Introspection

The future

Writer guy

In keeping with the forecast–albeit a wickedly humbling foretelling–motif of yesterday’s entry, I cite a recent article in Book Business.

http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/will-you-recognize-industry-10-years-402884_3.html

Feel free to go beyond my condensation, which is quite simple: the traditional distribution scheme of printing either too much or too many copies of a title are over for those book publishers who plan on being around in the next ten years. Going forward, the marriage of reader interest and publishing on demand, in tandem with the rise of electronic books and reading devices will keep deserving books in print longer ( forever, in fact ).

The net effect is great for readers. It’s good news for writers who embrace the wave and spend their time working with the trend, rather than fighting the tides. And some will resist the change very forcefully, much to their detriment.

But it’s very bad news for anyone clinging to a business model that ceased serving the reading public a long, long time ago.

State of the site

Writer guy

Sometimes less is more. Sometimes a whole lot more. Consider the growth of samhilliard.com.

Bypassing the more obscure particulars of web analytics, readership has increased roughly 25 percent per year since 2004 when the site launched.

Gains like that are quite admirable in the stock market, for certain, though as far as life on the Internets, it’s fairly modest. On the other hand, growth particularly when so consistent, trounces its ugly stepsister, Shrinkage.

The readership statistic is a lot more interesting when considered along with two other trends: actual number of posts per year, and the addition of photos in the entries. I post far less frequently than during the site’s genesis, and use photos when possible. Yet the number of readers has increased despite the obvious drop in raw written content.

Any number of explanations could account for the relationship between number of posts and the influx of readers. But the simplest—thank you, Occam’s razor—is that the scroll bar on a web page serves much like the homeless man looming outside a convenience store.  Pedestrians move rather quickly past something that might increase the amount of time they need to complete their primary business. When I want a quart of milk and a newspaper, I prefer not being held up for loose change by Squeegee people. In this case getting it done means checking for any updates and doing so quickly.

To facilitate that, I keep the entries brief. I try, anyway. When going long, I make that known at the outset.

In the spirit of reflection, my annual resolutions will follow shortly.

Elected

Writer guy

Random thought: Perhaps there might be something wrong with a process where people are more relieved at its conclusion rather than the actual outcome.

A friend recently said, “I can’t wait for the elections to be over, because I’m sick of the fucking television and radio ads.” I may disagree with their diction, but their sentiment resonates with a lot of people lately. After months of relentless advertisements, many just want them to stop. It’s as if the ordeal is a burden, and there’s a lot better things people could do with their time, so please let voting day come so Gossip Girl runs without interruption.

Which may not–or may be–exactly the reaction the politicos crave.

NOTE: The above entry is political as this blog gets.