I Received the Blogger Recognition Award!

I was looking at comments on the WordPress universe and was thrilled to learn I’d won the Blogger Recognition Award!

The classiest of classy gents, J.J. Azar was kind enough to award me this distinguished honor. It’s honestly one of the most flattering things in the world to have someone form your community feel you’re deserving of something even resembling recognition. As you’ll see below, he could have named any one of the blogs he’s following, and he felt I was one of those deserving.  Thank you, Sir.

To accept the award, I must:

Thank the blogger who nominated me and provide a link to his blog (CHECK)

Write a post to show my award (check)

Give a brief story as to how my blog got started (see below)

Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers (see below)

Select 15 other bloggers for this award (Just 15? Um…ok)

Comment on each blog to let them know I nominated them and link them to this post (pending)

 

How’d my blog get started? Well it was non-existant until Quintessential Editor sat me down and showed me how it was done.

 

I wanted a central location for all things Weech. I like to do reviews, character studies, and, oh yeah! I also wrote these books I’d like to sell. I had a lot of great ideas and things I wanted to talk about in addition to the shameless self promotion, and blogging seemed like the way to go.

As for my advice:

1. What do you do that others don’t? For a while, I think my Character Studies was something I did. There are a LOT of great blogs out there, but I really enjoy looking at characters and analyzing how and why they are effective. That was something I liked to do that I didn’t se others doing.  Then I had another idea. I’m an instructor at the Defense Information School, and I’m constantly reviewing work. I judge award contests, grade students and provide feedback. I’m also a fan of randomly staring at covers. That gave me the idea of the Book Cover of the Month. Every month, I post a bracket in which people can vote for their favorite covers. I’m still growing this, but it’s already been a ton of fun and hugely viewed. There’s a lot of wonderful people out there doing a lot of great things, but you have find the parts of yourself that make you unique and expose (the right word I promise) those vulnerabilities, those parts of yourself that make you special, to the world. If you’re only saying what other say, why should people come to your blog?
2. Consistency is everything.  Now, it’s okay to have some elements of randomness. My BCOTM posts happen each time a new round comes up. But those who follow my blog know that they’ll see a post of some kind every Wednesday (usually a review) and every Saturday (Usually a character study). When I see someone’s reviewed my book, I post that. If there’s some news relevant to my projects, I post that as well. But I never post more than once a day, and people always know when they’re guaranteed to see something new. Also, viewers know the BCOTM posts start on the first of every month, so even that has elements of consistency.

Now, to nominate those I can. There are a lot of blogs I follow, but those below are the ones I make it a point to visit whenever I’m doing what I call, The WordPress Tour. I don’t get to do it as often as I want, but I ALWAYS try to check these guys out.

Quintessential Editor

Red String Papercuts (Steve is my Social Media and Marketing Mentor and Jessie’s poems are lovely.)

J.R. Handley blog (Great interviews and military-based posts)

The Idiot in Tin Foil (Fantastic short works)

Rough and Ready Fiction (Wonderful Web Serials.)

Sinisterdarksoul (Absolutely HAUNTING prose. Content warning.)

Elizabeth Rose’s Site (Just a great site to visit. Lot’s of good info.)

Kristen Twardowski: A Writer’s Workshop (Simple, honest musings with author related info.)

The Excited Writer (Another solid site that, like Corey, talks about balancing writing and family.)

There are more, honestly, but these are the one’s I’m pretty driven to check up on when time allows.  They’re all wonderful blogs that I think you’d either enjoy reading or learn a lot from (usually both).

I’m honestly flattered J.J. nominated me. It’s nice to feel like I’m providing value to someone.  Thank you all as always.

Thanks for reading

Matt.

200 followers!

As I type this, I currently have 211 followers on WordPress, and that’s just amazing to me. I’ve been on this journey for a little less than two years, and the only way success is possible is with readers who are interested in the content I produce. I’ve made friends, and I’ve become a fan of some of those I follow as well.  So with that in mind, I’d like to pass along that success by talking about a few bloggers I’ve become  a fan of.

Sinister Dark Soul: He has this haunting prose that has the ability to stretch you. Content warning. He goes to places you might not be ready for. The trick is how he eases you into those places. His “Clocktower” series is definitely worth a read.  His prose style makes his posts quick to read.

J.R. Handley: It’s cool to see people I know become successful. His books The Legion Awakes and Fortress Beta City are doing very well. It’s all the sweeter because my good friend Quintessential Editor edited those books. J.R.’s blog is evolving, and I like where it’s going. It has interviews, world building tips and some marketing advice.

J.J. Azar: J.J. has been one of my biggest supporters of late. His blog has a charm and class that just jumps off the page. He posts update on his projects and even did a Q & A that was fun to watch.

Red String Papercuts: Steve over at that blog has become such a valued mentor to me. His posts on marketing are invaluable. I can’t tell you how helpful they are. Factor in Jessie’s prose and poetry and you have a dynamic site worth visiting.

Rough and Ready Fiction: Jenn Moss is a wonderful person. I read and reviewed her book “The Horned Gate.” Her web serials are fun to read. She also does tarot card posts that are fascinating.

I really could go on all day. I try to visit at least three of these (or a few others) each day, rotating to try and stay up to date (Got to give a shout out to Idiot in Tin Foil). They’re just fantastic and incredibly supportive. I’m grateful to all of you followers. I hope to continue to provide you with posts that motivate, inform, and educate you.

With that said, I’d like to ask your thoughts.  What do you look for most from my posts? What do you want to see more of?

Thanks for reading,

Matt