A Novel Million Blog
Thursday, August 31, 2006
For future reference....
On the website front, I have received another 2,000 hits since yesterday. I have also attached a counter on the homepage of my website to allow others to see what I am seeing (a large amount of traffic to my site). I also included a word/character sold count on the homepage for quick reference to people who are entering my website via this page. ¶ 10:27 PM 0 comments
No I don't want to help in the recovery of $35 million from the African bank account of a deceased millionaire..... even if I do get half of it for my trouble....... I'm just far too busy at the moment.... but thanks for the many offers I have received of late.... I'm sure someone will be able to help out with this fantastic opportunity.
On the website front, I have received another 2,000 hits since yesterday. I have also attached a counter on the homepage of my website to allow others to see what I am seeing (a large amount of traffic to my site). I also included a word/character sold count on the homepage for quick reference to people who are entering my website via this page. ¶ 10:27 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Alexa sucks balls..... Hmm, is that defamatory or just my honest opinion?...... anyone?...... Blogger?..... Mrs. (carrot up her ass) Strauss?
On the upside.....although Alexa seems to be a totally flawed system for website rankings, at least the world has been interested in my website more than ever before last week. As you can all probably imagine, it's totally annoying for me to see that there has been a lot of interest in my site, yet not a great deal of additions to the stories.......I'm still waiting........I do think that one of these days this thing will take off. It's only been online just over 2 months now, the press still have an interest, I'm still finding new ways to advertise and reach new people, and the website is still accumulating a good percentage of its visitors as bookmarkers. So these facts all bode well for a potential flow of words in the future.
My ebay auctions selling 50 words to the Word Story (follow this link to check them out) still haven't been viewed by a great number of people yet, and as such there hasn't been a great deal of bidding yet (in fact no bidding). Nevertheless, it is still a good way to get the message out there and there is still 6 days or so left.
¶ 9:43 PM 0 comments
I don't understand this program. Once upon a time I briefly made it into the top 100,000. This was near the beginning of this website's existence. Now, I have just had the busiest week this website has ever had (12,000 hits), followed by the second biggest day of hits yesterday (4,500 hits). Yet despite this Alexa seems to have ignored these figures and is not updating my status at all. It looks as though the hits are disappearing into nothing, but I have really just had my busiest week ever. It's totally retarded.
On the upside.....although Alexa seems to be a totally flawed system for website rankings, at least the world has been interested in my website more than ever before last week. As you can all probably imagine, it's totally annoying for me to see that there has been a lot of interest in my site, yet not a great deal of additions to the stories.......I'm still waiting........I do think that one of these days this thing will take off. It's only been online just over 2 months now, the press still have an interest, I'm still finding new ways to advertise and reach new people, and the website is still accumulating a good percentage of its visitors as bookmarkers. So these facts all bode well for a potential flow of words in the future.
My ebay auctions selling 50 words to the Word Story (follow this link to check them out) still haven't been viewed by a great number of people yet, and as such there hasn't been a great deal of bidding yet (in fact no bidding). Nevertheless, it is still a good way to get the message out there and there is still 6 days or so left.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Possible changes???
My VIP author from the Character Story wrote to me today asking about starting the 2nd chapter as the first chapter seems to have stopped.......Well, the first chapter actually hasn't stopped (there's not enough in it to account for a complete chapter!) it's just that no-one has written in it for a while.
So it follows that until the first chapter is complete, the second cannot be started.......so I was thinking of ways around this. One potential way it to make the Character Story a collection of short stories. That way new chapters/stories can be started right now, and there is also the benefit of being able to have co-running short stories being created at the same time......which might be a little more interesting than watching the current stasis of the Character Story.
I'd love to hear feedback from people to gauge what they think about this idea........It also follows that the (currently more popular) Word Story could also be turned into a collection of shorter stories......say 20 stories of 50,000 words (each story being basically 35 times longer than it is at the moment to complete one of the short stories).
