Was It Something I Said?

Yesterday was the lightest traffic I'd had on my blog in ages. I don't think I got more than a hundred hits. Was it something I said? Or maybe there was spinach between my teeth.

Fortunately, many of you came to visit me at JK Coi and we had a pretty good discussion there about the pros and cons of going rogue. Today, I'm visiting Mason Canyon where I talk about creating a game plan.

If you're going to self-publish, you need a plan. I listed all the steps I took before I clicked on the Publish button.

Mason Canyon is a book reviewer, and hosts authors regularly on her blog. She also edits and I used her services for the final proofing of The Devil To Pay. I can recommend her eagle eyes.

***

I think I'm sick. Sore throat, headachy, and overall blah. Hope it passes soon. I'm on my own for the next couple of weeks and the chickens don't care if I'm at death's door. They want their vittles. Demanding little cusses.

***

And here's a new one. Apparently, I am now famous enough to get my work pirated. I found out True Believers was on a pirate site. Shame on you, pirates. Don't you know how hard we have to work to get our few pennies from each sale?

***

Everybody's talking about Google+. Are you joining? I can't do it. If I add any more social networks, I'll never get any work done.


Okay, I'm done. Visit me at Mason Canyon's blog, or at JK Coi's. And don't forget to tag our books from yesterday's post. We could use your support.

I also hope I have more visitors today. You all got me kind of worried.

Comments

Maria Zannini said…
Thanks, Sarita. Waiting for my tea to boil now.
Linda Leszczuk said…
Here I am. Still not back to my regular blog following but I couldn't bear for you to feel lonely.

Boo hiss to pirates.

Hope you feel better. Can your train Tank to feed the chickens? He's a pretty smart boy.

Keep drinking that tea.
Maria Zannini said…
Linda: I think I feel extra sorry for myself because my poor throat hurts so much.

Thank you for stopping by. That was beyond sweet of you, considering what you've had to endure lately.
Unknown said…
Hope you feel better soon!

I'm not even considering Google+. (Yet.) I spend too much time on the internet as it is.
Sarah Ahiers said…
i don't ever look at the hits on my blog. It just forces me to read into stuff, which there's no point to. But i think traffic has dropped off on a lot of blogs. It's mid summer and all that.
I am not doing google+. I barely enjoy FB as it is, and have avoided twitter so far (though i'd probably like that more)
Rebekah James said…
It's probably just the whole mid summer thing, nothing to worry about I am sure.
Hope you feel better soon!
Maria Zannini said…
Shirley: I'm turning over a new leaf and cutting back on my internet usage. I have a lot of books to write and I can't do it if I'm surfing.

Sarah: Normally, I just glance at the overall numbers. I only check them out if they're unusual in some way. But you're right, way too easy to read into things.

Rebecca: I'm sure it is a summer thing. I think this is the first time I've had a summer release. I might rethink that for next year.

Thanks for the good wishes, all.
I think overall blogging activity is down. I have much less comments than I used to. People have so much going on with social media, it's becoming this huge thing (including Google+ now geesh) that the time has to be spread around somehow.
Maria Zannini said…
KarenG: I think I reached my saturation limit with social networks. I plan to stick to just a couple rather than spread myself too thin.
I finally got my laptop back from the repair shop so I'll visit more often.
Those durn pirates find everyone eventually.
Raelyn Barclay said…
Someone will have to drag me kicking and screaming to Google + LOL

Feel better Maria!
Joanne said…
The blogs have been quiet, fewer even seem to be updating with new posts. I'm not sure what the downswing is, but I do see it.

Google+ ... Hm. I read of a lot of resistance, but remember the resistance to eBooks and eReaders? And now look at them ... Could it be the next big thing?
Angelina Rain said…
Hi Maria. Hope you feel better. That sucks about the pirating. They truly don't understand how little we actually make from each sale.
Jackie said…
Summertime blahs are getting everyone down, the heat is too fierce and the rain storms everywhere else too intense so bloggers are laying low until Mother Nature calms down or maybe they are afraid of catching your scratchy throat Maria!

Feel better, see you over at Mason's.
Mike Keyton said…
Pirates are bad but at least it shows you have valuable cargo. Hope you're better soon, Maria. I'm thinking of the chickens :)
Maria Zannini said…
Susan: I wish there was an easy answer to piracy. It's one thing to steal from BNAs who make millions. Quite another to steal from those of us scratching for every sale we can get.

Raelyn: I wish they would stop inventing these things. I'm one of few people who really like all things Google, but they're going to have to prove Google+ does more than FB.

Joanne: Well, there's a difference between ebooks and another social network. I'm not saying it's bad, but if I add it, something else will have to go. I plan to wait until it gets a little more sophisticated.

Angelina: I wish the pirates would go bother people with money instead of those of us trying to make mortgage payments.

Jackie: I've been gargling and that seems to help. But mostly my energy is zapped.

Mike: Oh, sure. Everyone worries about the chickens. LOL.
Angela Brown said…
Hope you feel better soon Maria. B12 supplements are a great energy booster.
Haven't heard of Google+. I'm doing enough to resist Google Chrome. Secretly, I think Google is poised to rule the world... okay, so maybe a little too much imagination there.
Maria Zannini said…
Angela: One of my friends recommended Emergen C. I've never tried it, but I'm going to have to break down and go into town tomorrow to get some comfort food and drugs.
Dru said…
what is google+? If social network site, I don't think so since I'm already hanging with three.

I hope you feel better soon.
Maria Zannini said…
Dru: Google+ is ANOTHER social network. Everyone has to jump on the bandwagon. These people must be making scads of money off of us or it wouldn't be so attractive to them.
Jennifer Shirk said…
Oh, I hope u feel better!

Sorry about the pirate thing. That totally ticks me off. :(

Don't worry about the light traffic. I think a lot of people have taken off for vacations and whatnot.
Cate Masters said…
Hope you're feeling better! Little ones in my family passed along their summer colds, too. Yuck.
I'm so tired of book sharing sites I could spit. I actually tried arguing with one once - their response basically said they're entitled to do it. Grrrr!
Maria Zannini said…
Jennifer: I think most July I take off a lot, this year, not so much, so I notice the drop in traffic.

Cate: I don't know how to reach these pirate sites so they'd understand. Maybe we can just go to their house and take a few twenties from their wallets. They might get the hint then.
Marianne Arkins said…
I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY behind as you know ... but had to mention something on piracy.

We're all of us on there.

Worse, frequently when I'm looking for information on a book and google the title/author, the FIRST LINK is to Astatalk or other "file sharing" sites.

IMHO, Google should be a bit more proactive in NOT promoting these sites. I realize that the more popular a site, the higher in Google rankings it hits (which should tell us about the general nature of humankind), but there must be a way to block sites that are doing these types of things.

Still, if folks are going to steal, they're going to steal. It's not worth my time to get TOO worked up about it, and I don't have the time to spend sending take down notices (not to mention that those sites are littered with virusus).

And that's my grumble for the day.

Still trying to catch up. I've missed TWO WEEKS of your blogging!! :-(
Maria Zannini said…
Marianne: You are absolutely right on both counts. If people are going to steal, they're going to steal.

Google works off algorithms so it's just posting what people click on most. Since those clicks keep Google humming, they have no dog in this fight so they're not inclined to help stop piracy. Sad.