Defining Respect as a Blogger

"Can I please get some respect here?"

What Hath I Wrought?   

      "If you open a can of worms you might as well make spaghetti."  "When you bust a beehive you'd better run like hell."  Maybe you've heard those sayings before.  I never have and I think I just made them up for this post.  You're welcome to use them whenever you want to.  Be sure to link to this post if you do use them (so this post can get more hits).

        In any case, my Monday post Do You Feel Respected as a Blogger? did a little of both of these things.  I sure busted the beehive and got swarmed, but I ain't runnin'.   I'm gonna face the swarm and the stings and try to calm the buzz that was created by that post.  The spaghetti thing sounds disgusting but that probably is the best solution to the controversy stirred by the post in question.

        I'd planned on taking the respect issue to a different level today and tie everything together neatly into a compact little post.   Fat chance of that I guess.  First there were your comments.  Thanks to all who left such fantastic comments on my "Respected Blogger" post.  I know I can usually count on my readers to provide great comments, but this time you outdid yourself.   Did you ever!   That threw one monkey wrench into my short sweet Friday post idea.

        Then Alex J. Cavanaugh went and threw a hornet's nest into the bee fray with his response to my post.  Time to be afraid!  We had bees and hornets and earthworms all over the place and everybody running like crazy.  I will say that most everyone was running to the same place but I won't get into that today if I'm going to have a relatively short post that more than a dozen people will read.   Today I just want to define some of the terms being used and elucidate what may have been misunderstood in my Monday post.

A Clarification of What Some Wondered 

           In answer to the question "Did your blog post go viral?", the answer is no.  Nor did I expect my Monday post to go viral.  The content for virality wasn't there.  My Monday post was an information gathering post and I think it was pretty successful in that respect.

         My ratio of comments to page views was 50% which is way higher than I normally get.  That was until Alex's post drew more traffic and the ratio dropped to just under 40% which is still not bad.  On a typical post I get an average of 25% of those who stop by leaving a comment which I find acceptable.   As the page view numbers increase the comment ratio decreases.  On my posts that have surpassed 1000 views the comment ratio goes down to about 1% --and that's getting into the realm of more comments than I can handle comfortably so 1% of the high numbers is fine by my estimation.

          However let's save the stats issue for another post as it gets a bit more complicated--too complex to get into on a short Friday post.   Alex and many others brought up the stat issue and it's an important one for bloggers to address.    There were other issues mentioned as well that will be examined in a later post.   As it is, today's post is getting too long if I am to take into account what some of you indicated in the "Blogger Respect" post comments.  Likewise, I will examine in a later post the subject of viral posts--what they are and why we would want them.

Here's the Point I Was Trying to Make in my
 "Blogger Respect" Post

         For me--and I think for many of you--the act of writing a blog post includes an intrinsic desire for someone to read what we have labored to produce on our little sites.  We read each others blog bits and say nice things and hope that they in turn will come see our site and say nice things in return.  It's all nice with feelings of love and friendship and, yes, respect within the community in which we blog.   There's nothing wrong with that and I thought I clearly indicated that in my "Blogger Respect" piece.  I cast no condemnation or disdain for the concept of blogger community.

        The respect question that I was asking had more to do with how those outside the community look at your or my blogging activity.   Are we respected as bloggers beyond our own limited community?

         When I first started my blog I was so proud and excited to be a blogger.   I told my friends and family about my new blog.  I put up my blog link on Facebook.  I even printed up business cards with my blog address so I could give them to the people I would engage in conversation about my blog.  I was excited, but I was about the only one.  People I'd talk to about my blog would politely listen and then change the topic a soon as they could.  No one cared.  Business cards probably ended up in trash cans.  I wasn't getting any respect for being a blogger.

         Even after I'd become fairly established as a blogger and known in the community of bloggers with whom I interacted, I didn't get any real respect for my blogging from most people outside that community.  In the writers group I attend they gave me the floor to talk about blogging and then moved on without much of a word more.  Blogging is apparently not real writing to most of them.