Anyway, let me know what you think and I might implement these changes.
¶ 8:12 PM 0 comments
Hmmm....I've just come up with an idea in changing the Character Story into a collection of short stories.......say 20 short stories, each containing 50,000 characters (roughly 12 A4 pages per story).
My VIP author from the Character Story wrote to me today asking about starting the 2nd chapter as the first chapter seems to have stopped.......Well, the first chapter actually hasn't stopped (there's not enough in it to account for a complete chapter!) it's just that no-one has written in it for a while.
So it follows that until the first chapter is complete, the second cannot be started.......so I was thinking of ways around this. One potential way it to make the Character Story a collection of short stories. That way new chapters/stories can be started right now, and there is also the benefit of being able to have co-running short stories being created at the same time......which might be a little more interesting than watching the current stasis of the Character Story.
I'd love to hear feedback from people to gauge what they think about this idea........It also follows that the (currently more popular) Word Story could also be turned into a collection of shorter stories......say 20 stories of 50,000 words (each story being basically 35 times longer than it is at the moment to complete one of the short stories).
Anyway, let me know what you think and I might implement these changes.
¶ 8:12 PM 0 comments
Sunday, August 27, 2006
12,000 hits last week!!
I continue to promote the site locally and on the internet. I have also started some auctions in a range of different categories on ebay. Hopefully people will jump onto these auctions....they could potentially allow people to author in the stories for less than going through the site directly.
I was contacted by a journo from TV1 news last week. We failed to get in touch with each other on our respective attempts though, so hopefully next week I'll find out what's going on with a potential news story.
Surf was up this weekend in Nelson......it's funny because for a place that gets very little surf, an amazing amount of surfers come out of the woodwork when there's waves and make it pretty crowded in the water. Pretty bloody annoying actually.
Next week at work is going to be pretty busy. There is always so much to do everyday, even my break in Dunedin was busy......one day I'm going to just do nothing for a while.
¶ 9:52 PM 0 comments
Yes, it's definitely been a high period for hits. In fact, the last week has been the best week for hits that I've ever had.....nice evidence that my site is still working and reaching new people.
I continue to promote the site locally and on the internet. I have also started some auctions in a range of different categories on ebay. Hopefully people will jump onto these auctions....they could potentially allow people to author in the stories for less than going through the site directly.
I was contacted by a journo from TV1 news last week. We failed to get in touch with each other on our respective attempts though, so hopefully next week I'll find out what's going on with a potential news story.
Surf was up this weekend in Nelson......it's funny because for a place that gets very little surf, an amazing amount of surfers come out of the woodwork when there's waves and make it pretty crowded in the water. Pretty bloody annoying actually.
Next week at work is going to be pretty busy. There is always so much to do everyday, even my break in Dunedin was busy......one day I'm going to just do nothing for a while.
¶ 9:52 PM 0 comments
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Sold... 213 words
It's been a big day and I'm going to bed now.....pretty tired. But there is a 213 word addition to the Word Story (you can link to it here). Looks like William has a bit of an arty side! He really does do a lot.... I've been getting a lot of hits again recently.....looks like one of those upwelling wave periods ahead ....the old 7 year property cycle! (well hopefully anyway).
Good night. ¶ 1:42 AM 0 comments
First day back at work and it looks like I'm going to be really busy for the foreseeable future.
It's been a big day and I'm going to bed now.....pretty tired. But there is a 213 word addition to the Word Story (you can link to it here). Looks like William has a bit of an arty side! He really does do a lot.... I've been getting a lot of hits again recently.....looks like one of those upwelling wave periods ahead ....the old 7 year property cycle! (well hopefully anyway).
Good night. ¶ 1:42 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Back home
I only got out for the 2 surfs in Dunedin. I was a bit of a wimp, but I did have other things to do, and just looking at the water made me feel cold. I almost uploaded a new entry last night, but there are currently a few modifications being made to it....... so hopefully tomorrow will see some new words.....check back tomorrow.....I'm just waiting for the final entry to be emailed to me by the author of the words.
