SciFi Essentials + Soliciting Data for Update of Top 50 Personal SF/F Blogs List

Posted on June 1, 2007    Posted by John Scalzi

First off, congratulations to Tobias Buckell, whose book Ragamuffin is this month’s SciFi Essential book. It’s a nice accolade to have, and in my experience it does drive sales, and driving sales is a good thing (it doesn’t hurt that Ragamuffin is a hella fun book, too). The book itself is slated for release on the 12th, which is coincidentally the same day Jay Lake’s novel Mainspring hits the stores. You’re going to want to get both, I assure you.

For myself, I will note that today is the official release of the UK version of Old Man’s War; previously it had only been available as a US import. No longer! Now the book has the price in pounds right there on the cover. OMW is also the Science Fiction Book of the Month for Waterstone’s, which is the UK’s largest bookstore chain. Excellent.

Second off, some time later this month I’m going to update my list of the top 50 personal SF/F blogs, in which I rank the most popular blogs from SF/F lit pros and fans, as ranked via Technorati (here’s the last update, from December 2006). This list is generated through blogs I know about, which means that there are probably some SF/F blogs which should be on the list but are not. I want to make the list as accurate as possible.

So: I am actively soliciting data on SF/F blogs for inclusion into this list. If you are an SF/F literature pro (this includes writers, editors, copy editors, artists, book designers) or SF/F literature fan, and you want your personal blog (details coming) to be considered for the list — or are just someone who thinks a particular blog should be on the list — here’s what you do:

1. Take the URL of the blog (or, for those with blogs on their own domains, the domain URL, which is likely to have a slightly higher Technorati ranking) and enter it into Technorati’s search bar.

2. When the result pops up, look at the “Rank” number (not the “Authority” number)

3. If the rank number is above 50,000 (1 – 49,999), let me know either in the comment thread below, or by sending me an e-mail with the words “SF PERSONAL BLOG RANK” in the header (this will help me sort e-mails). If the number is below 50,000 (50,000 — infinity), the blog’s not going to be on the list. Sorry.

4. If you’re already on the most recent list, you don’t need to send me the information — I’ll check your current ranking when I make up the new list.

5. Please get me your data by 6/15/07, so I can update the list a week or so later.

6. Don’t freak out or get competitive about it. It’s just a silly list, for God’s sake.

Now, for those who need clarification on what I define as a “SF/F personal blog”, it’s this:

* A blog/journal written by a single individual or partnered couple (i.e., not a group blog)
* A blog/journal not primarily intended as a commercial endeavor and/or a general SF/F news site
* The blog/journal is written by someone who works professionally in the SF/F publishing (as opposed to working primarily in TV/movies/comics/videogames) and/or personally identifies strongly with SF/F fandom.
* The blog/journal itself does not have to be primarily about SF/F.

Let me know if you have any questions.

When I have all the data collected, I’ll combine it with the data I am collecting myself, review the sites and publish an updated list, probably in the third or fourth week of June. Should be fun.

Naturally, since I am seeking data, feel free to tell people about this and to link back to this entry. Thanks.