I became a blogger when people kept telling me to get an internet site to publicize my articles about what’s really happening in Israel and my take on it. I used to send out via email what I called “musings,” my thoughts about things like Arab terrorism and the murder of young neighbors by Arab terrorists. Then I wrote my essays only occasionally. Now as a blogger, I write daily.
I did try to get my articles published in mainstream newspapers, dreaming of being a freelance writer instead of teaching, which was my profession at the time. The op-ed editors weren’t very supportive, and I was informed that I’d have to wait quite a few days until I’d be informed of acceptance or rejection, and then I could send my article someplace else or throw it in the trash.
That’s when I decided to be my own boss/editor and rely on my very own blog to give a public forum to my opinions.
Soon after, the mainstream media, which had begun publishing on the internet along with paper editions, discovered that their readers wanted more op-eds, and they began allowing people to write for free on their “newspaper’s blogs.”
At present, my posts/essays/articles appear on two sites, and I’m fascinated by the differences in the reactions of the readers of those site and also compared to this blog. Both of them have editors who are happy enough with what I write here to agree to post identical articles. There was another internet newspaper, Times of Israel, which wanted only original posts. Considering that they weren’t paying me anything for my time, efforts and knowledge, I thought that an outrageous and immoral demand, so I stopped blogging for them.
Of course, I still dream of finding a publication that would pay me for my articles, and then that would be my main forum. They’d get “first crack” and here I’d set things up, so each essay would link to them. Hint! Hint! Is someone reading this who can help?
I keep track of the statistics of readers, and over the years, there hasn’t been any real increase of people reading this blog, but sometimes the share/like numbers on my articles posted in the Jewish Press are outstanding, like for The World Wouldn’t Care if Israel was Destroyed, G-d Forbid, which has reached 1.2k (thousand) facebook likes. That’s pretty impressive. There are also 233 comments at last count.
The same article, The World Wouldn’t Care if Israel Destroyed, G-d Forbid, has been ranked in the Arutz 7 top six blog posts for days already and shows 25 comments.
The original, on this blog, has just 7 comments.
Since I haven’t succeeded in making a living from my writing, and I do write to get my opinion out, yes, I’m a political pundit, I continue allowing these, and sometimes other publications re-post/reprint my articles. Over the years, I’ve heard many times that I’ve written what others think, and they are extremely happy that I’ve done so. Yes, that’s why I continue, and I do write daily, barring Shabbat and Jewish holidays of course.
I’m also very much involved with Havel Havelim the International Jewish Blog Carnival, which appears weekly after Shabbat. I call it a “floating” magazine, because a variety of bloggers host it. We organize on our facebook page, and I end up as “default” host, when nobody else can do it.
Also, I’ve given blogging rights here to a few other people, so sometimes you’ll see articles by others, which is fine by me.
I’m interested in your opinions and suggestions. Please comment and share, thanks.