The hits on my site have picked up again recently. There was definitely a period that was slower than the initial 5-6 weeks of the website, but the last week has seen a spike in interest again. I was thinking about it while I was in Dunedin and walking around all the people on the streets there......it is not easy to get people to know about me and my website....there's a lot of people out there to reach......so it's going to take time and patience.... Time will obviously help the word spread, and I am still getting 30% of the visitors to my website place me on their favorites, so I know that the people who visit my site are interested in the concept.
Anyway, check back tomorrow, hopefully I'll have received the latest bit to the Word Story then. ¶ 11:27 PM 0 comments
I arrived back in Nelson tonight after leaving Dunedin where it was snowing on the beach today. A big storm passed over the country today, and as per usual when this happens, Dunedin got snow. Apparently the schools were closed there. So I'm back at work tomorrow.
I only got out for the 2 surfs in Dunedin. I was a bit of a wimp, but I did have other things to do, and just looking at the water made me feel cold. I almost uploaded a new entry last night, but there are currently a few modifications being made to it....... so hopefully tomorrow will see some new words.....check back tomorrow.....I'm just waiting for the final entry to be emailed to me by the author of the words.
The hits on my site have picked up again recently. There was definitely a period that was slower than the initial 5-6 weeks of the website, but the last week has seen a spike in interest again. I was thinking about it while I was in Dunedin and walking around all the people on the streets there......it is not easy to get people to know about me and my website....there's a lot of people out there to reach......so it's going to take time and patience.... Time will obviously help the word spread, and I am still getting 30% of the visitors to my website place me on their favorites, so I know that the people who visit my site are interested in the concept.
Anyway, check back tomorrow, hopefully I'll have received the latest bit to the Word Story then. ¶ 11:27 PM 0 comments
Saturday, August 19, 2006
I can confirm...
the water is fucking freezing in Dunedin at the moment. I went out for a surf yesterday and also today, but couldn't last more than about 40 minutes each time. The surf has really been great, and it's kind of painful to have to come in because of coldness when there is no-one out and you've got a great wave to yourself. I'd have to say that due to coldness, my surfing ability also drops a lot, and it's also not nice to be out in good waves but surfing like a bit of a kook........but that's what happens when you try to surf in freezing water. If only the water was 10 degrees warmer!
We also went to see Pirates of the Caribbean last night. Everybody else has probably seen this by now, but we're a bit slack when it comes to going to the movies. Pretty entertaining, but the ending kind of felt a little like the tv series Lost....... I was like "is that the end?"
Stay tuned, it looks like my Dunedin promoting might have some fruit to bear in the form of story additions in the next day or so. It's a great day today....even though it's winter in Dunedin, it's the sort of day worth having a BBQ.....I'm pretty keen for it. ¶ 2:16 PM 0 comments
the water is fucking freezing in Dunedin at the moment. I went out for a surf yesterday and also today, but couldn't last more than about 40 minutes each time. The surf has really been great, and it's kind of painful to have to come in because of coldness when there is no-one out and you've got a great wave to yourself. I'd have to say that due to coldness, my surfing ability also drops a lot, and it's also not nice to be out in good waves but surfing like a bit of a kook........but that's what happens when you try to surf in freezing water. If only the water was 10 degrees warmer!We also went to see Pirates of the Caribbean last night. Everybody else has probably seen this by now, but we're a bit slack when it comes to going to the movies. Pretty entertaining, but the ending kind of felt a little like the tv series Lost....... I was like "is that the end?"
Stay tuned, it looks like my Dunedin promoting might have some fruit to bear in the form of story additions in the next day or so. It's a great day today....even though it's winter in Dunedin, it's the sort of day worth having a BBQ.....I'm pretty keen for it. ¶ 2:16 PM 0 comments
Thursday, August 17, 2006
New entry to the Word Story
Hope you like it. I reckon it's a cool entry as the author has written true to the story and not been too sensationalistic......I hope you all check out his link!
