It’s the time of year for goodwill to all etc. With that in mind, I’ve decided to start a new December tradition. I’m calling it SAFE FYB week (share a favorite entry from your blog week).
Here’s how it works:
Of all the journal entries you’ve made this year, do you have a favorite? Would you like to share it? If so, send me the title, together with the link and I’ll post those details here on my blog for all my other friends to see. It doesn’t matter what the post is about. If you’re proud of it, that’s good enough for me.
To start things off, here’s my entry from the 8th of August: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jongibbs
A Rejection Letter With a Silver Lining peachette48
Promoting Your Work naomi_jay
Not all stories have explosions and car chases. That's why they have espionage and nudity sboydtaylor
The Myth of "Finding Your Voice" and How to Develop One (or Two or Three) of Your Own mary_j_59
The Fallacy of the likeable protagonist: a review of The Demon's Lexicon and Corbenic mary_j_59
On Militarism and Tribalism in the Movies musingaloud
How Pumpkin Pies Are Made bogwitch64
It's taken a lot of years tracy_d74
Not Knowing a_r_williams
How to Use the Short Form to Improve Longer Fiction
Have fun looking back through your posts to select a favorite to share, but don’t forget to send me the link when you find it. I’m looking forward to reading your selections.
On an unrelated note
It's the weirdest thing, but sometimes people comment on my journal, but I don't get an email telling me, even though I've always got them when those same people commented before. If anyone has any thoughts on why that might be, I'd appreciate hearing them.
UPDATE: Definitely not getting notified about most comments now. very peculiar. I'll see if I can figure out what's happening, but in the meantime, I'll keep checking the actual posts to make sure I don't miss anything.
- Mood:
chipper
Here’s the second part of my thoughts on the results of the poll about what might put people off from reading a blog, along with suggestions for how folks - particularly writers - who want to use their journal as a self-promotional tool might put those results to good use.
Aside from top three ‘sins’(which I covered in last week’s post) the two biggest no-nos as far as the 151 voters were concerned, are posting spiteful things about other people (58%) and ignoring most or all comments (56%).
Frankly, other than to recommend not doing it, I can’t think of any helpful suggestions about the making spiteful remarks thing. Ignoring comments, on the other hand, is a different matter.Imagine you watched a great conference panel and afterwards went up to the speakers to tell them how much you enjoyed it. What if they simply turned their backs and walked away? I don’t mind admitting that if that happened to me, I’d be tempted to never read anything they wrote again.
I don’t think ignoring someone who comments on your blog is quite that insulting, but it still seems a tad rude.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
We’re all busy, but engaging with your readers makes blogging much more fun and (I believe) is a big help self-promotion wise. If hundreds of people comment on your posts, I think folks would understand if you didn't respond to each one, but if you have less than (say) fifty people leaving their thoughts on your latest blog entry, take a few minutes to reply. If you really think you’re too busy, or just don’t want to, then disable the comment option altogether, that way you won’t ruffle any feathers.
Less important, but still useful information to take from the poll is that almost a quarter of people who voted thought less of a blogger who didn’t friend them back.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
If you’re an unknown writer (and by unknown I mean: If you stopped ten people in the street and less than eight said they’d heard of you) then, frankly, if someone friends you, check out that person's blog. If he/she is a real person, and you share a common interest eg; writing, why not friend them back?
Finally, it’s worth noting that more than half of those who voted have unfriended people for doing one or more of the things covered in the poll, and that almost 40% no longer read posts by friends who did those things, even though they hadn’t yet taken them off their friends list.
I hope you’ve found this useful. Next week, I’ll be talking about writers’ websites and among other things, why I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to have a blog there.
In the meantime, if you’ve got a minute, I’d appreciate you answering a quick question:
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 29
Blog or website: For a writer, which do you feel is more important?
