Rolling With Changes

Can you hear David Bowie crooning the lyrics to Changes? That's what today's post is about. Changes. How do you change a blog that's been in existence since 2005 and has a great reputation and a faithful following?

Very carefully.

For the last 2 years, since I started indie publishing my backlist and original fiction and nonfiction, I've known that I needed to change my blog because its URL is not my name.

When one is an author seeking to grow an audience, name recognition is extremely important. My name is part of my brand -- it is my brand for all practical purposes -- so it should be the title, or URL, associated with all my websites.

Backstory

I started this blog, SlingWords, in 2005 when I was primarily freelance writing for Internet clients. The blog had a faithful following by 2011 when I published my first ebook, Just One Look, a sassy, sexy romantic comedy. The blog's followers helped make my book a bestseller in its second month.

That's why I've resisted abandoning this blog and creating one that is titled JoanReeves. I've put my heart and soul into this blog, and SlingWords has almost 2,000 posts now. I published a compilation of the Sunday posts, Written Wisdom that will continue to be available at all ebook sellers.

Like David Bowie Sang: Changes

This is a year of change for me. I spent the last 2 months de-cluttering, packing, moving things into storage and to our weekend home. Our house went up for sale Saturday. By Monday, we had 2 contracts offered. We took one. Now comes the real packing and moving. Moving furniture into storage until our new townhome in Houston is ready. Moving me up to our weekend home and hubby into a hotel downtown until we move into the townhome.

Changes. Big ones. What better time to move blogs, consolidate newsletters, update websites and profiles? It's not like I can dive into finishing Cinderella Blue, the book I'm writing. At least not until I get set up for work in the other house.

So, I bit the bullet and spit it out and committed to moving out of SlingWords and into a new blog:

http://JoanReeves.blogspot.com

New Joan Reeves Blog

I'm designing the template now. It will have a different look entirely (see the image above) and will be based on the friendly, casual way I live my life -- coffee or wine with family and friends, good conversation and word slinging about books, writing, romance, love, sex, life, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

I'll have a soft Grand Opening as soon as I have the template finished. The transition should be seamless. If you are a Follower, you should still be signed up to Follow. RSS feed should work the same, etc.

Bonus To Followers

When the new blog opens, I'm giving away a free book to all who Follow -- new and old. Just send me your email address. I'll send you a Smashwords coupon for a free book.
 
I'll post an announcement every few days to update you on my progress.

Remember

SlingWords is just changing to a new address and a new template. I'll always be here unless Blogger or Google decides to kick me out.

The new blog JoanReeves opens August 1. I hope to see you there.

Takeaway Truth

Change is good. Change means you're growing. That's what I keep telling myself so I don't focus on the sheer work involved. Please stay tuned for new URLs coming down the pike as soon as I get all the arrangements made.