How Do I Make The Most From The Ringing I Host?

In the interest of getting the most pleasure and traffic from your having hosted The Ringing Of The Bards may I suggest the following:

I know it's really hard but try to be original in the way you host the carnival. Take a look at previous ringings and see how others did it. You can find previous hosts here as well as future hosts and available dates.

Submit your Ringing Of The Bards to BlogCarnival.com so that others from outside our community can find it as well.

Submit an article to Poets101.com with the hyperlink to your poetry carnival.

Send an e-mail to Billy Jones at idleblogs (AT) yahoo.com with the hyperlink of your carnival so that Billy can post it to his blog and other highly trafficked areas only he has access to. Be sure to put "The Ringing" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Tell your friends and family.

Tell at least a few of those who participated in your carnival that the Ringing is posted, making sure you give them the hyperlink as well.

In the days leading up to the Ringing be sure to spread the word.

Avoid trapping poets into themes or certain types of poetry. There's no rule that says you can't set a theme or require that everyone write say a sonnet for example, instead of free verse or rhyming verse but that will cut down on the number of submissions as well as the number of links others post to your carnival. Remember: a blog carnival can help put you on the map but if the restrictions you set push out a heavy hitter then you very well might not get the attention you deserve.

And remember: It's all in fun so don't be afraid to be a host.