I met with an agent that I hope will represent my writing. A few key things I took away from our meeting was:
- Fiction is not the easy sell to the publishing houses.
- You HAVE to have a strong online (blog/website/social network) presence.
- The titles to stories/blog posts HAVE to have SEXY SEO (Search Engine Optimization) wording.
- You really have to sell yourself.
I have heard the latter three a lot. I’m no stranger to marketing myself as I had to do that for the twelve years I ran my own theater company and my sixteen years as a performance Storyteller and Workshop Guide.
Now, my goal: can I make this all work in a way that will boost my presence online where I’m not an MLM or service provider? My goal on BornStoryteller has been about the things I am passionate about (Education/Arts in Education, Writing, Storytelling/Theater, and being a Teaching Artist). I keep putting out there the things I’ve seen wrong in certain systems, providing some information for problem solving, and supporting others in the arts. That is what floats my boat, and what I like to read too.
“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” — Wendy Piersall
I met with Storyteller Jonathan Kruk this morning to discuss, partially, the changing roles and diversifying we have to do to survive as independent artists today. In posting the title to today’s post was a challenge I threw out to Jonathan: that certain words draw a crowd throughout the internet-verse. It gets picked up by the search engines and bam: more readers. Even if it’s only a click through. Forget about the content. Put the right words out, and “…they shall come.”
Is this all about numbers when you’re NOT selling something but spouting ideals and (in the case of Tale Spinning) creative fiction? I am struggling with myself to see where this all fits together in the creative world I prefer to live in. It goes back to what I’ve been writing about the past few days: the importance of content over numbers. Making a presence for myself vs. doing steady, good writing (or I hope you feel it’s good writing: I do have my detractors too).
It is not the job of search engine optimization to make a pig fly. It is the job of the SEO to genetically re-engineer the Web site so that it becomes an eagle. — Bruce Clay
Now, I am curious, especially of any of the Writers out there who will be reading this:
Do you work in SEO “sexy” words into what you blog?
What do you feel pulls in your readers?
Do you care about the analytics of your blog?
Someone, in a comment, wrote “don’t measure success of the blog by comments.” How do you measure success?
As to me:
(1) Sometimes. (2) Good content.(3) Yes & No. The up and down #’s make me curious (hence the postings of the last few days) (4) I believe in small successes. If I feel I’ve done the best I can, that is success to me. The comments are gravy.
Happy 40th Anniversary to The Muppet Show!
Really…I really do care about this.
I only read it for the articles!
😉
bornstoryteller 
Sep 13, 2011 @ 16:21:19
I totally agree. What happened to writing because it makes you happy and selling the stuff because it makes other people happy and is good writing. I wrote a blog about how digital books and all that hasn’t changed anything for writers, but I guess I could update that with what you’ve written.. add the fact that agents are now expecting the author to do quite a bit of the work for them too. If you’re interested in my comments on the e-book self publishing and self promo farce, have a look at my blog, link below. This is all just getting silly. It’ll take a while for the money mad scum to drop out and then only the enthusiasts will be left. I can see this bandwagon getting so heavy with passengers that it just won’t move. http://richardwiseman.blogspot.com/ and find first post below two war poems. (Scroll down). Otherwise thanks for information. I could have guessed as much as you wrote and I’m glad to hear you say it, because it confirms what I thought was going on. Thanks for insight. Take care buddy and play the long game!
Sep 13, 2011 @ 16:36:03
Thank you Richard. The long game IS what I’m shooting for, but I still am fighting to try to do it my way. We’ll see, as I cave in along the way.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 16:30:05
I am never sure what constitutes “sex SEO.” If I look at my blog and the numbers, I find that a silly piece I did on “truck nuts” and another silly piece I did on Bidets continue to get many hits. When school starts, I get a lot of hits on articles I wrote about ethics, classism, and economic theory (people looking to understand Marx), all pieces I wrote back in grad school days. But these are the popular topics. I am often baffled as to why one topic will bring in more traffic than other topics. I would love, however, to do an experiment. Write one post two ways: 1) normally without forcing SEO terms into the text, and 2) the same post with a few SEO keywords thrown in. Would traffic really change that much? And … how do you find those sexy SEO words to use anyway?
Sep 13, 2011 @ 16:41:25
Hi Rebecca: finding those SEO words is a chore unto itself. I’ve heard from a number of people that my SEO wordage isn’t “sexy” enough. When I ask what they are, well, that is when the hemming and hawing comes in. Now, if you want to PAY someone to find them, they will jump out of the woodwork. Yes, it’s a new business, optimizing one’s website for more traffic in key words.
Wow….typing that last sentence just made me nauseous.
Rebecca: let me know if you do that experiment. I’d be really curious.
Thanks for coming by.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 17:40:50
Those sexy SEO’s. I hear them over and over again. I concur!
