December’s Ketchup

The Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. In 2014, www.ShannonAThompson.com was viewed about 45,000 times. It would take 17 sold-out performances for that many people to see it! WOW! I am blown away by all of your support this past year. If you would like to see the full, annual report, click here. My top five commenters can be found at the end of this post. Check them out!

December’s Ketchup

I’m officially back, so I thought I would show this month’s stats even though they will be slightly off due to my absence during the first two weeks. Thank you for understanding my break. I am so happy to be back, and I am looking forward to the new format of ShannonAThompson.com.

For those of you just now checking in this month, Ketchup actually means “catch up.” At the end of every month, I write these posts describing what goes on behind the scenes at ShannonAThompson.com. Some of the topics I cover include my big moments, top blog post, my top referrer, SEO term, and more in order to show insights that will hopefully help fellow bloggers see what was popular. I also hope it entertains the readers who want “extras” for this website.

Thank you for being a part of my life this December!

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Big Moments:

I came back, and as many of you have already seen, I’ve changed the types of posts here on ShannonAThompson.com, and we reached 19,000 followers! I still cannot believe how much we have grown these past two years, but I am so grateful to know we continue to grow every day.

Hopefully, 2015 will be a wonderful adventure!

Top Three Blog Posts:

1. The Struggling (Sometimes Starving) Writer: Making money as a writer has never been easy, and I am no exception to the rule. Because of Webucator, I talked about this topic in depth, both emotionally and mentally, and how this affects my love for writing.
2. Surprise! Shannon’s Return to Blogging: I am back! Expect more Monday Blogs (a.k.a. guest bloggers), Writer Wednesday, and SATurday (a.k.a. Shannon’s day to express herself, allowing her to get to know you better while also showing who she is…like how she talks in the third person when she’s nervous!)

3. 

   SATurday: Scrabble without Friends: I am so, so enthralled that you all are enjoying the SATurday posts. I have some great ones coming up I can’t wait to share, but maybe we can all play Scrabble together sometime.

Other Blog Posts:

• SATurday: Expression: Time is an expression of writing, and the rambles go on for eternity.
• Best Christmas Books of All Times: Written by Ninja Essays, this is technically the first guest blogger of our new Monday Blogs series. Expect to see more from them in the future.
• Website Wonders: A classic post provided every month for your entertainment and learning.

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At the end of the month, I also like to take a moment to thank all of the websites who supported me by posting reviews, interviews, and features. If you would like to review my novels or interview me, please send me an email at shannonathompson@aol.com. I always love speaking with new bloggers, writers, and readers! And I will share your post on all of my websites.

Reviewers:

Take Me Tomorrow: Books Everywhere, Musings on YA Novels and Pop Culture, Write Out Loud, Pointe Taken, and Christina’s Book Blog

Minutes Before Sunset: Crushing Cinders

Interviews: Books Everywhere

Features: Top Ten New-Authors-to-Me in 2014

Awarders: Insomnia, Nightmares, and General Madness

~SAT

I also want to thank my top five commenters of 2014: Without these five readers, many insightful conversations would’ve never happened, and I cannot thank them enough. They all have blogs, too, and I recommend all of their websites.

1. Legends of Windemere: Author, Charles E. Yallowitz
2. A Writer’s Life for Me: Author, Mishka Jenkins
3. The Owl Lady: Author, Viv Drewa
4. Trials of a wanna-be-published writer: Writer and reader, Heather B. Costa
5. Wyrmflight: Author, Deby Fredericks