          "Blogger" is almost like a joke in some circles.   Other than a few high profile bloggers, the press looks at us with disdain much of the time.  Even President Obama referred to "bloggers" in an almost derogatory fashion in a speech on Thursday October 17, 2013.  Most of us are just wannabe journalistic types, people yakking about some niche they're absorbed with, or small time authors trying to get their books noticed--not what I think but I'm speculating that this is along the lines of what a good many people probably think when they hear the term "blogger".

       LET ME REITERATE!!   THAT LAST THOUGHT IS NOT THE WAY I SEE IT.  I am one of you (those of you who blog for whatever reason)!   I am a blogger and I'm proud of what I do and I respect what you do.   I am glad to be a part of such a special community of humans.  But I want blogging to be more respected than it is.   The world doesn't have to read our blogs, but it would be nice if they considered blogging to be just as viable a means of communication as other forms of journalism and writing.

      I hope this clarifies my position on what I consider respect as a blogger.   Perhaps I did not express myself well enough on Monday.  Or perhaps some were not reading closely enough or misconstrued what I had said.  Or maybe I was misinterpreting the signals I was receiving in the response to what I had said.  Maybe one of you who is more precisely analytical than I (Andrew Leon or Jagoda for example) can tell me what happened.

       I want respect as a blogger just as I think you would like to be respected for the life accomplishments of which you are proud.  But there is more to this than what I've touched upon in this post.  Upcoming posts will explore the concepts of the viral blog post and community.  And I will also take the issue of respect to the next level as I have been promising.  I hope you stay with me and continue to provide me information that can be helpful to all of us.

      And to think that my post about respect was just a tossed out lead-in to my Battle of the Bands post on Tuesday!  You can still visit that post and cast your vote if you'd like.  And you can see what song inspired my "Blogger Respect" post.   Thanks to all of you who do that.

        Did I clarify what I mean by respect as a blogger?   Do you think that a lot of non-bloggers just don't get what blogging is about?    From a professional standpoint, do you see blogging as something that is worthwhile or mostly a matter of being a part of a community in a hobby-like fashion?
     

         
**FREE PROMOTION**

This weekend only you can get a free download of FAR OUT: The Hiidden Truth by Elbert Derryberry.  The "sales" number went way up on Wednesday when I first announced the giveaway.  Give this one a chance.   Read my review at Amazon to get my take on this e-book.

 A search for the Hidden Truth! A Futuristic Science Fiction adventure with a Christian slant. The hero travels through both space and time, to challenge the reader to question conventional wisdom and to look for the Hidden Truth.

I know the author through the Writers Workshop West, the writing group of which I am a member.  This is Mr. Derryberry's first book.   I encourage you to download the book and give it a read.  It's short so it will be a small investment of your time.  And while it's free the monetary investment is nothing for you.   If you read the book, please don't forget to review it on Amazon.   Support this new author!

Related articles

• Do You Feel Respected As A Blogger?

Respecting the Reader

       Respect is on the Tossing It Out agenda for this week.   Bloggers and authors alike look to be respected for what they do.   But writerly respect is a two way street between those creating and the audience for whom they create.   When it comes to writing for children or young adults this issue of respect may extend to the community beyond the readers.   

       The content of YA literature can be a sticky topic.  M. Gerrick (or you may know her as Misha Gericke) is currently making her rounds on a book blog tour for her latest release The Vanished Knight.  On today's tour stop she addresses some of the concerns that have been expressed about YA literature and who is responsible for what.

Now let's hear from Misha:

     Lee has generously offered to host me as part of my blog tour (THANKS AGAIN!!!) and asked that, if possible, I should write about something controversial.

      So I thought… I’d write about writing rules and how I do love to break them. But… I’m figuring quite a few of you lovely readers might not be writers. And therefore, you might not give two hoots about how I go about writing, as long as the result entertains.

