The Secret and the Prize

First, the prize.

Hart at Confessions of a Watery Tart was giving away a prize – the critique of fifty pages of a manuscript. Much to my surprise, I won! Hart informed me I could use it in September (when she has time to do the critique) or pass it on to another writer. Since I won’t be ready with my manuscript until the end of the year (as in, I won’t feel comfortable letting anyone read it until it’s complete and I’ve had a chance to do some editing) I’ve decided to pass this prize on to another deserving writer.

I can think of several fellow writers who will have a manuscript ready by September. However, I don’t want to volunteer someone and cause that person to panic as well! So, I am offering this prize to anyone who desires a critique of his or her work. Please leave a comment if you are interested and I will draw names from a hat.

Hart’s an awesome writer and this is a great opportunity for some constructive feedback!

Now, the secret. The secret to successful blogging with lots of comments and followers.

Hate to disappoint you, but I’ve no idea!

I realized I’m about to hit 200 followers and that simply floors me. Around the end of March, approximately 100 days ago, I had thirty. That was it! Somewhere along the way, I did something right, and since I’ve no idea exactly what I did, all I can do is recap what I’ve been doing the past three months.

In searching for blog topics, I decided to focus on my profile description. I didn’t set up a schedule, just selected a few topics of passion. I blog about movies. I blog about books, music, games, and tech stuff. My theme is science fiction and fantasy, so all of these elements center around that subject. Yes, geek and fanboy stuff! Marvin Wilson commented that there seems to be a correlation between science fiction and heavy metal music, so I will explore that in depth one day.

I signed up for Arlee Bird’s April A-Z Challenge, in which we were to blog the letters of the alphabet every day except Sunday. (Good math work there, Lee!) I think a hundred bloggers participated, and I made a lot of great friends along the way.

Arlee Bird also hosted a Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites in May, so I met even more bloggers when I posted my favorite albums.

Last month I hosted my own blogfest, The Movie Dirty Dozen – twelve favorite movies. I was stunned when sixty people participated in this event, and I met even more new bloggers. The real pleasure came from the response of those who participated, though – they had a great time, met new bloggers, and some received the most comments on a post ever. That is awesome!

I’ve met so many amazing people and learned so much about writing, movies, books, and life experiences. My blogroll is LONG, but I visit those people every day and there’s more I need to add. (Yes, I really need to organize it before it scrolls off the page!)

So, what’s the secret? Well, if you can glean something from my ramblings, then I hope you’ll discover it. In the meantime, I thank every person who follows and comments. I am humbled. You’ve made this an incredible experience!