By the numbers

If you took part in the recent SF and Nonsense reader survey (Touch this poll with a ten-foot pole?) -- thanks! I found the responses helpful, and I expect to use the feedback to keep this blog of value to you. If you as much as considered participating -- thanks for that, too. If you had no interest in the poll -- well, I appreciate your patience and hope you'll come back.

Many of you did take a minute to respond, and I suspect that you (and perhaps others) will be curious about the results. And so (drum roll) ...


1. I typically visit the SF and Nonsense blog ...

-- weekly (50%)
-- monthly (42%)
-- less often than monthly (8%)
-- this is my first visit (0%)

2. I most often come to an SF and Nonsense post by ...

--  subscription (signed up via the blog itself) (25%)
-- search engine (8%)
-- post syndicated to author's website (8%)
-- post shared to Facebook (0%)
-- post shared to LinkedIn (0%)
-- post syndicated to Goodreads (0%)
-- post syndicated to Amazon author page (0%)
-- other option (58%)

About that large "other" response: I considered direct RSS subscription and subscription via an RSS reader to be equivalent. Many respondents did not, most often selecting "other," and then indicating RSS reader Feedly as how they see my posts. Additional contributions to "other" involved syndication to, and links from, websites I hadn't separately named.

I know from separate statistics that readers do arrive from each of the alternate sources (e.g., Facebook sharing of selected posts) I'd named in the poll.

3. When I visit SF and Nonsense, I typically look at ...

-- only the most recent post (50%)
-- several recent posts (33%)
-- only the post (encountered wherever else online) that brought me to the blog (8%)
-- several posts, following links among posts (8%)
-- posts from the blog's archives (0%)

When half of respondents visit weekly, and I post more or less weekly, this result is not surprising. Archiving of posts is automatic, so it doesn't matter if this feature isn't much used.

4. On a typical visit to the blog, I stay ... 

-- five minutes or less (42%)
-- five to fifteen minutes  (58%)
-- fifteen minutes or more (0%)

Got it. No tomes disguised as posts.

5. The blog topics of interest are (check all that apply) ...

--  the author's books, stories, and articles (100%)
--  the author's commentary on science, fiction, and science fiction (100%)
-- the author's activities (appearances, book signings, writing process) (50%)

It's nice(!) to see the interest in my pro writing and my commentary. I get that not everyone cares about the business and process aspects of being an author -- but enough of you do that these will continue to make occasional appearances here.

Thanks again for the input.