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! 

Welcome back!