photo credit: david owen
As the month of July comes to a close, I thought I would give a quick update of Tiny Tales, the short story book club started on July 1, and a brief Blogging Idol review.
First, thank you to all who participated in the first Tiny Tales session (and if you haven’t yet, still do!). I think I have found a way to make next month’s experience even better, thanks to a suggestion from Anna and a little advice from my sister.
I have set up a Wiki-Space for Tiny Tales: http://kgalles.wikispaces.com. On August 1, I will post the new story and questions here on my blog AND over on the Wiki-Space. I think the discussion will work better on the Wiki-Space, but feel free to respond at either place. The advantage of the Wiki-Space is that we will be able to see the entire discussion at once, but this is my first experience with Wiki-Spaces, so we’ll see how it goes! As always, feedback is very welcome…
Next, my experience with Blogging Idol! I think I will first discuss what was disappointing, and then end on a positive note with what I enjoyed about the experience.
The negatives of this experience occured in the comment section of DailyBlogTips. Due to the lucrative prize of $3,000, there may have been a few “naughty” bloggers employing “black hat” techniques in order to inflate their RSS counts. So, the commenters started to point fingers a bit… I found the discussion to be pretty negative — and a bit intense (with participants trying to get each other to subscribe, etc.).
I suggested that maybe next time Daniel not have a monetary prize so that the motivation of the participants would be intrinsic — i.e., quality subscribers, not money. Other commenters quickly dismissed this idea, but I think it might help improve the quality of the participants. So, if Daniel does this again — and you decide to give it a try — you may want to consider bypassing the comment section.
However, on a positive note, I did learn some interesting ideas on how to get the word out, and my subscription went up by 17 readers. I have also noticed new commenters — which I love! So, I would definitely do this again with my new site, LitGuides.com, and I hope Daniel isn’t too dismayed by any negative participants.
So, there’s a little update on a couple of new projects I’ve tackled this past month… I will be travelling a bit next month, but I’ve written and scheduled posts in advance… However, I may be a bit slower responding to comments some days! I’ve just purchased a BlackBerry, so I’m hoping this will help keep things running smoothly. My husband and I will be spending time with our family in Michigan and then spending a little time alone in Colorado. I’m looking forward to both trips!
Finally, on a very positive note, a big thank you to Heather at Book Addiction for passing along this award:
If you haven’t checked out her blog before, please do — you’ll enjoy it! I just love moderating Book Club Classics and it is very gratifying to know others enjoy it, too! Thanks, Heather!
You should have checked out my blog, I have at least 100 ways to increase your RSS count, if you needs some advice send me a message!