Blog
7 (24.1%)
Website 7 (24.1%)
Both equally vital 12 (41.4%)
Neither - the writing should sell itself 3 (10.3%)
- Mood:
bouncy
Even though S&T is the longest running science fiction magazine in the world (42 years and counting), I’d never heard of it until last year, when its owner and chief editor, Hildy Silverman, gave a talk for the Garden State Horror Writers.
An enthusiastic speaker (and as I saw at PhilCon, a darn good moderator to boot), I thoroughly enjoyed her talk and afterwards bought my first copy of this excellent publication. I’ve been a loyal reader ever since.
Aside from the great artwork, one of the things I like most about S&T is that I honestly don’t enjoy all the stories. At first glance that may seem an odd thing to say, but I think it’s a good thing, because it means there’s a wide range of themes, and story telling methods included in each issue.
This latest one is particularly special to me, not just because I met one of the cover authors, C J Henderson, at the con last week – I met the magazine’s founder, Gordon Linzner, there too, a most amiable fellow – but also because it includes work by two my GSHW friends, Andrew Alford and Pat Lundrigan aka
aalford and dandyfunk respectively. Andrew is in my critique group (we went over his story in this issue, St Michael’s Sword, at our second meeting). He tells me this is the first time anything he’s written has made it to print. Having read quite a lot of his work now, including my personal favorite, Tip Your Headsman, I can assure you it won’t be his last. Pat is a former ‘Writers of the Future’ winner. If the excellent writing workshop he did for us back in February is any indication, I’d say he’s probably forgotten more about the craft than I’ll ever know.
I buy the occasional issue of other magazines, but Space And Time is the only print publication I subscribe to.
How about you?
What print publications do you buy on a regular basis?
- Mood:
content
That said, neither compares to the brilliance that, in my opinion at least, is the best on-screen wedding scene ever!
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At first glance Ming and Dale (Max von Sydow and Melody Anderson) may not look like the perfect match, but there's no denying the chemistry - even if it is 3 parts contempt to 9 parts loathing.
How about you?
What’s your favorite romantical movie moment?
- Mood: bouncy
I imagine some of my American friends may find themselves feeling a little stressed today.
Here are some videos which I guarantee will put a smile back on your face:
SOME SUPER-TALENTED MONKEYS
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WHERE THE HELL IS MATT?
Courtesy of
rflong IT’S VADERTIME
courtesy of
dynastic_queen - Mood: content
I'd like to thank everyone who gave feedback about how you'd like me to format these weekly link selections. The general consensus was to keep doing them the same way, so here’s my selection of interesting (and sometimes amusing) posts about writing from the last week:
Connecting with fans
damcphail Idea-Man
katatomic Using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. to expand your author brand
aprilhenry 7 Reasons Agents Stop Reading Your First Chapter (litagentguide)
The Real Magic
bogwitch64 When Can You Query Agents? How Do You Know if Your Project is Ready? (litagentguide)
Are titles really THAT important? In a word, YES!
lisa_schroeder Why My Books are Not My Babies
jimhines The Top 10 Myths About E-books (Nathan Bransford)
Writing as Performance
everflame 2001: A Who Odyssey
courtesy of
vaughan_stanger Building A World You Can Live In
kmarkhoover What all synopses should have
jdawson001 If you have a particular favorite among these, please let the author know (and me too, if you have time). Also, if you've a link to a great post that isn't here, feel free to share.
- Mood:
creative
It's been ten months since I made my first post on Live Journal, and I'm still feeling my way around this blogging thing, with all it's strange terms and customs .
Take this latest example: Earlier this month, Gustavo Bondoni (aka bondo_ba ), my online friend from Argentina, invited me to be a guest on his blog today. Now we've emailed back and forth about this several times since, so there's no way it could be considered as a passing comment, but from the look on his face when he opened his front door this morning, you'd think he wasn't expecting me at all!
The fact that it was 4:30am and I look nothing like my icon (which has more hair than me) didn't help. Talk about embarrassing. Still, we laughed about it later - after he called off the dogs and apologized for the pepper-spray.