      Instead, I’m going to go the whole hog and address something about YA Lit that keeps rearing its ugly head. But before I go into that, let me just stick my head into the hornets’ nest.

        There seems to be a group of people who have this idea that a book written for Young Adults needs to have a moral in order for it to be worth being published at all. They believe that books need to be examples, the leading lights to those poor poor directionless young ones.

        My problem with this point of view is, to say the least, multi-faceted. But since I’m trying to keep your attention, I’ll share the main points:

• Firstly, who is anyone to decide what is and what isn’t worthy of publishing? How much damage has been done in the past by the ignorant burning books they didn’t even read? Censorship is never an acceptable option. NEVER.
• Secondly, people completely miss-understand the writer’s place in society. We’re not preachers, teachers, parents or leaders when we write. We’re writers. Our job isn’t to teach kids how to think. It’s not even to teach kids to think.
• Our tertiary job is to take the frame-works that you the parent raise your kids with, or you the teacher teach, or you the preacher preach, and give children a safe, often flexible environment in order to test their beliefs and values. Our secondary job is to reflect situations in some way. To give someone the space to wonder if they would have done the same thing, or whether they’d like to be more than they are. It’s to reflect situations, find resonance with our times, and to show potential, be it good, or just plain hellish. Our primary job? To entertain. Because without the entertainment value of our stories, none of our other functions are possible.

        Morals and lessons aren’t entertaining. Themes, conflicts and plots are. As are twisted characters who curse, kill, drink and do all sorts of things that would make me cringe if it was my own kid doing that.

       But here’s the last big thing for today. Teens are young, but they’re not stupid. Especially not the ones that read. They know the difference between reality and books, and what’s acceptable and where. They make choices based on what they know, or regardless of what they know. But not because of what a book told them. Books have been getting the blame for years, and I believe for one simple reason.

      “Problem” children come from houses with little or no parental guidance. And there will always be parents who would rather blame something that can’t defend itself (that book with gasp!!! sex/drugs/murder/cursing in it) for possible issues that *may* arise, but most often don’t. They will never, however, look at themselves and find themselves lacking in the parenting department. Because that would be too inconvenient for them.  Because then, they’d have to do the raising of their kids instead of teachers or, you guessed it, YA authors who never even met the kid.

         *pulls head out of the hornets’ nest* 

       Thanks all for reading! I’d love to read your thoughts, even if you disagree. Attack my thoughts and beliefs with logic and, who knows? You might sway me. But if you attack me as a person, I’ll just ignore you for the senseless book-burner who probably you are.

And now, on to a lighter note--my book:

Since the death of her parents, Callan Blair has been shunted from one foster family to another, her dangerous secret forcing the move each time. Her latest foster family quickly ships her off to an exclusive boarding school in the Cumbrian countryside. While her foster-brother James makes it his mission to get Callan expelled, a nearby ancient castle holds the secret doorway to another land...

When Callan is forced through the doorway, she finds herself in the magical continent of Tardith, where she’s shocked to learn her schoolmates Gawain and Darrion are respected soldiers in service to the king of Nordaine, one of Tardith's realms. More than that, the two are potential heirs to the Black Knight—Nordaine's crown prince.

But when the Black Knight fails to return from a mysterious trip, the realm teeters on the brink of war. Darrion and Gawain set out to find him, while Callan discovers there is more to her family history than she thought. The elves are claiming she is their princess.

Now with Darrion growing ever more antagonistic and her friendship with Gawain blossoming, Callan must decide whether to stay in Nordaine—where her secret grows ever more threatening—or go to the elves and uncover the truth about her family before war sets the realms afire.

Bio

M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects.

She lives close to Cape Town, South Africa, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain.

If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.

