One of these rainy April days take a look at my Youtube Channel!!
It’s been fun looking back on previous months in a vlog type format and Youtube has been a great activity in quarantine !! I recommend everyone getting more involved as a hobby!
Debatably Dateable is 4 years old! My oh my, how big she’s grown! I can’t believe this blog is 4 years old today!
If I’m honest, I did not put much effort into my blog this year. I go through waves of inspiration and droughts, and I’ve had an extremely long drought this year. Fall 2019 I was doing great with my queue and I think that honestly held me through. When the summer started I did start to work on new content. But I haven’t really been active on here and the stats really show from July 2019 5,003 to this July (just last month).
I am proud that DD has over 6,000 followers, I appreciate every single one of you for taking the time to read the thoughts and feelings I share. I hope my honesty has helped some of you feel connected to something outside of yourself. I’m also proud to stay that I’ve posted 700 articles/poems over these 4 years and I’ve loved exploring so many topics with all of you!
She’s helped me launch 3 poetry collections now and I’m so thankful to have WordPress as a platform to share my work with all of you!
Kiss me
I want to forget
that you’re no good for me.
I know I should let
the memories of you stay dead
But they taste so sweet
on my lips
just like your kiss.
-Oct 2019
I’ll be your friend I’ll be your lover.
I’ll be anything just to have a piece of you.
I’ll be your 2 AM call when you’re leaving the bar
I’ll be your shotgun seat to the trip upstate
I’ll be anything just to spend some time with you.
I’ll be your sunset to the perfect day together
I’ll be your rocking chair partner
while we watch the grandkids play.
I’ll be anything just to be your everything.
We’re casual and easy
Like Sleeping in on a cool Fall Sunday
No need to text all day long
but we enjoy the company
when we’re together.
No need to complicate us with games.
Keep it as simple as you and me tonight.
-Nov 2019
I wrote some goals for 2019 back in December and we’re full circle now! I did a 6 months check in since these goals were only for the first 6 months of the year anyways.
Goals have to be measurable in order to know if you’ve reached them or not. Although I’m not happy to focus so heavily on numbers, it is an easy way to measure a goal. My goal is to increase my audience and have a successful poetry career. These numbers will help me keep track of those goals.
Work on writing a media kit
Contact companies for sponsorship (and actually get one!)
Gain another 1,000 followers
Update: I’ve looked into some samples of media kits but I still don’t think my stats would stand out enough for it to make sense to create one just yet.
I’ve joined some other affiliation programs that I’ve been working on instead of doing any sponsored posts yet. There are some programs that have tougher qualifications so I still need to work on my stats. I am making a small bit of money from google Adsense so it’s great to see me recovering some of my self hosting spendings.
Debatably Dateable has gained over 1,770 followers since December and I couldn’t be happier! I love love love watching this blog grow! I hope to get another thousand in these next 6 months!
The Final Results: 3968 June, to 5719 dec = 1750, from my 5k monthly views article, my traffic is growing which helps my monetary goals.
Between GoodReads and Amazon, have 20 reviews
Get 25 more books sold
The Update: I have 18 reviews so I can’t be too upset there but I did not even get close to selling 25 more books so that stings a little. I don’t see these numbers getting much higher as the year goes on. I’m not sure how to help boost sales as the book continues to age.
The Final Results: I thought Where I Ache sales would be the only ones coming in after the summer but surprisingly Cracked Open still sees some action on Amazon so that’s great news.
Twitter – gain 2,000 followers
Instagram– gain 1,000 followers
The Update: For Twitter I only gained 1,270 so far but feel free to come check out what I talk about there! Oddly enough, for Instagram I’ve gained over 2,125 followers so it looks like I got my goals switched around! I hope to get to the 2k+ on Twitter in the Fall.
The Final Results: I finally started taking a deeper look into these numbers and found it was wasted efforts! So I’ve switched my focus to Pinterest, read more about why I made these changes here.
I want to add 50 exclusive poems to my next collection before I work on publishing it
Have 10 reviews before release date
Sell twice as many as Cracked Open (over the course of the year)
The Update: I have 55 exclusive poems! I am absolutely ecstatic about that! Cracked Open had 20 illustrations and Where I Ache has somewhere around 35 so I’m also pumped about that!
