I've been thinking about this blog for some time, and have now made a few decisions. This blog has kind of served as a multi-purpose blog since I started it a year or so ago, and while I have a handful of regular readers and followers I think that in order for it to become more popular it's necessary to break it up into its component parts.
There are three things I write about - my books, writing craft and business, and my life in Japan. While some people may have an interest in all three, others will only have an interest in one or two, so it seems counterproductive to write on a variety of topics which will interest people only 1/3 of the time.
This blog, A Million Miles from Anywhere, will remain the blog dedicated to my books and books in general. I'll be writing all about my own books, plus posting book reviews or news I find of interest about other authors here. This will also include interviews with other authors.
Everything specifically about my life in Japan will be posted in future on my new blog, Living in Nagano. I just started this blog today and it will be a photo-heavy online diary of my life and what I find of interest in Japan. I'll be attempting to post at least once a week, mostly just pics with short descriptions rather than the 2,000 word plus posts that I often put on here.
All my posts on writing craft and self-publishing will be moving to another new blog, Self-publishing for Beginners. I literally started this blog 45 seconds ago so there's no content there yet, but I have about twenty blog posts specific to the subject now so I'll be cross-posting them all over there in time as well as adding new ones.
People who are interested in what I have to say will therefore be able to pick and choose what they want to read while avoiding the parts that don't interest them. All my blogs will be linked from each other plus the two new blogs will be carrying ads for my books (because they're my books and my blogs haha) as well as links to my cover designers, editors and proofreaders on my self-publishing blog. In addition, assuming I'm allowed to, I'll also be monetizing the two new blogs with Google AdSense. I've avoided this up to now because I hate ads on websites, but if they're not too intrusive I'll let them stay. I don't make a lot of money from writing but I'm not doing this solely for love, either. I've been told by several blogging friends that I'm missing a trick by not monetizing my current blog already.
So there you have it. I'll need a couple of weeks before things are running smoothly but you can look forward to lots and lots of interesting things to read from me in the future. And lots of pictures of my cat, because, as everyone knows, cats rule the world and are allowed to go wherever they damn well like!
Chris Ward
18th April 2013
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