Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The 400th Post -- or close enough thereto

I've noticed that 400 posts is a milestone that many bloggers pause to note.

I've spilled out quite a few words since December 2005 -- and the only thing that keeps me from writing more is that this doesn't pay me anything... and I need to do stuff that does pay.

When I started this exercise I had delusions of grandeur: Some Internet talent scout for a major publishing house would be charmed by my homey and homely homilies and tender a fat book contract.

It hasn't worked out that way. And that reminds me of a post from last October, which started off like this:
I saw this question yesterday at Miss Snark's website: "Do literary agents ever prowl around blogs searching for gifted writers?"

Miss Snark's answer was "no." In the comments, author P.N. Elrod chimed in with this quote from Rachel Caine: "Posting your novel (or blog) on the 'Net in the hopes that a big-time editor (or agent) will see it is like writing the perfect résumé and then tacking it to the front door of your house, hoping your future boss will walk by."

Which was a buzzkill on a couple of levels: It may also explain why I can't get a real job. I was so depressed, I almost didn't put out fresh résumés out on the front door, even though it rained here yesterday.
That may be the funniest joke I've written in 19 months of blogging. No wonder I haven't been discovered!

Miss Snark has closed up shop since last October. But I'm still here, slogging away. (Hmmmm. Slogging / blogging... no, my prose is bad enough. I'll eschew poetry for now.)

It's funny how traffic has built on this blog. This blog has been 'visited' over 14,000 times now... but so much of that traffic has been driven here by searches for topics in the news: Lately, it's Judge Pearson's pants. Before that, it was my link to a Harry Potter video spoof -- the Potter Puppet Pals -- that brought in a lot of visits. Before that, it was Chrissy Popadics, Thiago Olson, and home fusion. I don't do news topics to generate Sitemeter surges (well, OK, Bee, I don't do it anymore), I just write about topics that I find interesting. And I don't think too many return visitors have come in through those posts. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what brought you in and brings you back, but I'm truly grateful that so many of you are regulars.

I am particularly grateful for your kind attention earlier this year, when I had my health issues: Blogging was about as much as I could do on any given day -- and having actual readers helped motivate me to do that as well as I could and, I'm sure, helped hasten my recuperation.

But, now, to the future: When I started this Second Effort, one of the "hot" blogs was One Red Paperclip -- the true story of Kyle MacDonald who... eventually... traded one red paperclip for a house. (He got a book deal....) I see now that this is probably the model to adopt.

Not that I'm going to start trading paperclips for anything.... No, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing... but I'm not going to worry about the book contract any more. Not directly, anyway: The book contract is now the house at the end of 14 trades (continuing the MacDonald/One Red Paperclip analogy). We'll start with something smaller first... and build.

Anybody know a small town newspaper editor who's looking for a curmudgeonly column on parenting... or the law... or almost anything? All I ask are (a) a byline and (b) syndication rights. For the first paper to sign me, no charge for the column for as long as the editor can stand it wants it. That might mean using my actual name... maybe. But I'm willing to negotiate.

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And before I finish posting this new batch of résumés on the front door, let me conclude the 400th post celebration with a link love-in:

  • Blog, blah, blah -- Heather, whose template has changed more often than just about anyone's, I think.
  • Muffin 53 -- Her Red-Hatted Majesty, the Empress Bee.
  • A Place I call Home -- Mary Anne, of Vancouver Island. Not the first Canadian to link here; that would be Edie, a writing instructor, who, sadly, took her blog offline some time back.
  • Nurse Ratched's Place -- Mother Jones, the third nurse to link here and the proud owner of an enormous paperback library.
  • The Geek Inside -- Sari in Arizona who doesn't mind my baseball stuff. Too much.
  • Tuskismom Speaks -- Cynthia Bostwick (also from Michigan, Barb) -- second lawyer link... and first poet.
  • Time with Shelby -- Shelby started reading me during law school -- and doesn't blame me at all, which is very generous.
  • about a nurse -- May, in California. Interesting hospital stories.
  • Ellee Seymour -- English politics. And she lets me comment anyway.
  • Soapbox Jury -- Gave me a nice review when it was starting out.
  • Thermal -- Chris in Scotland. Unlike Sari in Arizona, he does mind my baseball stories. An entrepreneur, yes, but he seems to enjoy the conversation just as much.
  • stuff and nonsense -- Susan, from Philadelphia. Now with Pac-Man and Tetris on her front page.
  • Are We There Yet?? -- Linda, in Connecticut, dispatching ambulances. And sometimes going to concerts.
  • La La Land -- La La Land has moved: Was in Washington, now in Colorado.
  • Critique My Blog! -- Billy Mac, whose blog didn't go dark the first time just because I asked for a review. It was only a coincidence.
  • It's A Boomer Life -- Which it is. And the younger people are already counting the minutes until we're gone. Because that's when the ED commercials will finally stop.

Now that I've introduced you to each other, talk among yourselves for awhile. I'm going to see about more ice....

28 comments:

Dr. A said...

Congrats to you! I always enjoy visiting you blog to see what you're up to (especially Chi-town sports). Keep on bloggin!

I'm Dr. A, and I'm a blogaholic...

may said...

wow. a shout out on your 400th post! now, i will do a shout out for you, because you included me :)

you deserve either a book deal or a column. although a column sounds more interesting. enjpy the journey!

may said...

typo. ENJOY.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for linking!

sari said...

Congratulations! I think you deserve a book AND a column, you're one of the first places I click on to read every day.

SQT said...

Darn it! I thought I was going to become famous by blogging! *mutter*

Congrats on 400! Hope to see you around for 400 more.

Gay Curmudgeon said...

