I think this is a universal feeling for writers: You write something you are really happy with—really proud of—and then no one reads it. No one shares it. No one talks about it. You try to tweet it out to a few strategic people, but it doesn’t get any traction, and you don’t really know why.
A few months ago, four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel had his first test with Ferrari, the most successful team in the history of the sport. It was a big story, as Vettel had been hired away from Red Bull—the team that had nurtured his career since he was 11—to restore Ferrari to glory.
ecco Vettel alla guida della F12012 con il casco bianco #F1 #1avoltadiSeb #test #Fiorano #Ferrari @autosprint pic.twitter.com/tby5chsDtU
— Andrea Ettori (@AndreaEttori) November 29, 2014
The Ferrari test track is in the town of Fiorano, Italy, near the team’s factory in Maranello. Although the test was private, I started seeing people posting photos and videos of Vettel in the car on Twitter.
Ferrari fans—the tifosi—were literally climbing the fences around the circuit to catch a glimpse of Vettel in the scarlet car.
I thought that was really cool and provided a unique angle to the story, so I tracked down a few of the guys who were at the track that day and got their stories. I got a few really good quotes about what Ferrari and Vettel’s arrival meant to them and I wrote this story.
I thought it was one of the best pieces I had written in my year as an F1 columnist at Bleacher Report, but it didn’t even garner the average number of reads one of my B/R stories does (even though I spent much more time promoting it than I do with a regular column).
Even if no one had read it, I would still be really proud of my story, but…well…it’s just kind of a bummer.
Matthew Walthert - Freelance Writer 