A subscriber is someone who wants to hear more from you.
As an author, anyone who wants to hear more from me is a source of inspiration, especially on those days when I’m burned out by too much work, or the inability to turn out empathy and a finely tuned sense for injustice in this world.
[If you’ve read my books, you know exactly how much of my life is run by a protest against injustice. Many call it a good thing, but there can be too much of it, I realize.]
This site has thousands of subscribers, and I think our brains (or at least my brain) is not able to comprehend friends beyond a certain number.
I would like to, though. I would like to reach out with a hug from the email (in a non-creepy, warm way, I promise) and be friends with (if they want it) everyone who receives my posts in your inbox. I’ve never done giveaways for anyone to subscribe to this space, or done any other marketing at all. Maybe the fact that this blog has been in this world since 2008 makes some organic reach possible.
So I (naively?) believe that those who have subscribed to my blog have done so because they want to.
This post is a huge THANK YOU to each one of you.
I see that so many are from various countries: the US, the UK, Netherlands, France, Italy, India, Malaysia and the list goes on.
The writer in me is curious (curiosity about the world pushed me into writing) about who you are, what you do, what makes you get out of bed each morning and take life on, (and selfishly) what made you subscribe to my posts?
Today’s the kind of day when part of me wants to binge on french fries, chug back wine by the barrel, and maybe even get inside my blanket and never emerge again. This is exactly the kind of day when my blog has been a refuge, a sanctuary where I can ask (and receive) good advice on how to turn my life around. So many of you who read it reach out with advice. So many of you have become friends on social media.
So, thank you for letting me into your inbox, and I’m always happy to receive or exchange notes. Human interactions are becoming so impersonal, I’m only keen to bring the personal back into our daily living: I look forward to hearing from you.
Are you a subscriber? Does your blog have subscribers and do you interact with them regularly? What do you think is responsible for the loss of genuine human interaction in our modern times?
My Amazon-bestselling literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon are on Kindle Unlimited now. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day ! And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree.
————————————————————————–
If you liked this post, you can receive posts in your inbox, or keep updated on my writing by clicking on any or all of the following buttons:
GET CURATED PUBLISHING RESOURCES SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG JOIN DAILY(W)RITE ON FB FOLLOW ON BOOKBUB
Discover more from Damyanti Biswas
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I think I met you through A to Z blogging challenge in 2015 or 2016. I loved your short stories so much that I followed you straight away. Been a regular since then 😀
Honestly, I’ve not given this much thought. I remember disabling my subscribers widget years ago and never went back to it. Personally, I haven’t subscribed to any blogs or any kind of content until now. I guess I’m that person who’ll read things only if I want to read it. and interact based on what I’ve read.
If just 10 percent of the subscribers interact regularly, I would feel rich and famous. But the truth even 1 percent hardly interact. Everyone subscribe for a different reason I guess. And soon after hitting that subscribe button we all forget that reason. Sad truth!
This was a lovely post, Damy. It made me smile.
I’ve said this before, Damyanti, you are amazing in all you do. And yes! It can be difficult to find a voice here on the internet. I have days when I’d like to stay warm and secure under my covers as well. This is why I’m so glad I’ve connected with you through IWSG. I’ve learned from your posts. But life needs to be lived. We need positive voices in this world. And that’s what you do. Stay strong, dear friend.
I found your blog shortly after starting my blog, Rust Belt Girl, about 8 years ago. I could tell you had literary chops right away. I remember we both appreciated short stories–I think you were editing for Forge (was this it?). And the blogging community was robust and tight and very friendly. I was thrilled to find blogger-writers around the world, and it felt like a pretty cool club! Lots has changed with the blogosphere but I’m grateful for writers like you, who are still out here. I don’t blog as much as I used to but I’m still going. The whole literary game can feel really demoralizing–what with agent queries and book proposals and journal submissions–but blogging was always a relief from that, a place where we could share ourselves and our stories without fear of rejection.
