by Anne R. Allen
Yes, Ruth and I are taking a break. I’ve kept this blog going for fifteen years, posting every Sunday morning for most of that time, except the 5 months in 2020 when I was hospitalized.
During that tough time, Ruth took the reins and kept the blog going with great guest bloggers and her own fantastic advice. And we couldn’t have done it without our intrepid webmaster, Barb Drozdowich, who unfortunately left us for health reasons in 2022. We were very grateful when Nate Hoffelder took over for her.
Working with Ruth has been a delight. I’ve learned so much from her in the 13 years she has been my blog partner. This blog would never have taken off the way it did without the humor, warmth and wisdom of her monthly posts.
But we both need more time to write our books. I’m working on a tight deadline. My next Camilla mystery, The Hour of the Moth, will debut on October 19th.
I Need a Vacation from Tech Problems
One of the reasons I need a blog vacation is the blog’s dozens of unsolvable tech problems. Apparently there’s bad code somewhere in here that got put in early on that can’t be changed. And after 15 years and two moves, it’s accumulated a lot of trash.
Nate Hoffelder has done a heroic job of getting our MailChimp service to work again. But we still have all kinds of tear-your-hair-out glitches that can’t be fixed. There’s the problem that responses to comments often won’t go in the proper thread. And there’s this new nonsense about “nonce verification” — which won’t even let me comment on my own blog. I have to do all my communication from “backstage,” where I can’t put a comment on the blog, just a response to a comment.
Plus I just found out that one subscriber is getting a warning on our blog notices that says I’m an evil hacker trying to get access to their account. This is the kind of tech nonsense that drives me bonkers.
After 15 years, I Need a Blog Vacation
This blog has been my reason for being at times. It’s been wonderful to be able to help writers get published and also avoid scams and recognize scammers. I’ve met so many fascinating writers and learned from all of you. Many of you I now consider friends.
But I’m tired. Since my brush with death four years ago, I don’t write as fast as I used to. I also have to use a wheelchair to get around, and that makes everything slower and more tedious.
Writing books is how I make my living. I can’t do that and keep up a weekly, high-traffic blog anymore.
Things have changed a lot in fifteen years. Every morning now, I have to deal with emails from relentless people who want me to run their advertising, give them backlinks, rewrite old posts to promote their products, link to X-rated sites or help them sell real estate in Mumbai. And they always send follow-ups. If I tell them “no thanks,” they take it as a “yes” and send more.
There are also some publicists and marketers who think “blogger” is a synonym for “slave” and expect you to work for them for free while they charge clients big bucks for your work. Also, because there are fewer review blogs these days, they constantly ask me to write reviews even though we have never posted a review here.
I started this blog in hopes it might move a few books. And it did for a while, but sales have been diminishing. Without advertising, it’s a huge amount of work for zero return. But advertisers are bosses, and they can dictate every word you’re allowed to write and we didn’t want to inflict unwanted or dodgy ads on our readers.
Is the Author Blog Dead?
I do not believe the author blog is dead. In fact, I still prefer a blog to a newsletter, because blogs are discoverable by people who aren’t already subscribers.
- I still have my author blog. https://annerallensbooks.blogspot.com/.
- Ruth has an author blog, too. https://ruthharrisblog.blogspot.com/
If you miss us, do stop by and say hi.
A writing blog isn’t what I recommend for an author blog. I started a writing blog before I had a clue what I was doing, and for some reason, it took off like a rocket. But writing blogs don’t sell books, unless you have books to sell that are about writing. This blog has been wonderful for promoting How to Be a Writer in the E-Age and my Amazon #1 bestseller, The Author Blog; Easy Blogging for Busy Authors.
I will be putting together a couple of writing books later in the year, with working titles: You May Be a Bestseller on Trafalmadore and Stupid Writing Rules…and Smart Guidelines. I may come back from my blog vacation to tell people about them.
RIP Twitter
I blame some of our loss of traffic on the poor murdered birdie. We used to get a whole lot of new readers from Twitter, but now, X-Twitter sends just a trickle. Writers and readers still have a presence there, but many have left for more Nazi-free pastures.
Unfortunately, the new platforms are too small to get much traction.
(But you can still find me on X-Twitter and at Blusky at @annerallen.bsky.social. )
I don’t know if the death of Twitter had anything to do with the sudden disappearance of The Passive Voice, one of the best blogs for self-publishers. One day last month, it was simply not there.
And this week, blogger Nathan Bransford announced he’s no longer doing his query and first page critiques. Maybe it’s the loss of traffic from X-Twitter, or maybe it’s something in the air. In any case, we all seem to need a rest.
