The power of Freshly Pressed

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It was like the cha ching of the casino machines…cha ching, cha ching, cha ching. I checked my computer to find that I was receiving a lot of emails. Most, if not all of them, were from Word Press. I couldn’t figure out what happened until I opened the one from Erica telling me I was “Freshly Pressed.”

From the Word Press website: Freshly Pressed — The best of 305,101 bloggers, 812,069 new posts, 487,724 comments, & 170,216,715 words posted today on WordPress.com 

For my non-blogger readers, Word Press provides the free template I use for my blog. They also provide a lot of support, statistics and advice on how to improve your blog. And….they highlight 10 new posts every day as “Freshly Pressed.” I have no idea how they do that or how they can even read all the posts that are posted. I have a hard time keeping up with the ones I follow.

I also have no idea what they are looking for or how it happens. They have some tips but they are fairly common sense things that any good blogger would do. They selected the tribute to my grandmother. It touched a lot of people and the comments were very powerful. Some of them had me laughing and some crying. One commenter said it best, it made her feel sappy.

Oddly enough, I was “pressed” with two bloggers I actually know – Paprika Furstenburg and Snoring Dog Studios. That was also surprising as I usually don’t know any of them.

What I do know is that when you are Freshly Pressed, your life changes. Really!

Here are some things that happen:

  • Your inbox goes crazy. I thought I had good readership averaging 20 to 50 hits a day with an occasional 100. I only post 2 to 3 times a week. I was happy. I had 1,980 hits the first day and they are still chinging in today.
  • Since mostly bloggers read “Freshly Pressed” and bloggers both comment and hit the “like” button more readily than non-bloggers, you suddenly find that you have 35 comments to approve. Wow! Cool! When you finish those and update, you have another 20 and it continues.
  • Some of the common courtesy gets put on hold. I try to reply to comments and visit blogs of bloggers who post. If they like my stuff, maybe I’ll like theirs. That’s how I have found some of my favorites. I gave up on responding to most and it will take me a while to visit all that have subscribed, let alone commented.
  • The post they selected was a week old and there were three newer ones. The lesson is that it isn’t an instant thing.
  • It flatlines all your previous statistics. Even my all time best days are a slight blip on the chart compared to the past two days.
  • It’s overwhelming. Will it give me writer’s block?

My suggestion:

  • Take a sabbatical from work for a couple of days to keep on top of the comments and emails.
  • Order in champagne!
  • While you are thinking of getting an agent, keep in mind that tomorrow you will be an unknown again and people can unsubscribe!

Thanks to all who commented, “liked,” and read my post. And thanks again to the grandmother who made this all possible.

28 thoughts on “The power of Freshly Pressed”

  1. Hi, I was Freshly Pressed 3 days ago and I was FP’ed 6 months ago. I know from the first time that things pretty much evened out in less than a week, each day my stats getting closer to my normal 100 or so per day. I did get new subscribers and maybe a couple of regular readers but mostly it was just a fun (ego) trip.

    The first time I was FP’ed was on a Monday, I think, and the post they chose was already over a month old–even though I had posted several times in the interim. I only stayed on the front page one day so the ride wasn’t that long. This current time I was FP’ed on a Thursday (with a post I had just done the night before) and, for some reason, they didn’t have any new selections on Friday and I know they never do on weekends, so I have remained on the front page for 4 days. That has been cool. Funny, but I got more comments the first time although my views were not nearly as high. I think the difference there is that the Like button wasn’t around the first time. This time I think a lot of people who maybe would have commented chose the Like button instead, which I am still grateful for 🙂

    I did respond to all my commenters the first time by going to their blogs and leaving a comment. It took me quite awhile but I also found some more blogs I really liked. I will probably do that again this time but I don’t think I will be able to visit the blogs of all my Likers. Some with unusual names I have already visited, though.

    Congrats, though! I keep hoping I will get a gig out of all this but there is too much competition, I think. I’ll go look for the original post of yours that was FP’ed.

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    • Congrats! My post was about my grandmother who emigrated from Germany. It was an old one so I was stunned. It doubled my readership (after the peak died down) and I have found other blogs that I really enjoy. Selection is still am mystery to me. I have read some extremely great posts that never got FP.

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  4. i wouldn’t worry about responding to all the comments – but then again, I’m not you and I have never been freshly pressed. Blessings and good fun to you always. Enjoy, T

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  8. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. I’d like to know that feeling at least once. Or twice. Who am I kidding, I’d like it on a frequent basis. For you however, I’m sure it’s only a matter of another month or two before it happens again. I’ve seen it happen. To other people, of course. 🙂 Enjoy your Pressed status!

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    • Keep posting and you never know what will happen. Out of all my posts, I never expected my grandmother tribute would generate a “Freshly Pressed” spot. Actually, my post on obituaries was my most popular with readers. It may be that the immigration category helped.

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  10. The one thing I know is that I will never be Freshly Pressed. Mainly because of sentence structure, spelling and southern slang. I must be true to my roots. Now, after saying that, I feel as if I have been Freshly Pressed every time one of the blogger I faithfully follow gets pressed. And there have been a surprising number of blogger I know that have been Pressed. (I must know how to pick em) My stats do not go up but my pride level sure does!

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    • Don’t be so sure it won’t happen to you. Your writing is fun and interesting and original too. I don’t know what they look for but there are all kinds of blogs that get pressed.

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  14. Congrats. I love posts about old times and old family and friends, so your post was a favorite of mine. Not surprised that it got chosen, even if the selection process is a mystery.

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  17. Soooooo happy for you Kate!
    How exciting….I do hope you still have time for your old blogging pals….
    You deserve all the kudos!
    I am visiting my sister and I have been telling her about you. I said I would share my friendship with her. 🙂
    Her name is Maureen and she has a terrific post today. http://www.oldgirlnewtricks.wordpress.com

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  20. you truly did capture the experience with the post about your grandmom. the picture alone was intriquing enough to make me want to stick around.

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