I have big dreams for my little blog.
Once I determine what the primary focus of Somewhere in Middle America should be (because right now it just seems a little bit all over the place), I hope to attract more readers. Once the readers come, I hope the advertisers will follow. And once I have advertisers, I hope to be taken seriously enough to guest post on other people’s blogs or to be asked to become a contributing editor on bigger and better sites. Ultimately, I hope to write for a variety of online and print publications; I want to be a freelance writer.
But I’m beginning to feel like the blog world is actually pretty small — incestuous, really — especially among design/lifestyle blogs, and if you don’t have an “in” with one of the big blogs on the block, well, good luck to you.
The other day Babble shared its list of the 50 Best Design Blogs for Moms, and, sure enough, the blogs of several of Babble’s contributing editors made the list. Now I understand that if Babble thought these women were talented enough to write for Babble’s parenting and family blogs (and I’m not denying that they are definitely talented women), then Babble must have been a fan of their original design blogs. However, I have a hard time digesting the thought that there are such a limited amount of great blogs out there that Babble had to reach within itself to find the best of the best.
Please don’t read this as an angry, jealous post or one specifically targeted at Babble. I’m just trying to illuminate the fact that there is this web-like pattern of inter-connectivity between blogs — or at least among the blogs I follow. And truthfully, as someone trying to break into the “big leagues,” I find it a little bit discouraging.
Or maybe I’m just burnt out. I imagine what it would be like to just unplug completely, to not look for potential blog posts in everything I do or to reclaim the hours I spend each day engaging in social media. What would I do with all my free time? Read books. Knit scarves and hats and baby blankets. Cook dinner more often. Clean the house more frequently. Go to more yoga classes. Spend more time practicing my photography.
But then I wouldn’t have an outlet for my writing, and what I love most of all is to write. And if I want to be a frequent guest blogger or contributing editor for other blogs, I’ve gotta learn to love the incestuous world of blogging because, deep down, I want to be a part of it.
Le sigh.
(image source)
