2014 in Review (Stats, Data, Yikes): A Lax Year
I’m a bit late to the party here, but I figured since I set so many goals for myself this year, I should actually talk about what my 2014 looked like in terms of blogging. In brief: 2014 was not a particularly good year for me as a blogger, which isn’t actually a surprise. I’ve been a somewhat lax blogger for the past few years, in part because I’ve diverted so much of my attention to The Skiffy and Fanty Show and to Twitter conversations. There has also been a fair amount of burnout from time to time, particularly when the blogging community started to tank a few years back (it seems to have stabilized now). That said, looking at my statistics, it’s clear where my blog fell off the train in 2014, which gives me insight into how I might improve the blog in 2015. But in case you want the really long-winded version, here you go: The following charts and analyses were based on Google Analytics, which is not a totally accurate measurement, but the best option I have for detailed data (Blogger’s stats are actually better ones to look at, but they allow less fiddling, so I can’t get the depth I need). In 2014, my blog saw a 23.59% decrease in activity by comparison to 2013. In fact, 2013 was such a better year by comparison that even posts I wrote that year were more popular than posts written in 2014 by a 7% margin (more details below). By my own assessment, this has almost everything to do with the following: I spent considerably more time traveling last year than I had in 2013. Last year, I attended four conventions (ICFA, CONvergence, Worldcon/LonCon3, and World Fantasy Con); in 2013, I only attended two (ICFA and Worldcon/LonestarCon). One of last year’s conventions was the result of a fundraiser, which took up a lot of my time, so much so that I put most of my focus on the 2nd item on this list. Podcasting! The Skiffy and Fanty Show had what I hope was a banner year. We rolled out The World SF Tour, explored literature from a bunch of places outside of the U.S. (not as many as I would have liked), and we recorded and released more podcasts than we ever had before. Since most of the podcasting “work” is done by myself, that is a serious time commitment. Speculative Fiction 2014 became a thing. It involved an extraordinary amount of reading — as much, if not more, than the next item. Hugo Award Reading. I spent a good portion of the first few months of 2014 trying to catch up on short fiction so I could actually vote. Part of 2015 will be spent doing the same. Work. I have what I’d describe as three jobs — two that don’t pay very well and one that doesn’t pay at all. These include teaching at the University of Florida as a graduate student, adjuncting at Santa Fe College, and working on my PhD disseration (on Caribbean science fiction, as it turns out). In 2014, I prepped for, took, and passed my exams, which put me in the position of being able to actually write my dissertation. These were time consuming things… Combined, these elements diverted most of my attention away from the blog. This is no more apparent than in the number of blog posts I actually wrote. In 2013, I wrote (or released) 177 posts; in 2014, I released 115 — a 35.03% drop in production. Though my production rate dropped by a third, my general stats fell by less than a quarter, which I blame in part on what I released in 2013. To illustrate, a chart: Last year, posts from 2013 were 7% more popular than posts from 2014. There are a number of reasons this might be so: I responded to more controversies in 2013, including the SFWA Bulletin fiasco and the diversity is a selfie thing. I did not do so as much this year. One of my popular posts was a rant/review of Riddick. It is by far the most popular 2013 post on my blog which can be disentangled from link bots. Other super popular posts include a top 10 list of the best SF/F films since 2010 (at the time, that is) and a post on the vigilante in American Mythology. These posts consistently appeared in the top lists for most visited posts on my blog throughout 2014. I was just more interesting in 2013. It’s true…I had the Retro Nostalgia feature going, which was reasonably popular (one appears in the top 10 list below), and every feature I tried to start in 2014 fell flat due to time constraints, lack of interest (on my part or on my readers’ part), and lack of motivation. In fact, I would wager to guess that the above chart is a reflection of my blog’s “quality” or “interesting-ness” within certain years, with exception to the first two years of its existence, which were demonstrably terrible. Seriously, don’t read anything I wrote in 2006. Please. One thing that becomes apparent when I look at my stats is this: I should talk about movies more often, as that seems to be a consistent “hitter” for my blog, regardless of the quality of the movie. Whether I’m talking about a classic like Legend or a stinker like Riddick, sf/f movies seem to drive more traffic to the blog. Go figure. In terms of what was popular on my blog throughout 2014, I have provided the handy little chart below w/ the full list and links: Movie Review: Riddick (2013) (or, I’m Going to Mega Rant Now) (2013) Top 10 Overused Fantasy Cliches (2009) Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies Since 2010 (Thus Far) (2013) Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Anime Movies (2013) Top 10 Cats in Science Fiction and Fantasy (2009) Movie Review Rant : Catching Fire (2013) (2014) Adventures in Teaching Literature: David Henry Hwang and