Exciting news, 3.5 readers.
I’m 200 views away from this fine blog being viewed a whopping, an astounding, an awe-inspiring 50,000 times.
Even more amazing is the fact that 49,000 of those views were provided by my beloved Aunt Gertie, seen below:
Bookshelf Battle
The only site where new bestsellers are forced to do battle for space on a nerd's bookshelf.
Tag Archives: blogs
Daily Discussion With BQB – Rate My Attack Dog
Good morning 3.5 Readers.
As regular readers, you’re aware that Bookshelf Q. Battledog holds the esteemed position of Security Chief of Bookshelf Q. Battler Headquarters.
That’s right. All enemies of BQB HQ must go through this furry protector:
QUESTION: Do you think BQBD is sufficiently scary? If you were an enemy of BQBHQ, would you cower in terror upon seeing him or punt him like a football and then engage in a hostile takeover of the Bookshelf Battle Blog as the evil Yeti did a couple years ago?
You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but he has actually devoured 7,345 intruders alive. He also knows karate, ninjutsu, kung-fu and tae kwon do.
But I don’t know. There’s just something about him that makes me worry he may not be sufficiently intimidating.
And when you run a blog dedicated to putting more awesomeness in the world, I really need a fearsome beast that will protect me from all who would seek to stop the awesome.
I can’t figure it out. Maybe he needs to work out more. Hit the gym a little.
What say you, 3.5 readers?
Pick a New Theme for Bookshelf Battle
Happy Saturday 3.5 Readers.
I’m shopping for new themes. Take a look at some of them with me, will you?
After all, as my 3.5 readers, you’ll need to be as satisfied as I am:
#1 – NEWSMAG – I like it but I’m not sure why the menu is there twice. This has been pretty much been my experience. I find something that seems acceptable but for one weird little thing:
#2 – WILSON – Hmm. I like posting various funny pictures right at the top of my blog, often pictures of the “bookshelf battles” occurring on my magic bookshelf. For the 3.5 people who read this blog, it really ties the theme together.
Otherwise, the theme is crisp, uncluttered, it does pull Twitter, Facebook feeds and other widgets up to the left instead of leaving them buried at the bottom like my current theme does.
I guess the tradeoff is the main photo becomes smaller and off to the left instead of prominently at the top. Ironically, the photo does appear at the top on tablets and phones.
It’s free, so that’s a plus. I do prefer the menu at the top but I think the design so clearly helps the user to distinguish what’s the written content and what’s the menu content that it’s not a concern.
Hmm. This one’s a contender.
#3 – HIVE – This one needs two photos. First, it didn’t cut off “my” face but rather it all just comes out to big to come out in one screenshot. Take my word that my head is there and you just scroll down through a pretty sweet funny photo and bold headline before you get to the meat of the blog.
“BQB you wanted a blog that has a prominent photo and bold headline.”
That I do. That’s what intrigues me. It is like $150 which I don’t relish spending but I guess if it’s something I enjoy doing I guess I can sacrifice some dough for my 3.5 readers.
If you move to the second photo, you’ll see the posts come out in a newspaper like format. Side by side, crisp columns.
You end up with a blog roll where many, many of more posts are clickable before you get to the bottom of the roll and have to click next to get to the back log.
No one ever clicks next. So more posts before you reach the end could attract more than 3.5 readers.
So I’ll call what’s on the front page “teasers.” You basically get a paragraph of the post and then when you click it you get the whole thing.
I’m not sure why my photos don’t show up in the teasers but they do show up in the post itself when you reach it.
I’m not too worried about that because I have read other blogs where photos are in the teasers so there must be a way.
I’m on the fence on this one. It’s very beautiful. It does come with a lot of features that seem like they’d increase the ole click-a-roos.
But I feel like no one understands the concept of my blog as it is. It’s a blog about a nerd with a magic bookshelf who engages in all manner of nerdy hi jinx while he pursues a career as a novelist to appease an alien dictator.
Does this format make it a newspaper about all that above?
#4 – PENSCRATCH – Oh my God. It’s got the prominent headline. It’s got the menu at the top. It’s got the menu at the top. It’s got the place for the funny header photo.
The shopping list is complete! But…shit. Is it me or is that font very light? It looks like what happens when someone tries to write with lemon juice on paper.
If I can figure out how to darken up the font and maybe come up with some spiffier fonts this one could also be a contender.
CONCLUSIONS –
My gut is telling me to go with WILSON but I can also see the argument that PENSCRATCH is the closest to what I have now and perhaps I shouldn’t take my stinky socks off in the bottom of then ninth. Not crazy about that light font though.