Where I Ache was only released 2 weeks ago and there’s already 14 reviews on Goodreads so I’m very happy about that! Definitely check them out!
I’m only 2 weeks in of course but I’m already even with Cracked Open’s first month of book sales so that’s a good start for me!
The Final Results: Where I Ache currently has 20 reviews on Goodreads and another 5 on Amazon so I think I did a bit more work during release time on my second collection and I’m happy to see it paid off. Not sure what I’ll want to do about my third collection in the new year.
All those reviews have unfortunately not resulted in more sales than Cracked Open had in it’s first 5 months. My third collection is returning to more Cracked Open style so we’ll see if that has anything to do with it.
Because I don’t want to solely focus on numbers, here are some
Connect with new readers who resonate with my poetry.
Have my poetry help someone through a difficult time.
Have a company see value in my writing.
Keep a healthy number of articles in queue.
The Update: I’ve definitely found new readers and also fellow poets through my Poet Interview Series! I’ve been so lucky to connect with new readers who were interested in reviewing Where I Ache and many have said the sensitive topics covered in the collection have helped them remember they are not alone.
I haven’t really pursued this one aside from submitting Where I Ache to one of the major publishing companies. I’m not sure that I will do much for the rest of the year for this.
I have over 30 posts in queue for the past several months and it is amazinggggg! (knock on wood)
The Final Results: I still have not made the jump to working with companies and I don’t think I will in 2020, my only focus would probably be Google Adsense and working on more traffic to eventually switch to another ad company.
The past few months I hover around 50 articles in queue would has been so awesome and even with that I’ve added more posts into my schedule. At the beginning of the year I would post 10 times a month, then I went to every Monday, Wed, and Friday posting about 12-13 times a month and lately I’ve made the jump to about 15-17 times a month so I’m hoping that will all help with traffic and the like.
My goals for 2020 will mostly follow the same path of check the sales of my books and trying to increase site traffic so I’m unsure if I’ll set specific numbers for this coming year. Thanks for following me along through 2019!
Last month was my 3 year blogiversary and I was hoping to reach 5k by then but 2 weeks off isn’t anything to be bummed about in my opinion. I’m thrilled to be here and have the support from all of you!
I remember my first 6 months being happy to reach 300 followers so the growth since then is incredible! I have a post scheduled at the end of the week for driving traffic to your site so check back in to see that!
The one thing I would like to say though, is other bloggers don’t have to be your competition. I run different series every year, my first one was reblogging other sites and my series this year is giving a spotlight to emerging poets! I want to help other bloggers and artists just like I’ve been helped in the blogging community. Showing love to other sites hasn’t harmed my stats, but it has given me new friends!
So I encourage you all to work together and not against each other.
As a poet trying to find exposure myself, I’d like to offer other poets an opportunity and my support through this series. It’s been such a success so far and now we’re coming to the tail end of the year (wow that’s insane!)
I’d like to ask questions specific to your collection so sending an ARC, PDF, or instagram account of your poetry would be extra fun! I will ask you 4 questions and you are able to ask (and answer) 2 questions of your own incase I’ve missed a topic you wish to tell readers about.
If you are or know a poet that would like to interview, please contact me!
Twitter / Instagram / Contact Page
Email: ddateable@gmail.com
“Poetry
My Real Work by Paul Vincent Cannon. If, like me, you spend a lot of time in boring, pointless work meetings when you’d rather be writing and creating, this poem will really speak to you!
I Can’t Admit the Truth by Megan O’Keeffe (Debatably Dateable). A beautiful poem that tugs at my heart ♥
Some of Jupiter’s posts
I wrapped up the erotic story series that started my blogging journey in the first place, Did You Miss Me (Part 6);
Wrote a couple of silly, saucy poems inspired by some sexy men’s underwear- Kinky Britches and You Tease, and name-checked one of my favourite musical artists, Australia’s Kate Miller-Heidke, and her brilliant and hilarious song “Are You Fucking Kidding Me?” about getting a Facebook friend request from an ex lover;
Got booby-licious and whipped “the girls” out for my offerings for Wicked Wednesday, Food for Thought Friday, and Friday is Boobday, as well as by way of apology in What a Day!;”
I wrote some goals for 2019 back in December and I wanted to check now that we’re at the half way mark for the year (whhhhatttt?!?!?!?)
