I am new to this blog thing and am faking it until I figure it out. I have never seen a blog spot or been online.
Now you may be wondering, if he has never seen a blog spot or been online, then how did he get this online? Read on to learn how, please.
HOW I DO IT: Perhaps you have noticed that I do have a blog and a website. I actually have two, one at straightfromthepen.com and another at waynedowdy.weebly.com. Now that may make you wonder how I have blogs and websites, without having been online? I pay for the luxury. Stay with me, please.
For seven weeks I focused on creating a place for my readers to find good content, something beneficial, useful, or entertaining to take their minds away from a busy day (please read ONLINE ARTICLES below).
My publisher (MIDNIGHT EXPRESS BOOKS) helped me to get the website and blog that I had sought since 2011. In the future I will write more on current affairs and voice my opinion on events in the news. MEB will help me to post what I write.
WHAT DO READERS WANT? Without anyone posting comments in response to what I write, and without me interacting with them, I rely on the marginal data I am provided to determine what readers like and what they do not. One gauge I have is to see how many people sign up to follow my blog posts. If I earned money from blogging, then that would be a real good indicator, but since I do not, perhaps I am doing something wrong, or otherwise failing to do something that I should be doing?
MY IMPEDIMENT: My blogging life differs from most who bang away on a keyboard to keep information flowing from their pages. I am not fortunate enough to have the luxury of direct access to the deep blue web to find the volumes of data available to those who can. I do have the technical knowledge to do so, but my “keepers” do not allow us prisoners to have electronic access to information, unless someone sends it in to me for them to inspect before delivery. It took over two decades before I was allowed to use a computer with a distant connection to the free society.
PMS: Because I am in prison and cannot access the Internet, I pay a small fee to my publisher to post my blogs that I send to them through Corrlinks.com. I pay Corrlinks five-cents per minute to access their Public Messaging System (PMS for real!), to read or type emails to send to those who can figure out how to accept my Email Request that many computer security systems detect as spam and send to the trash bin.
Corrlinks is a severely-limited, high-dollar, email system, due to all of the security restrictions used to monitor any content. The system I use does not permit anything other than a preset text type and style. I cannot receive any photos or symbols, cannot change font sizes or styles, nor can I underline, bold or use italics. Copying and pasting prohibited, since Corrlinks makes more money when I retype words that I deleted from one place and moved to another more suited for content. No anything other than the words I type, read, or delete. Should a correspondent send me a message with something other than text, the automated security system would strip it before it reached my delicate eyes.
ONLINE ARTICLES: Ironically, even though I have not been online, I have written articles such as “Social Media for Writers” and “From Where Do Writers Root,” both of which are good resource articles for those who like to research or want to create an online presence. I give thanks to the Long Ridge Writers Group and their associated publications for providing excellent resource material for me to use to share the wealth with those who can do what I cannot: go online.
INTERESTING ARTICLE: On April 9, 2015, I read an interesting ADVICE column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Daryn Kagan (“Social Media Drains the Life Out of Life”). She wrote about all of the social media forums that she used before going to a “Word Camp” seminar, where she learned that she was, “[s]upposed to be posting video from [her] iPad every day and [that] if [she] was really a good blogger, [her] site would’ve made $60.000 last month.” She continued with, “It didn’t. Shameful. I know.”
Well, Daryn, I can identify, I reckon, since my blogging has not earned me a nickel and instead cost me money. At least your blogging doesn’t cost you anything, except maybe what you could have earned doing something other than blogging. Hopefully, your social media pursuits have not made you have to get a mortgage on your home. Maybe next month the money will begin to flow into your bank account.
CONCLUSION: For me, the prospect of generating funds from my blog seems dismal. I am just happy to have the benefit of getting a few lines of my writing beyond the walls, bars, and fences, into the minds of those who take the time to read what I write. When I am released and can dive into the deep blue web, then I will surf until I come up with a legal way to make my writing skills earn an income. Until then, I will keep doing as I am doing, and will continue to remain grateful to each of you for spending your valuable time with me on the waves of the deep blue web that I can only dream about surfing in for now.
Until we meet again,
Wayne (waynedowdy@straightfromthepen.com)