The last couple weeks I have posted several interviews with top notch filmmakers and actors, yet I can't seem to get a response to any of them, other than by the people themselves. Are people not interested in the inside scoop on independent horror? Am I doing something wrong with the way I conduct the interviews? Are people reading them but just don't know what to say? These people I interview are amazing people, and I just want to know how I can get more people to respond. If you have any input, or answers to these questions, please leave a comment below. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
R.D. Penning
Here is a cute, yet scary baby, and he is going to hypnotize you into reading my interviews.
14 comments:
R.D., I think its a mixture of a couple of things. I too have posted a few interviews without responses (not all but some). I think people feel comfort in the familiarity of things and thus won't comment on something they haven't seen. Some people comment with something simple like 'Hey thanks Director X for stopping by and chatting with Cortez.' But for the most part, people don't comment unless they've seen the film or plan to see it in the near future.
The second reason, and its my own jaded viewpoint, is simply that bloggers and/or readers simply don't care. For readers, they may only be interested in the mainstream or what everyone else is posting about (and if you aren't posting what they are posting, they won't take notice). Or if you are a blogger, you may be interested in only what you have to post and therefore, if it doesn't serve you, why bother. But thats not to say that EVERYONE is like this, only a few people that I know of.
Overall, SOMEONE has read your interviews and if it means one more person taking notice to the filmmakers work, then its a success in my opinion. Keep doing what you are doing.
Oh and PS, if you aren't emailing the Horror Alliance gang to make a post and alert the followers, start doing so ASAP.
Agree with Cortez, I think if its not something that people know about, then they might just read it and not comment. Doesnt mean that your article isnt getting read though.
I recently interviewed horror director Dante Tomaselli, I got a couple of responses, not as many as I expected. Cortez's idea of posting something on HBA isnt a bad one!
Thanks alot for the input guys. I really appreciate it. Do I just send an email to the HBA saying that I have a posting?
Agreed largely with what the fellas previously said up there... also:
I treat my own blog as a journal of sorts, and while I may address my readers, I never really expect anyone to actually read it. It's more for me than anyone, and honestly, it's best that way. When you do a post and expect a lot of comments and then don't get them because your blog got lost in the daily shuffle, etc., it kinda sucks, especially if you put a lot of thought or work into that particular entry. Which is why I just post what I post and if people wanna stop by and comment, great. If not, I definitely understand.
Also, keep in mind that many people, undoubtedly like yourself, have lots of other blogs on their reading lists and I'm pretty sure nobody reads every entry every day. That said, if you are interviewing someone nobody's ever heard of, I think it's safe to assume that many people will instead read something they see elsewhere that they are already familiar with (a point touched on already by the gents above). Honestly, I cannot blame people for this; why not read something you know about, so that you can at least contribute to the conversation?
Example: I might see the umpteenth review of some slasher movie out there, and although it's already been done to death, I'm more likely to go say something about that, because at least I have an informed opinion (i.e. it sucks, it rules, etc). But if I happen upon an interview with you and some guy or gal that I've never heard of about some movie or project that I've never heard of and am likely to never see, then I really have nothing to add other than "oh, uh, cool, I guess" or some such nonsense and where's the point in that? I also get the idea that many bloggers don't like to be talked "down" to or feel like they are being "educated" by their peers, so they are more likely to go somewhere where they can add to the discussion as opposed to just being told something.
That said, I'd still keep doin' whatever it is that pleases YOU on this blog, man. There's a trillion other blogs out there that are trying to cater to their "audience" already; it's an intensely crowded scene. Just do what makes you happy and the readers/comments/discussions will come.
Oh I definitely plan to keep doing what I'm doing. This was more of an "are there any suggestions?" sort of thing. I really appreciate all the input people are giving me on this though.
Hey, R.D., I installed a site meter at my site so I can see what people read and what gets the most hits and things like that in an effort to gauge what seems to interest people the most.
Like J said, I do it mainly because I love to write and especially about things I love. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because a topic doesn't receive any comments, but that doesn't mean it isn't being read by at least a small number of people.
I recently interviewed John Morghen and Albert Pyun and I thought for sure the former would have attracted a lot more comments, but only a few, lol.
You're doing a great job, R.D. and if you ever get frustrated, just put it out of your mind and keep doing what you're doing. It's your site and your interests. People are definitely reading your stuff. You got 75 followers and no telling how many anonymous, or others outside the blogger spectrum. Get yourself a sitemeter or similar type of stat counter and you'll see just what people are checking out the most.
I go through my reading list on Blogger and click only on the posts that interest me...and honestly, I really don't read interviews. I mean if I've seen the movie these indie filmmakers have made, I might take a read...but even than I won't comment.
I'd rather read an interview on a horror blogger by another horror blogger than an unknown filmmaker.
Just being truthy.
Hey dude, Im just catching up on my reading for the week as well, been working way more than is probably healthy so I am way behind, but I fall under all of the categories mentioned above. I follow 400+ blogs, actively participate on maybe 50, but only have 2-3hrs a week to really read through and comment on stuff between work, reviewing, writing, and being a full time dad, so unless I have a sadly unfunny comment, some sort of insight, or a high five, I typically scan through most posts to get the meat of it and then move on.
It all boils down to having little time to leave comments. I have quite a few blogs I read on a daily basis, and it gets a bit confusing trying to keep track of all the conversation I'm already involved in. Also, I have a YouTube channel that gets me upwards of 20 comments a day I try to keep up on. Add in work on my own blog and just real life stuff, I've maybe got enough time to say "good post", but I usually don't. I probably should though, because even brief comments on my own blog that are like that tend to make my day. I do enjoy your blog though, and the interviews are interesting.
You do good interviews, R.D.
The fact is that most people who read blogs and even come frequently to your blog and read it every day, never tend to write comments. Out of 1000 readers, you will have maybe 10 of those who comment :) It's not about the quality of the text but about people being lazy or not having the habit of commenting.
And plus you do have to bear in mind that what you personally write about is a very very narrow and specific topic which requires special fans and audience and might not be attractive to a general reading public.
Dezmond makes a great point about the percentage of commentors vs. readers. A lot of non-bloggers don't even know how to leave comments (my brother is among those kinds of people!) or are simply too shy to do so.
I love reading interviews--and might I add, yours are top notch--but I generally don't comment unless I read an entire post, and since interviews tend to run longer than most reviews, I usually skim through them and sometimes return when I have more time or after I see the interviewee's work.
As a writer and film fan, I think the simple act of conducting interviews is incredibly rewarding in itself. I do them for a webzine called Rogue Cinema and while the readership isn't huge, just picking the brain of indie filmmakers is a joy. Your enthusiasm totally comes across so as long as you're having fun, keep doing what works for you.
I think i have got more comments from this post than all my other posts combined, haha. I really appreciate everyone jumping in on this, and letting me know your thoughts. I completely understand the not always leaving comments thing. I do it myself alot of the time. I'm going to continue doing what I do, and I will have more interviews up. I just enjoying telling people about the things I like, and supporting the people I want to support. I just happy to hear that everyone has an opinion on this, and I hope you all keep reading. You guys are the reason this is so much fun, and you all have kickass blogs!
Just because you dont see us doesnt me we arent there ;)
I'm guilty a lot of times of reading a not commenting, even though I try really hard to make sure I show my appreciation for the hard work horror bloggers are doing. Like the rest of the people posting here, I visit a TON of sites, blogs, etc and it's just hard to keep up with it all.
Keep up the good work, man. I think there are a lot of readers who simply don't have blogger accounts which are sometimes required for logging in to comment.
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