Blogs on CrimeSpace

[I. J. Parker]

Far too many of the blogs here have nothing whatsoever to do with crime writing.  And of the rest, another 80% are merely used to sell books or post blogs by people who have no interest whatsoever in participating on CrimeSpace and who don't bother to answer comments.

This place has become a dumping ground for SPAM and that diminishes the site.

 

I would suggest we close the Blog section to anyone who isn't an active member on this site.

[I. J. Parker]

This is not about preventing members from blogging.  I think we are losing valuable posters because they don't want to hang around all the irrelevant stuff that clogs the local blogosphere.  It's also about courtesy.  If you post a blog, you should be expected to respond to comments.

 

And if we can have a warning about BSP on Forum, why can't we have a request that people be considerate and respond to comments and keep their blogs and BSP on topic?

 

I'm very near the point of boycotting, but Matt Rees still comes now and then with a thoughtful post, and I like to keep up with those of you I know from Forum.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

It's the ol' 80/20 law of Internet content. It's inescapable, no matter how many filters you stick over it.

[I. J. Parker]

I do come to the blogs. We occasionally get some excellent ones, and those bloggers do answer comments, even if the posting is taken from their personal blog.  But we have people here who just post their book covers, very large ones, over and over again. And we have others who run a review site (perhaps for fees) and simply copy their reviews to this (and probably a lot of other) sites.  Many posts deal with Science Fiction and Romance (they have their own sites, for God's sake). None of those people come here unless they have something else to dump.  I rather suspect that that works automatically with a list of urls.  All you have to do is press a button and your stuff appears on all of sites on your list.  It's SPAM!  I'll say it again.  And I hate SPAM.  I have SPAM filters on my computer.  Why can't we have a filter here?

 

Of course it doesn't work.  Chances are very good that people not only pay no attention, but become irritated.

 

[Julie Morrigan]

I barely touched Crimespace for a long time largely because someone who was an 'active member' commented - usually inanely - on almost every discussion topic going.

 

Under the model suggested here, that person would be 'allowed' a blog due to being an 'active member', since lots of comments were made. Whether they were a useful member, however, is a completely different issue.

 

For me, this is either open to all or it isn't worth supporting. If you want to start restricting entry or allowing grades of membership, I would seriously question the validity of the site. I would also be very suspicious of anyone who set themselves up to be the gatekeeper.

 

As Daniel says above the forum on the main page: Note that the forum is for discussion only, not for blatant self promotion (BSP). Appropriate announcements can be made in the Events forum or your member blog.

 

So if anyone should choose to use their member blog to promote a book, they would simply be following the rules. It's then up to individuals as to whether they choose to read about it or not.

[Dana King]

I almost forgot. Thanks, IJ, for posting a discussion-inducing blog entry.

[Dana King]

I wonder if it works on a site like this. The readers here are pretty savvy. I know I get turned off when I see a blog post flogging the same book five times in three weeks, every time a review comes out. (Or not, if no review has come out lately.) Turns me off in a hurry.

To me, a better approach would be to start a discussion about some aspect of your book, see if you can get people interested in that, start a conversation. Lure them in. I may be atypical, but I'm much more likely to try something new if I know a little about the author, such as he's bright,. participates in discussions in an entertaining and informative manner, and seems to convey his thoughts in manner I'd be willing to pay to read. I've discovered a few of my favorite writers exactly that way, both here and through blogs. 

Much easier to deal with that BUYMEBUYMEBUYMEBUYMEBUYME!!!!

[B.R.Stateham]

You know, sometimes you just have to bare with the bad as well as with the good.  Perhaps this relentless involvement in pursuing the social network agenda is the main reason why J.A. Konrath and Vincent Zendri, among others, are selling gazillons of ebook and those of us who want to sell books but don't commit to doing something about it---don't.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

It's all or nothing. I don't believe the Ning platform allows a way to filter blog posts. Even if it did, you'd put a crimp on anything from someone new being posted.

 

But, sigh, you're right. If you're not going to at least comment back, you're more or less link trolling.

[Dana King]

It is getting a little difficult to wade through the promotions to get to a discussion worthy topic. I understand using this blog to get word out about your book, within reason. We don't really need to know every time a new review comes out. Or weekly reminders that the book exists. That's what personal blogs are for.