Goals have to be measurable in order to know if you’ve reached them or not. Although I’m not happy to focus so heavily on numbers, it is an easy way to measure a goal. My goal is to increase my audience and have a successful poetry career. These numbers will help me keep track of those goals.
Work on writing a media kit
Contact companies for sponsorship (and actually get one!)
Gain another 1,000 followers
Update: I’ve looked into some samples of media kits but I still don’t think my stats would stand out enough for it to make sense to create one just yet.
I’ve joined some other affiliation programs that I’ve been working on instead of doing any sponsored posts yet. There are some programs that have tougher qualifications so I still need to work on my stats. I am making a small bit of money from google Adsense so it’s great to see me recovering some of my self hosting spendings.
Debatably Dateable has gained over 1,770 followers since December and I couldn’t be happier! I love love love watching this blog grow! I hope to get another thousand in these next 6 months!
Between GoodReads and Amazon, have 20 reviews
Get 25 more books sold
The Update: I have 18 reviews so I can’t be too upset there but I did not even get close to selling 25 more books so that stings a little. I don’t see these numbers getting much higher as the year goes on. I’m not sure how to help boost sales as the book continues to age.
Twitter – gain 2,000 followers
Instagram– gain 1,000 followers
The Update: For Twitter I only gained 1,270 so far but feel free to come check out what I talk about there! Oddly enough, for Instagram I’ve gained over 2,125 followers so it looks like I got my goals switched around! I hope to get to the 2k+ on Twitter in the Fall.
I want to add 50 exclusive poems to my next collection before I work on publishing it
Have 10 reviews before release date
Sell twice as many as Cracked Open (over the course of the year)
The Update: I have 55 exclusive poems! I am absolutely ecstatic about that! Cracked Open had 20 illustrations and Where I Ache has somewhere around 35 so I’m also pumped about that!
Where I Ache was only released 2 weeks ago and there’s already 14 reviews on Goodreads so I’m very happy about that! Definitely check them out!
I’m only 2 weeks in of course but I’m already even with Cracked Open’s first month of book sales so that’s a good start for me!
Because I don’t want to solely focus on numbers, here are some
Connect with new readers who resonate with my poetry.
Have my poetry help someone through a difficult time.
Have a company see value in my writing.
Keep a healthy number of articles in queue.
The Update: I’ve definitely found new readers and also fellow poets through my Poet Interview Series! I’ve been so lucky to connect with new readers who were interested in reviewing Where I Ache and many have said the sensitive topics covered in the collection have helped them remember they are not alone.
I haven’t really pursued this one aside from submitting Where I Ache to one of the major publishing companies. I’m not sure that I will do much for the rest of the year for this.
I have over 30 posts in queue for the past several months and it is amazinggggg! (knock on wood)
Thanks for checking in with me! I can’t wait to see where I end up this coming December! How are your blog goals coming along?
Tell us a little bit about your books
My first book focused on a journey of love lost then found. Not all poems are happy, as not all of love is. I hope each reader can find comfort and strength to continue on their own journey of love.
Where I Ache focuses on various aspects of mental health such as depression and self esteem. Mental health can be such a delicate topic and often gets avoided because of that. I knew I wanted to publish this collection so that the readers could be their own little community of support and unity.
What, for you, is the best thing about being a writer?
The best is probably when you’ve created something better than you ever thought you could. A few poems really wow me with some impressive lines of creativity. It’s also so special when a reader connects with a poem and you’ve helped them articulate exactly what they’ve been feeling inside.
read the whole interview here at My Random Musings – Author Interview
You might have done some spring cleaning with your blog and socials clearing out inactive accounts.
Now it’s time to find new engaging content by sharing your links!
Please leave any and all social links in the comments and check other comments to connect with other bloggers!
I’d love to connect with you all as well on my pages so take a look! Thank you all for the support!
Twitter // Instagram // Goodreads // Amazon
Debatably Dateable 