Good blogs: what? how?

[BitterHermit]

I'm experimenting with blogs these days - along with some other things.
So, questions have bloomed:

What makes a good blog?
What makes a popular blog?
What should an author include on a blog, and what omit?

Putting the pun back in punisher!

[crystalwizard]

Hermit said...

What makes a good blog?


It has stuff people like.


Hermit said...

What makes a popular blog?


It has stuff people like


Hermit said...

What should an author include on a blog, and what omit?

Stuff people like.


What audience are you targeting? The questions are way too general.

Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!


<a href="http://flashingswords.sfreader.com" target="_blank">
Managing Editor of Flashing Swords</a>


Visit my art gallery on art wanted (http://lhttp://artwanted.com/crystalwizard)


All my books in print (http://sojourn.omnitech.net)

[von Darkmoor]

Hermit said...
I'm experimenting with blogs these days - along with some other things.
So, questions have bloomed:

What makes a good blog?
What makes a popular blog?
What should an author include on a blog, and what omit?Targeting, as Crystalwhiz pointed out, is important. If you care, you should have a target in mind.

A 'good' blog gives its readers something new every 24-48 hours they say, otherwise readers move on to the next happening thing.

A 'good' blog gives its readers something they want to read every 24-48 hours they say, otherwise readers move on to the next more interesting thing.

I suppose 'good' and 'popular' to those who are doing the reading mean the same thing. In my experience there have been 'popular' blogs I don't find much good in, and I regularly read some 'good' blogs that don't seem very widely popular. So to those not reading a specific blog, these terms do not signify the same thing.

I guess 'popular' would mean it gives its readers incentive of some sortto return.

An author should include his/her biography, publication credits with links when possible, serial characters with their own pages/links/bios/publication histories (see Steve Goble's blog for i.e.), editorial/advice/opinion pieces (see E.E. Knight's blog for i.e.), what they're reading and/orlike to read, links to sites they use or respect, and news about current and future projects. George RR Martin has a pretty good author's site with all these things.

I'm undecided ifauthor's sitesshould include bits of writing or not. For those authors I don't know and am trying to know, I'd like a bit of writing on their blog that I could see and read. On the other hand, those pieces on author's blogs/sites tend to be either (a) the things they couldn't sell or (b) such well-worked pieces obviously crafted for such high public consumption that they are no longer truly representative of the author's normal novels, or (c) very much older works that are no longer proper representatives of the author's current talents and tastes. So the jury's still out on that one. For me at least.

I suppose I'd be less interested in an author's site if it also spent time preaching at me on any subject outside the realms of writing, editing, publishing, and reading. I really couldn't care less what XXX thinks of politics, religion, sports, war, monopolies, guns, whatever. I think authors that do present all these opinions on their sites forget that, at least when selling a product, ignorance is bliss. The ignorance of the consumer, that is. If I don't know you're a pinko commie liberal socialistic anti-this ant-that son of a bahitch I buy your stuff. Once I know all that about you, I am much more heavily inclined not to. Human nature - why should I line the pockets of someone who has zero in common with me, or is, perhaps, in direct opposition to me?

Only my thoughts, David. Does my blog adhere to them. Probably not so much. Hence the 'If you care' in the first line. Mine didn't start out with any aim other than recording my thoughts on all the books I read. But because of it, I've landed some reviewing gigs, met several others whom I now interact with almost daily (wishing I lived closer to some of them for some drinking card game nights), and walked into two editing positions. So my blog seems to be doing its job just fine.

So, the long and short of it is, what do you want back from your blog? Knowing that, who should you target to generate that desired response/result? And knowing that, whatshould you provide that 'who' so they deliver back to you your desired what?







~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[Kainja]

I think the key to having a blog that people visit again and again is to:
1. provide people with something interesting to take away after a visit, and this means a tip such as a writing tip, or a service, such as reviewing books and/or movies.

2. visit other people's blogs and comment on their posts.

3. try to make the blog interactive in the sense of asking questions of the readers and responding to their feedback.

Charles Gramlich
http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/

[von Darkmoor]

Charles Gramlich said...
2. visit other people's blogs and comment on their posts. Ah - Yes! I forgot. This is very important. Always leave comments wherever you go (preferably with a link back to your blog) and always, always, always comment on the comments on your own blog.

