Self-Promotion Sure Beats Self-Flagellation

Shift your eyes slightly to the right.  No, that's my ridiculously outdated photo that makes me look like a bug-eyed monster.  Below that.

There we go. 

Best Australian Blogs 2012 Nominee.  Yup, I thought I would put my writing on the line and nominate my blog for the national competition sponsored by the Sydney Writers' Centre.

Despite the fact that I plaster my life and the life of my children all over the internet, I am actually quite a introverted person. I realise how stupid that sounds, but blogging - any type of writing - is a very solitary pursuit and it is easy to separate the act of typing, sitting alone at the kitchen table, with the fact that my life is suddenly spilled across the net, visible to friends and strangers alike.

Self-promotion is difficult for many women, especially mums.  I am no different, but based on the extraordinary response I received to a recent post The Brutal Truth About the Third Child I thought I would nominate not only the blog to be formally judged, but I also put my hand up for The People's Choice Award.  That being you*.

So starting on Friday April 13th, if you have enjoyed reading my blog, please consider voting for me. 

I will post all the links and information closer to the date. In the meantime, keep poking around and I hope you continue to enjoy From Mum to Me.


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* 'You' in this case is the almost 30,000 people who have read my post, and re-posted and shared 'The Brutal Truth' across Facebook and the internet. 

Prior to The Brutal Truth, my blog was primarily read by a few friends and family (hi Mum!), and the odd occasion I received a comment from a 'stranger' heralded great celebration and some very girly hand waving. 

My previously most popular post 'To Three or Not to Three' had been hit about 120 times, hardly earth shattering, but as a writer it felt very satisfying. 

But there was something about the 'The Brutal Truth' that hit a chord with readers, and within a week it had been hit over 4,000 times and re-posted numerous times on Facebook.  Over the following few days I watched the views grow exponentially as it went viral across the net.  A friend told me he simply sat and watched the 'page views' counter click over one per second for hours.

Within three weeks of writing the post, it had been read over 20,000 times and now it is approaching 30,000 views, and as supportive as she is, I doubt too many of those hits are from my mum. 

It has been the most astonishing time in my writing 'career'.  Each comment has brought me great joy, even the negative ones.  Yet, as a friend pointed out, people may have criticised my parenting skills [especially joking about drinking during pregnancy], but no one has criticised my writing.

So thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog, and even more so to those of you who have shared the post with friends.  It shows the infinite power of the web and the wealth of support within the blogging community.