The Blog of Xangis

OK, so the previous post was actually written yesterday but I forgot to hit “publish” so it sat in the “drafts” box for a day. That’s one of the perils of working until I’m too tired to work anymore.

I signed up for Yahoo advertising to collect the $50 credit from my ISP and started an ad campaign there for All Possible Worlds magazine, but so far it hasn’t started up yet. My Google ads picked back up, though. I’ve had around 5k impressions and a couple clicks, and most of them fairly inexpensive. My clickthrough rate is still kind of crappy and I’m not getting much of a traffic increase, but it’s something.

In comparing the Google and Yahoo advertising control panels it’s obvious that Yahoo has done a lot to copy Google, but not done it quite as well. Some aspects of the interface are actually smoother, but Google’s is slightly better - the code is more efficient and it’s more responsive.

I spent a good part of the evening creating a mailing list for APW. I’ve gathered the email addresses of all of the authors in one place and eliminated duplicates, which was fairly intensive since I was originally using an Excel spreadsheet, moved to one type of submission form, and then finally settled on a PHPFormGenerator submission form that records all submits to a MySQL database. The databased entries were the easiest to grab. I still have a bit more work to do on the list, but I should be able to announce the ready-to-ship status of the first issue to around 300 authors. I plan to throw a bunch of other little details in, such as our move to a hybrid electronic/print version, adding Vortex Temporum, and adding the Indie Writer Challenge and Fictionclassics.com. I think it’ll at least get me a few more visits to the site, and ultimately, sales of the mag.

“They” say it takes three years to take a magazine from a cash drain to profitability. I hope to do it quicker.

I’ve still been studying marketing fanatically and picking up new ideas, but I still haven’t had the “click” or “WHAM!” moment that pushes me over the edge.

I still managed to squeeze in some updates for my other main sites. “Jane Eyre” went up at fictionclassics.com. I really DO NOT like that book. I can’t say I care for any of the women writers of the Victorian age - it was all too “soap opera” and before women realized they were allowed to have backbones. I also got a handful of manuals posted at soundprogramming.net and managed to squeeze in mention of Dr. Kilpatient (as a notable user of the Korg X-3 synth)

And it’s official, All Possible Worlds is done printing. I can go pick it up tomorrow if I want. I probably will - it depends how late I sleep. I had originally planned on Monday, but early is good.

That’s it for today.