3. try to make the blog interactive in the sense of asking questions of the readers and responding to their feedback. Responding is paramount!

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[Dave Panchyk]

Picayune question: moderate comments? Insist on 'enter the semi-legible code' for entries? Where's the balance between discouraging spambots and discouraging legitimate users?

Dave Panchyk
Verbum Scriptum - Writing and the Soul
http://verbumscriptum.blogspot.com/

[von Darkmoor]

Dave Panchyk said...
Picayune question: moderate comments? Insist on "enter the semi-legible code" for entries? Where's the balance between discouraging spambots and discouraging legitimate users?


or is that a Panchyk question /emoticons/lol.gif

Yes! I feel your pain. I hate that I've been forced to demand 'semi-legible codes' from comment-wielding visitors, BUT I've been hit with a mega-spam attack that clogged my email for days and I never want to experience that again. So survival of my sanity trumps ease of commenting.

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[Dave]

My blog

http://retrowebdev.blogspot.com

does about 100-200 visitors a day

Dave
SFReader Webmaster

Get Free Stuff (http://www.Freetastice.net/)

Yoga Mats, Yoga Gear (http://www.myyogahq.com/)

Royalty Free Articles (http://www.freearticlehq.com/)

Yet Another Web Directory Site (http://www.YAWDS.com/)

[BBerntson]

Charles Gramlich said...
I think the key to having a blog that people visit again and again is to:
1. provide people with something interesting to take away after a visit, and this means a tip such as a writing tip, or a service, such as reviewing books and/or movies.

2. visit other people's blogs and comment on their posts.

3. try to make the blog interactive in the sense of asking questions of the readers and responding to their feedback.


I've had this same question, so thanks Charles, once again. I agree, but I'm just getting started...

don't forget to visit:http://www.bloodredtales.com

[cussedness]

I recently switched from using Livejournal as my main blog to using Insanejournal. I have my insanejournal embedded on my website (requires a paid account at IJ), and I use google analytics to track visitors to see what brings them. The embedded blog gets more hits than anything else on my site.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[crystalwizard]

I like this site for a blog:

http://www.blogtext.org

The admin interface for you blog is very easy to use, and after you update an entry you can use their ping tool to send your new entry out to these sites:

Blog Sites That Are Pinged
Weblogs.com
Blo.gs
NewsGator
Technorati
Feedster
Feed Burner
PubSub.com
Syndic8
BlogRolling
BlogStreet
Moreover
News Is Free

And the viewer side of the blog is quite nice and customizable. Here's mine:

http://www.blogtext.org/crystalwizard

Best of all, it's completely free.

Icerocket [link]
Weblogalot [link] Topic Exchange [link]

Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!


<a href="http://flashingswords.sfreader.com" target="_blank">
Managing Editor of Flashing Swords</a>


Visit my art gallery on art wanted (http://artwanted.com/crystalwizard)


All my books in print (http://sojourn.omnitech.net)

[BitterHermit]

Sounds like a lot of trouble and a waste of writing time.


Putting the pun back in punisher!

[David Boultbee]

Hermit said...
Sounds like a lot of trouble and a waste of writing time.






So why'd you ask? LOL


Seriously, yes a blog can be a lot of trouble but it's just another promo tool. It's fine to want to spend the time writing but presumably you want someone to buy your writing. A blog lets people know a little about you and what your thoughts and opinions are.



As Jason said



von Darkmoor said...
So, the long and short of it is, what do you want back from your blog? Knowing that, who should you target to generate that desired response/result? And knowing that, what should you provide that 'who' so they deliver back to you your desired what?




David Boultbee

http://www.davidboultbee.com
http://www.thegenderdivide.com

[BitterHermit]

Why I ask anything. To learn.


As part of researching the idea, I wanted to guage work/rewards ratio. At this point, I don't think the ratio works very well for me. I have a blog, but it's a sideline at the moment. I'm looking for reasons to either commit to it fully and seriously or cut the rope and float to a better fishing hole.


Putting the pun back in punisher!

[von Darkmoor]

David, you've pretty much summed it up. Blogging eats up your time. But so does forum posting. And reading forum posts. Especially reading forum posts. To be honest, I'm not sure the work/rewards ratio will ever balance out. Blogging is just what David B. said: a tool. Use it as you will, but know in advance that, while it may never return reward equal to the labor, it will return reward of some sort.

