A nice surprise today in my email. Rue Rude received an award I had never even heard of, for "Best Ten Websites for Expats in France"-- a finalist. I was happy to see that The Paris Blog, an "overblog" of Paris blogs, came first. Laurie Pike does a great job of curating interesting and unusual posts about Paris. And whenever she chooses one from Rue Rude, the views go up!
When you've been blogging for a while, like me (Rue Rude is almost to its 11th year!), you have to make many decisions about where you want to go with it. For example, I have received enough commercial offers to have made quite a bit of money from them, but it would be at the price of lining my sidebars with ads. I just haven't been ready to do that. Yet there are numbers of bloggers who make a living with their blogs; sometimes I look at them and think twice.
Some of my friends and family know that I have a blog, including my children (one of them discovered it while googling "Eurotrash" years ago). But most people I know, especially in France, still don't have any inkling, and I blog under a pseudonym for various reasons, one or two of them important. I don't go to bloggers' meetups and have probably missed out on a lot of promotion; but that does give me the freedom to write what I want. Is it worth it? I don't know....
I've also never entered any blog contests; so when something arrives out of the blue to say that someone is actually reading Rue Rude, it feels very nice.
Thank you!
Félicitations!
Posted by: Mike | 19 August 2014 at 02:52
I read your blog specifically because I know you write what you think and you have an honest approach to your writing. By writing without outside interests, I get a much truer take on your living in France. My first reading was an eye-opener as I linked your title, Rue Rude, to your writing style. Only after several visits did I realize there was also a real rue Rude.
Keep going as long as you like it and remember there are a lot of people who read your blog that don't comment, this being my first to you.
Posted by: Richard Ewen | 19 August 2014 at 16:21
Richard said just about everything I want to say. I love your blog and read it whenever you post. You've taught me a lot about French language and culture, and I'm very grateful.
Posted by: chrissoup | 19 August 2014 at 23:44
Congratulations! I seem to remember you also won an Easyjet blog award a couple of years ago...
Posted by: Accius | 20 August 2014 at 02:00
Though I was honored to receive the blogging "award" I could tell it was simply a marketing ploy by a commercial site to get all the main Paris bloggers to add the company's badge to their sites. I didn't bite. Your accolade here is more meaningful!
Posted by: Laurie | 24 August 2014 at 18:24
Oh well, I like badges, I admit. It's a leftover from my Girl Scout days.
I do admire The Paris Blog! xoxox
Posted by: Sedulia | 24 August 2014 at 22:27