I've been checking my Site Meter visitor stats on a daily basis, with much the same regularity as my e-mail. Though the daily number is still quite low, I've noticed certain patterns. First, after I publish a book review, there is a brief spike in traffic referred either by Blogcritics, or by Google search results for the book in question. Second, there is the repeat visitor, arriving two or three times via a Google search result, followed by direct visits (i.e. has typed in URL directly or bookmarked my site). It is the last type of visitor that makes me most happy. It is also the one that can make me feel guilty.
I suppose you could call it shooting self in foot. After my recent addition of the 'Recently Reviewed' and 'Upcoming Reviews' sidebar modules, I've noticed more repeat visitors. These repeat visitors often arrive for a particular book listed as an upcoming review. And that's where the guilt comes in. I begin to feel bad that people keep coming back to my site looking for a particular review, and keep on being disappointed.
So, to help those readers, especially since I have so little time after my day job to read and write, I've added dates for each upcoming book review into the module. Please note, however, that these are very tentative. I try very much to read and review at least one book a week, but sometimes, either because I'm too busy and/or the book in question is long and complex, it takes a little longer.
To anyone looking for a particular upcoming review, please check the tentative date beneath the notes. I will try, whenever I can't meet a review date, to update you on my progress. If only I had more time to devote to reading and writing, or were paid for it, I'd be so much more productive. As it is, I try to squeeze a little time in during my lunch break at work (less than an hour a day, after a quick bite to eat), and after I get home from a long day's work.