There's only 2 author's 'blogs' I regularly visit. Two 'main-stream/large press' authors, that is (sorry Steve): GRRM and E.E. Knight. GRRM has a cool site that contains tons of info on him, his life, his writing, etc., - but I'm damn tired of reading his latest reasons for delays so I rarely visit now. But I still think it's a great site.

E.E. Knight's site I just discovered, courtesy of reading comments on Black Gate's editor's blog. I've taken full advantage of the fact Knight and HAJ are friends and capitalized on not only the BG blog andcomments by both, but by reading Knight's blog. He's got a lot of great stuff to say in my opinion. In fact, I'm trying to get him to do an appearance here in Milwaukee.

So check out those two sites, David, and see their commitment levels to their blogs, before you discard - or embrace - blogging.

Knight: http://eeknight.livejournal.com/
Martin: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/(the blog is called 'Not a Blog')

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[Swashbuckler]

The thing that keeps me coming back to any particular blog is intelligent discussion. The best blogs seem to have a core of regular readers who comment on the topics at hand. A variety of viewpoints, if expressed well and with courtesy, can be illuminating and entertaining.

I'm probably not a good example of a 'good' blogger. I don't post every day, or even every other day. Half the time I post about writing, but the other half I post about whatever the hell is on my mind that day. (I justify this to myself with the thought that any topic or idea might well be fodder for fiction, and often I'll try to illustrate that in some way in the original post, or via comments.)

I have quite a few regular readers, and I encourage discussions and comment, so the blog seems to be working out for me on some small level. I also include tabs for lists of published stories, stories coming up and (thanks to a great idea from HvD!) short bios of my serial characters. Those incorporate outgoing links to places where people can buy the fiction or read it if they are so inclined. I do know that at least a few people have followed those to check out the fiction, but I don't know how many.

Anyway, whether it's a good blog or not I find it useful for generating ideas, and I greatly enjoy the regular doses of conversation.

Steve Goble

Visit my blog, Swords Against Boredom, (http://stevegoble.com/blog/) for news on published fiction and upcoming stories.

[crystalwizard]

Hermit said...
Sounds like a lot of trouble and a waste of writing time.

In your case, it's not a waste of writing time. You've been having a hard time getting yourself writing lately. It would be an excellent way to make yourself sit down and write something every day.

In the case of someone that just rambles on about nothing, perhaps telling the world about the 3am visit to the bathroom their 2 year old made the night before, that's a definite case of waste of writing time (and reading time).

Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!


<a href="http://flashingswords.sfreader.com" target="_blank">
Managing Editor of Flashing Swords</a>


Visit my art gallery on art wanted (http://artwanted.com/crystalwizard)


All my books in print (http://sojourn.omnitech.net)

[BitterHermit]

What gave you the idea I was having trouble writing lately? Finding time around all my projects, yes. But writing? No trouble.




crystalwizard said...




Hermit said...
Sounds like a lot of trouble and a waste of writing time.

In your case, it's not a waste of writing time. You've been having a hard time getting yourself writing lately. It would be an excellent way to make yourself sit down and write something every day.

In the case of someone that just rambles on about nothing, perhaps telling the world about the 3am visit to the bathroom their 2 year old made the night before, that's a definite case of waste of writing time (and reading time).




Putting the pun back in punisher!

[crystalwizard]

A comment you made in a different thread lead me to that conclusion.

Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!


<a href="http://flashingswords.sfreader.com" target="_blank">
Managing Editor of Flashing Swords</a>

Visit my art gallery on art wanted (http://artwanted.com/crystalwizard)
All my books in print (http://sojourn.omnitech.net)

[BitterHermit]

Hhhhmmmmm... Must have misstated myself. Or it was just a bad day.


I have no trouble writing. It's the SUBMIT thing that trips me up. I need a house elf for that.


Putting the pun back in punisher!

[crystalwizard]

Hermit said...
Hhhhmmmmm... Must have misstated myself. Or it was just a bad day.

I have no trouble writing. It's the SUBMIT thing that trips me up. I need a house elf for that.

