My Top 10 Posts of 2019! (Plus Some Personal Favorites)

I'm trying something new for my last post of 2019: a year's best-of recap! I've never done one of these before - probably because I never look at my blog stats - so let's take a meander through Epbot's back end (heyooooo) and see what you guys liked most this year.

I know it sounds incredible that I've never checked this before - who DOESN'T know what their most popular posts are? - but to be honest I just post what I like and move on. So today's recap will be educational for all of us.

Also I'm sure there's probably a reason I shouldn't disclose my readership stats, but... eh. ::shrug::

So here come the fun numbers!

An average post here - things like convention photos, art roundups, random life updates, etc - gets 6-8 thousands readers. That's all you super loyal readers out there, so, hi! Love you!

After a quick count I see nearly 20 of last year's posts snagged over 10K readers. Nice!

Now here's where the insanity of the internet comes in: of those top posts, 4 snowballed, and ranged from 44K all the way up to 82K - over 10 times my average readership.

Can you guess which one that was?

(This is only counting 2019, btw, so it's not my Everything You Need To Know About Bras post - which is still my top post EVER and has been read nearly 3 million times?? Sweet sugary Stay Puft!)

Right, enough intro, let's count 'em down! And since I'm bad at suspense, let's start with #1!

1) No Pictures, Please: The Thing About My Face  (82K readers)

 Considering this post took me over 3 years to write, and was one of my most soul-baring, excruciating, and yet amazingly healing interactions with this community, I'm delighted to see it top the list for 2019.

I should note the follow-up post, My Self-Hate Battle Plan, went back to my average readership around 9K. I find that a little sad, only because No Pictures talks about the problem, where my Battle Plan offers what I hope are a few solutions. But hey, it's still out there for anyone to find and read in the future, so that's what matters.

2) Let's Talk About A 27-Year-Old Star Trek Episode  (72K)

I'm always saying to write about your personal passions, not what you think other people want to read - and wow does this prove the point. I never would have thought this would get such a response, but once again, a little honest fangirling brings us all together!

3) Foe & Tell: Hoopy Froods, Sock-Hopping Tribbles, & Gondor Calls For Aid (46K)

 

Awww, you guys, a Foe & Tell made it big! THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY. I love sharing some of your posts from Fans of Epbot, and this proves I should do that more often. These roundups are a lot of logistical work, since John & I have to work together to hunt down permissions & pictures, but it's definitely worth it.

4) I Tried The New Ghosbusters Candy Bars So You Don't Have To  (44K)

Another sleeper hit I never could have predicted, and almost didn't post because it's so ridiculous! Clearly I need to stop overthinking my shorter posts, and just let the ridiculousness flow. 

5) DIY Unicorn Candy Charms (27K)

Thank goodness a craft is in here, gang, or I'd be having a minor crisis. Thank you for validating my crafting obsession.

6) We Went To An Epic Game of Thrones Dinner Party! (24K)

This one almost feels like cheating, since our friend Anna made all the intricately themed dishes and decor, not us. Still, WOW was it fun - even though who don't watch the show! I knew you guys would appreciate it so much more than we could, and I'm so glad I could show it all off.

7) It's Finally Time  (14K)

The fact that my emotional breakthroughs (and sometimes breakdowns) get such a positive response  shows what an awesome community this is. So many of you tell me you don't craft, you don't cosplay - you're really just here because we're friends, you like me and John, and you want to see what we're up to! Talk about humbling. I'm grateful every day that I can share the things that help me, in the hopes that they can help some of you, too.

8) Our $5 DIY Sleep Apnea Solution (13K) 

[Trigger warning for the post intro. Scroll down to the first photo to skip the panicky bits]

 Once in a blue moon John and I make something we think will genuinely help people, like our professional painting video or the kitty recovery onesie, which both still get thank-yous every now and then. This DIY tops the list. John still uses it when he's struggling to sleep with his CPAP, and the amount of peace of mind it gives us - well, me - is incredible. I've heard from a few people who made their own and now have that same peace of mind, and knowing we helped provide it is worth more to me than all the views in the world.

9) This ninth slot HAS to be a fluke, because for some reason The Noisy Cricut  - a post where I literally just announce we bought a Cricut using a Men In Black pun - got 12K readers. Um. What? I guess I need to make more Cricut crafts? And/or make more punny titles? (Nooo, twist my arm, why don't you. :D)

Since that Cricut post doesn't really count, and since there's a 4-way tie for #10, I'll pick my favorite 2 of the 4 to end with:

10A) Our Labyrinth Illusion Wall (11K)

Again, thank goodness part of our Labyrinth Christmas party made it, or I'd be having a crisis, lol. This was soooo much work, but dang, what a fantastic ride. I need another big project, STAT.

10B) My Two Worlds Collide: Epbot Wrecks! (11K)

I'd forgotten about this one, probably because I was sick and had John write most of it, so reading it again just now made my afternoon. It's a hilarious roundup of people who intentionally wrecked one of my Epbot tutorials. The "floating candles" are where I truly lost it. LOLZ AHEAD.

So that's my top 10 according to the numbers, but here come a few more of my personal favorites that didn't make as big of a splash this year. Not flops by any means, just not the big stars:

- Building our Swedish Chef puppet:

(We WILL figure out a cosplay with this guy someday, dangit)

- My genius (if I do say so myself) remote-wrangling hack:

 We use this every single day, are forever commenting on how handy it is - and it's so stinkin' easy I feel like more people should be talking about it. :p

- Our Ghostbusters Halloween with our life-sized Stay Puft head:

 We are SO all-in on Halloween now. Look out, 2020.

- And finally, I've really enjoyed all my more casual TWIP posts that I don't call TWIPs anymore. (TWIP = "This Week In Pictures") It's taken me YEARS to get comfortable with casual update posts, where I can ramble and share fun little life things with you guys. I always worry there's not enough SUBSTANCE, so I have to remind myself that life happens in the in-betweens, and it's OK to be a little more spontaneous with what I share between the Big Stuff.

I wrote 125 posts in 2019, or just over 2 per week. I started Epbot in 2010 (wow, really?), and since then I've averaged around 130 posts a year... except for 2012, when I posted a walloping 232 posts. Pretty sure that's the year that made me burn out so badly, and I did a lot of aggregating (ie posting things I found vs things I created), but man, it was fun while it lasted. Do you guys like super short posts that share just one thing? I worry they're not "enough," but it might be neat to bring those back.

I gotta say, this review has been eye-opening. It turns out the posts I stress over the most, like convention photos, aren't the heavy-hitters. Which doesn't mean I'll stop making them - I post what I love and will always post what I love  - but it does tell me I can relax and maybe not stress so hard over them, or even devote a little less time to cons and more to crafts? Hmm, that might be fun to try for a year...

Feel free to tell me what you like to see in the comments, but know that I will always post what I'm passionate about, not chase after page views. It just helps when I'm equally passionate about things to know if you like one more than the other, ha. I also love a challenge, so if you have a project you'd like to see me and John tackle in 2020, let me know!

Thanks for sticking with me another year, gang. I love you, and I can't wait to see what 2020 has in store. Now, go rest up. We've got a big year ahead of us.

******

I think some of you might like my favorite latest Amazon purchase:

Bluetooth Sleep Headphones

I finally bought some sleep headphones! I go to sleep most nights listening to Critical Role or Still Untitled, and these are a HUGE upgrade over my old wired headphones. They're so comfy I forget they're there, so I can finally sleep well on my side - plus there are no wires to yank my phone off the nightstand every time I roll over! WOOT. Well worth the $20, highly recommend.