Do You Blog Hop?

By Rosemary Johnson

Do you blog hop? 

I didn’t know what a blog hop was until I joined one a few years ago.  A blog hop is what its name suggests, a list of blogs written around a particular theme, the opportunity to put your own blog on it and to ‘hop’ around as many like-minded blogs as you wish.

I take part in the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop.  The writer who started IWSG is a Christian, as are many of the other contributors, but the site is about writing in general and for all writers, a place to share hopes, fears and feelings of inadequacy.  The IWSG site itself is also very interesting, with lots of hints for writers, lists of publishers and more.

The way IWSG works is like this: we sign up (on the sign up page) and by doing so we commit to posting on our own blog every first Wednesday of the month, about our doubts and struggles, and, if we can, offering words of encouragement to other writers.  We also have each month an optional question about writing, which most contributors choose to feature; this month (January) it was about what inspired us to write.  Most ISWG bloggers said they were inspired in their childhood through reading (Now there’s a surprise!) and several of them mentioned Enid Blyton.

Posting on our own blogs is only part of it, however.  We also visit other IWSG members’ blogs, using the list on the sign-up page, and we ‘like’ and comment.  A blog hop list (like the IWSG sign up page) can work like a catalogue of like-minded individuals and blogs.  Author Raimey Gallant (a member of IWSG) has compiled a list of writers’ blog hops and I have found a directory of Christian blog hops (which I haven’t investigated - sorry).

Some national brands use blog hops for brand placement and will pay bloggers to promote their brands in their posts… if you’re interested.

Blog hops are a great way of raising visibility for your own blog.  I always receive several ‘likes’ and comments for my monthly IWSG post, and ‘followers’ on WordPress.  I also get to see some interesting stuff I wouldn’t see otherwise.  I’m about to read a post about St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, by an IWSG blogger.

How about you?  IWSG, for example, always welcomes new members.  Will you hop along with your blog?

Rosemary Johnson has had many short stories published, in print and online, amongst other places, Cafe Lit, The Copperfield Review and 101 Words.  She has also contributed to Together magazine.  She has also written a historical novel, set in the Solidarity years in Poland.  In real life, she is a retired IT lecturer, living in Suffolk with her husband and cat.  Her cat supports her writing by sitting on her keyboard and deleting large portions of text.