In the brag! forum, under your 'three rejections in one day' post. I thought you said you were having a hard time getting going with writing.

[Jordan Lapp]

I'm learning more and more that blogging should be left up to authors that have a book, or multiple books already published.

A blog is a nice way for your fans to get connected to you, but I think they are very poor tools for >gaining< fans. For that reason, if you're in the short story market, I think you're much better off writing fiction than writing blog posts.

Think of all the authors you've met. Nearly all of them have blogs, but these blogs often have very few readers, and of those, many are the authors personal friends. Small time authors with dedicated fans following their blogs are the exception, not the rule.

As for creating a successful blog, subscribe to many OTHER blogs to see how it's done.

Howard Von Darkmoor's blog survived my blog purge last month, as did Steve Goble's. www.dailyblogtips.com is awesome for technical stuff and you can't beat Scott Adams' blog for content (dilbert's creator).

Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
Every Day Fiction (http://www.everydayfiction.com)

[BitterHermit]

Thanks for all the feedback, folks.


Jordan, I think you can tell at this point that I am not a short author. I'm a poet and novelist. Pretty much unpublished as either, though I've had a tease of publication in the poetry markets.


Crystalwizard: I am still a bit confused as to your thinking I said anything about having problems writing. SUBMITTING, oh gods help me, yes! But no problem writing. Some trouble focusing on one particular project, but none overall in writing.


As far as creating a fanbase . . .That's a bit down the road. Right now what I need is perceptive readers. Preferably those who can get past the whole blindered genre myopia thing and see my fiction from multiple distances. I use a fair amount of flat characters as forces of nature, and that seems to really jam some folks up. I also tend, as I write primarily epic fantasy with crossover into ........something akin to urban fantasy. I need readers - not writers who like to regurge workshop BS. To some degree, this is because I'm much more literary than pulp. But I also write with a great deal more action than most literary sleepers. I'm marginal. I know that. Is there a market for my fiction? I think so. I think it's damn good story telling. But writers get caught up in the details and BS and forget to look at the story because I'm so far ahead of them on technical aspects of writing. I'm daring. I'm dangerous. But I am damn good. I need readers who can appreciate that, and still tell me, "David, that is brilliant. But this part of it doesn't work. What about doing this instead?"


I'm also using my blogs to put stuff out there that's pretty unlikely to find a market, but that I think some folks will appreciate. And things from my past that others have commented on.


Again: Thanks so much for the feedback. I really appreciate it everyone.





Putting the pun back in punisher!

[von Darkmoor]

Jordan Lapp said...
Howard Von Darkmoor's blog survived my blog purge last month, as did Steve Goble's. www.dailyblogtips.com is awesome for technical stuff and you can't beat Scott Adams' blog for content (dilbert's creator).Don't know as I'd call my blog successful, but I certainly do appreciate the comment Jordan. I find Goble's blog to definitely be an enjoyable and regular read, and darkbow often makes me think, study things beneath a different light.

My blog may be somewhat self-defeating, anyways, as it is all done behind another persona. If I ever do find publication, it will be under my real name and linked to a different site. The question thenwillbe whether I will be able to blend the two websites and rely upon a jointfanbase. It should work, but there's no way to test this theory in advance.

Anyhoo . . . David, I'm working on getting to your stuff. Only half of another person's manuscript ahead of yours. Thanks for the heads up on the "you're brillant" part,though. Good looking out, man. /emoticons/wink.gif

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[darkbow]

My blog is about writing, but more about the emotional side of it than the technical or business side. I really write my blog more for myself than for any shot at creating a fan base. A few people comment from time to time, some regularly, which is always appreciated.

More than anything, my blog has helped me to work out a few things in my own mind about the writing process, especially plotting.

www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com (http://www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com)

'Hot Off the Press' now available in Ray Gun Revival (http://www.raygunrevival.com/) #25.

[Anthony G Williams]

Most of the posts on my blog are book reviews, which I find a good discipline: it makes me think about the books I'm reading rather than just absorbing them, and that will (I hope) help me to become a better writer.

I mix the reviews up with more general posts about SFF, including writing, publishing and marketing.

It is very time-consuming, so I now post just once a week (on a Sunday). Do you think this is OK as long as it is consistent?