Hey Damyanti,
I am Prachi (The Tatwa Girl) An eco blooger and eco podcaster
I got connected to you with WATWB – We are the World Blogfest. I had always shared postive stories on my blog and this human story series was a great one. Then A to Z challange connected us further and then your Book was in my hands – ‘You beneath your skin’. I was always a fan of your work since WATWB and this book motivated me to begin my book. Your writing has always made me curious to learn and explore more thats why i subscribed you. Not to forget your twitter now X mentions.
To make every day productive and worth is my daily inspirtation or ikigai. Although I’m struggling with my blog due to AI intervention but I still want to continue as it gives me a purpose to spread awarness and share sustainable stories and work towards environment.
While personal interaction is preferable, it’s the way of the world, I guess. Thanks for always shining your light, Damyanti!
Yes, it seems to be unavoidable in this day and age. Thank you for stopping by the blog!
Hi Damyanti – I’m me … I’m me!! It’s interesting … I’m delighted I’m in this group of bloggers – and just recently have come across a couple of blogging posts – that have made me realise my luck in being here. I just started wanting to know more about the internet and fairly soon started this blog … being encouraged by a small group mostly American, with one other UKer. Life led us all on … I really enjoy it – the camaraderie and the fact that year on year people come back, also that people who don’t post for months or a year keep in touch and apparently are pleased to find I’m still blogging away. My ability to craft posts has surprised me … but a third age experience is great … and I knew I’d have to settle down a bit: and in fact have given myself a broader education via the posts and blogging world. I’m just thrilled to be amongst you and all your friends – cheers to us all – Hilary
And I’m thrilled to have connected with you through the blogging community, Hilary! I love how your journey started, and the fact that we can keep up with each other’s lives, perspectives, and new endeavors through our writing, despite time passing. Reading other blogs feels like reuniting with an old friend, and I’ll always be grateful for that. And, like you said, there’s so much to learn and be surprised by. Thank you for stopping by!
I’d like to think subscribers are people who are interested in what I’m doing and perhaps like my writing and enjoy reading what I’ve got to say. The same reasons I’ve subscribed to your blog Damyanti, since the early days, before you achieved success. Unlike some writers I’ve seen go from unpublished to published, whose posts became a series of shameless advertisements for their books, your blog has genuinely interesting content, designing to stimulate healthy debate. You may mention your books now and then too… ;¬]
I’d like to think so too, and I’m honored that you see my blog that way. I could say the same for yours! It’s one of the things I appreciate most about the blogging community — the diversity of experience and potential for learning. Thank you for the continued kindness and support!
You’re welcome!
Yup, subscriber numbers can be a false positive.
An unfortunate truth.
I made a comment on your web page Damyanti
I’ve been reading your work from the earliest days when you wrote and published short stories and always enjoyed them because I sense the Indian culture in the background that became precious to me during the twenty years spent there before transferring to Singapore where you now live. So, I suppose we share that commonality too. Your novels do deal with the reality of life and are well worth reading and apart from that you are just a very nice person.
Thank you, Ian, I appreciate you sharing that with me! It’s so interesting to see how our backgrounds align, and I’m delighted that my stories have such a positive place in your life.
Thank you so much for your interesting posts Damyanti. I think you may know me as a fellow blogger (Leonbergerlife and Factfulness) because you’ve visited me several times and I’ve visited your blog many times, and I follow you on instagram. I live in Texas, US, but I am originally from Sweden. I am an electrical engineer / robotics engineer but I am retired. I took early retirement.
Thank you for sharing, Thomas! Your blog is such a lovely place to stop by and get a glimpse at your beautiful dogs, especially for someone who has always wanted one.
Hello friend! Same old same. I might not comment on every one of your posts, but I read them every time! Sorry today’s an overwhelming day; (I don’t know where you live, but) here in America, I feel like it’s a nonstop existential crisis and have to fight hard to push back against the bleakness.
Some days it’s good to binge on french fries. Your work (and you!) is/are appreciated.
I really appreciate that! Thank you for taking the time to stop by, despite the state of things and the issues you’ve had to deal with on a daily basis. You’re right — sometimes, french fries are a need.