There are Still Great Writing Blogs to Follow
But there are a whole lot of great writing blogs you can follow while we’re off chasing rainbows. This is not a comprehensive list by any means. These are simply the blogs I see most often.
Jane Friedman’s Blog—The best writing blog of them all. Every writer needs to read Jane Friedman, former publisher of Writer’s Digest books and all-around publishing industry guru.
Literary Rambles—I’m so pleased that we had Natalie Aguirre of Literary Rambles as our last blog guest. Her blog is a goldmine for any writer looking for literary representation.
The Kill Zone—What a great line-up of authors they have! James Scott Bell, Sue Coletta, Garry Rogers, Debbie Burke, and many, many more. This is a daily blog with reliable gifts of writing wisdom.
The Insecure Writers Support Group—I strongly recommend this group. It’s a safe space for writers.
Writers Helping Writers—Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi explain it all for you.
Writer Unboxed—Positive writerly advice for 18 years!
Helping Writers Become Authors — Katie Weiland gives wonderful advice on story structure and character development
Nathan Bransford—An editor and former agent tells it like it is.
Sally Cronin—Reviews, discussion, promos! Weekly funnies, too. Sally is often joined by memoirist D. G. Kaye.
Elizabeth Spann Craig —Her weekly “LitLinks” take you to dozens of great writing blogs.
Maureen Crisp—Maureen has great links, too, plus a view from New Zealand.
The Wordmonger—Just for fun for word-lovers. CS Perryess discusses word origins every week.
And Absolutely Essential:
Writer Beware Stay up to date on the latest scams with watchdog Victoria Strauss. Scammers are everywhere, people! Protect yourself by subscribing to Victoria’s blog!!
Happy Bastille Day!
We are grateful for every one of you, our wonderful readers. You have made this blog a success. But for now, adieu. I’ve chosen Bastille Day to “liberate” myself. I hope to see you all in the blogosphere! Allons enfants!
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) July 14th, 2024
What about you, scriveners? Do you have a blog? Have you ever taken a blog vacation? Did you go back to the blog later? What made you stop blogging? If you’re still at it, what motivates you to keep going?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors
Named one of the “Best Blogging Books of All Time” in 2019, and “Best SEO Books of All Time” in 2021 by Book Authority, this is an easy-does-it guide to simple, low-tech blogging for authors who want to reach readers and build a platform, but not let it take over their lives.
The ebook is only $2.99
at Nook, Kobo, Apple, and Amazon.
and it’s available in paperback for $9.99 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble
***
featured image from Hernan Sartorio at Unsplash
Enjoy your break, Anne and Ruth. You deserve it.
Kathy–Thanks! I will see you at your wonderful blog!
Thank you for all of your wisdoms and insights! Enjoy your blogcation!
Bobbi–Many thanks!
I have had a few of those blog problems. Luckily my guru solves them for me or they just go away themselves. Enjoy the break!
Jacqui–The tech problems here seem to be unsolvable. And they’re snowballing. I love my old Blogspot book blog because I can do everything myself. Google may have abandoned Blogspot, but they built a sturdy, intuitive platform in the first place.
July 14 is also National Nude Day, for liberation of another kind. I attended Narrativity at the end of May (in Pontiac, Michigan), a writers’ conference especially, though not exclusively, for writers of science fiction and fantasy. I loved it! They have a FB page, and the dates and venues for 2025 are already set. Anne, I was just getting ready to post a recommendation of your blog there. I guess it’s a good thing I procrastinated on that a little. I hope you and Ruth really enjoy your blogless freedom for as long as it takes. Thank you for all your help over the years. You two have made a big positive difference.
Fred–Many thanks for thinking about recommending us. Sometimes procrastination pays off. 🙂
Your voices are much appreciated in any format, any time! Enjoy the break from the weekly grind.
Carmen–Thanks much!
I can definitely understand the need to take a well earned and well deserved blogging break. As the old Motel 6 advert said, “we’ll leave the lights on for you.”
In re: The Passive Voice, I think something bad might have happened, as June 2nd was the last time it had posted, then all you get is the error message about the domain name expiring.
I still have my blog {15+ years and counting}, and the only vacation I really took from it was to cut down my blogging frequency, which is now weekly.
GB–I heard a rumor that the Passive Voice got taken down by a “copyright troll”–somebody claiming Passive Guy posted more than 10% of a blogpost. If that happened, it’s especially tragic. He did so much to promote blogs like this by publishing excerpts and linking to the original post. Congrats on keeping on keeping on with your own blog!
