“Still, if writers can do anything it’s research. Well, they can write, hopefully, but they can also research, so I researched how to promote myself. What’s the point of writing if nobody reads it? That’s when I discovered, to paraphrase an old expression:
When it comes to publicity, only certain things work. Unfortunately, no one knows which things.”
Mark--a bit of advice here. Eliminate need to hop from one site to another to read your posts. A lot of people won't do that. Most have too little time for blog reading/commenting as it is. Maybe repost your stuff here for readers who can't post at the other site? This is like trying to get into the Pentagon! Follow the link from this site to that one, then fill out an application to join (comment?) and enter a long captcha...it takes too long.
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with that, Norma. Webmaster Emily thinks I should get as much traffic to my website as possible, but I don't like making people click around, either. I've tried a few times to just post it here, along with a link to my website if people want to go there. At least I don't require an application and captcha for the website (do I?), but I do see your point.
DeleteI'm confused now after seeing your blog post. Don't get me wrong, I discussed it with Emily and we agree you're right, and that it's best to go back to the old way and spend more time putting my posts up individually at various places like Blogger and LiveJournal, but for people who go there it should be easy to comment on my website. We were getting absolutely overwhelmed with spam on the website, hundreds and hundreds every day ... Emily and I both hate captchas, so she found a program that was supposed to keep out spam while making it easy for real people to comment: A simple password that could be typed in, or just copied and pasted, rather than having to be deciphered like those insane captchas. There also isn't supposed to be any application to join. Were you seeing something like that on the website? We're trying to make it both reader and user friendly, but if I have to choose I'd rather make it easy for the visitor.
DeleteGood advice, Norma.
ReplyDeleteShelly