Sep 13, 2011 @ 17:41:29
I hear *about* them. . .
Sep 13, 2011 @ 18:14:55
Thanks Pam. I got ya. Yes, that whole sexy thing is astounding.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 17:51:38
I have had people already comment in my spam of course that I need to use SEO correctly bla bla bla. My blog is where I write to get things out of my head. If I was focused on making money I would write for some company and get paid for it. I can answer the question about Sexy SEO because I have done it.
In my mind, which may mean nothing, I use tag words that I know people will search for. In other words I use things in my articles that I know I would search for if I was looking for something.
I can go days or a week and not write anything at all on my blog and still get hits. I have stalking spammers who keep 4 of my posts in my analytics every single day. I don’t want to be known for my SEO skills or writing about things everyone else is writing. I want to be known for my skillful writing about things nobody writes about. Maybe that is my problem! If I wanted to be like everyone else I would write about celebrities. I measure my own success by how deeply I have touched someone. Who cares if you can pump out a post everyday if nobody’s life has been altered by it…
Sep 13, 2011 @ 18:18:31
Thanks Jenni. Yeah, I basically feel this way as well. it should be content driven. There is just SO much out there, how do you get found if you don’t play the game sometimes?
Sep 13, 2011 @ 18:54:41
I did my own little experiment; I deliberately used the title “In Celebration of Filth” in a title just to see if I’d get more hits from…err…a particular class of people. Well, I did get a LOT more views from new people/sources. In fact, it’s one of my top posts of all time. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it was people looking for specific content – if so, I imagine many went away disappointed.
That was the only time. I don’t even think about SEO, I don’t write for numbers, and I don’t even use that many tags. (I should; they work!) I do occasionally ping my blog, but for the most part I don’t self-promote like I should. I’m very lazy in that respect, but then I’m not actually writing a book at this point so not much to promote. (Excuses, excuses.)
On the other hand, SEO does work; the trick is to maintain the integrity of one’s writing while working in phrases/tags which will catch the eye of the engines. It’s all a part of good marketing, and is necessary in this day and age of Everything Internet.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 18:59:25
Li…I think the big thing is: what are those words and phrases? That is a lot of the hassle/problem when one is “blind” to these sort of things.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 20:34:51
I am, and am not, shocked by how much self-marketing has become so important to a writer BEFORE they’re even published.
BTW, ditto on all your answers to the questions you posed.
The best part of this blog post: The Pictures!! Love them all – especially the legs with follow-me stockings…where can I get a pair?
Sep 13, 2011 @ 20:43:42
Stephanie: the stockings or the legs? 😉
Self marketing is a necessary evil now: so much material is out there. How do you know if some of the reviews on Amazon are not just from friends?
Sep 13, 2011 @ 21:17:46
My answers to all the questions are pretty similar to yours, Stuart.
I do add in SEO words, and wordpress tells me which words draw in the most visitors…I have fun adding them in to my fiction prompts. “Hourglass” is a term that gets a lot of hits for some reason, so one of the word prompts I gave you (remember?) was hourglass!
For me writing is the most important thing. When I’m older and on my deathbed (hopefully, I’ll be much older so I have more time to write), I wouldn’t measure my life in terms of my blog popularity, or by the popularity of my writing. I would go for the volume of my writing, and the work I wouldn’t be ashamed at that point to call mine.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 21:24:31
Thank you Damyanti I have not searched for words to use: between this posting and conversations, I guess I will start.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 02:28:02
You don’t have to search for them, WordPress gives them to you under the tab Site stats.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 21:55:28
It seems so silly that we need to engineer what we write so as to draw an audience….I’m trying to imagine Shakespeare working on SEO …Hmmm…wonder what key words and meta tags he used……But then we do live in different times and I’d suggest it’s best you leave that to the professional SEO guys to figure out. I got a free SEO report on my blog done by a company called BigRock – seemed good, but I was not up to paying them to take it further. In retrospect it was not too expensive – about $400 dollars as I remember. I’m sure you could find a similar company to do this for you.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 22:01:31
Hi Corrine: actually, I’m not looking for that. My post really was about what your first sentence is about: the whole numbers game drives me bonkers. Thanks, though. This is more an exercise, again, in what I don’t get, or fight getting.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 22:44:58
I don’t think about SEO when I blog. I used to when I first started blogging – you know the phase when you read absolutely everything about what you’re doing before you jump in? My word usage is usually centred around writing/readers anyway, so let’s hope I’m targetting the right crowd. I should check out the Google dashboard thingie to see what’s drawing people in.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 22:57:38
I am the reverse: I’m only now really thinking about SEO and the “right words” and such. Again, not to reach that larger number, but to UNDERSTAND this whole SEO thing. If my son was here, he’d tell you how easily my eyes glaze over when I think about these type of things. It’s my way to trying to understand it as well as think: “is it worth it at all?”