Links: 

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

All Romance Reads

         Respect is this week's theme on Tossing It Out.   The reason for the theme is because on my Battle of the Bands post of Tuesday October 15th my song pick was "Respect".   If you missed that post please check it out and vote on your favorite version of the song.   My Monday post asked the question Do You Feel Respected As A Blogger?   If you haven't commented on that post I wish you would as it will help me with some valuable information that I will be sharing later.   And please return on Friday when I take the concept of respect to another level.

Thanks For Reading!  Please share this post with others.

Special Addendum!!!
While you're at Amazon buying Misha's book THE VANISHED KNIGHT be sure to check out the following limited offer:

**FREE PROMOTION**

For 5 days only you can get a free download of FAR OUT: The Hiidden Truth by Elbert Derryberry.

 A search for the Hidden Truth! A Futuristic Science Fiction adventure with a Christian slant. The hero travels through both space and time, to challenge the reader to question conventional wisdom and to look for the Hidden Truth.

I know author through the Writers Workshop West, the writing group of which I am a member.  This is Mr. Derryberry's first book.   I encourage you to download the book and give it a read.  It's short so it will be a small investment of your time.  And while it's free the monetary investment is nothing for you.   If you read the book, please don't forget to review it on Amazon.   Support this new author!

Related articles

• Boston Globe: "New Breed of Teen-Services Librarians Emerges"
• Burning bridges
• My response to the virtual book burning
• Happy Release Day! The Vanished Knight by M. Gerrick

Battle of the Bands: Respect

       BOTB Time Again!

         It's time for another Battle of the Bands!   Once again I'm joining Far Away Series and Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends to present faceoffs between two versions of songs that you may or may not know.  After you've voted on my site visit the other sites to leave your votes on theirs as well so you can increase your chances of winning a prize.  Yes there will be a prize awarded!  You can find out more at Stephen T. McCarthy's site.

        Since the Battle of the Bands (BOTB) posts are supposed to appear on the 1st and 15th of each month, today's post is a special post on a day when I normally do not show up on this space.  My future participation in this blog event will most likely mean I will sometimes post on off days when the BOTB falls on them.

         And now for today's contest.

"Respect"

          If you didn't guess the song from the hints I left in my post yesterday then this song must be a new one for you.  If you are familiar with this song then you most likely know Aretha Franklin's hit version.  In today's battle Aretha is not in the running.  Please don't vote for Aretha!  Vote between the two versions that are doing battle.

       Otis Redding wrote and recorded it first, but Aretha made it hers.  Otis hit the charts with the song in 1965 when it peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Top 100.   Aretha's less gritty but still full of soul version charted at number one in the United States and became a hit worldwide.  This is the song most commonly associated with Aretha.

        The version by Otis features the signature Muscle Shoals sound with a prominent horn section, solid rhythm section, and no backup vocalists like Aretha used in her version.  Starting off the battle I give you Otis Redding:

.

Otis Redding "Respect" (1965)





         And now taking a completely different spin on Redding's classic is the song bending group Rotary Connection.  This group was known for taking familiar hits songs and giving them a very different sound with complex vocals and intricate orchestrations woven into a psychedelic musical tapestry.

         Rotary Connection featured the vocals of Minnie Ripperton who later had a successful solo career that was cut short when she died from breast cancer.  Ripperton was a major influence on Mariah Carey's vocal style.

        So now experience the psychedelic soul of Rotary Connection:

Rotary Connection "Respect"  (1969)





           What's your preference between these two choices?   The original by Otis Redding or the unusual take by Rotary Connection?   Did you know that this was originally Redding's song?    Are you familiar with the music of Rotary Connection?


Be sure to visit the other participants at:

           Faraway Series
              Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends
             Your Daily Dose
             DiscConnected

   If you've done your own BOTB entry please let me know so I can add it to my list.

Related articles

• Battle of the Bands: You're No Good
• Battle of the Bands (uninvited Guest Post)
• Battle of the Bands: I'm Jumping in the Song River for Round 3