I've now plastered flyers around the place, and could possibly be on the radio here in the next few days.....I'll let you know if this is happening. I got my board back yesterday from Quarra surf...great job at a very reasonable price....thanks guys..
I still haven't been for a surf yet though, hopefully tomorrow if it is good. I did get out for a skate today which was nice as I haven't had a skate for about 3 or 4 months. My break is ticking down and I'll be back at work again soon......can't wait! ¶ 9:24 PM 0 comments
Hi guys, there was a new entry to the Word Story uploaded yesterday......I just haven't had a chance to write another blog since then. You can access the story here (Word Story).
Hope you like it. I reckon it's a cool entry as the author has written true to the story and not been too sensationalistic......I hope you all check out his link!
I've now plastered flyers around the place, and could possibly be on the radio here in the next few days.....I'll let you know if this is happening. I got my board back yesterday from Quarra surf...great job at a very reasonable price....thanks guys..
I still haven't been for a surf yet though, hopefully tomorrow if it is good. I did get out for a skate today which was nice as I haven't had a skate for about 3 or 4 months. My break is ticking down and I'll be back at work again soon......can't wait! ¶ 9:24 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Busy day of it
Yet, everywhere I look in Dunedin, not only in the University but everywhere around town, there is another place to put up flyers. It's a really cool city Dunedin, I really like it. I was waiting for today after some pretty cold days in the past, to do my flyer mission. I know the word is already out in Dunedin before I got here, but hopefully I can make a bit more of an impression while I am here. I'm going to finish off the flyers and then hand some info out to businesses direct tomorrow. It's all systems go.
I should get my board back tomorrow. The surf was pretty good (and big) today. Also looks like the addition to the Word Story should be in tomorrow. Based on the drafts I have been sent, it looks to be about another 100 words to the story. I'll get this uploaded as soon as I get the final words through. No, it's not that cold here. ¶ 10:46 PM 0 comments
Hello to all of those people around Otago Uni today. I spent the day putting flyers up on the billboard places around the Uni. I've still got a few spots to cover tomorrow. It's amazing how many places there are to stick things up here....there is seriously about 8 poles to do this in Nelson.........it's like there is nothing to advertise up there, or some kind of wannabe poster-less mission going on in the district council.
Yet, everywhere I look in Dunedin, not only in the University but everywhere around town, there is another place to put up flyers. It's a really cool city Dunedin, I really like it. I was waiting for today after some pretty cold days in the past, to do my flyer mission. I know the word is already out in Dunedin before I got here, but hopefully I can make a bit more of an impression while I am here. I'm going to finish off the flyers and then hand some info out to businesses direct tomorrow. It's all systems go.
I should get my board back tomorrow. The surf was pretty good (and big) today. Also looks like the addition to the Word Story should be in tomorrow. Based on the drafts I have been sent, it looks to be about another 100 words to the story. I'll get this uploaded as soon as I get the final words through. No, it's not that cold here. ¶ 10:46 PM 0 comments
Monday, August 14, 2006
Winter in Dunedin
Looks like there will be an addition to the Word Story tomorrow. I just got an email today from someone in the US, so hopefully I'll get the words and uploading done tomorrow. I'll keep you posted, but remember to check back. Today we also browsed a few second hand shops.....there's some great ones down here and I love checking them out. ¶ 11:29 PM 0 comments
So, I'm now in Dunedin. I arrived here on Saturday. It's a beautiful place, but at his time of year can be bitterly cold. We had this yesterday, but it's supposed to be getting better for the next few days. The surf has been looking nice, but I haven't been too disappointed that my board is getting fixed at the moment...I get cold just looking at the water. Having said that, I should be getting my board back tomorrow, and will force myself into the chilly waters to test my courage.
