When I started The Reading Life on July 19, 2009 I told my wife I was going to set up a website in which I would write short notes about the things I read.
She asked me who would read your work. I told her I did not know. She then said "what will you do if no one reads your articles."
I thought then if I keep this going three months it will be a miracle.
Slowly my blog became very important to me. I am blessed to still have loyal readers from the first month. Some of these first readers I have gotten to know through social media. Others I just see their visits. For over ten years someone living in Hanoi has read every post.
Starting in March 2013 with my great reading life friends the Irish, I began to establish contacts with writers. From this I came to do 102 Q and A sessions with writers, mostly authors creating short stories. I learned a lot from these interviews. I thank all those who participated. I see these as of lasting value, a hope somehow they will endure. I no longer do these sessions but I wish I did. I am continuously impressed by the kindness, intelligence, cultural depth and creativity of my literary contacts.
I attribute some of my readership to the posts I have done on short stories from pre-WW Two Philippines writers and short stories from the Indian Subcontinent. The five most viewed posts of the 3717 on line for all time are on short stories from the Philippines.
Top Home Countries of Visitors
1. USA - 2.02 Million
2. The Philippines - 1.2 Million
3. India - 520 K
4. Russia - 263 K
5. UK -126 K
6. Germany - 120 K
7. France - 119 K
8. Canada - 105 K
9. Ukraine - 27 K
Pandemic Impact
Since March One I have been trying to spotlight the works of writers who I follow who I know are under lockdown, as we are here.
April One I began a project I call "Lockdown Reads". In April I am going to post only on short stories. I am reading two quite long novels, The Recognitions by William Gaddis and A Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. For escapist reading I have set aside some science fiction and fantasy classics.
Right now blog traffic is down but I expect it to rebound once Universities world wide open.
Books are selling well from reports in the media.
I hope everyone is safe and being careful.
Best wishes to all
Mel u
3 comments:
there must be contributors like yourself in the book world otherwise the whole thing would wither and die... tx for what you do...
That's very impressive. Congratulations and Keep up the good work.
I bet you are very curious about your loyal reader in Hanoi!
Keep on, keeping on: I'm looking forward to your ongoing projects and new projects too.
Best to you, Mel, and the Reading Life team.
Post a Comment