A few of you have received increasingly stern emails from me about the number and length of comments.
I thought it might be worth a post to explain why this is important.
I value the community that has developed here. The regular readers offer insight and perspective that adds value to my yammering. The occasional lurker stepping in to comment often provides fresh ideas.
We need both of those to keep the blog thriving.
If the regulars comment too often or at too much length, it discourages the more casual reader from reading, and worse, from participating.
And worse, the blog takes on the feel of a private club; one with insiders, regs, and inside jokes. No one wants to look foolish to a group, so people become afraid to comment.
That can NOT happen here. What we have built, all of us together, has too much value to sacrifice thoughtlessly.
So, please adhere to the rule of no more than three comments a day, each no more than 100 words.
If you want some guidelines on what to post: don't repeat what I said; don't repeat what a previous commenter said. Provide fresh information, or your own DIFFERENT perspective.
Jokes about Carkoon are fine.
Off topic is a little more dicey: generally any kind of news about a blog reader is welcome. Any kind of accolade for "our" authors here, also good.
Asking if people are attending a conference; looking for beta readers; all that is fine, but only ONCE. All the subsequent info sharing should happen elsewhere.
Most of you are just fine.
And you're the ones who are going to worry.
If you wonder if I'm talking about you, check how many times you commented this week. If it's more than six, I'm talking about you.
If you want to email me to see if you're in trouble: jetreidliterary at gmail will reach me.
Questions? Fire away.
26 comments:
I will admit that I skip over lengthy comments.
Our very own Susan started a Facebook group for Bloggy-Readers (Reiders? Reefers?) who want to expound off topic, or even ON topic.
Join us...!
Janet, Thank you for all you do. I often think about the amount of work this agent-y stuff entails. Add running the blog. In tales.
Nice title.
Back in the early Internet days, there was a Google game where you'd try to pair two words and come up with only one hit.
I bet "bonus" and "housekeeping" woulda been a winner. Janet's blog and nowhere else.
I'm not gonna test it, because then I'll get a bunch of misdirected ads about housekeeping and my wife will really start to wonder.
"Ways to murder your spouse." She's fine with that. "Housekeeping?" Verrrrry suspicious.
Jokes about Carkoon? No-one jokes about Carkoon. Least of all those who have been there... *duh duh duuuuuhhhh* ;)
Trying to do all the above, Janet. Sorry if I slip from time to time. :)
Oh, if you want to get up with Reiders off-line, check their Blogger profile for an email address (NOTE: make sure your Blogger profile has contact info). Failing that, check the List of Blog Readers and their Blogs. If you are not on this list and would like to be, contact me (see my Blogger profile).
HA! For once, I know I'm not guilty (well, of these particular infractions). I decided a while ago that I'd begun commenting not so much to contribute anything different or helpful, but out of habit or simply to hear myself speak. And man, was it ever hard to cut back. I mean, really hard. But I got sick with some dreadly flu for most of July, and then a week ago my daughter and her husband and their dog arrived to live with me until they find a house, and those things made it MUCH easier to listen instead of speak all the damn time. [read: I'm exhausted]
Anyway, this is by way of commiseration for those of you afflicted with comment-itis. I hope you won't have to resort to the extreme of arranging for long-term house guests, but I know you can restrain yourselves. Hell, I did.
I bet this will be the most read post on housekeeping the internet can offer!
If you are a vommenter, try moving to Oz. For regular blog posts, time differences mean I either start or finish the comments. Much harder to go overlimit then.
Any newbs or lurkers who think it would hurt to look foolish here can just read my comments for a few days. I've been making a fool of myself here for years and I only twitch sometimes.
I don't know how you do it, but even your house keeping posts are entertaining. Or is that, infotaining?
I've been going crazy over "here" most days and haven't commented much lately. This was a good reminder though...although I did give pause about the Off Topic part since I recently shared something.
Yep. Paranoid.
Ha, a day late and a hundred words short. Of all the days to not jump in, it was yesterday, ah today, which was yesterday, anyway 'whateverday'.
Slinks behind curtain.
For once I’m not guilty of something.
7 wds. down, 93 to go.
Make that 87…
I mean 84.
80.
I appreciate and admire this. And, I see it less as a chastisement and more an invitation. It is fitting. We writers tend to be on the quiet side but still need community. Too many come with a secret handshake. Nicely done, Janet Reid.
Thank you, Janet. I'll admit that the biggest reason I almost never comment is because it feels like this group has already been solidly formed, and there's not much hope of breaking into it.
I admit, I'm a lurker - I read the blog in my email viewer and so rarely actually visit the page. That doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the advice or interested in the posts, far from it. It's just that I take time to absorb information and by the time I think I might have something to say, we've moved onto other things.
Oh and yes, when I have ventured onto the blog itself, the comment threads do have a bit of an exclusive club feel - but that wouldn't necessarily deter me, if I felt strongly about a topic or had something momentous to impart.
I love hearing from lurkers. They offer fresh insight.
I was once a lurker so I know how hard it is to 'break into' a club like commenting area. On the occasion now that I feel I have something I can contribute, I'll chime in, but more often than not, I don't because anything I might say has been covered. There are still times when I don't chime in either because the comments have turned to almost a private conversation between friends that does not include me. Not paranoid, just honest there.
I agree with the other lurkers; I don't feel purposefully excluded just a bit like the new kid trying to find the right lunch table.
I add the caveat: when do you guys sleep?! This is one of the first things I read most days and I'm often scrolling through a lot of comments.
abnormalalien, I think the commenters (sp?) are all over the world. There's a hyperlink "Pin your location to our map of readers!" that shows where many of the Reiders are. I tried to pin my location, but I don't think it worked. :(
I broke in almost immediately with an OP question about whether or not I should pay $3500 for a edit job on my novel. $3500 later, I'm out the money (worth it, just as a learning experience)but still not guilty, at least of this.
De-lurking long enough to say: Brilliant post, Janet - thanks!
Pandas are not very good lurkers, because it's kind of hard to hide behind the lamp posts in NYC. Plus by the time I get on line in the afternoon, mostly everything has been said.
But thanks for this. while reading the long comments is entertaining, I'm trying, you know, to get some actual work done every once in a while.
Not so much a lurker here - maybe a little?? - as someone who has an active fear of becoming too involved and never actually getting any writing done. That said, I enjoy this blog a lot - friendly people and valuable information. I'll keep . . . lurking. Yes, lurking *sigh*
I was a long time resident of Carkoon when I commented every day, read all the comments, and would get myself in trouble more times than not. I'm not like a lot of the regulars here who have learned how to stop time. For me, it finally became a choice of spending less time here and more time writing. I still come daily to read the posts and if time permits skim the comments.
I just saw this, and love the inclusive intent of it!
I'll be honest, this topic is kind of why I haven't said all that much. I still read all the time. But I get daunted by the long list of comments, and often feel like what I have to say couldn't possibly be as interesting as what the others in this community say. I'm not going anywhere, but it feels like my destiny lies in the bushes here.
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