I have a blog now

[Christopher]

Well, I finally decided to go ahead and start a blog. I've been considering it for a while, and I recently read (on another blog, admittedly) that it's kind of an essential promotional tool for a writer these days. We'll see how it works out. You can visit it here:

Christopher L. Bennett: Written Worlds

Not that there's much of anything to see yet, but hopefully that will change soon. And I'll get around to putting in more links to other blogs and so forth eventually.

 

[OmahaStar]

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

 

[Paris]

Since Christopher spends a lot of time among us here on the treklit board, I would think this is the best place to announce it. If he had announced it somewhere else I probably wouldn't have seen it as I tend to hang around this board almost exclusively and not the other ones offered on the BBS. Thanks for posting the link, Christopher

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Well, as someone who always appreciates Christopher's writing, be it fiction or his contributions here, I'll be sure to pop in and visit the web log (I hate the word "blog" too ) from time to time.

As my friend Paris said above, thanks for posting, Christopher.

 

[David cgc]

And into the RSS Feeds folder it goes.

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

Christ Almighty, I've held shorter grudges against people who have cheated on me.

 

[Christopher]

Well, it should have a lot to do with books. My second post is about Seek a Newer World, and there will be a lot more discussion of my writing in the future.

Also, any other Trek authors who want to talk about their blogs are welcome to do so in this thread. I'd be glad to hear any advice more veteran bloggers might have for me.

 

[Therin of Andor]

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

Looks to me like it'll have everything to do with Star Trek books. I don't recall you shaming KRAD or Dayton when they announced their blogs on TrekBBS. Or even when I've made links to mine.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Well, it should have a lot to do with books. My second post is about Seek a Newer World, and there will be a lot more discussion of my writing in the future.

Also, any other Trek authors who want to talk about their blogs are welcome to do so in this thread. I'd be glad to hear any advice more veteran bloggers might have for me.

Have fun with it. Don't just post about your work, but also other aspects of your life that you think people might enjoy reading about (and feel comfortable sharing). If you treat it like just another marketing tool, it will turn away readers looking to interact and perhaps looking to get to know a bit more about you.

That said, it can also be a promotional tool, so that's where I try to confine my shameless whoring, rather than on message boards. I figure at least that way, people have a choice as to whether they want to read such stuff.

And this is just me, but generally speaking, I try to keep mine free of drama/venom/vitriol. I usually refrain from airing dirty laundry there, be it about my dayjob or the writing biz, mostly because those things generally aren't for large audiences, anyway, but also because I prefer to keep the overall tone of the place light. Even when I do decide to write about something that's pissed me off, I still try to inject some humor into it, because that's how I am in real life.

To each their own, though.

Looks to me like it'll have everything to do with Star Trek books. I don't recall you shaming KRAD or Dayton when they announced their blogs on TrekBBS. Or even when I've made links to mine.

I don't even remember if I even made mention of it. I usually try to stay pretty low-key about such things. That said, it's entirely possible I drank a mug of Kradberry Juice and lost my head for a bit at some point.

 

[Defcon]

Why not rename this thread and turn it into a collection thread for Treklit related websites and Blogs and sticky it (maybe unsticky the Psi Phi thread since the awards seem to be dead anyway to keep the number of stickied threads in check) ?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

I, frankly, don't see any difference between Christopher mentioning his website and, say, Dave Mack promoting The Calling or his 4400 novel. It's a writer promoting his related or unrelated work that may be of interest to those who frequent this board.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with Christopher joining the blogosphere and telling the world about it.

I like the iNove theme that Christopher's using; I looked at that a few months ago for my own blog.

And to get a avatar for comments made there, go to Gravatar; they handle avatars for the WordPress architecture.

 

[Lonemagpie]

What does this have to do with books? .

It being a Trek book writer posting about his Trek books?

Sounds pretty fucking Trek-book-ish to me.

Also, any other Trek authors who want to talk about their blogs are welcome to do so in this thread. I'd be glad to hear any advice more veteran bloggers might have for me.

I tend to think of it as a place to say things in passing as I might while sat at a convention bar.

And it's not a real blog until you have posted a picture of a cat, with the text in LOLspeak.

 

[Christopher]

Thanks for the input, Dayton. It definitely won't just be about my work.

Can someone tell me why my two posts so far are displaying in chronological order from top to bottom, rather than the most recent first as is usual for blogs? I'm not sure I actually want most recent first; I've always found that a bit annoying, having to read new posts from the bottom up. But I suppose other people are used to it and I don't want to confuse anyone. But I can't seem to find any way to change it.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Can someone tell me why my two posts so far are displaying in chronological order from top to bottom, rather than the most recent first as is usual for blogs? I'm not sure I actually want most recent first; I've always found that a bit annoying, having to read new posts from the bottom up. But I suppose other people are used to it and I don't want to confuse anyone. But I can't seem to find any way to change it.

I believe Allyn is our resident WordPress guru. If he can't solve it, then you should probably just switch to LiveJournal.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Can someone tell me why my two posts so far are displaying in chronological order from top to bottom, rather than the most recent first as is usual for blogs? I'm not sure I actually want most recent first; I've always found that a bit annoying, having to read new posts from the bottom up. But I suppose other people are used to it and I don't want to confuse anyone. But I can't seem to find any way to change it.

Christopher, I've been a WordPress junkie for over five years now. If you ever have a problem, talk to me.

What you did was to edit the "Hello World" post for your first post, and that has a later time than your second post. (Sounds bonkers, I know. Trust me.) Just re-edit the post, and change your timestamp. It's kinda common with new WP.com blogs, as this support forum thread indicates.

Going forward, Christopher, your posts will be fine. Just tell WordPress that the "Stardate" post (which was originally the "Hello World" post) was posted like twelve hours ago. Or yesterday. And the order will be fixed.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I don't even remember if I even made mention of it. I usually try to stay pretty low-key about such things. That said, it's entirely possible I drank a mug of Kradberry Juice and lost my head for a bit at some point.

Well, I found your blog somehow. I was thinking it was here.

 

[Christopher]

Oh, I see what happened with the timestamp. It used GMT and I subsequently reset the preferences for my own time zone. Thanks, Allyn.

 

[JD]

Cool. I'm a big fan of your books, so I will definitely be keeping an eye on this.

 

[T'Bonz]

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

Omaha, back off this kind of crap with Christopher now. I'm tired of the notifies on your shit. If you want a week's vacation, PM me and say the word. But I'm in a bad mood from another poster's antics and you certainly don't want to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Don't PM me to whine, as I'm not in the humor. I know what's going on here. If it continues, I will toss you.

Bonz, Grinchy Grouch in this Christmas season.

 

[Greg Cox]

Congrats, Christopher. Hope you have fun with it!

 

[Jbarney]

What does this have to do with books? Nothing. This belongs in the Web Sites forum, or perhaps a link in your sig. For shame.

I, frankly, don't see any difference between Christopher mentioning his website and, say, Dave Mack promoting The Calling or his 4400 novel. It's a writer promoting his related or unrelated work that may be of interest to those who frequent this board.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with Christopher joining the blogosphere and telling the world about it.

I like the iNove theme that Christopher's using; I looked at that a few months ago for my own blog.

And to get a avatar for comments made there, go to Gravatar; they handle avatars for the WordPress architecture.

Yah, I don't see the issue here. I think its a good idea. Sounds like common sense for a trek writer to spread word about his new blog on the treklit forum.

Good luck with it.