As of this post I’m shutting down my Dadequate blog. It’s been less than half a year since my first post here, but it’s time to move along to other projects.

Nothing dramatic — I’m not quitting fatherhood or anything. But I’ve had a really busy last few months, my posting frequency has suffered, and the readership and/or following of this blog never really caught on. The embarrassing truth is that my old O Me of Little Faith blog, which hasn’t been updated since June 1, still gets nearly as many readers per month as this active blog does. Really. That’s crazy, and a little disappointing, and it makes it hard to continue a passion project like this.

So what? a theoretical detractor might say. I’ve been blogging for 10 years and I only have 37 readers. If you really cared about it, you’d give it time and more commitment!

A good point, and you’re right, of course. But here’s my dirty little secret. I don’t blog because I love to blog. I blog because I love to write. Mostly I love to write books. Blogging — especially on a big site like Beliefnet — helps me maintain and increase my “platform,” which is something publishers love to talk about. It involves the number of people who know you and follow you and care about you and want to read stuff you’ve written. It helps you get books published. Blogging keeps me in the public eye. It helps sell books. It helps me get that next book contract.

As for that book-writing career? It’s a side career. It’s something I do when I’m not doing my regular, full-time job.

Over the past three months, my “real” job has been incredibly busy. This is good. Steady work is a blessing.

Over the past three months, I’ve written two short books. One was ghost-written and you won’t see my name on it. The other I’ll publish as an e-book in January to Kindle and Nook. I’ve got about a half-dozen ideas for novels stirring in my brain and I’ll be pursuing one of them very, very soon. The book thing is good, too.

But the blogging thing to support the book thing that I do in my spare time from my “real” job? It’s not going great. It’s gotten neglected. It’s reaching fewer people than I can justify spending time on. So I’m making the hard decision to pull the plug, and make better use of my time.

For those of you who’ve told me how much you’ve liked the content — from the interviews with other dads to the insights into my own parenting style to the goofy videos to share with your kids — thank you. Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. Thanks for the emails. I appreciate you. I hope you’ll keep being active, caring, present, approachable, and wise dads. Your kids are learning from you all the time, good and bad. Always remember that.

In the meantime, you can still find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (username: jasonboyett). Let’s keep in touch.