Let me be the first to offer you collegial curmudgeonly felicitations on the occasion of your almost but not quite 400th post.

You'll always be a curmudgeon in my eyes.

~GC

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

first i want to thank all the little people..... oh? this isn't about me? sorry...

congratulations curmy!!! luv ya' guy!

smiles, bee

tyvc

Dave said...

I'm late to the party; but, so far the party's pretty good. When does the open bar start?

Ralph said...

Congrats on 400...I am only at about 15% of your total so far! I enjoy your prose, including baseball (although only my Sox team will make the playoffs...)

iml said...

Congratulation!!!

Anonymous said...

Good work C, that's some dedicated blogging.

I think I first found you via Skittles, and I don't mind your baseball posts, I just don't understand them...

Thanks for the link, and does entrepreneur mean something else over there? ;-)

Fran said...

Congrats on the 400th!

Thank you for the linky......I shall continue to sing your praises!

Fran

Ben and Bennie said...

Congrats, my friend! I brought the usual chips and dip. cmhl's a lawyer??? GET OUT!!! Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean I have a brother whose a lawyer. We just don't talk about him in public....

Liquid said...

Congratulations on your 400th post!
I love how you have listed your links and given them pleasant introductions! My first visit here but I have blog-rolled you and will DEFINATELY be back often! :)

Mother Jones RN said...

Congrats on number 400.

Keep on blogging!

Linda said...

I am, of course, really late for the party - there probably isn't any food or drink left with the crowd you have here! Oh wait ... there's a potato chip over there laying unclaimed ...

Congratulations on your 400th post, you really did it up big with all of those links! I am impressed and honored to be amongst such an elite group of bloggers. Thank you!

Perhaps you should write a book about writing a blog about trying to get a book deal - or something like that! Oh, and Bob of Bobbarama is a newspaper editor - maybe he could hook you up with an editor somewhere that he might know?

Smalltown RN said...

Well well...my dear Curmudge...all grown up now....wow....hey we have a smalltown paper here in a place I call home..you should drop them a line.....

Congrats Curmudge....I haven't dropped by as much as I would like to lately...life ...you know what I mean....but every time I do...you certainly have something to say....

I love how you have linked to all of the others...most I do visit...some I haven't but I shall...cheers and congrats again!!!!

Patti said...

I am raising my glass of 2 percent milk to you, Mr. Curmudgeon sir. Congrats on 400 posts and thanks for the link.
Sometimes I don't comment when I read your posts because your intellect is intimidating.
But I do love the way you write! Keep on blogging.

Where fibers meet mud said...

Woo Hoo! On 400!

Daughter moving to Troy Ohio and she still misses the Tribune - so if you could add some big city feel to a really small town - talk to the folks at the Dayton Daily News and tell them you want to keep the sprawl going North from Cincinnati, OH - one day it will be one large suburb all the way up I-75 to Toledo!

If it works out - well I will have another star in the heavens!

emmapeelDallas said...

Wow, congrats on Number 400 and thanks for linking...and hey, that was MY fantasy, that I'd be discovered...but, I've disabused myself of that idea, and anyway, there was a blogger that I read for awhile whom I thought was terrific...she WAS discovered by a big publishing house (somehow, I think it doesn't hurt that she's 20-something and gorgeous - do I sound bitter?)...but her writing has gone downhill (IMHO) since she was "discovered". It's a big disappointment to me...but I console myself with the fact that there are lots of unsung excellent writers here on the net...

Judi

landgirl said...

Congratulations, Cur. I don;t remember how I first came to your blog. I think a friend in the analog world recommended your blog over a cuppa coffee. I come back because it is like a conversation over a cuppa.
I just took a blog post and polished it up and submitted it to a local writing competition. I will not get rich even if I win, but I hope to start the hard business of writing in the analog world. Think of your blog as first drafts of many many pieces and you can appreciate the treasure trove that you have.

MommasWorld said...

My goodness, 2005. I did not discover the blog world until last fall.

I saw a kind comment you made on another blog and I wanted to learn more so I clicked on your link and I liked the resume that was taped on your front door. :-) I had no idea you wanted to publish a book. I just assumed you had published many.

Your list was great! I enjoyed reading the descriptions. A few might even live near me!

LAC said...

Wow, thanks for the link love!
Sorry I haven't been around more frequently, but I promise to be back now that I have cable internet at home.

Happy Friday, Curmie!

The Curmudgeon said...

Thank you all for your nice comments -- even Ralph, who just had to dig me about my poor White Sox. We attended 6:00 pm Mass last Sunday, after the Cubs swept the Sox last weekend (oh, how it pains me to write that) knowing full well that our pastor -- a lifelong die-hard Cubs fan -- would be gloating. And he was.

I bowed my head and said, "Go ahead, Father, get it all out of your system. I'm here to take it."

I ruined the poor man's whole evening with that!

And now -- Ralph and the BoSox!

Well, my head's still bowed, Ralph....

And, switching gears, what a great phrase, Sharon: "the hard business of writing in the analog world." I will surely steal -- uh -- remember that one.

I suppose I should start planning the party now for 500, eh?

Patti said...

I get it. I have to use a sports reference to get noticed around here.
Ralph gets all the attention.

I may be able to counsel you about newspaper column writing. For a fee.
;-)

Shelby said...

Enchante .. pleased to meet ya .. howdy .. how DO you do .. right back atch .. very nice to make your acquaintance .. allo (that's British sounding) .. hey there .. aloha .. ok I'm tired now.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your 400th...While you might bemoan the lack of literary financial reward that comes with blogging, look on the bright side: At least you don't have an asterisk next to your milestone like certain other people do in their professions...