free to tell me about your month in the comments. My only real goal for August is that it be better than July.

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On this day in 2014 I published Saturday Selects: How do you perceive law enforcement?.

 

June is the Start of…Well, Something

The month of June was a bit of a roller coaster down here in the Lone Star state. Hurricanes. Floods. Power outages. Ugh. But I STILL managed to post everyday, which makes it five consecutive months now! And I finally decided to start my YouTube channel, which has been several years in the making. And I finally broke out of my mini reading slump. I hadn’t read a book since January, but I read a couple this month. But still no writing. And still no poetry. *sigh* Here are some stats. As always, the previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 30 (31)

Likes: 804 (837)

Comments: 1020 (2121)

Followers: 3034

Books Read: 2 (4)

Poems: 0 (2)

YouTube Videos: 3

Obviously two books is hardly anything to even talk about, but it’s something. I’d rather my total for the year be at six than at four. This was the second month in a row that I reached a thousand comments. I actually was on a feverish pace throughout the first half of the month and then slowed down big time in the second half. I’d say mostly because I started working about double what I had been, and that makes discussions a bit more difficult.

My favorite part of the numbers above is the THREE YouTube videos. I hope I can do even better this month now that I’ve found an editor I really like. Let’s talk about some posts.

Top Post

Ursula Le Guin is Clueless

Favorite Post

I Introduce to you…Johnny Reads!

Post you may Have Missed

Amazon’s 100 Books Everyone Should Read: 1984 by George Orwell

The top post of the month is actually the top post of 2015. But it wasn’t because of me, it was because when I linked to her original article my post appeared as a pingback in the comments section and people kept clicking it. But eh, views are views.

June was a solid month here on Write me a book, John! and wasn’t a bad month in real life. Who’s ready for more in July? *raises hand*

What about you? How was your month of June, blogging or otherwise? Tell me!

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On this day in 2014 I published The June Bug of Blogging.

 

New Beginnings Start in May

I’m obviously great at coming up with titles for my posts, huh? Anyway, this title is actually relevant to the month of May and there were some nice surprises that occurred along the way. I’m just going to jump right in with some numbers. As always, previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 31 (31)

Likes: 829 (837)

Comments: 1366 (2121)

Followers: 2876

Books Read: 0 (4) *record for month in 2015

Poems: 0 (2) *record for month in 2015

An overall solid month, but it didn’t always look that way. The first half of May was dreadful. I’m pretty sure I actually scratched my head a time or ten because I had no idea what was going on. There are things that I fully expect to happen every month, no matter what I’m talking about on this blog. I expect to get new followers everyday. I expect to have between 800-1500 comments a month. I expect certain bloggers to return over and over again. These are all pretty constant, and I expect all of these things to combine to generate a specific number of views at the minimum. In the first half of May everything I just pointed out was happening just like any other month, but the views weren’t there. It would have been my worst month since December, which isn’t the worst thing in the world. You see I kept posting everyday and I kept interacting with y’all, but it was just a head scratcher.

The second half of the month was great. My best day of views in 2015 happened on Saturday, and last week was my best week of the year. I know y’all don’t care about this stuff, but it’s just a little weird sometimes. May was the fourth consecutive month that I posted everyday. And it was at least my seventh consecutive month of increasing comments. Now for some posts.

Top Post

What’s a Book Hangover?

Favorite Post

Stick With it

Post you may Have Missed

Not all Writers are the Same

My top post came at the end of the month! It will soon become the top post of 2015. I knew when I decided to write it that almost no one would agree with me, but I didn’t realize there would be such a reaction from several bloggers. But eh, I’m not apologizing for being honest.

Lastly, I announced that I’m starting a YouTube channel! I’m actually pretty excited about this. My intention is to record my first video tomorrow and hopefully have it released by Wednesday. Then I’ll just record them when I have something new to talk about.

I think that’s all for me. May could very well be the start of something fun.

How was your month?

PS: I’ve now sent out all of the guest post invites. It’s more than just five, which means two things…first, just because you write a post doesn’t mean I’ll post it. Second, the sooner you get your post to me the faster I can make a decision as to whether or not to post it.

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.

 

March Sets a New Record

February set a new record for most views per day in a calendar month, and now March has set the record for most Likes in a calendar month. March was actually on a record-setting pace for most of the month, but then slowed down a bit. Let’s take a look. Previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 31 (31)

Likes: 837 (714)

Comments: 839 (2121)

Followers: 2582

Books Read: 0

Poems Posted: 2

Very recently I reached 700 Likes for a calendar month for the first time (January) and now I’ve gone ahead and reached 800. Go, me! But I know what you’re thinking when you read those numbers. You’re thinking about the donut next to the number of books I read. It’s okay. I’m not worried about it. Everything else looks fine to me. Now for some posts.

Top Post

2500 WordPress Followers and Surprise!

Favorite Post

Saturday Selects #13: Love has no labels

Post you may Have Missed

20 Years ago Today…

Everyone has always loved it when people write about how great their blog is doing, so I fully expected the top post this month to be the top post. After a quarter of the calendar year I’m well on my way to posting the number of poems I’d like to post and reaching my other blog-related goals. AND I’ve now posted each day in February and March. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up with my trip and just being sleepy most days, but I’ll go as long as I can.

Tell me about your March. My favorite part was that Spring finally arrived here in Texas!

February Sets a New Standard

Photo Credit: FIP

No. I wasn’t my best month ever in terms of site views. Mostly because there were only 28 days in the month. BUT it did break the record for average views per day! So that’s exciting. It did better than last May, which is pretty remarkable. Let’s get into some stats. As always, previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 28 (31)

Likes: 693 (714)

Comments: 820 (2121)

Followers: 2,439

Books Read: 0

Poems Posted: 1

Uh oh. My goal of reading 50 books this year took a little hit and I’ve only posted three poems since the start of the new year. But I’m not worried. One can accomplish many things in ten months. Now for some posts.

Top Post

Do Your Books Have a Prologue?

Favorite Post

Stop Smelling Your Books

Post you may Have Missed

#WCW Bookish Edition

I almost had one of my guest posts take the top spot for the month. I think it ultimately finished third. And I’m not forgetting about that. The week of guest posts (last week) had my single best day of the year, and then followed it up with my second best day of the year immediately after. But for whatever reason there weren’t as many comments on the guest posts as I’d have hoped. I’d had three consecutive weeks of 240+ comments until I didn’t come anywhere close to that number last week. But it’s okay! Overall, February was a great month with a number of great posts. Definitely looking forward to March, and I’ll have a surprise for all of you soon. Stay tuned!

How was your month?

 

Stop Smelling Your Books

Photo Credit: We Know Memes

Please.

This blog is coming up on 12,000 comments, and you would not believe how many people have said something about the smell of a new book. I’m pretty sure each and every time I’ve read that in a comment I’ve rolled my eyes and proceeded to scream loudly on the inside.

I mean, new cars have a nice smell. New shoes have a nice smell. Heck, a pile of clothes out of the dryer has a nice scent, but books? I’ve never once smelled a new book. And I’ve never even thought to do so. I guess I missed the memo that told everyone how great paper and ink smell.

I’m writing this imagining all of you walking through Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore just picking random books off the shelves and smelling them. And repeating this over and over until….I don’t even know. Until you catch someone looking at you like you should be institutionalized? Seriously, there might be something wrong with you if you’re smelling your books so much.

Oh! I know! You’re actually in the drug trade and you’ve laced the pages of your books with some illegal substance and you sniff them to get your high. Glad I finally figured it out.