Why I'm not taking part in the blog awards
There are a number of reasons why I am not going to be involved with the Catholic Blog Awards this year.
One is simply recognizing reality.
I write for a group blog (Chesterton and Friends) once a week, and I write a town blog for my local daily newspaper 3-6 times a week. As a result, I have not been able to write for this blog as regularly as I used to. It's hard to keep up with talented writers who write on a daily basis for their Catholic blogs. And with all the other things I'm doing, it's hard to read all the other blogs to judge them fairly and nominate them.
Because I write so infrequently here these days, traffic has dropped off dramatically. You need to add new content on a regular basis to keep people coming, and to generate energy.
And quite frankly, there are a lot of talented writers out there. When I do get a chance to cruise through Catholic blogs, I'm impressed by the quality of so many blogs.
Moreover, there have been changes to the contest.
I was a finalist last year for a post, not for the overall blog. Individual posts are no longer included as categories.
The category I was a finalist in no longer exists - the awards folks cut down on the number of categories.
And because the categories are for blogs as a whole, an eclectic blog like mine doesn't stand a chance. I have funny posts, for example, but the overall blog is not funny. I have spiritual posts, political posts, personal posts - but because my blog does not focus more on one area, it doesn't have a chance against more focused blogs in those categories.
If they had a poetry category, I might have a chance in that, but they don't.
I'm not criticizing the organizers. The contest needed reform. But as the contest exists now, my blog simply does not fit in.
The story of my life!
One is simply recognizing reality.
I write for a group blog (Chesterton and Friends) once a week, and I write a town blog for my local daily newspaper 3-6 times a week. As a result, I have not been able to write for this blog as regularly as I used to. It's hard to keep up with talented writers who write on a daily basis for their Catholic blogs. And with all the other things I'm doing, it's hard to read all the other blogs to judge them fairly and nominate them.
Because I write so infrequently here these days, traffic has dropped off dramatically. You need to add new content on a regular basis to keep people coming, and to generate energy.
And quite frankly, there are a lot of talented writers out there. When I do get a chance to cruise through Catholic blogs, I'm impressed by the quality of so many blogs.
Moreover, there have been changes to the contest.
I was a finalist last year for a post, not for the overall blog. Individual posts are no longer included as categories.
The category I was a finalist in no longer exists - the awards folks cut down on the number of categories.
And because the categories are for blogs as a whole, an eclectic blog like mine doesn't stand a chance. I have funny posts, for example, but the overall blog is not funny. I have spiritual posts, political posts, personal posts - but because my blog does not focus more on one area, it doesn't have a chance against more focused blogs in those categories.
If they had a poetry category, I might have a chance in that, but they don't.
I'm not criticizing the organizers. The contest needed reform. But as the contest exists now, my blog simply does not fit in.
The story of my life!
posted by A Secular Franciscan | 7:54 AM
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