Tag: likes

July, oh, July

John Guillen50 Comments

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.

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

 

June is the Start of…Well, Something

John Guillen13 Comments

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!

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

 

New Beginnings Start in May

John Guillen26 Comments

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

John Guillen7 Comments

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.

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

John Guillen14 Comments

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!

January’s Great Start to 2015

John Guillen16 Comments

january_3499c

Photo Credit: The Telecom Blog

I didn’t know what to expect in January. Last year when my blog was still a baby, the entire month of January had a grand total of 38 views. I hadn’t yet adopted my new posting philosophy and I think I still had some posts about my own writing. But last month turned out quite well. It became my third best month ever, only eleven views from taking the second spot. So it was a nice month. Anyway, let’s get on with some stats from the month. I’m changing it up just a bit for the new year. And as always, previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 29 (31)

Likes: 714 (689) New record!

Comments: 604 (2121)

Followers: 2325

Books Read: 4

Poems Posted: 1

Nothing special here. This was actually the first month I ever hit 700 Likes. That’s exciting, but it would be more so if those people would comment instead of just hit Like and move on. Eh. But if you’ve read my previous monthly recaps then you know I’ve added two new categories. I’m going to start including the number of books I read and the number of poems I post in my monthly recaps. It’ll be an easy way to see how close I am to reaching my goal of reading 50 books and posting 25 poems in 2015. Now for some posts.

Top Post

How Helpful are Writing Books?

Favorite Post

Writers, Stop Saying You’re OCD

Post you may Have Missed

Amazon’s List of 100 Books Everyone Should Read: #44 Moneyball by Michael Lewis

And just a quick announcement. I’ll be posting everyday in February. Woo! Cause I know you’re so happy to hear that. I typically only miss one or two days a month anyway, but February is such a short month that I don’t see why I can’t just go ahead and post each day. So I will. AND I’m going to be asking y’all an important question in the coming days. Stay tuned!

How was your January?

I Don’t Have a Catchy Title for my November Recap

John Guillen5 Comments

November-Clipart-2

Photo Credit: FIP

November has a couple of holidays, the start of the holiday shopping season, and a new second best month of the year for your favorite blog! Yep. It’s kind of a big deal because toward the end of the month I noticed a lot less traffic right around the Thanksgiving holiday. And I STILL managed to best last month by a healthy margin. Now let’s get into some stats. The previous record will be in parenthesis.

Posts: 29 (31)

Likes: 417 (584) I’m fully convinced this record will never fall.

Followers: 2005 (1866)

Not much to say here. I had more unique visitors in November than any previous month, but still just barely fell short of a new record for overall site views. I’m just going to start considering the month of May as my blogging golden age. Cause nothing I’ve done since then has been able to match it. Oh well. I’m content with where I am right now. Now on to some posts.

Top Post

Do Reviews Really Influence Your Book Buying Decisions?

Favorite Post

What I Thought of Mockingjay Part 1

Post you may Have Missed

Which Authors Would you Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner?

So that’s it. The surprise of the month was the top post. I usually don’t check to see what’s leading the way until I write my recap and this one just narrowly had more views than one other.

Two things to tell y’all about December. First, I’m going to stop posting poems on the weekends. I feel like y’all don’t see them that way. So I’m just going to mix them in with my regular posts during the week. Second, I’m going to test out a new posting time of the day. I’ve tried posting at midnight before and it didn’t really do anything for me. But ever since I began blogging daily I’ve always posted at 9:40 a.m. Central time. And it’s worked. But now I’m going to try the afternoon. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I’m greedy and just want as many people to read my posts as possible. But really, who doesn’t want that?

So here’s to December!

And instead of reading this post on your WordPress app, read it on your computer or browser on your phone! Why? Cause it’s snowing on Write me a Book, John! It will be for the next month or so.

September Recap and October Surprise

John Guillen2 Comments

september_bliss__76

Oh the dreaded monthly recap post. Last month a number of you all were telling me how sad I seemed or upset or I don’t even know, and it was just really me not being into blogging. I like blogging, but it has no impact whatsoever on my actual life. I mean, you guys can’t take this stuff that seriously. Anyway, September finally stopped the downward trend of my blog. Wasn’t an incredible month, but it was a step in the right direction. Let me break down the stats and then I’ll share a little surprise that I’m going to have for you all during the month of October. The previous monthly record will be in italics.