Sheesh. Picking a new theme is like picking a mistress. Chunk’s like my toothless, frazzled hair wife. Sure, she’s not the best, but she’s always there for me and gets the job done.
If I’m going to leave her I want it to be for a super model that’s really going to rev my engine but it just seems like I’m trading one toothless wife for another toothless wife.
I’m from the 90’s. I can say things like this.
A Blog for Zombie Western
Hey 3.5 Readers.
I originally said I was going to try to write three books and then edit and publish them one right after the other. I realize now how long that will take. After 6 months, I have 80,000 words and I’m not done yet. If I wait, it’ll be years before I get anything published. I don’t want to rush anything but I now realize that I will have to think of the best ways to drop bread crumbs in this book for future books and then as I write the future books, I’ll have to just deal if it ends up there was something I wish I had added in Zombed.
To that end, I’ll need to do a rewrite.
As I rewrite, I’ll need to do a lot of things. For example, I’ll need to create:
- A list of characters so I don’t repeat any names.
- I’ll need to come up with a master time line so I don’t have something happen that cuts off something else from happening.
- Bios of some of the main characters.
- Notes on why I made certain choices, went off on this path or that.
I don’t want to put a ton of time in it or have it distract from my main operations here at Bookshelf Battle, but I do think all of these things would be helpful to a rewrite and I don’t see why they couldn’t become content that the 3.5 people who buy the book might enjoy.
I could add the occasional interview with a zombie and/or a western author.
What ideas do you 3.5 readers have for such a blog?
And which WordPress theme would look good for a Western blog?
This is my 15ooth Post
This one. Right here. 1500 posts in two years and three months.
1500 rantings about nonsense.
1500.
I wish I had planned something better for it but I just noticed I was at 1,499 and decided to make it an even 1500.
I’ll have to plan a party for my 2000th post.
Blogging has been quite a trip. Often, I feel like it isn’t worth it. That I write so much and there’s so little response.
But then I see progress. All those followers and clicks add up. I’ve seen more progress add up in this than anything else I’ve done.
Anyway, thanks 3.5 readers. I’ll keep writing as long as at least 3.5 of you keep showing up.
You Write Today’s Post
I’m tired 3.5 readers. All I ever do is give and give and give.
You guys write today’s post in the comments. Tell me what the other 2.5 readers besides yourself should know about the world.
Top Ten Ideas for Improving this Blog
The Bookshelf Battle Blog is sheer perfection, I know. Sheer delight for the eyes of my 3.5 readers.
But I’m looking for advice on making this fine blog even better.
So you write this list in the comments, 3.5 readers. You can be funny if you want but you don’t have to be. This blog rarely is so why start now?
Two Year Anniversary Stats
Gratuitous Bookshelf Q. Battledog Photo
In two years of bloggery, I have made 1,240 posts and received:
37,577 views
20,698 visitors
Is this good? I don’t know. If there’s some expert out there, please tell me.
The highest number of views I received in a day came on February 9, 2015. I think that was largely because someone was nice enough to put something I wrote on Reddit. I had just announced the one post a day for a year challenge too so I think that made people somewhat curious.
In general, if I get between 30-50 hits a day it is a pretty average day. It is nice when there are more views than hits. I feel like that means people like what they see and want to keep looking around.
This has definitely been a labor of love. I truly wish this technology had existed when I was 20 and had the ability to stay up two days straight writing term papers cranked up on Red Bull (shit, come to think of it, that could explain a lot of my problems now.)
But it is here now and I like it because every day brings at least one new follower and I hope all of these little drops in the bucket lead to a nice full bucket some day.
(A nice full bucket of people who will buy the book I can’t seem to finish. What? Did I say that? No. I do it for the art. Money schmoney.)
If you haven’t done so yet, please follow me on:
Thank you, 3.5 readers. Please keep it up and help a nerd’s dream come true.
365 Days. 1 Nerd. Results of the One Post a Day Challenge – 2015 Complete
SECURE INTERGALACTIC TRANSMISSION
TO: The Mighty Potentate
FROM: Alien Jones, the Esteemed Brainy One
RE: Results of Bookshelf Q. Battler’s One Post a Day for a Year Challenge – 2015
DATE: Jan. 1, 2016
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY POTENTATE!
Alien Jones tallies BQB’s 2015 stats.
Your lowly servant, Alien Jones here to report on the results of Bookshelf Q. Battler’s One Post a Day Challenge. As you recall, Your Potentosity, you have identified BQB as “The Chosen One,” the only Earth writer capable of putting out a book that will convince the humans to abandon the reality television programming that you despise with such magnanimous enthusiasm.