I think there are multiple reasons for what is responsible for the loss of genuine human interaction in our modern times, including cell phones, social media, and the demonizing of certain groups of people as “other” on the part of right-wing extremists.
Yes, it’s strange how the globalization of technology can both create and destroy relationships, in equal effect.
One of our modern-day paradoxes.
Been following your blog since the A to Z Challenge! And we’ve been friends ever since.
Lack of human interaction? Two things – cell phones and the Pandemic lockdowns. Those have cut people off more than anything else.
I can’t believe it’s been that long! And to add to your second point, the pandemic definitely made me far too comfortable with lounging around at home and refusing to step outside for days.
Dear Damyanti, I love your blogs for your honesty, for the fact that you can consider putting out a blog on a day when ‘part of me wants to binge on french fries, chug back wine by the barrel, and maybe even get inside my blanket and never emerge again.’ I’ve had too many days like that of late, probably mainly a consequence of grief for my sister who died in December, but also what I call political depression at the increasingly desperate state of the world. For me this has resulted in a kind of writing paralysis and my blog has stayed silent for months on end while I grapple with feeling anything I do or say is pointless in the scheme of things. I am trying to fight this, by focussing on things I can effect and enjoy in my immediate environment (small acts of kindness, being able to look out of my window at the birds roosting on the rocky shelf on the seashore) and also take heart from connecting online with people like yourself, kindred spirits the world over! Lately this has been restricted to commenting on other people’s posts; I am trying to write a blog about all this, but so far this has resulted in me spiralling back to the feeling of pointlessness. However, I tell myself giving up helps no-one and I am essentially a positive person who thrives on connection and activity, so I keep on keepin on and will hopefully be brave enough to post something soon.
I have just a couple of hundred subscribers, probably mostly because I don’t post that often, and most of them never respond, but I always love it when they do, and there are a few regulars who I value enormously. I don’t know if I agree that there is a loss of genuine human interaction in our modern times; the internet has made so much more interaction possible, and while a lot of it is toxic (I don’t get much of that due to not having a high profile, I imagine) we are able to seek out and interact with like minded people across the world now and that is something to appreciate. Thank you once again for your part in this, Damyanti
I’m so, so sorry for your loss, Penny. I so admire your desire to keep blogging, and I’m rooting for you in every way. Writing paralysis is sometimes necessary for us to come to terms with the changes in our lives and how they affect our understanding of ourselves and our writing. I’m familiar with the guilt and frustration that comes from wanting to put writing aside for a while, but I realized that there’s no fixed timeline for feeling okay. All we can do is try our best and to take it one step at a time. And your method of appreciating the beauty in the everyday things and keeping in touch with others certainly helps. I’m so grateful for the community and technology that has allowed us to connect, and I hope that you continue meeting people who you feel supported and seen by. Whenever you feel ready to blog, we’ll be here.
I’m looking for subscribers who value the curated resources, people who aren’t just there for the freebies. With that in mind, I have automation set to cull non-engaged subscribers. Not all want to engage, and that’s okay. I’d rather have a 1,000 people who acknowledge the value of the resources than 100,000 who get emails but never show up. I can sum up the loss of interaction with one word: greed. Look at the AI summaries on Google and you’ll see that the small business is no longer listed, and consumers take the bot’s word for the summaries. It’s like when the freeway built near a small town diverts the routine traffic, leaving little incentive to visit that village.
Such an apt comparison, Grant. It’s a pity, because so much effort and love goes into blogs, small businesses, and other creative endeavors, only for AI to detract from that. Jacqui also mentioned an interesting point about distinguishing between real subscribers and bots. Nowadays, the experience of establishing oneself online just seems unnecessarily complicated and marred by technological intrusions.
I often wonder how many subscribers are bots. For example, I have about 26,000 subscribers, but only less than 100 participate in blogs. Hmm…
You raised an interesting point, Jacqui. Is there a way to tell which subscribers are genuine and which are bots? It could be that the majority of subscribers are more comfortable with reading anonymously, and don’t see a need to comment. Either way, that’s an incredible number!