Thursday, March 12, 2020

Housekeeping reminders

1. If you comment several times on any given post, Blogger thinks you're a spammer, and relegates you to "awaiting moderation."  It can take me several days to fish you out.

If your comment doesn't appear, that's the most likely explanation.

And remember, you should not comment more than two or three times at most on any given post.


2. If you see spam on the blog, please let me know by email.
Don't post in the comment column, or on Twitter.

3. If you see a typo on the blog post itself, please email me. I'm VERY glad to hear about those, particularly now that Blogger has disabled the spell check feature.

4. If you have questions you want answered on the blog, email me. While I do see the comments, it's not the best place to ask. It will help if you identify yourself as a blog reader. I'm more careful now about assuming people know questions are answered in public forum.

5. It's ok to post news in the comment column about upcoming publications.  Please be respectful of the topic of the day however. Don't post news more than once. (That's a fast way to get deleted, and relegated to spam.)

6. It's ok to link to YOUR stuff. It will be really helpful if you learn how to post links.

7. Be aware that the flash fiction contests CLOSE at a specified time. Even if the comments are still open, your entry is DQ'ed if it's AFTER the deadline. Often I don't close the comments right at the appointed hour, and the reason is that I am a slothful shark, and probably still sacked out in my hammock dreaming of tormenting writers.

Any questions?

16 comments:

Colin Smith said...

I'm really not comfortable with #6 since it's seems self-serving. But I make an exception in this case:

How to Hyperlink

Hopefully that's a useful resource for some of you. :)

And as for #4, be sure to check out the Gems page in the Treasure Chest to see at a glance if your question has been addressed here before. Of course, you can search the archives, but the Treasure Chest is a good place to start. And let me know if you have gems to add. My email address is in my Blogger profile.

nightsmusic said...

While I don't know that Blogger/Google/Whoever really sees the reported spam and does something about it, I do report it to them. I don't understand why, in this age, anyone would continue posting that kind of thing, and you know it's a human to get past the captcha, unless they get paid by the comment. I hate to see it anywhere but it especially irks me here and I'm not sure why. It just does.

Kitty said...

You're a gem, Colin.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Respectfully, Colin, I think we all want to reach each other's stuff when it's published! So it is self-serving, sure, but also serving the community, in a way.

Though also I can understand the hesitation, to completely non-sequitor say something like "Oh and by the way, my latest short story, "Black Market Cheerios", is now available in Lamplight magazine!" But, true story. My latest short story is indeed in volume 8 issue 2 of Lamplight, a double example of persistence paying off. It was the story's 28th submission (many of those after a HEAVY rewrite), my 8th submission to Lamplight, and it was accepted at 282 days.

Colin Smith said...

Awww, thanks, Kitty! You're pretty special too. :D

Jennifer: Oh, yes, you're absolutely right when it comes to publishing successes. I have no problem linking to stuff I've written that's been published. :) I was speaking more generally, e.g., "I addressed this point on MY BLOG HERE!" or "Hey, everyone, come see this article I just posted!" Those are extreme examples, but that's the kind of thing I had in mind that I'm not comfortable doing.

Steve Forti said...

Didn't there used to be a page linking to blog readers' published works? Similar to the page with links to their blogs/websites? Or am I imagining that?

KariV said...

Thanks, Colin! I've always wondered how to hyperlink. This is a big help.

And since it seems on topic to mention it today (and it will give me a chance to practice hyperlinking) - my debut novel launched two weeks ago!!! I'm over the moon about this, so I wanted to share:

You can find my YA SFF The Rescuer on Amazon!

(It took me 8 tries to hyperlink this successfully. I think I need more practice. :/)

Colin Smith said...

Steve the-one-and-only Forti: Why yes, yes there is! It's in the Treasure Chest.

I tell ya, that thing's a gold mine. Like an actual, you know, treasure chest! ;)

Colin Smith said...

You are welcome, Kari! I've added your book to the list Steve mentioned.

Craig F said...

I have linked forty or fifty times now and still can't remember the formula for it.

I have made notes (both digital and analog, also known as pencil and paper) that I have. I am afraid it will be like those mysterious rolls of Teflon tape. I have around six of those somewhere. Every time I need it, I can't find it and have to go and buy another roll.

Brenda said...

Congrats Jennifer! Congrats Kari!

Brenda said...

I’m on Chapter 4, Kari, and loving it.

Quote
...wondering which of these women had dressed him. He couldn’t decide which was more appalling.

I snorted coffee up my nose.

NLiu said...

Colin, THANK YOU. I have been wondering however how to put in hyperlinks! Now if I could just remember how to bold and italicise and ubderline, which I knew how to do fifteen years ago...

Jennifer, KariV: big congratulations!! And thanks for the inspiring story of perseverance, Jennifer. That was incredibly good for me. Now I'm off to check out all those links!

KariV said...

Thanks everybody!

@Brenda, I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I'm finally reading it myself. I'm on Ch 11. It's so thrilling to hold these works as an actual book!

John Davis Frain said...

Applause, applause.

That's one applause for Kari, and one applause for Jennifer.

And I'm standing for both!

Laura Stegman said...

Congrats to Kari (I have yours on my Kindle!) and Jennifer and thanks over and over to Colin for your generous service!