Wednesday, July 7, 2021

July IWSG Post, My First Video Interview and Switching to follow.it

   

6 months of 2021 have flown by. From July 5th my city has opened up. Fingers crossed that the cases which have drastically decreased, will remain low. Though hearing about the crowds and seeing few pictures in the newspaper, I’m quite apprehensive.

With the arrival of the first Wednesday of the month, its time for IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) post. IWSG is an online group of writers started by Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh. Alex is the author of Amazon Bestsellers: CassaStar, CassaStorm, CassaFire and Dragon of the Stars, with several more on the way. Do visit the IWSG website for more information on this amazing group and some writing related posts.

 July 7 question – What would make you quit writing?

The awesome co-hosts for the July 7 posting of IWSG are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, Chemist Ken and Louise Fundy Blue.

To be honest, I’ve never given this thought. Writing is my way of expressing my feelings. If I stopped writing, I would probably burst. I just can’t imagine not writing. Even if I stopped sending my books to publishers, I would still be writing. 

I also want to share with you all my first video interview that went live last month. It was for a book library and a book club called ‘House of Books and Tales.’

After dilly-dallying for a few months, I finally shot the videos in February, answering each question separately. But then the long lockdown happened. Finally, the video was posted on 18th June.

Here is the YouTube link.

 Please do let me know what you think of my interview, if possible do leave a comment on YouTube.

 I also made the switch from Feedburner (which will stop email services sometime in July) to follow.it, which is a Feedburner Alternative.

The follow.it team was super helpful and efficient. They helped a techno dinosaur like me to navigate the shift so well. Really grateful to them. I was shocked to see so many bots following me. Now it’s all cleared up, thanks to the follow.it team. I have added the follow.it widget on the top right of my blog, for those who want to subscribe to my posts.

I read a bit about follow.it. They have created retention tools that make visitors to our site/blogs come back for more visits. That’s such a good thing. Most visitors don’t bother returning.

They have not just added subscription tools for us bloggers, but also for our subscribers which is actually a good thing. The subscribers are spoilt for choice.

For those sitting on the fence, you can read all about follow.it here. I’m sure it will answer all your questions. I'll be reading more about their free pop-ups services for follow.it users during the weekend. 

Have a nice July everyone.

 

 

20 comments:

  1. Hi,
    I think most writers hardly ever or never think about not writing. It is a part of us.

    Congrats also on your video interview. I will take a look at it.

    Wishing you all the best.

    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

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  2. Glad the interview is finally live! I will go watch.
    Switched from Feedburner last month and all set now.

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  3. "If I stopped writing, I would probably burst." I'm glad it's not just me who feels this! My hubby can attest to the grumpy haven't-written-in-a-while (i.e. day) version of me that fits this description. Fingers crossed your newly-opened city continues to have low numbers. x

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  4. I'll have to check out follow.it - thanks for the info!
    I'm with you on the writing front - it's just a part of who I am

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  5. Hi Rachna!

    I'll pop by later to have a look at the Youtube video.

    If you enjoy writing can you really quit? I don’t think so. You may have phases, where you don’t write much; but eventually you will find your way back to the blank page.
    And I'm talking about writing for the sheer pleasure of writing, and possibly publishing something along the way.
    Then there's writing to pay the bills - that's a different story.

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  6. I also switched to Follow.it. I had a few technical difficulties and lots of confusion, though, but not with the email subscription. With my RSS feed. I ended up switching that to them as well. I mention it in my post. lol

    Congratulations on your video interview!

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  7. Thanks for the info about Follow.it. Will check it out. But I hate technological changes, I'm a dunce!

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  9. ^I apologize for the deletion above! If only we could edit.

    Woohoo! Your interview! Were you nervous? It's nice to finally see you in action along with hearing your voice!

    I subscribed to your channel. xD

    Thanks for the information on follow.it!

    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth Mueller¨*•.♥

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  10. Congrats on the video interview. And glad it was easy for you to switch to follow.it and are happy with it. Me too.

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  11. I've never thought about giving up writing. I've always done writing of one sort or the other. When I decided to write fiction full-time, I felt for the first time that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Have a great July.

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  12. I enjoyed your interview, Rachna! Even we techno dinosaurs can make things work with some patient support. Happy writing in July!

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  13. Follow.it is all set.

    Videos aren't scary. If you screw up, you can redo it. LOL!

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  14. Congrats on the interview.

    I've had a lot of emails from follow.it, but haven't followed up. Looks like I'm leaving it late. I don't do well with technological change, but your post is reassuring.

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  15. Congratulations on the interview!

    I had a ton of bots following me, too. Follow.It does look like it has lots of interesting tools - maybe I'll actually look into them one of these days. :)

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  16. Bravo on your interview. A job well done! I remember, as a young kid, having a goat take bites out of my dress when the class went to the zoo. Have a beautiful weekend!

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  17. Hi Rachna, I am yet to post a comment on Youtube ... Trust me, I will do that, and will let you know ... :-)

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  18. I can't imagine how difficult it's been for you in India during Covid. I'm glad your country has finally opened up, but you are wise to be cautiously optimistic. Congratulations on the video interview, and please stay safe!

    Julie

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  19. Glad things are starting to open up for you:) If we can keep writing through a pandemic, we can keep writing through anything:)

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  20. Congrats on the video interview. I hope things are staying safe now that things have opened up where you are. :)
    ~Jess

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