Star Lawrence, veteran science writer and blogger, gave a frustrated yawp into the wilderness on Valentine's Day eve. Where was the love? After months of comment-less blog postings, she finally hollered: "Is anyone out there?"
Great question. It's one that all freelancers ought to ask — if not of the blogosphere, then of ourselves. Sure, we know millions are out there, reading, reading, reading. But are they reading us? Is the time we spend posting to blogs and updating websites worth it?
Unfortunately, Star's yawp went unanswered. She decided to nix the blog. Responding to my comment ("Say it isn't so!") to her final HEALTH'Sass post, Star replied: "I have done 1,000 posts, 3+ yrs, and don't think it's worth the $1 a day I am paying for pix ... I have to be realistic. I decided it was basically an ego exercise — who can afford those?"
It's a shame. I hate to say goodbye to the only informative health site that actually made me laugh. But Star's point is a good one. If nobody is commenting on your blog or taking a gander at the amazing clips you've laboriously posted on your website (and then calling to beg you to write for them), what's it all for?
In this new regular column for All About Freelancing, I'll be on the prowl for writer websites and blogs that work. Star's got me worried. She had a great blog, but it just wasn't paying off anymore.
So in addition to posting links to websites that rock, I'll be asking their owners irritating questions, like: "Wow, how'd you do that?" And, "Is your blog/site worth the time it takes to keep it going?" As well as, "Has it translated into assignments/made you piles of dough/helped sell your book?"
Isn't that why we invest so much time and money in these things in the first place? With my own blog cross-dressing as a clip file, I want to figure out what works as much as you do.
If you have favorite writer sites, or know that your own site flipped a switch in an editor's brain and landed you a job, send me the link and I'll get the low-down. In the meantime, take a look at HEALTH'Sass to see what you missed. You can learn more about Star at: http://www.sunoasis.com/webjean.html.
Nancy Allison writes about the fascinating research, art and scholarship occurring at universities, in galleries, and on the web. Send your web and blog picks to her at: nancy@nasw.org.
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