A: Gustavo has a lovely front door. He wears Winnie the Pooh pajamas, and owns at least seventeen vicious Chihuahuas.
B: Pepper spray really stings.
C: I have a guest post on bondo_ba ’s blog today, which you can find here, if you feel so inclined .
- Mood:
cheerful
I've had an interesting time, studying the poll results and insightful comments people left on last Wednesday’s poll about what might lower your opinion of a fellow blogger. Here are my own thoughts on the results (more in next week’s post), along with suggestions for how folks - particularly writers - who want to use their journal as a self-promotional tool might put the information gained from the poll to good use.
Rudeness and Mockery
According to the poll results, by far the most off-putting thing a blogger could do, was to insult or mock bloggers who disagreed with them. At the time of writing, more than four out of five (82.8%) of those who voted felt this would lower their opinion of the blogger.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
When someone posts something which annoys you, or which you feel is stupid, let it go. If you feel you have to say something, send them a private message, but be polite. Remember, it’s not the offending blogger you need to think about in this situation, it’s the 80+% of your other readers who you risk losing.
Political and Religious Rants
73.1% of those who voted said they were put off by a blog post which expressed opposing political or religious opinions in an obnoxious manner. Interestingly, only one person (0.7%) said they’d feel the same way if the opinion was expressed in a reasonable manner.
It’s also worth noting that more than a few people who commented said they found this just as off-putting if the blogger was on their side of the political/religious fence.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
It’s okay to be passionate about politics and religion, but not to rant about them. If something’s really got your goat, by all means write it out of your system, but whatever you do, don’t post it. Set it aside for a day then go over it to remove any vitriol. Otherwise you risk losing readers, even those who share your political views.
When it’s all About Them
Of those polled, 64.1% said they thought less of a blogger when all they seemed to do was post about their work and where to find it. If you do this and you’re using your blog as a self-promotional tool, that means almost two out of three people on your friends list either skim past your blog entries or have stopped reading altogether.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
Of course you need to get the word out about your writing, but frankly, if no-one’s reading your blog then continually posting about your work there is counter-productive. Trying to find your Writer’s Balance is tough. I believe that no more than about one in ten posts should be about self-advertising. Those entries are like signposts, pointing the way for anyone who wants to see more of you and your work, but most of a blog should be geared towards engaging with people. Give them a reason to care about where those signposts direct them to.
In the next post, I want to cover the other poll results, but in the meantime I’m curious.
What, if anything, in the voting results from last week’s poll about blogging surprised you?
- Mood:
curious
Welcome to the fourth (and final) qualifying round in the Meager Puddle of Light Award for Best Opening Line competition.
As with the first three rounds, you can vote for as many entries in each question as you like. When the dust settles, the ten entries with the most votes will go through to the final. In the event of a tie, those in joint tenth position will both (or all) go through.
This poll is closed.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 31
From the following list, please select any opening lines which you think should progress to the final round:
Death is but a journey, the living can not take. 4 (16.7%)
The perfect, dissonant note cut through the bustle and chatter of Five Camel Street. 8 (33.3%)
The sneeze broke the silence of the forest like the clang from the pan when she'd hit Uncle Harold upside his head. 3 (12.5%)
The thief pushed the box across the table toward me. "See, that’s the Treymelan crest." 3 (12.5%)
"There I was, this is no shit, thought I was going to die." 1 (4.2%)
There wasn't enough L'Oreal on the planet to cover her white trash roots. 8 (33.3%)
They will drink my daughter’s blood. 7 (29.2%)
Thirst rode him like the skeleton of death, its boney knees digging deep into his soul. 7 (29.2%)
Through a small gap in the grimy motel curtains, Lucky watched as Conrad Andersen pulled a hooker over his lap and playfully spanked her ass. 2 (8.3%)
From the following list, please select any opening lines which you think should progress to the final round:
"Turn it loose." 7 (26.9%)
We thought we were going to Venus. 6 (23.1%)
When Captain Rhys "Rest in Peace" Rykus walked back into her life, Ash smiled because she knew it would piss him off. 6 (23.1%)
When Albin's nursemaid woke him in the dead of night, he knew something even worse than the death of his father had happened. 4 (15.4%)
When Daniel Borgfeldt told Marie Pickens, he wanted to see her dance he didn’t mean from the end of a rope. 5 (19.2%)
When the king’s guards hanged my master I thought I would starve. "I'm fifteen years old," I muttered to my master's corpse. 3 (11.5%)
Without meaning to, Camilla Torres had picked a good place to die. 16 (61.5%)
You know how some women can get any man into trouble just by walking into a bar? 13 (50.0%)
PLEASE NOTE Apologies, but due to a dumb mistake on my part, I missed out one of the entries from an earlier round. Since I've learned from bitter experience that you can't tweak a poll once you've posted it, I've closed poll #1489737 (posted earlier today), and set up a new one to include the missing entry. Don't worry if you already voted in the original fourth round poll, I've made a note of your selections, but if you'd like to add the 'Death is but a journey...' line, please check the box on the revised poll.
