The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Many thanks to all who visited, liked and commented on posts. You mean the world to me. It is a virtual world, but your company is very precious and real. Have the Happiest of New Years!!!
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 18,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
At some point, I passed 1000 followers! I don’t check stats, so I am not entirely sure when that happened. I am thrilled that so many of you have chosen to be here, and I am eternally grateful that so many have opted to stay around.
I try to be honest and post some things that may help others find their way in this writer’s world. I never claim to be an expert, so much of what you read is based on trial and error. My trials and triumphs. I also enjoy promoting other authors. It shows what can be accomplished. I am so proud of you 🙂
Not everything I post is about my writing efforts, though, this being an “everything” blog.
You will find stories about my adventures in GA and FL, some happy, some sad, some old, and some new.
This blog is where I write out my thoughts, as weird and way out as they can be, sharing both my confidence and insecurities. I am complicated that way.
Whether you are across the continent or around the world…maybe even right next door, I enjoy be engaged with you in comments. Being retired for the past couple of years, I feel you are my comrades, colleagues, and coworkers. I enjoy your posts and love it when you stop in to chat. You cry with me and cheer me on!
I know some simply ring the doorbell and run, but the comments and returned images tell me many of you do find reasons to hang around and I appreciate you, sincerely, I do. Your smiling faces warm my heart.
Sometimes I just want to share a silky, soft, fuzzy blanket on a cold day. Other times a treasured family recipe for red velvet cake. Maybe a book I have had the pleasure of reading. At times, just a flower from the garden, like this one:
Mexican petunia when it wakes up in the morning.The opposite of four o’clocks, it loses all of its blossoms by mid-afternoon, and brings forth fresh ones every morning. Reminds me of the old Calgon bath oil commercials.
Then there are those times when I ramble on for paragraphs and pages. Your patience with me is applaudable.
Every morning I sit on my back porch and have breakfast and coffee. I think of the things I am grateful for, and you are always on my mind. You keep filling my cup throughout the day.
Thank you for sticking with me, and for being kind enough to brighten my day with your presence and your words.
Your support and encouragement mean the world to me.
Yes, I know, it is rather dark. I have been commenting but not posting for the last few days because I have been lost in the world of WordPress themes. Did you know that there are over 250 themes available from WordPress, and many other themes that are WordPress supported? I have now tried out most of them. It took a while.
I felt like Dorothy looked when she stepped out of the tornado ravaged house into the land of OZ. Of course, as many of you know I can be a bit of a clux when navigating the ins and outs of the blogosphere. I lost all of my widgets going back and forth between themes and had to reestablish them. Being over 50, with my subsequently impaired memory and inexperience, I had to relearn how to do all of that. Sometimes, things don’t stay with me like they should. I also spent some time organizing old posts into more appropriate categories.
When I first started with WordPress , a few short months ago, I picked the Quintus theme only because it was the first theme listed in the examples. Being WordPress and weblog naïve, I dove in without a clue. Since that time I have become bored with my theme, so I decided to change it. I wanted one that would allow for a header image that I can change at liberty. I also wanted it to appear more contemporary, yet retain some degree of elegance. Not that there is anything wrong with traditional, it’s just not where I am right now. With my WIP, I am seriously trying to focus on the future.
I thought about using my facebook banner as a header image because it has my book, Red Clay and Roses, across it and I like the way it looks spread out at length across the page. With the book on the right hand side, where you can click on the image to go to the novel page it was really overkill, so I decided against it. There are other reasons why I wanted this particular image. This is the skyline of Orlando over Lake Eola downtown. Orlando is not a terribly big city, but it is young and fresh and beautiful. It plays a part in the work in progress that I have dedicated myself to getting accomplished. There is a clickable image added to my right sidebar that shows Cypress Cove Resort, my family’s nudist resort, here in Florida for anyone who might be interested. Orlando and a fictional location patterned after The Cove will be featured in the first book of my murder mystery series that is my primary work in progress.
I have joined a local meetup.com group for writing and critiquing that is being established in my neighborhood here by some aspiring authors who have not yet published. We will be meeting at least monthly, maybe bimonthly. I am thinking it will be fun to learn and to share with them the wonderful things you all have taught me in the past few months. I thank you for bearing with me through this learning curve we all must go through. Have a great and inspiring day. ~ S.K. Nicholls
Today I am unveiling my new book cover image for “Red Clay and Roses”,
But first I have some things to say:
Most significantly, I want to express appreciation for the warm sincerity that I feel from my new wordpress family. Without your support and encouragement I do not know where I would be. You have given me both strength and hope. I have learned so much from your posts. Learning is an ongoing process and you have been so kind. I learn something new and useful from all of you every day, even if it is from example and you are not setting out to teach anything in particular. I am delighted to have become a part of a great blogging experience. Thank you for being who you are.
Second, I made a lot of mistakes. I did significant research on publishing books, just not in the right places. My book is well edited, but the “package” sucked…really it did. I have, with your help, been working on improving that. I have updated both my book description and author bio. I have received more reviews and am learning how to market my book. I am also very excited to be posting my new book cover image today. Since this is not a series or a new publication I am not planning a formal book cover reveal. It will be posted on my site and you most certainly have my permission to reblog and that would be greatly appreciated.
One of the nicest things about being an Indie Author is having the control to make changes when I feel like changes are warranted. I am following my dream of getting this book read, taking a deep breath and trying again. The book is selling, but of course, not as well as I would like it to sell. I have asked my family and friends NOT to post reviews, until I can see what strangers have to say and so far I have not been disappointed. I do, however, wish to produce a quality product and feel that I can do much better on the cover image so that is what I am focused on today. I am also launching a paperback print on demand version that will be coming soon and I am very excited about that. While I feel that ebooks are the wave of the future, there are so many that I want to reach that are not as technologically prepared.
Again, I offer warmest appreciation for your kindness.
S.K. Nicholls 