Looks like there will be an addition to the Word Story tomorrow. I just got an email today from someone in the US, so hopefully I'll get the words and uploading done tomorrow. I'll keep you posted, but remember to check back. Today we also browsed a few second hand shops.....there's some great ones down here and I love checking them out. ¶ 11:29 PM 0 comments
Friday, August 11, 2006
About to take my PR campaign on the road
It will be nice to have a break as I don't have them very often, and also see my girlfriend. I'm going to take my work down there to do some revisions to the journal article I am working on, but will also get into a bit of ground level publicity as well......basically sticking heaps of flyers around the place and hopefully getting onto the radio. I'm also really looking forward to doing some of those things that normal people do (but that I hardly ever do), such as going to the movies and out to dinner.
I know that a lot of Annika's friends have found out about my site and are interested in it (even before she told them....the press word spread quickly early on) , so hopefully with a bit of gentle persuation, I can force them into participating! We'll see, but keep your eyes on this site because I'm hoping this story will get a bit of a move along after my Tour de Force in Dunedin. ¶ 10:04 PM 0 comments
Well sort of. I'm actually having a few days away down in sunny Dunedin. I'm really looking forward to it, and will hopefully get into the water for some icy cold waves once my board gets repaired.
It will be nice to have a break as I don't have them very often, and also see my girlfriend. I'm going to take my work down there to do some revisions to the journal article I am working on, but will also get into a bit of ground level publicity as well......basically sticking heaps of flyers around the place and hopefully getting onto the radio. I'm also really looking forward to doing some of those things that normal people do (but that I hardly ever do), such as going to the movies and out to dinner.
I know that a lot of Annika's friends have found out about my site and are interested in it (even before she told them....the press word spread quickly early on) , so hopefully with a bit of gentle persuation, I can force them into participating! We'll see, but keep your eyes on this site because I'm hoping this story will get a bit of a move along after my Tour de Force in Dunedin. ¶ 10:04 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Yes, as per my last blog......
Just waiting for authors/advertisers!
The month started a little slower in terms of hits than it has been for the previous weeks, but is has increased again recently.....So I'm still getting a lot of viewing interest, but this thing cannot progress without peoples input. I know there is a lot of you checking out the site and about 1/3 of your sticking me on your favorites.....yes, I can see you! So why not help get this story going a little better?..... it will likely suffer a slow and painful death without the input of my audience....and with your input, it will have the platform to increase it's audience and continue at hopefully a faster pace.
Apart from this....I got out for a surf this week. We don't get waves coming through here very often, as it needs pretty specific and unusual conditions for the swell to reach us. Anyway, I hit some rocks on my way in (not me, but my board), and I broke a fin off. This wouldn't have been too big a deal as these days fins are retractable and therefore can be replaced quite easily. However, closer inspection today shows that I have cracked the fin housing, and compressed my board in a weird way. It's a bit of a bummer, but this is a trusty board that I have actually had for 6 years and which has surfed in 4 countries with me...it has been close to irreparable before, but it's still going....you could say I'm pretty attached to this board. ¶ 11:34 PM 0 comments
.....I am still here.
Just waiting for authors/advertisers!
The month started a little slower in terms of hits than it has been for the previous weeks, but is has increased again recently.....So I'm still getting a lot of viewing interest, but this thing cannot progress without peoples input. I know there is a lot of you checking out the site and about 1/3 of your sticking me on your favorites.....yes, I can see you! So why not help get this story going a little better?..... it will likely suffer a slow and painful death without the input of my audience....and with your input, it will have the platform to increase it's audience and continue at hopefully a faster pace.
