Today is a guest post from Anne from Annethologist (link at the end). If you haven't had a chance to visit Anne's blog yet, here is a little more about her!Anne Goodwin writes fiction, short and long, and blogs about reading and writing, with a peppering of psychology. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was published last month by Inspired Quill.Anne's post has some great ideas about how to use holidays to promote posts. Read on, and all shall be revealed!
Blogging by the calendar: making use of national and international commemorative days by Anne Goodwin
If you’re a blogger, and active on Twitter, you’re probably
aware of the value of using hashtags to promote your posts. But have you
thought about scheduling your posts to coincide with the plethora of commemorative
days on the national and international calendar? If you do a special post for Christmas,
Valentine’s
Day or the annual carnival in your hometown, you’re halfway there. But
there are lots of lesser known “international something days” you could blog
to, each with their Twitter hashtag to introduce you to other fascinating posts
on the theme as well as providing a vehicle to promote your own. With a blog
about reading and writing, peppered with psychology, let me show you some that
I’ve drawn on, and if these don’t grab you there are plenty more out there that
might.
International Women’s Day on 8th March is
probably the easiest for me to blog around: this year I wrote about
my five favourite heroines from my recent reading and even included a poll
where my followers could vote for their own favourite. I’ve also done World
Book Day on 6th March – although, given the nature of my blog,
perhaps not as often as I ought. A more obscure one, although definitely worth
publicising, is Moebius Awareness Day on 24th January to highlight
the neurological condition in which children are unable to smile; I’d been so
moved by their plight I’d written a short story on the subject, so my Smile Please!
was an obvious next step.
You can still join in the commemorations even for posts
published on a different day. I try to remember to promote my
review of Peter Matthiessen’s novel, In
Paradise, on International
Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27th January, and of Eve
Makis’ The Spicebox Letters on 24th
April, Armenian
Genocide Remembrance Day. If these don’t fit with your blog, there are over
forty other United
Nations International Days marking important aspects of humanity to draw
on. A potentially jollier one is World
Tourism Day on 27th September although, being me, I’ve managed
to put a serious slant on my post on this theme.
September’s a busy month for writerly special days: with National Punctuation Day in
the US on 24th, and International
Translation Day on 30th (the feast day of St Jerome, translator
of the Bible). But my focus this year will be on World
Suicide Prevention Day on 10th September, as my recently
published debut novel features a suicidal child.
If all this seems a bit heavy, let me introduce you to my
favourite: World Toilet Day
on 19th November. Don’t be shy, access to safe and hygienic toilets
is one of the most important health and human rights issues of our time. It’s
also where you’ll find the most entertaining, moving and uplifting blog posts
ever, as supporters and activists mine their creativity to draw attention to
the theme. I showcased
my favourites in my post last year, prompting another
blogger to challenge her followers to compose tales of toilets
in exactly 99 words.
If you care about connecting, then don’t overlook these
commemorative days. Use the hashtags and you’ll discover more about the
subject. If you’re lucky, you’ll commandeer other bloggers to share your
enthusiasm for the cause. And for most of these special days you can download a
badge to brighten up your post. What’s not to like?
Great advice or what! Time to show Anne some love. Visit her blog, follow her on Twitter, and of course, leave her some comments below! And don't forget to check out her book!