Thanks JL.
Sep 13, 2011 @ 23:08:48
I like comments because I love conversation. That’s what keeps me coming back to blogging. Concentrating on SEO sucks the fun out of it, and for me that’s a cardinal sin, so I avoid it. Ditto statistics, although I do give them a glance on occasion. I work hard to have fun and share something of value with my readers. 🙂
Sep 13, 2011 @ 23:13:03
And there you go.
Thank you Susan. Fun should win hands down.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 00:32:38
I’ve been trying to do better with my titles, too. Sexy, I dunno, but different at least, and often … you guessed it… weird! 🙂
Sep 14, 2011 @ 08:03:50
Weird is good. Thanks for the comments.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 02:39:24
I can’t but agree completely with your answers. I feel when there’s passion nothing more is required to steer one to success, because persuing your passion is the first success. And from my personal experience I have got a lot admirers of my work only because they see the fire in me. As long as one keeps at what one loves best other things are insignificant.
Readership does matter but again it depends on the charisma impregnated in the work. So according to me, “Sexy SEO”‘s don’t matter as much as innovativeness.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 08:05:35
I’m glad to hear from other writers, that it is the passion, overall. Thank you for stopping by.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 04:11:36
I don’t really think about SEO. Perhaps I’m being dim, but is there something on WordPress.org that tells you how many hits each post receives? My tag words are all publishing/writing/reading related. As J.L. says I hope it means I’m attracting the right target audience. Certainly don’t want to tag an article as “sex” just to see how many hits it gets — won’t want to disappoint! Besides, I much prefer having people leave comments.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 08:18:30
Hi JC: the “sexy” words don’t mean you have to have sex, porn, etc in a title, just that they are Juicy, SEO words and phrases that people are looking for/at. Yeah, the sex stuff “sells”, but the it’s looking at the analytics, seeing what draws the most people, and reconfiguring those terms. Interview seems to be one of those words.
Again, as I’ve stated often, I’m not with the numbers. This was more of a challenge to just see how things roll. It’s interesting to see what gets higher numbers when one feels the content is on a similar level.
Thanks you.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 09:06:15
My friend has a wonderful blog with the word naked in the title. It’s about books and was never meant to be a tease word, but she gets lots of visits because of it. 🙂
Personally I prefer to write titles which are clever, witty or fun.But I know that they should be SEO relevant – sometimes you just have to choose.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 09:17:30
Valerie, thank you for the idea: The Naked BornStoryteller!!! 😉
Sep 14, 2011 @ 14:56:46
I’m very glad that you brought up this subject. All agents now seem to require an “online presence.” However, two authors I know who were recently picked up by big NY agents had little/no online presence. However, as someone pointed out to me, a blog is an opportunity for an agent to assess your writing skills. As for SEO, you can look for words, particularly in the title, that will draw in readers (as in the comment using “Filth” in the title. However, what kind of readers? My most popular post, according to Google Analytics, was a little piece called, “What A Slip!” For unknown reasons, it has been a hit with every porn spammer out there. Another, “Try, Try, and Try Again”, which initially didn’t rate high, is now my highest ranked post???
Content is still king. Copyblogger (an inspiring blog for writers/bloggers) emphasizes this while giving great tips on how to effectively use SEO. Early this year, I spent three months reading some of the top bloggers. One thing I noticed: they all have excellent content and high quality writing. Pick any post by say, Chris Guillebeau, and you will find yourself drawn into the subject and the way he writes.
I’d like to believe, (as in the comment above from Richard Wiseman about “this bandwagon getting so heavy with passengers that it won’t move.”) that there is some way we can stand out in this ever-growing blogosphere, but I fear that would take more time than I’m willing or able to dedicate to it.
Sep 14, 2011 @ 15:12:01
One of the first large jumps in numbers was when I posted the “I got a STD” award. That’s a while back, but it was my first glimpse into this mad numbers/tag words and phrases world.
I agree with you and everyone else: it’s the content that will not only have me read and possibly leave a comment, but keep coming back AND subscribe to the blog. For me, those blogs are about writing, creative fiction, reading, educational issues, the arts & arts in education. Otherwise…I’m hit and miss. There are a few outside of this “box” I’m in, but for constant reading: yeah, it has to grab me to keep me.
I’ll take a look at Copyblogger. Thanks Penelope.
Sep 17, 2011 @ 22:10:26
Hmm, so what *are* sexy words for authors?
I didn’t know that about the Muppet Show – congratulations to them!
Sep 17, 2011 @ 22:16:39
Deniz: that is the question. I think I’ll take some time, soon, to really research it, looking over my analytics, and make a post of it.
It’s time to get things started!! 🙂
Thanks