Posts: 22 (26)

Likes: 411 (584)

Comments: 557 (2158)

New Followers: 253 (511)

Nothing jumps off the page when I see those numbers, but the two parts of the equation that I don’t show you did manage to exceed my expectations this month. Ever since the month of May I’d seen each month garner a less number of site views and essentially the same number of unique visitors to the site. That changed in September. As for site views, well September was only my fifth best month of the year. But it improved upon August. And as for unique visitors, September actually had nearly 300 more unique visitors than my best previous month. What this tells me is that I have a growing constant readership, but new readers aren’t always sticking around like I’d want them to be. But I’m not complaining. Maybe I’ll start sharing the number of site views and visitors with you all. Hm. My reasoning for not doing so is that I don’t write these recap posts so you can compare your numbers to mine and realize how much smaller your blog is or how “popular” mine is, and I’m afraid that might happen if I share those two things. Although I’m positive that some of your blogs with fewer posts and less followers are able to far exceed the numbers I share with you all, and I have no issue with that. Okay, now for some posts.

Top Post

Give me a Typewriter

Favorite Post

Inked (poem)

Post you may Have Missed

Writing by Candlelight

That’s it. My blogging month of September in a nutshell. Now for my little surprise. I’ve decided to post every single day during the month of October. And also that every post (excluding my Saturday Selects post) will be about books or writing or something that fits with the theme of this blog. That’s going to take a lot of time, but I think I can make it happen. I think. My one question for you today is whether you’d like for me to share with you the number of site views and unique visitors my blog receives each month in these recap posts. Not to put those two things in your face, but perhaps to paint a greater picture and give a better perspective. Let me know.

PS: the top post this month was actually published on a Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen. Forget all this downward stuff, we’re going to make October the best month in the short history of Write me a Book, John! Yep. How was your month?

Let the Downward Spiral Known as my Blog Continue

John Guillen51 Comments

tumblr_m83lff1OpE1qc4uvwo1_500

Photo Credit: Chibird

I didn’t feel like writing my monthly recap post this time around. Why? Because August amounts to what I consider a joke. I wrote some okay posts and read about two the whole month. I first started writing these monthly recap posts earlier this year because I was excited to see how well I’d done the previous month compared to others. But over the course of summer that excitement has all but faded. I’m not excited to write new posts. I rarely read posts on blogs I follow. And either read and ignore comments, or reply 12 hours later even though I saw it within minutes of it being written. Most of the time, sometimes I actually see it way later. Anyway, then I figured that I’m either going to write the recap posts every month or I’m not going to write them at all. I guess I’m still writing them. For now.

Monthly stats. Previous monthly record will be in italics.

Posts: 21 (26)

Likes: 383 (584)

Comments: 1198 (2158)

New followers 109 (511)

And now for some posts.

Top Post

Writing as a Hobby

Favorite Post

Need Some Motivation to get back to Writing?

Post you may Have Missed

If you Could Jump Into any Story

That’s it. I’m not going to pretend that September is going to be better. Cause it likely will be worse. But eh, what’s it matter? How was your blogging month?

In other news, I hit 1500 WordPress followers during August. This should have happened about three months ago but whatever.

The June Bug of Blogging

John Guillen96 Comments

june

Photo Credit: BrideTide

Seriously, could I have come up with a worse title for this post? Don’t think so.

Anyway, this is my monthly recap in which I discuss the previous month’s posts and interactions with you guys. June was a bit of a let down. In March, April, and May I’d set records pretty much across the board for everything on here, but in June I didn’t set any. It was the first month of 2014 in which I did not improve on the previous month’s record of site views. Don’t go yelling at me that site views are not what blogging is about because I already know this. This month was just a little more work than usual is all I’m saying. Okay. Let’s see what I did. My monthly record will be in parenthesis next to what I did in June.

Posts: 22 (26)

Likes: 523 (584)

Comments: 1624 (2121)

New followers: 289 (511)

You see, no records were in any danger of being broken, but eh it happens that way sometimes. Maybe I need to come up with some better material? Or maybe I should just make this a food blog? Or maybe you guys need to open your eyes? Just kidding. A little.

Top Post

How Important is a Creative Writing Degree?

Favorite Post

Saturday Selects: The perfection we all know as Jennifer Lawrence

Post you may Have Missed

Something More Important than Books

That’s all guys. Feel free to tell me about your month of blogging or writing or whatever you want. Or don’t.