If you haven't already voted in the other rounds, you can find them here: Round one; Round two; Round three
The qualifier polls all close on Sunday November 29th (11:59 US/Eastern)
Have fun.
- Mood: creative
As with the first two rounds, you can vote for as many entries in each question as you like. When the dust settles, the ten with the most votes will go through to the final. In the event of a tie, those in joint tenth position will both (or all) go through.
Puddles Best opening line Round 3 of 4
This poll is closed.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 32
From the following list, please select any opening lines which you think should progress to the final round:
Mig Shepherd’s friends came to kill her early in the morning on a wet Vennerday. 11 (42.3%)
Momma hates me. Says I made Poppa dead. Hates me. 2 (7.7%)
“Okay, Lang, strip!” The guard’s bark made Carrie’s stomach roil. She cowered in the corner of the women’s processing area and shivered beneath the ceiling vent. 2 (7.7%)
Of the three planets that could summon me, the humans on the third planet were the rudest. 13 (50.0%)
On my one-to-ten scale of rude awakenings, a leprechaun standing on my bedside table and urinating loudly into my ear is a definite Nine. 14 (53.8%)
On the morning he was kidnapped, Ran-Del Jehanbahn stepped out of his great-grandfather’s house and stretched to his full height. 1 (3.8%)
“Ovbi omwan se omwan i ru omwan ihen” It is not a curse for a person’s child to be greater than the person -Edo proverb 1 (3.8%)
Perhaps it was inevitable that our robotic proxies would start sending us spam. 10 (38.5%)
From the following list, please select any opening lines which you think should progress to the final round:
Queen Serrilla knew her husband’s death wasn’t natural; one look in her eldest son’s power-hungry eyes proved his guilt. 3 (11.1%)
"She danced upon a billowing wire while balancing a knife on her chin.” 4 (14.8%)
Some say the dead don't care, but they do. 16 (59.3%)
The bioluminescent flesh-eaters sensed him the moment he fell into their habitat. 3 (11.1%)
The boy nodded sharply at the girl holding the holocam and began to speak a second after she started to record. 0 (0.0%)
The first person Jacob had a real conversation with after his arrival in Berlin was a psychiatrist. 6 (22.2%)
The hills above Paradise were burning the day the man with no heart came to town. 14 (51.9%)
The hot lead burned a hole between my love handles. 5 (18.5%)
The oversized pug dominates the red armchair as if it's a throne. 2 (7.4%)
If you haven't already voted in other rounds, you can find them here: Round one; Round two; Round four
The qualifier polls all close on Sunday November 29th (11:59 US/Eastern)
Have fun.
In case you were wondering...
I apologize to anyone who was expecting to see the next entry in my series on The Fine Art of Self-Promotion, which I originally planned for today. I didn't want to clutter up people's friends pages, so I rescheduled it for Wednesday. I hope you'll come back and read it then.
- Mood: creative
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