Tony Williams
Scales (2007), The Foresight War (2004)
Homepage: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Blog: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.com/ <o/emoticons/tongue.gif></o/emoticons/tongue.gif>

[von Darkmoor]

As long as it is consistent, yes. You may even increase total hits on your posting day (Sundays in this case), while the rest of the week decreases. And as long as you continuing to reply to comments.

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[Dave Panchyk]

Jordan Lapp said...
I'm learning more and more that blogging should be left up to authors that have a book, or multiple books already published.

A blog is a nice way for your fans to get connected to you, but I think they are very poor tools for >gaining< fans. I have this awful feeling that Jordan is right.

I want to simultaneously find and create my fans. I guess that's an impossibility.

Dave Panchyk
Verbum Scriptum - Writing and the Soul
http://verbumscriptum.blogspot.com/

[BBerntson]

darkbow said...
My blog is about writing, but more about the emotional side of it than the technical or business side. I really write my blog more for myself than for any shot at creating a fan base. A few people comment from time to time, some regularly, which is always appreciated.

More than anything, my blog has helped me to work out a few things in my own mind about the writing process, especially plotting.


I'm in the same boat. I've just barely built my site and started the blog, which is fairly new, so I find I've spent more time thanking people and just mentioning recent publications, sometimes thoughts on life and people in general just to get it going. It's more of a tool to let readers know a little more. But I like the idea of having them involved and interacting.

don't forget to visit:http://www.bloodredtales.com

[Jordan Lapp]

[quote]

Hermit said...



Is there a market for my fiction? I think so. I think it's damn good story telling. But writers get caught up in the details and BS and forget to look at the story because I'm so far ahead of them on technical aspects of writing. I'm daring. I'm dangerous. But I am damn good. I need readers who can appreciate that, and still tell me, "David, that is brilliant. But this part of it doesn't work. What about doing this instead?"I admire your self-confidence. It's easy to doubt oneself in this competitive market. I'll try to think more like this the next time I have a long stretch between acceptances.

Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
Every Day Fiction (http://www.everydayfiction.com)

[Jordan Lapp]

Brandon, Any chance of picking a new avatar? You have the exact same one as darkbow, so it's a little confusing.

Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
Every Day Fiction (http://www.everydayfiction.com)

[BitterHermit]

That's the problem with being Apollonian: there's always the question of whether you're deceiving yourself. And if everyone is telling you your writing is shoddy . . .


Nothing to discuss




Jordan Lapp said...

[quote]

Hermit said...



Is there a market for my fiction? I think so. I think it's damn good story telling. But writers get caught up in the details and BS and forget to look at the story because I'm so far ahead of them on technical aspects of writing. I'm daring. I'm dangerous. But I am damn good. I need readers who can appreciate that, and still tell me, "David, that is brilliant. But this part of it doesn't work. What about doing this instead?"I admire your self-confidence. It's easy to doubt oneself in this competitive market. I'll try to think more like this the next time I have a long stretch between acceptances.








Putting the pun back in punisher!

[Jordan Lapp]

[quote]

Hermit said...


BTW, that story has no typos. You're mistaken. One singular that could have gone either way, and, admittedly, I took it the weaker way the first time. But no typos. Zero.
I'm not sure if this is an appropriate forum for this. PM me, and we can discuss it further, if you'd like.

Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
Every Day Fiction (http://www.everydayfiction.com)

[Dave Hardy]

Anthony G Williams said...

Most of the posts on my blog are book reviews, which I find a good discipline: it makes me think about the books I'm reading rather than just absorbing them, and that will (I hope) help me to become a better writer.

I mix the reviews up with more general posts about SFF, including writing, publishing and marketing.

It is very time-consuming, so I now post just once a week (on a Sunday). Do you think this is OK as long as it is consistent?


I think so. Consistency seems to be the key.

I have found ways to speed up posting, it involves a lot of laziness and technical problems. I started off with a website (http://www.fireandsword.com/ it?s still live). Adding new reviews meant adding a page. It was a lot easier to write a one-page review than to upload a webpage, with attendant link changes etc.

So I went to a blog (http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/). But I already had a substantial backlog of reviews. As long as I didn?t have computer problems (and I swear I?ve had a distinctive and significant sampling) I had something to post every day. When I did have computer problems, I kept on writing short reviews. I have about 70 or so I haven?t used yet.