Great post Anne. I totally hear you. We all need a break sometime in blogland and yes, it does interfere especially while we’re working on a book. Twitter is not X anymore, I can see in the feeds and follows what the butcher of Twitter has done to a once great site. Enjoy your break and happy writing. <3
Debby–Thanks! You’re such an Energizer Bunny with your blog, and posts on Sally’s plus all your other social media. We appreciate it.
May your liberation be fantastic and ever-cleansing! Now, I must go sop up the tears… looking forward to the new book!
Stupid question: will access to the archives still be available? I ask for my writer clients (and me), who have looked to you and Ruth for guidance for many years now…
Bon Voyage!!! :O)))
Maria
Maria–I hope to have the blog up at least until the end of the year so people can read the archives. It will be up to Nate Hoffelder, our gracious host.
All the best, Anne and Ruth. Thank you for your diligence and mountains of great advice every Sunday. Enjoy your time away! Blessings-:D!
Cat–Many thanks!
I imagine your blog-vacation will not only help you get that next Camilla book out into the world, it will provide you with some well-deserved relaxation. Huzzah! And big thanks for mentioning Wordmonger!
CS–I love the Wordmonger! I learn new things from it every week.
Enjoy your break from blogging. I’ve appreciated your advice, and would like to thank you for everything.
Vivienne–Thank you for all your useful comments here!
You deserve a break! That’s a long time to blog.
Blogging does generate less traffic but I still prefer it over any other platform.
Enjoy your break and see you on the other side!
Alex–As you know, I have a special fondness for your Insecure Writers Support Group. I hope I’ll be invited to guest post there from time to time.
You and Ruth have been essential for me in providing advice about writing and blogging. Really appreciate you being here. You’ve definitely earned a break.
Rich–Thanks for the kind words. It’s great to know we’ve been helpful.
Anne and Ruth, many, many thanks. You’ve been part of my pleasure in writing for several years, and I’ll miss you. All best wishes.
Ann–Thanks much! And remember you can find us on our book blogs!
Enjoy your blog break, Anne and Ruth! Creating weekly blog posts is a LOT of work.
Liz–It didn’t seem like work for much of the time. I enjoyed it all so much. But recently, I just haven’t had the energy it takes.
Oh Anne and Ruth, you so deserve a break and you need to devote more time to your books. But Sundays won’t be the same w/o you.
Heartfelt thanks for the many years of wisdom delivered with humor, honesty, and humility! You shared your own foibles, helping the rest of us realize we weren’t alone when we made mistakes. And you reassured us that mistakes are reversible–we didn’t permanently kill our writing careers b/c of one bad choice.
Your equanimity in the face of a chaotic changing industry has always been admirable. You’ve both been in the game long enough to recognize the cycles. When others were running around in a panic over some “new” change, you calmly reassured us that, yup, that BS has happened before and it will happen again. You’ve been bastions of stability and good sense.
My dear Sunday friends, I’ll miss you and the laughs and wisdom you’ve shared so generously!
Debbie–Thanks much for the kind words. We have tried to keep our messages upbeat and helpful.
Thank you, Anne and Ruth, for your wonderful blogs over the years. Enjoy your well-deserved break!
Kay–Thanks so much!
Enjoy your much-deserved break, Anne. I’m so glad that I got to be your last blog guest last week. I can totally relate to the technical hassles. Yesterday and today for a while I couldn’t load any images to my blog.
While blog comments are way down from the heyday, I still enjoy blogging the most as a social media platform. You can connect with followers so much more and can say more. I hope you enjoy your break and get your next book finished on deadline. Thanks for all you’ve shared here over the years.
Natalie–Your post was so helpful! I got many positive comments about it on social media, especially LinkedIn. I’m glad you agree with me about blogging.
For All — with beaucoup thanks for your kind words! Maintaining the blog has repaid us a thousand times over. And, who knows in what form shapeshifters Anne and I will re-emerge? Stay tuned!
Ruth–What can I say. It’s been a hell of a ride. And who knows where our creativity will take us next?
Now how will I know that it is 3 o’clock on Sunday? Thank you for all the work you put in for us. We appreciate everything you and Ruth have done.
Kathryn–Many thanks!
I will miss you. But a break is always the path to creativity and we all need that.
Elizabeth–I will keep reading your fine blog every Sunday!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of your valuable (and enjoyable) insights over the years… You both have meant so much to me 🤗 🤗 🤗…and while I will miss your weekly gems of goodness, I am so happy you are (finally) taking time for yourselves and your own writing pursuits… ❤️❤️❤️
Harley–Many, many thanks for all your RTs with great pull-quotes. We have appreciated them a lot.
