We write. Most of us are long-tail writers web publishing for free. Few of us connect to the trad publishing world, fewer still have writing careers. I for one would take money. I would like a lot of people to read my work. Some of it is work. Writing at its best for me is not work, but editing… that’s work. I read Jeneane and I am awed by her presence, her clarity. I read Shelley and I respond to her acerbic yet insightful commentary. Madame Levy floors me with her art. Chris Locke amazes me with his relentless scholarship. Ray Sweatman, a superb web publishing poet, has a poem up… I’ll bet he’d like you to read it. I’ll bet he’d take money for the work. How do we pay our poets?
There’s a cultural barrier in the blogosphere that the great communicators, we bloggers, have a hard time talking about. We’re writing in public because we want to share our work. Some of us would be pleased to measure success in dollars and hit counts and cross links. How do we promote this?
My practice is to share my experience and to share my likes and dislikes. Through it all I would prefer to develop cordial, friendly relations with others. But what if I create some friction, heat up my interactions from time to time, start a fire with that heat? Is there anything wrong with that if the people find the fire illuminating? What if I don’t agree that Dave Winer is an unreconstructed sexist, but rather acknowledge that some of my friends find him challenging as can be? What if I LIKE Kathy Sierra, find her amusing, if occasionally a little brittle? What if I found Scoble just as warm and charming as everyone says he is when I finally met him face to face? If I link to these high traffic bloggers, am I guilty of “link baiting?”
Who the heck am I anyway? Should I jump in and defend Kathy and Dave when the criticism of them seems wrong-headed? Can I say often enough that Mike Arrington just rubs me the wrong way? How many “libertarians” out there need to hear the message that they are thoughtless, greedy people who are operating in a delusional context? How many other adjectives can I throw at them before I go over the top?
How can a guy make any money in this sphere by insulting the money people? How can a guy keep his self respect if he doesn’t insult most of them at one time or another?
How many of us are reading each other any more anyway?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Kathy Sierra 08.05.06 at 11:37
“How can a guy keep his self respect if he doesn’t insult most of them at one time or another?”
I was honored to have been included in the list of those who’ve helped you keep your self respect ; )
And you can jump in and defend me any time… now THAT would be something to see!
“How many of us are reading each other any more anyway?”
I’ve been reading you every day. (Once I got past the whole SHP adventure)
J. Alva Scruggs 08.06.06 at 1:16
I’m not cherrypicking, I think. If we want a better culture, we have to find a way to sustain it.
Winston 08.06.06 at 4:53
Q: “How many of us are reading each other any more anyway?”
A: Dunno… As for me, I do read, not only your work but a couple of dozen others almost every day. A few months back I threw out the rhetorical question (”Hello, is anybody out there?”) I had the most overwhelming number of comments I’ve ever had, including a number I had never heard from before. That told me that yes, folks are reading … and many of them care.
Q: How do we make money in this sphere?
A: Dunno… and don’t care. Not why I’m here. This sounds far too idealistic coming from one who is old enough to have gotten over it, but for me, the rewards and enjoyment of writing in the blogosphere are non-monetary. Like playing tennis or fishing or knitting for enjoyment… If I wanted to get paid, I take it to a different market with a different method of distribution. But you know what… only about the top 1% of all writers actually make any money at it, regardless of venue.
Winston 08.06.06 at 5:07
Sorry, I got so carried away thinking about getting another cup of coffee and getting rid of the last one, I didn’t finish my thoughts…
All I wanted to add is the reason I don’t care about making money here. It’s called obligation and the stress that obligation can bring. Most of us have enough stress in our lives that we just don’t need to add more sress from promises, obligations, contracts, expectations, schedules, etc.
If you are up to it, and if you can find the way, then hell yes, go for it…
tamarika 08.06.06 at 6:12
I read you, Frank - daily - sometimes twice a day! I don’t think many people read me anymore. In the beginning, back in January ‘95, I did not think about that at all. Then I went through a phase when I wanted to be a HUGELY read blogger! And then I burst my own bubble with a reality kick in the brain. Now, I enjoy the writing - when I feel like it. Am a lot more mellow about it …
Like Winston I read a number of my favorite bloggers daily and sometimes I don’t get to it because am doing other things.
Hmm … as I re-read your post, I am not sure if your final sentence (”How many of us are reading each other any more anyway?”) was related to the likes of me anyway! But, anyway, that’s my comment!
Charles Follymacher 08.06.06 at 6:57
I suppose Winston about covered it all, FP. I would add/second:
– only blog about that which makes you wonder, laugh, or scowl. don’t force it. and don’t be overly ansty.
– treat each post as a semi-discrete bit. the readers’ll make their own collagic story out of it.
– careful what you wish for, make sure you’re up to the responsibilities of adulation.
personally, i’ve reached the point where i recognize i have to cut back on all the reading. too much stimulus. but that’s me. and you’ll remain on the keepers list cuz you’re the nexus for cats of your ilk — and i dig this new style (?) of writing you’re doin.
if you’re goin for dough (and wtf not), at the very least volume is key. so far it’s workin’, man.
Frank Paynter 08.06.06 at 9:53
Thanks all. Tamar, your kind link pushed a dozen or so hits this direction so far, so clearly some of us read you too!
Shiny Happy Kathy… I think it’s interesting that you have this huge community of commenters and readers in a space that intersects with the company I keep, yet there isn’t a lot of cross ventilation between the two communities. Why do you think that is?
Charles… you’ve given me an idea. The great advice on how to craft good posts only goes so far. Sometimes I have to force it. If only I could be dumping these posts into a pre-processor and selecting only the good ones for publication… the brain-to-pixels-on-a-screen publishing method let’s a lot of chaff through with the grain.
Winston, I’ve been tooling up to make the big bucks in the blogging biz for five years or more. It’s not a fantasy I’ll relinquish lightly. OTOH, if it’s just another subject matter consulting opportunity to feed the furnaces of corporate greed, I can pass.
J. Alva, here we have it — another cultural phase. Have somebody send Ray a bale of bills from the vault please.
ray 08.06.06 at 11:24
Mark Daniels 08.06.06 at 6:33
This is my first visit to your site. Tamar’s link sent me here. I’ll be back. (If it’s any comfort to you, although I read many blogs every day, I had never heard of any of the “widely-read” blogs to which you linked. The point is, I suppose, that there are many untapped readers out there and you just may find them yet…along with pay for your writing.)
Mark Daniels
Bev Sykes 08.06.06 at 9:19
When I first started journaling (there was no “blogging” all those years ago), it seemed like a more close-knit community than it is now. I still read far too many blogs and journals, keep not one, but three of my own (because I’m crazy), and am always delighted to find someone new who is (a) not 16 and writing about teen age angst, (b) writes regularly (ideally daily), and (c) writes well. For that reason, I think I’ve just added you to my list of blogs to read.
The Happy Tutor 08.07.06 at 12:26
Reading you, for sure.