Well Done Lord Banks

It is always heartwarming, for any writer, to learn of the success enjoyed by others like themselves, who have a compulsuin which they cannot fight, to put words down on paper, hoping to entertain and inform any who might be good enough to read their humble offerings. Reading that the formidable Lord Banks was within touching distance of the 500 items published milestone was very pleasing, and I wanted to be mong the first to congtaulate him on this achievement. Well done to you sir!

For myself, having only been a triond fellowship member sice December 2010, it seems all but inconceivable that this post should be the 600th item that I submit to triond for publication, but that is nonetheless the case.  I have all day, every day available to me for writing new posts, and spend at least two hours a day trawling the web for interesting items, which I will then research before writing them up.

There have been some wonderful stories this last month, and the uncovering of the archeological find covered in my post about the real face of Jesus seems to have gone down well with the readership, though it does not appear among my published file pages, though it is there fort all to see on Relijournal pages. The same thingg happened with a Jayne Russell piece that I did. Views were unaffected, it seems, but the fact of it not being there in the published file pages is very irritating.

I have, on the recommendation of another writer, had a try at getting things published on hubpages, but not only are they extremely picky about what they deem acceptable, they seem unwilling to go into much detail about the reasons for thier rejecting things. I tried one piece which they said was overly promotional of other sites, though what on earth that ACTUALLY means is beyond me. I know that whatever you write for them must be EXCLUSIVE to hubpages, original and can only contain pictures you have permission to use, but even following those criteria did me no good.

If the money aspect was as vitally important to me as it seems to be to others, I might be tempted to prusue it more vigorously, but to my way of thinking, it seems far too much like hard work, for something that, to me anyway, is more of a hobby these days. Any of you have experience of, and advice about hubpages, feel free to share it, but up to now I am most certainly not impressed, finding triond much more user-fiendly, even if the pay rates are nowhere near as good as other sites.

My next targets are 50,000 views – 32,000 so far, and 1,000 items published, though I suspect will come way before I reach the other target. I have found that going onto digg was a really good move in terms of getting boosts for views, as is pasting links to stumbleupon and shetoldme, as well of course as facebook and twitter. You could, I suppose practice overkill by putting too much out there in a short time, but better to be noticed for any reason than not be noticed at all.

I think that Lord Banks, like other old stagers at triond is someone to look up to, but some of the most prolific writers, like Kirstie Leong, appear to have abandoned triond because of the changes made by google, which in honesty I do not understand anyway, about the way they do content searches or something. I feel, as I am sure do many others, that the writing we produce is worthy of many more views than any of us gets, but how the hell can we get something done to put this right?

I keep on writing and submitting because it is like a drug for me, an addictive high that only kicks in when an item is published, for others to voew, and then again when people leave complimentary comments about it. Far more satisfying than drugs, alcohol or tobacco ever could be, the writing high is a product of intense creativity, and never lets you down. That is why I have to write, because I need my fix, just as, I suspect, do Lord Banks and many other writers.

The volume of submissions from me has, inevitably, slowed down, because the files on my hard drive, writings of the past fifteen years, are pretty much depleted now, so everything I write needs to fresh, and the process is not always quick, as many of you know only too well. It would be nice to earn more money for the effort I put in, but reaching for it might mean paying too heavy a price, in terms of freedom of movement and time, so it will need a great deal of thought.

In the meantime, I shall continue to try keeping those loyal enough to read my work as well informed and entertained as I am able, doing what I love best, and writing as if I were dep in conversation with another. The personal touch is what can turn good writing into something more, and that is what I hope my work always conveys, because every single piece I write is a piece of me, and I want the reader to know it. Here’s to another 500 from Lord Banks, and reaching the 1,000 for me.