Enjoy your break! I will miss you.
Missi–Thanks!
Anne, you are one in a million. Isn’t it just typical of you to do all the work of leaving readers a list of other blogs to visit. It is the act of an exceedingly generous and classy gal. Hugs, my friend! I will miss my Sunday visits here, and will pick you up on your personal site.
Melodie–Haha! I didn’t want to leave readers in the lurch. But I’m already getting complaints about the blogs I didn’t include. Of course there are hundreds–thousands of great writing blogs. I just named the ones I thought would most appeal to our readers. We must stay in touch and of course I will stop in at Bad Girl Comedy.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful content you have published and Happy Writing
Fionna–Many thanks!
❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, Anne… Please do not hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything…or just want to say hi…
Harley– 🙂
Anne & Ruth, no one deserves a break…a blog vacation like you do! I’ll miss you for sure, but like good parents, be assured that we, young grasshoppers (Kung FU), have learned much from you masters and are ready to make our own way through the world. Just kidding, I miss you already!
Ken–Young grasshopper, you have learned so much about marketing that you could teach us. I’m a big fan.
Enjoy your well-deserved break! And thank you for another great post full of good advice, excellent sources! And I’m looking forward to your next book! Will see you on your blog and take care! All the very best!
Claude–Thanks for stopping by on our last day (for a while.) You and I are veterans of the early “indie publishing” movement. I’ve lost track of most of the gang, but it’s great you’ve kept in touch. I like seeing your Impakter post on LinkedIn.
Ladies, I will miss notification of your blog rolling in regular as clockwork each week, but totally understand the need for a break, especially with the tech issues – when they are insurmountable. what can you do? That’s the one time I give up on things.
My blog has been going for 12 years now with, fingers crossed, no problems. I enjoy keeeping it, and post an eclectic mix of stuff, which currently seems to be quite a lot of book reviews. And yes, I get those annoying emails from people asking me to read their books, when they clearly haven’t researched the genres I read in. What a waste of everybody’s time!
Anyway, enjoy your break, and happy writing.
Deborah–I hope you’ll keep on with your wonderful blog. You’ve saved so many people from falling for the “Logan Crawford” scam. And thanks for being a book reviewer. We need you and we’re grateful.
Thanks for your great blog that the two of you have done all these years.
It’s my observation from reading other people’s blogs that making a blog work nowadays is likely five to ten times as hard as it was 15 years ago. For example, Joe Udo who does the Retire by 40 blog has seen his blog income drop sharply in the last 5 years.
Like the title of the song that Bob Dylan sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ”
(I like this line from the song:
“And don’t crticize
What you can’t understand’)
That’s enough from me.
The headline from Mark Manson’s blog post this morning says:
“Shut Up and Be Grateful”
So thanks again. I am truly grateful for all the work that the two of you have put into the blog and for what I have learned from it.
If the two of you email me your addresses, I will send you three of my latest books:
1. THE BOOK OF SWAGGER: People, Places, and Things That Have Swagger — And Some That Don’t!
2. THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF SWAGGER: 637 Swagger Tips for Super Achievers
3. Life’s Secret Handbook: Reminders for Adventurous Souls Who Want to Make a Big Difference in This World.
In the words of Leonard Cohen, so long for now.
Ernie–Thanks! I’m glad to hear you’ve found our blog helpful!
Anne and Ruth, thank you so much for this blog, it’s helped me a lot through the years. But you guys deserve a much needed, very well earned break. Do take care of yourselves and all the best in your endeavours.
Joy–Thanks! Yes, we do need a rest. Everybody needs a vacation every so often.
Thanks Anne, and I fully intend to carry on. I still enjoy blogging, and posting once a week works well for me.
The Logan Crawford scam post is my most viewed post ever, so I know it has been a help to lots of people, which is gratifying. I still get around two messages a week from people being contacted by them, which is so sad, but at least I know that post is continuing to help.
Deborah–You’re doing the world a big service with that post. It’s still a very active scam. I saw that you got a comment today by a potential victim who decided to take the opportunity to present a bunch of political conspiracy theory hooey. As if scammers didn’t victimize all parties equally. I never know whether to delete that kind of nonsense or not. Luckily, we’ve managed to keep unhinged political stuff off this blog for the most part.
