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Dear Friends,

July marks five years since I launched my author website—my own little corner of the internet. It’s a space I pay for and maintain. I share links to my writing, connect with readers, and give voice to others wanting to share theirs. It doubles as a free craft posts library and resource site with writing know-hows, poet/author interviews, lists, as well as guest posts, and a home for various general/community interest blog posts. I’m happy that readers find it helpful as their feedback indicate. Any donations are gratefully welcome–click here.

Here are some noteworthy stats to celebrate:

13k views & 8k+ unique visitors in last 2.5 years alone

in 2026 alone, people in 6 continents & 85+ countries were curious about what i do!

Stats may or may not be to industry standards and I really do not stress over these. I am just happy with the way things are. This place is my internet home and I’m chilled about it! So, what were these five years like and does investing time and money in a site worth the effort?

what was my experience like?

Long story short: The good far outweighs the bad. Logging in details, writing informative posts without expectation of readership or pay, and continuously updating this site does eat into time I’d rather have used to write. It gives back nothing in return monetarily. I’ve had a few spammy emails, yes, but overall, this site has helped with my growth as a writer. When I celebrated the first anniversary of my author website with a video essay 3 Easy Steps on How to Make Your Author Website Work as Hard as You, I truly meant every word. Over the past years, this site has been home to

• 15 editions of the monthly newsletter A Newsletter With a View of One’s Own, published on the first week of every month (READ the latest). It is how a newsletter should be–updates from the international publishing world, round-up of what writers are talking about, including high-stakes matters and controversies, curated list of fee-free & paying open submission windows, a few personal updates, some pro writing tips, views and opinions, and enlightening conversations. Also, a round-up of writing recently published that I truly recommend.
• 100+ Blogposts/Craft Essays
• The very popular Best of the Year Flash Fiction Lists for the year 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025
• 20+ Guest posts/Guest Craft Essays
• Author Interviews & Analyses

THEREFORE: I absolutely recommend building an author website, and maintaining it diligently. It is a reflection of how your writing has shaped up over the years and how readers respond to your work. I’m just shy of 400 individual pieces of writing out in the world, as of today. The milestone is by reason of sheer persistence more than anything else. And, this site is like a journal of all of it–so can yours be.

top 3 author website dos and dontS

• As an editor and columnist, I do have to keep visiting other writers’ websites. Some are clean and easy to navigate. Some are image heavy–which is an attractive choice for some writers. Google rates my author website 9/10, which I assume is pretty high. It says “the score is exceptionally high for functionality, content, and community value, while losing one point for low visual aesthetics.” I DEFINITELY recommend investing in a good site plan and choosing a clutter free template.
• Many writers do not update their website pages as diligently as they should. Myself included. I’m often lazy or extremely busy. Please, if possible, do not keep the website looking like it needs a clean-up. Take the time to display–like you’d organize a crockery cabinet. When I visit some sites, they look like as if the writers have stopped writing at all, which is often a pity!
• Recently I visited an author’s site who has a collection forthcoming, with the intent of requesting an interview for a popular magazine. Sadly, their contact page only listed their social media handle. I am not on the platform listed, so could not contact them. Please be mindful of inserting a message form on the contact page. The managing editor of one highly-respected university magazine once contacted me through my website and solicited my writing.

top 3 most popular craft posts in last 12 months

1. 10 Things About Poetry You Didn’t Know READ
2. One-SENTENCE STORIES: WHERE you just can’t go wrong READ
3. 2025’s Best Flash Fiction: And why I love them READ

top 3 most googled pages of this site

1. PUBLICATIONS page: I think this page works because I have a tabular format and visitors can easily look up genre-wise and category-wise. Also, organized chronologically. Having tap-and-read links help.
2. BLOGPOSTS: This is the mother page from where one can access all the craft essays and newsletters. Most are freely readable. A select few are subscriber-only.
3. I recently won some awards and got nominated in a few. The Nominated/Commended Work page is where I list them.

3 PAGES ON THE SITE I HIGHLY RECOMMEND

1. ARTICLES & COLUMNS This page has links to 77 articles that discuss everything from writer rejections to witnessing war as a writer to a writer’s guide to rage, reflection and retribution
2. WINNER OF 2025 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction BUSTS SOME WRITING MYTHS READ
3. Reclaiming Writing Life By Staying Off Social Media–is it doable? rEAD

3 Posts that may be new to you

1. How to surprise the reader and chart a narrative course that is far from obvious READ
2. Hybrids READ
3. Interviews/Podcast READ

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Thanks a lot for staying with me, and being so supportive! If you have any suggestions on posts you’d like to see, or anything that’d help me improve, please feel free to get in touch.

I’m also looking for guest post articles to be published in November/December. If you have ideas/stories relating to writing life/writing practice, pitch me (in ~100 words) and your words of wisdom could reach 6 continents! At the moment, publication only, no pay.

Finally, I am offering 50% OFF on MANUSCRIPT CONSULTATIONS only for the first week of August on a first-come-first-serve basis to celebrate 5 years (exclusive offer only for readers of this post).

Wishing you health and happiness!

With gratitude,

Mandira

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