What you could do is keep on the once a week schedule, but carve out time to write three or four reviews at a sitting. After a month, you would have up to twelve unpublished ones in the pipeline.

Right now I?m posting reviews about books and movies related to Asia.

-Dave

Dave Hardy

Fire & Sword (http://www.fireandsword.com)
Fire & Sword Blog (http://fireandsword.blogspot.com)

[Constance]

Dave Hardy said...
What you could do is keep on the once a week schedule, but carve out time to write three or four reviews at a sitting. After a month, you would have up to twelve unpublished ones in the pipeline.

[/quote]Dave, this is an excellent idea. I feel foolish for not thinking of it myself. Stockpile! Since I'm inherently lazy about postingat times, this would solve the problem of wanting new content, but not actually being very motivated to write it.

My blog is a mix of poetry and writing topics, along with artwork and self-given assignments - to see if I can write on a topic and come up with something semi-coherent. Sort of like a poetry slam for the terminally tongue-tied.

On blogs in general, I blog for myself first and foremost. Everything else is gravy. I did discover recently that a heck of a lot more people I know read my blog than will ever post comments. They will even come up to me in person and comment, but post to the big bad Internet? Nah. I have a list of about 50 blogs I check on once a week, with probably only 6 I read religiously. But I'm a self proclaimed information junkie, so it's okay. Really. I don't have a problem, I can quit anytime I want...

Constance
Life On The Periphery (http://peripheryarts.blogspot.com)

[BitterHermit]

Thanks for all the advice, folks.


I'm just kind of letting it roll at this point. If you're not on my blogroll and want on, shoot me an email or comment on my blog.


Constance: I absolutely love that avatar! Who did it?


Anyone have thoughts on blog engines? Right now, I really prefer the layout and cleanliness of Wordpress, but a great deal of exceptional concept seems to reside on blogspot blogs. Yahoo is kind of chaotic . . . Or should one who blogs diversify and blog on numerous blogs? Did I mention that I really like wordpress at this point?


Thanks again for the input! Greatly appreciate it.


Putting the pun back in punisher!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Hunh?: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com

[Jordan Lapp]

Wordpress without a doubt. Daily Blog Tips, John Chow, Problogger... they all say Wordpress. It's so modifiable, and there's already a TON of free features for download. EDF and Without Really Trying both run off Wordpress.

Blogspot suffers from a lack of modifiability. I know HvD has been struggling with this.

Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
Every Day Fiction (http://www.everydayfiction.com)

[Constance]

Hermit,

Found it in the Forum Avatar gallery. :)

[BitterHermit]

Very Cool. Something on which we can agree sans equivocation.


BTW. Had some great picks on EDF this week. I'm still very confused about my suscriptions lately - numerous were coming in double to my email, and then . . . I unsubbed to three, but four others just stopped. I'm thinking it's aNOTHER freakout thing among Vista, Norton, and Outlook.


Wish to . . . would dearly love to find my CD for SP. I'd format in a heartbeat!


But, yeah, back on subject, I'm having a really great experience so far with Wordpress.




Jordan Lapp said...
Wordpress without a doubt. Daily Blog Tips, John Chow, Problogger... they all say Wordpress. It's so modifiable, and there's already a TON of free features for download. EDF and Without Really Trying both run off Wordpress.

Blogspot suffers from a lack of modifiability. I know HvD has been struggling with this.




Putting the pun back in punisher!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Hunh?: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com

[von Darkmoor]

I mostly like Blogspot. There's things I haven't been able to do or figure out and there's features on other's non-Blogspot blogs that I'd like to add.

I'm creating a new site for my WWII nonprofit in WordPress, though, based upon studying the various options and regularly visiting blogs of various users. I'm slow at this, though, since the company that was providing me a free website for the organization has closed and I'm currently without a site, I probably should get this up quickly. I'll let you know how things go.

So, if all goes well, I might switch von Darkmoor's thoughts to WordPress.

~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_the_magazine)
Associate Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[darkbow]

Hmm ... well, hitting on things from the other side, that of the reader, for some reason I have a LOT more technical issues perusing WordPress sites than any other blogging platform. And it doesn't seem to matter what browser or platform I use.

