Where Do You Go With 40k Readers?
Posted on April 20, 2009 Posted by John Scalzi 24 Comments
For those of you who didn’t want to spend the $1,600 or whatever it cost to attend the Tools of Change conference this year, here’s the panel I was on, with Toby Buckell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden, with Ron Hogan moderating, called: “Where Do you Go With 40,000 Readers? A Study in Online Community Building.” In it we discuss building an online community, moderating and encouraging it, and what you can do with a community once it’s there without crossing the line into making that community feel used by you. Yes, I talk about you all.
Note, incidentally, that I introduce BigIdeaAuthors.com there, with the stated debut date being today. We’re not debuting today because we’re still under construction, but work is coming along nicely and it’s going to look great when it comes out.
Also, I have a bit of a Buddha belly going on in this. I’m working on that. I swear.
Funnier than it has any right to be*: Buddha belly.
*(Who among us can accord a right, Buddha might ask. Meh.)
You know, at first I was confused by the title.
I thought you were talking about this:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/
and I thought, “Cool! Scalzi’s doing a 40K novel!”
@2 Glen Murie:
I did too. I suppose there aren’t *that* many steps from Colonial Defense Forces to Space Marines.
I was waiting for the moderator to ask the Coke Zero bottle some questions about his internet presence.
Brilliant! I’m fascinated by this stuff. Thanks for posting!
I’d be asking the Coke Zero bottle about the Buddha belly.
So, is that Zero +/- a few calories? When combined with, say In-n-Out burgers, is it a multiplier?
Well, I don’t suggest going to Starbucks- with or without laptops. The wait would be just terrible.
Rub da budda belly!
I am excited about Big Idea Authors. I have found many of my new favorite authors from your feature: Scott Sigler, Toby Buckell, David Louis Edelman, among others. Thanks!
“Also, I have a bit of a Buddha belly going on in this. I’m working on that. I swear.”
What’s the problem? Just plant a bo tree and spend your time sitting under it to attain enlightenment. It’s worked before.
Are you working on the Buddha belly, as in creating more of it, or less? Please enlighten.
Working toward improveing on it or working toward diminishing it?
I really very much enjoyed that, especially the emphasis on authenticity. There’s nothing that gives me the piss shivers (these are like regular shivers, but much more basic and powerful) like someone laying it on thick about something they don’t care about in any shape or form.
Gennita Low, Dane:
Just you wait.
Why haven’t you even been on Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech? He has a great series of podcasts on tech and the online community. Wil Wheaton was on a couple of months ago, and he was great. If you could get on to promote BigIdeaAuthors that would be amazing.
spelling fail.
even = ever
Fascinating panel. Thanks for posting it.
It’s clearly Monday, as my hazy brain provided punchlines for a few things discussed in the video.(And apologies in advance to our humble host, but…)
JS: “Well, the site really took off in 2002 after…”
– But that isn’t when you taped the…
TB: “In fact my most popular post was an analysis of author’s first novel advances…”
JS: Silence…
What? It’s Monday afternoon!
Though in all seriousness, awesome panel.
I’d love to see a CDF vs Space Marines fan fiction. Anybody want to write that?
You did look like you’d made progress diminishing the Buddha belly at Millennicon. And I’m not just saying that.
Hey guy’s,
Great video, and it did tell me a lot of things that i did not have a clue about. Thank you! I am new at all of this, and can use all the help that I can get. I just self published The Birth of Violence, and I want to give this Blogging a shot, as it is very interesting, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Each day I get one paragraph, of true life blogs onto the net. By the way, the book is an autobiography, so you can only imagine how much material that I have. Like they say,’Been there, and done that.’ Now I am writing about it. Back to you guys; for a guy like me who is just starting out, you helped me out emensely, thanks.
Ronjon
I just got involved in blogging so I hope you don’t mind if I ride your coat tails to get acclimated! Richard Ridley said your the man…
You balance going where you want to go and where the top percentage of the 40,000 lean toward.