Apart from this....I got out for a surf this week. We don't get waves coming through here very often, as it needs pretty specific and unusual conditions for the swell to reach us. Anyway, I hit some rocks on my way in (not me, but my board), and I broke a fin off. This wouldn't have been too big a deal as these days fins are retractable and therefore can be replaced quite easily. However, closer inspection today shows that I have cracked the fin housing, and compressed my board in a weird way. It's a bit of a bummer, but this is a trusty board that I have actually had for 6 years and which has surfed in 4 countries with me...it has been close to irreparable before, but it's still going....you could say I'm pretty attached to this board. ¶ 11:34 PM 0 comments
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Still here
Being mid way through my research, it's only getting more intense. I'm also hoping to get another couple of articles together by the end of the year....and amid all this, my experiments continue to get more in depth. Things are looking good though.
I've made a few additions to the website...I'm now using Google AdSense, and also Google AdWords. Publicity is definitely something new to me, and I'm learning as I go along. It's a pretty vicious business, and proper PR people must have a hell of a job......however, having said that, it would be a lot easier to get attention and come up with fresh ways of getting the public's attention with a lot of money to put towards it......I was thinking about The Blair Witch Project yesterday, and think about how it was all initial PR work that gave the film so much hype....and that was possible because of a lot of movie money.
Anyway....this thing's still going...and although it was a little slow last week, the site has still only been online for about 6 weeks, so I'm not expecting any miracles to happen in this time. ¶ 8:14 PM 0 comments
I haven't written for a few days now. The stories have slowed down a bit after a nice period of progression last week, but my other work (my PhD) has been keeping me nice and busy. I'm currently trying to get together an amended version of my literature review, to submit as a journal article. Hopefully I can get this together by the end of the month.
Being mid way through my research, it's only getting more intense. I'm also hoping to get another couple of articles together by the end of the year....and amid all this, my experiments continue to get more in depth. Things are looking good though.
I've made a few additions to the website...I'm now using Google AdSense, and also Google AdWords. Publicity is definitely something new to me, and I'm learning as I go along. It's a pretty vicious business, and proper PR people must have a hell of a job......however, having said that, it would be a lot easier to get attention and come up with fresh ways of getting the public's attention with a lot of money to put towards it......I was thinking about The Blair Witch Project yesterday, and think about how it was all initial PR work that gave the film so much hype....and that was possible because of a lot of movie money.
Anyway....this thing's still going...and although it was a little slow last week, the site has still only been online for about 6 weeks, so I'm not expecting any miracles to happen in this time. ¶ 8:14 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
surprise, surprise.....
I actually emailed yesterday saying that I wasn't interested and to not consider me any further. However, this didn't stop a 2:30am wake-up call to let me know that they were disappointed as they liked my idea, and I was making big mistake!
I wasn't as accommodating on the phone this time around, and we didn't have another 20 minute conversation. ¶ 5:39 PM 0 comments
......It turns out that the producers liked the possibility of doing a story with me, and my potential for paying them $23,000 for a 5-8 minute segment!.....and the fact that I have said that I am not interested is, according to them, "a big mistake" on my behalf.
I actually emailed yesterday saying that I wasn't interested and to not consider me any further. However, this didn't stop a 2:30am wake-up call to let me know that they were disappointed as they liked my idea, and I was making big mistake!
I wasn't as accommodating on the phone this time around, and we didn't have another 20 minute conversation. ¶ 5:39 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
....an offer you can't refuse
This morning I got a fantastic offer put to me. I had another 5am phone call, which apparently came from someone in Florida who was interested in a potential tv segment of about 6-8 minutes. We spoke for about 20 minutes, and it seemed like they wanted to do a brief run-down of myself as I was a potential story they were interested in, which was then to be passed by their superiors. There was no guarantee that my story would be accepted, but if I was lucky they would contact me again. It wasn't until the end of the call, that it became apparent that they wanted me to pay them $23,000 to make the story.
Geez, I hope I am lucky enough to get my story accepted, and then have the privilege of paying them $23,000!!! ¶ 9:35 PM 0 comments
Geez, I hope I am lucky enough to get my story accepted, and then have the privilege of paying them $23,000!!! ¶ 9:35 PM 0 comments
