Writing for an audience
It’s cloudy out. I took a picture of them - the clouds, I mean - with my sugar-snap peas in the foreground. It looked good in sepia.
My OS X weather widget tells me it’s raining, but my eyes tell me it’s not; as such, I must conclude that rain in the near future is not out of the question.
I’m reading bits of Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend at intervals, which had a slow start and which is very different from her last novel but which I’m beginning to like.
I’m also picking up Watchmen and Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer - oh, and a nonfiction research book - and reading a few pages of each before setting them down again.
But most of all, I’m staring at my Google Analytics statistics page in a state of dazed bewilderment, pressing the refresh button every couple minutes. Yesterday’s post made it to Reddit’s front page as well as getting some StumbleUpon attention, and the number of people who stopped by is quickly approaching 25,000.
Twenty-five thousand.
To give you some perspective, the daily visits have generally been between 20 and 50 until now. I was happy with that; I mean, Novelish opened barely two weeks ago and this is my first blog, so I’m still learning. But today I was forced to upgrade my hosting account just to keep the site online.
With so much attention, there’s inevitably been a lot of comments about “cover deja vu” around the internet (and on Reddit in particular). Mostly they’re positive. Some people felt that the title was misleading - or that photos repeated on multiple covers is really no big deal and I shouldn’t be so damn proud of finding it.
The truth is, I didn’t put much thought into the title or anything else. I wanted something short that would convey the content of the post; Cover Deja Vu seemed to sum it up nicely. I wanted people to know it involved stock photos, so I added The Dangers of Stock Photography to the end.
I thought the post was a rather good idea, but nothing huge - I expected to get a few hundred visits from it at most, if I was lucky. Would I have spent more time on it if I’d known about the 25,000 visitors? Yes. Yes. I’d have gone through another dozen drafts at least. Actually, I think I’d have been afraid to post it at all.
Which brings me to the main point of this entry: the realization that so many people are reading what you write can be a scary one. I wanted Novelish to be a place for me from the beginning - people who liked it would read it, but I wouldn’t concern myself with creating popular content. And I’m finding that it’s much, much harder for me to stick with that plan after such a huge traffic surge.
Sure, I’ll consider myself lucky if one in a thousand of those visitors become regulars here, but something about the knowledge that I might have even 25 more readers than I did last week makes me very conscious of the quality of my writing. I have to wonder how novelists with tens of millions of books in print (like J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, or even Charles Frazier) ever get by.
My next review (of Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind) should be ready sometime tomorrow. is delayed, but will be posted soon. Until then, I’ll do my best to stop obsessing over whether I’m focusing on the right things, using the right words, and successfully getting my message across.
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
legbamel
Kudos on hitting the big time, especially so quickly! I took your sub-head to be toungue-in-cheek with the tone of the article, and I agreed with your sentiments. I suppose it depends on your definition of “original” with regard to cover art. If the photo is cropped, rotated, and colored is it still the same work? The ones with people in them certainly are, in my opinion! I wonder if the models get free copies of the books whose covers they grace?
Try not to lock up too badly. I’ll be back to see how things are going, as reading and writing are twin passions of mine and I’m always on the lookout for a good book.
Jun 19th, 2007
Chris
Thorn, I’m one of the many who stopped by yesterday through Reddit. You sold me with Cover Deja Vu because it was clear that you’re a good writer, who is willing to put the time in to generate unique and thoughtful content. That’s all we want, interesting and provocative writing.
Keep up the good work, I’ll be reading.
Jun 19th, 2007
Cat
Enjoy your catapult into the blogosphere! I was fascinated by your Cover Deja Vu post. It made me realize how much language (titles, in this case) can influence my interpretation of the photos. In other words, another reminder of how powerful a writer’s voice can be.
As for the stress of 25,000 ‘watching’ you online, I think it’s wonderful. An audience is what we all hope for. You should continue to be true to your own voice and retain the spontenaity of your own particular creativity.
I have some posts where I take a little creative license to complain about Paris Hilton’s antics. I got a comment from a reader scolding me for being ‘unkind and urging me to pray for her’. I cringed for a minute, doubted myself for a few hours and then decided that this is my voice and I am going to stand by it. It felt good and scary at the same time. Best of luck - Cat
Jun 19th, 2007
Two Write Hands
Twenty-five thousand hits. Wow! (It even seems larger when you spell it out.) It was an interesting piece, worthy of all that traffic.
Jun 19th, 2007
Tiffany
Congratulations on getting the attention this story deserved. All the attention is good practice for when you’re a successful novelist, right?
Jun 19th, 2007
Writer
Wow. That’s amazing.
Good luck on just writing and not thinking about those readers. Hard thing to do. Even with steady traffic how about 35 views per post (or 21 per day) since mid-April, I find I have to shake orr the “What will readers of post X think of new post Z” to keep writing fresh pieces and to keep exploring new material (the point of my blog in the first place–I already do plenty of writing for a specific audience in real life).
But keep striving to do so–remember, we’ll be watching… :-)
Wriiter
Jun 20th, 2007
Barb
I enjoyed the piece on stock photography and that’s what brought me here first. I’ve made you a regular stop because you are writing about a subject that interests me and you write so well. One thing I’ve learned, both from my own blog and publishing my first book (with original photography on the cover!) is that there are going to be people who complain no matter what you write. You have to take it as a compliment because for some people, weighing in (even negatively) is how they show they are invested in what you write. I’d even say that if no one is commenting negatively, maybe you are playing it too safe. –Barb
Jun 20th, 2007
Thorn
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. It’s really appreciated. Hearing that you think I’m a good writer really gives me back a lot of my confidence.
My review is nearly done, and it’s taking as long as this more because it’s turning out to be quite long than because I’m having trouble with it.
Jun 20th, 2007
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