Good for you, Anne and Ruth! You deserve a break. This year especially, I’ve noticed things have slowed to a crawl, from blogging to social media. At first, I was worried. Now, I’m thankful I have an escape to take time off for some fun while the weather is cooperating (friggin’ hot, but it’s better than snow!). Plus, I need to finish my WIP in time for a fall release. Good luck on your deadline, Anne!
And thank you for the shout-out! All of us at TKZ appreciate you both.
Sue–Things do seem to have slowed down everywhere, don’t they? From book sales to in-person events. Worrying. But yeah, it’s nice to be given a little time to rest. Good luck with your fall release!
Oh no! Well, I can understand that you need to take a break after so much time. I only ever post once in a blue moon on my blog because I feel overwhelmed with all the rest of the writing business, so I can only admire 15 years of dedication!
I am going to miss your blog posts, but will catch up with the lastest bookish news on your own sites and the blogs you recommended.
Enjoy your break and take care!
Birgit–Many thanks! Blogging “once in a blue moon” is okay for an author blog. But this writing blog kind of has become the boss of me. I just can’t do it once a week anymore.
As previously said, thank you for all that you do. I plan to strip-mine this blog site for all the wisdom I can glean for as long as the lights are on.
Elias–As I said, I’ll also put a lot of the information on the blog into a book or two. Thanks!
I completely understand! My day job is writing and editing (mainly human interest stories) for a daily publication. My avocation is my fiction and running a longtime writer’s group. I write a daily, all-purpose author’s blog. I learned long ago blogging about writing doesn’t sell phantasmic books. I haven’t posted on either Twitter accounts in nearly a year, mostly because I now have to pay to schedule per account. Every now and again, we have to reassess our priorities. We only have twenty-fours in a day. We’re all older now and have health challenges we didn’t have at the start of the journey. I’ve loved this blog and will now go check out yours and Ruth’s author blog. Your vacation post is also great advice to writers: take time, from time to time, to evaluate how you spend your time. Happy vacation!
Denise–Thanks! Yes, it’s time for me to follow my own advice and take some time for writing. My health is not great, and I need to take care of myself so I can stick around a little longer.
Hi, from down under… You two have a fabulous break and enjoy the freed up creativity time. We’ll be here when you want to come back. Thank you for including Craicer in your list. Much love to the intrepid duo. x Maureen
Maureen–Love Craicer! You give us more international news and I love that.
I will truly miss you, Anne. You have sown many seeds that I suspect will yield amazing fruit.
All these troubles will make sense one day.
Londie–Many thanks. I do hope I’ve helped writers here in ways that will bear fruit in the future.
Thank you for years of articles like no other writing blog out there. You’ve always told it like it is without mincing words. I like that since there’s so much out there simply blowing smoke. I completely understand the need to take a blog break to focus on what you love — your writing.
Now I have to focus on reading as many of the posts I’ve missed to glean their knowledge before they are gone.
Jeanne–Thanks. Yes, Ruth and I have tried to keep it real here. I do hope to consolidate some of my posts into a couple of books.
Thank you Anne. And thanks for the mention also. I really hope you don’t close this blog, but I will visit your other blog, just know, I have many problems commenting there. Everything seems to be changing, and not for the better. Be well my friend. See you in usual haunts. <3
Debby–I’d forgotten you had trouble commenting on my Blogger blog. It’s certainly not ideal. Maybe it will have fixed itself in the past couple of years. I hate it that so much tech seems to be made to break down. Sigh. Well, I’ll keep visiting your wonderful blog and reading your reviews.
Lol Anne, technology woes always abound. Sometimes hard to escape. Thank you again. And I will do my best on your other blog. <3
Debby–Thanks for all your support!
Thanks for the mention Anne and I do understand completely. I am pleased you will continue with your own blog and I have changed the link I have for future posts. I have some of the usual promotion series coming up later in the year and hope you will participate… Enjoy the extra time and also the lack of technical induced stress.
Sally–Thanks so much for the invitation! I will definitely visit when my new book comes out. Yeah. Tech drives me bonkers. I’m a Boomer. Tech doesn’t come easily to me. (But I can change the correction ribbon on an IBM Selectric in record time! 🙂 )
Taking a break can refresh creativity and provide much-needed rest. Looking forward to the blog’s return with renewed energy and fresh ideas!
It’s very lively here. I also want to express my thoughts. Thank you for your articles over the years. They have been very helpful to me. Your articles are different from those of other bloggers. They are more direct and outspoken. I believe many readers have similar feelings. Thanks~
David–Many thanks! It helps a lot to get such positive feedback. This Sunday we’ll have a great post from Melodie Campbell, “Canada’s Queen of Comedy”. She’s very direct, too. And funny. 🙂