HOW IT BEGAN
BQB only intended to write very brief posts for the purpose of drawing some attention to his blog. However, he quickly became hooked on seeing his stats improve and spent the year focusing on his blog instead of his languishing career as a novelist.
Further, BQB made daily postings on social media. He had Twitter at the beginning of the year. He got onto Google Plus early in the year. He had been on Facebook but finally began pushing harder on it in the Fall.
WHAT DID BQB DO?
- Posted 1 or more (and often, more) posts on his blog daily. Did not miss a day.
- Posted daily on Twitter from the beginning of the year.
- Posted daily on Google Plus when he started it (his pitiful human brain doesn’t remember when that started but believes it was early in the year.)
- Became more active on Facebook, by the end of the year he started posting there daily. Also, he spent a bit of his human money to buy some Facebook ads.
- Joined and became active on Wattpad, posting stories and offering comments on other writers’ works.
BQB’S BEGINNING STATS
BQB, ever unsure of himself, blogged every day in January, 2015 just to see if he could do it. He then announced Feb 1. that he’d see this through to the end of the year.
WHAT BQB SAID ABOUT HIS STATS FEB 1:
“At the time of this writing, I’m averaging 35-40 site visitors per day. I believe this is due to daily postings.
I’m also seeing an increase in blog followers. I had 400 at the start of the year, and about 450 now.
I had 2000 twitter followers at the start of the year, I’m at around 2500 now.”
STAT COMPARISON A YEAR LATER
WORDPRESS
FOLLOWERS
JAN 1, 2015 – Approx. 400
JAN 1, 2016 – 1,520
INCREASE of 1,120 approx.
2014 vs. 2015
BQB began this blog in 2014, but did not blog daily. In fact, he often let a lot of time pass between posts.
2014 Stats
VIEWS – 4,658
VISITORS – 3,623
LIKES – 895
COMMENTS – 227
2015 Stats
VIEWS – 28,103 (Up approx 24,000)
VISITORS – 14,880 (Up approx 11,000)
LIKES – 7,836 (Up approx 6,000)
COMMENTS – 2000 (Up approx 1800)
JAN 1, 2015 – 2,000 followers (approx)
JAN 1, 2016 – 7,168
GOOGLE PLUS
2014 – BQB didn’t have it. He started in 2015.
Jan 1, 2016 – 858 followers
Likes were barely existent starting 2015. BQB experimented with buying some Facebook ads in the Fall. Currently, the Bookshelf Battle Facebook Page has 169 likes and the Pop Culture Mysteries Facebook Page has 107 likes.
SOCIAL MEDIA OBSERVATIONS – IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH IT?
Human writers often debate whether social media is worth their time. Some praise it as a free marketing tool. Others complain it takes time away from their actual writing.
For all of the social media activity BQB engaged in…
TWITTER – brought 527 views total to BQB’s blog this year.
FACEBOOK – brought 368 views total.
GOOGLE PLUS – 270
Thus, it is clear that having more followers on social media does not mean they will all visit your website. However, BQB feels his social media efforts did help to raise awareness of his blog and to make contacts with other writers, such as the fine authors who helped him out of the East Randomtown Zombie Apocalypse in October.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
SEARCH ENGINES – gave BQB 6,898 views. It pays to write a lot. The more content you have on your site, the more likely people will visit your site through a search engine.
WORDPRESS READER – 1,156 – The more wordpress followers you have, the more people will seeing your blog in their wordpress reader.
DAILY VIEWS – BQB found that for the most part, his efforts attracted somewhere between 30-50 visitors (more or less). Occasionally, it would push 100, a few times over 100, but never over 200.
To BQB’s credit, his view rate is high, meaning that there are a number of visitors coming to the site, liking what they see, and giving it a few more views.
OVERALL – WAS THE ONE POST A DAY CHALLENGE WORTH IT?
Yes. The Chosen One has gone from dabbling in a blog to building a platform.
BQB has a tendency to doubt himself, but will keep up with something if he sees progress and there was definite progress this year.
THE FUTURE
As a pitiful human, BQB can’t do everything, so in 2016 he will have to divert his attention to his novel writing career. However, the time he spent building this site’s readership will likely payoff one day…some day.
Somehow no matter what happens, BQB only reports having 3.5 readers though. That is likely to continue.
MY RECOMMENDATION
Spare the Earthlings, Mighty Potentate. BQB is doing his best to write a novel and build a writing career. He will do his best to convince the pitiful humans to stop watching reality television and read books instead.
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY POTENATE!
Alien Jones, out.
Bookshelf Battle 