Maybe it's just my luck.

www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com (http://www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com)

'Hot Off the Press' now available in Ray Gun Revival (http://www.raygunrevival.com/) #25.

[Swashbuckler]

I haven't had problems using WordPress sites, but I often have problems with Blogger.com sites. They load fine from my home computer (Safari) but give me fits when I read from work using ME, Netscape or Mozilla. Most of the time, the problems come up when I want to comment. (That's why I so seldom comment on a couple of blogs I read a lot, like Ty's.)

Go figure.

Steve Goble

Visit my blog, Swords Against Boredom, (http://stevegoble.com/blog/) for news on published fiction and upcoming stories.

[BitterHermit]

dito, dudebot!


That's the frustrating part for me as well. The comments interface with some of the blog engines opens superfluous windows for me both from home (and on 3 different stations, 2 w/ XP and my Lagtop with its abomination called Vista).




Swashbuckler said...
I haven't had problems using WordPress sites, but I often have problems with Blogger.com sites. They load fine from my home computer (Safari) but give me fits when I read from work using ME, Netscape or Mozilla. Most of the time, the problems come up when I want to comment. (That's why I so seldom comment on a couple of blogs I read a lot, like Ty's.)

Go figure.




Putting the pun back in punisher!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Hunh?: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com

[Lyn]

So far, I've liked blogger for ResAliens - you can tweak it to make it look like a zine as opposed to a blog. Still haven't figured out the best way to comment - don't want them under each story and the forum boards are tried and true, so have experimented with an offsite blog format called Alien's Pub, but so far haven't been too excited by it. Maybe I should just really push it and keep it up to date. Hmm...

Lyn, Founder of Residential Aliens (http://residentialaliens.blogspot.com)
Speculative Fiction from the Seven Stars

[BitterHermit]

Just let me say at this point: Lyn, ResAliens is one of the cleanest blogs I've seen that covers as much ground. I'll give it a closer look once I've gotten done what needs done for the morning.

Lyn said...
So far, I've liked blogger for ResAliens - you can tweak it to make it look like a zine as opposed to a blog. Still haven't figured out the best way to comment - don't want them under each story and the forum boards are tried and true, so have experimented with an offsite blog format called Alien's Pub, but so far haven't been too excited by it. Maybe I should just really push it and keep it up to date. Hmm...




Putting the pun back in punisher!
Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com
Hunh?: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com

[Laura Stamps]

My blogs have been wildly successful for selling my novels and poetry books. My Magickal Novels &amp; Empowering Thoughts for Women blog at http://www.OccultFiction.blogspot.com is only 3 months old as a blogging blog and gets over 1000 visitors each month. These are quality book buyers, some who have bought books from me multiple times. Iseebook sales with almost every post on that blog.


My other blog (http://www.LauraStamps.blogspot.com) sold books well for several years. After I created the new blog I redesigned this one with a new url and use it as a source for more info about my books if people need it.


Yes, blogging is a lot of hard work in the beginning. It is important to know your market, and to target your posts to contain something of interest to your market. That keeps them coming back every day. It also encourages them to buy your books. I would suggest if you plan to publish a book in the next year or two to start blogging now and build a marketof bookbuyers.


The best way to do this is to find other blogs owned and visited by people who are most likely to buy your books. Makecomments on those blogs.Informative commentscause people to click on your name and go to your blog. And that is how you build traffic. I worked very hard the first two months bringing in a lot of traffic to my blogs. Now I just spend a few minutes every day, making comments on blogs that work well for metraffic-wise and doing my twice a week posts, and that continues to bring ina steady stream of traffic.


In the beginning my traffic came from other Blogger blogs, and they bought books. Now my traffic comes from a few of those blogs but also from the social networking sites I belong to for booklovers. Many of these people don't have Blogger blogs, so they don't leave comments. But they come regularly and read the posts and buy my books.Based on my experience, blogs ratenear the top of the list for great ways to sell books. No kidding!






Laura Stamps
Magickal Urban Fantasy Novelist
The Witches of Dixie: Book One of the Witchery Series
(ISBN: 978-0-9798413-0-9, 2007, Trytium Publishing, 245 pages)
Available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, your local bookstore
http://www.LauraStamps.blogspot.com
http://www.OccultFiction.blogspot.com