Just thought I’d pass along a thank you to all of you who read my blog. You make my day 🙂
I started this site shortly before my book came out as a place for people to come if they were looking for information about my book or me. As authors we’re told it’s the thing to do.
Being new to blogging, I never expected to form online relationships as a direct result of blogging. I had no idea what blogging was all about. In fact, it took me a long time to come to terms with the notion that I was actually blogging…I know, sounds kind of silly.
I read quite a number of blogs myself—when I get the time that is. I read somewhere that the average blogger follows at least 200 blogs. Wow! All I can say it thank goodness for Google Reader.
WordPress allows us to subscribe to blogs by email which means each time a post is written it comes to our inbox. I gave up my email subscriptions after I discovered more and more blogs. For me, Google Reader works much better. I know by the number of email subscribers to my blog that obviously not everyone finds this method overwhelming. In fact, it obviously works quite well for them.
I don’t comment on all the blogs I follow (I wouldn’t have time to write if I did) but I try to comment whenever possible. I like for people to know that I’m out there and reading the posts they took the time to write.
One thing I’ve noticed through blogging is that various bloggers treat the comment section on their blog differently. Some bloggers disable the comment section altogether, while some leave theirs open to comments, and reply to each one. As you know, this is what I do. For me, I find it helps me to get to know all of you. I do like getting to know people. 🙂
I’ve noticed that not all bloggers respond to comments on their blog. One blogger noted she felt it was similar to inviting someone to your house and then ignoring them once they get there. Again, some bloggers respond to the occasional comment or acknowledge the comments in a general way.
Make no mistake responding to comments is time consuming, and I can understand why some bloggers might not have time to respond to each and every comment left on their blog— especially those blogs that typically receive many comments.
This post isn’t meant in any way to be a criticism about how other bloggers relate to the comment sections on the own blog. We’re all free to do as we please.
What I’d like to know is, what are your thoughts on this issue?
Here’s what I’m curious about: When you leave a comment on a blog do you feel slighted if you receive no response? Do you feel ignored? Or do you even check back to see if the blog host responded to your comment? If you’re a blogger yourself how do you respond to comments on your blog?
One last question: Do you even care if the blog host responds to your comment?
I think that’s it, unless you can think of your own questions…
Ooops! Nope I thought of something else. Do you use Google Reader or email subscription or perhaps you just bookmark your favoutie blogs? That’s the last question, I promise.
Laura Best 
Hitting the Big 500
I just gave myself a pat on the back because we can all use one from time to time and sometimes there’s no one else around to do it for us. This seemed like such an occasion.
For some reason hitting the big 500 feels like a big deal. When I started my blog back in 2009 I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I’d find to write about. Now look. 500 times I found something to post about and some of you kept coming back for more! As my father used to say, “You’re gluttons for punishment.” It took a long time before I understood the meaning of that expression. But truthfully, you’re awesome and I can’t begin to tell express how much your dedication means to me.
A lot has changed for me in the past four years since I began this blog. Some of it wonderful, some of it not so wonderful. But through the ups and downs I continued to post. Sometimes I hit “publish” with a sense of excitement, other times with a sense of trepidation. But hit it I did. I’m determined that way. If I wasn’t I’d never have found a publisher for my books plus a lot of other things I never imagined I’d be doing at this point in my life … Blogging being one of them!
I nearly quit blogging on a few occasions, (bet you didn’t know that!) feeling that it was a pointless gesture, that no one actually cared enough to read and the faithful ones who might weren’t into reading blogs. While WordPress lets us know how many hits we get with each post it’s easy to feel as though our words are not having the desired effect since we can’t see any of our readers. That’s why the comment section is such a wonderful and appreciated thing. It lets us know that someone is out there, watching and reading, maybe even caring just a smidge if we’re lucky.
The comment section is always open on my blog, and I don’t have to tell other bloggers how nice it is to read what others have to say about something we’ve written. Most people won’t bother to comment. They remain anonymous, invisible, silently reading. It’s okay. We understand. It still means you’re taking the time to read. Time is precious. While comments are not required, or expected, they’re always appreciated. No one writes a blog post expecting others to tell them how wonderful it is. Most of us just hope we that our words will strike a cord, perhaps make someone stop and consider an idea they might not have otherwise considered or else make them think in shades of grey instead of only black and white.
So in honour of my 500th post I want to thank all of you for dropping in to visit from time to time. It’s wonderful to have others to share the highs and lows with. Five years and I’m still hanging in there thanks to all of you. And who knows, maybe some of you “invisible” readers will one day get up the courage to leave behind a comment to let me know you’re there. 🙂
Here’s to the next 500.
Posted by Laura Best on July 22, 2014
https://lauraabest.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/hitting-the-big-500/