The Blogosphere

[Door]

diablocody said:

I'm one of those people who now works for herself because of my blog, although the blog itself isn't a source of revenue. But I did use my blog to get a book deal two years ago, and have been working as a freelance writer ever since. I make way more money than I ever did when I was working for the Man. Thanks, Blogger!

I get none of the ad revenue from my blog, which means I'm stupid. But at least it profits a free alt-weekly that I support.

I do read Dooce and I enjoy her writing, though I am surprised that she's able to support an entire family that way. I'm also surprised that she hasn't made the jump to a book.

She did have a book deal but reneged on it when her representative at the publishing house left the company. She was sued for breach of contract and it was settled out of court.

[monkeypox]

What I'd like to know is, what is the point of Lainey? Her gossip almost always turns out to be bullshit, she slavishly fawns over celebs every other person on the planet despises, she's not the least bit funny, she's a crappy writer, and she goes way beyond simple snark, crossing the line into truly hateful abuse and borderline libel.

Seriously, I hate that bitch. Even if I wasn't a fan of her favorite whipping boy, I'd still want to kick her in the head.

[Deleted]

I loathe Lainey with the passion of a thousand burning nuns. She's as fake as some of the people she tries to tear apart. She claims to be a gossip columnist but is rarely the originator of an item or photos that she posts. She merely offers commentary on them, which is pretty much what we do here (and I think we're better at it). She unintentionally highlights her lack of scoops by insisting on boasting when she thinks that she has posted an 'original' item that she feels has been validated. I suspect that she peruses fan and non-fan message boards for tidbits and photos and uses them to pad her page (without credit if she thinks she can get away with it). And yes I'm pretty sure she cruises this messageboard too. And yeah, she is the nastiest writer this side of Perez Hilton. Oh, and she loves Gwyneth Paltrow and Posh. I avoid her and stick with Dlisted and Just Jared for a collection of daily gossip news with links.

On a much brighter note, my favourite blog is about film. The Film Experience is a great site for people who love to obsessively Oscar watch. In addition to reviews, previews and frantic speculation Nathaniel also has great regular features on his blog such as Hump Day Hottie and some amusingly odd approaches to showing appreciation for a performer or performance. My favourite was when he mixed film clips of Bette Davis and other great 'movie bitches' to the music of She's a Bitch by Missy Elliot. See Here.

[Deleted]

I love The Film Experience! My favorite things he's ever done are his "Top 100 of the Aughts" lists: Actresses and Actors (which I can't get to work! Argh!).

Elyse from ANTM's first "cycle" has a Livejournal which is updated semi-regularly depending on where she is and whether she feels like it; she's probably the most successful ANTMer in terms of getting actual work doing actual modelling, and travels between Hong Kong (her base) and elsewhere pretty regularly. She's not a bad read; she's funny, and seems to have a pretty good attitude to modelling and the ridiculousness inherent to it.

[Deleted]

Oh my God, Elyse is updating again? I saw she took a hiatus from her Livejournal a few months ago, and I haven't checked it since. Awesome!

[Deleted]

Perez is looked upon as the Ann Coulter of the gay community.

HA! I HATE that little prick. I absolutely fucking HATE him.

[venusdiva429]

Salon's isn't Perez's biggest fan, that's for sure. (Salon link) Lainey is simply useless. Does anyone actually listen to her? I'm really convinced that she simply takes money (and press releases), and gives people a thorough tongue bath in return. Annoying prat.

Monetizing your blog...a subject that's near and dear to me.

There's a lot to it. You need to worry about hits, SEO (search engine optimization), use of affiliate networks, publicity, keywords, and AdSense...lots of things. The biggest thing, though, is just writing good stuff

Here are some sites that'll give you a leg up, if you're so inclined, on monetizing:

Steve Pavlina - How to Make Money From Your Blog

Pro Blogger

I've had my blog up for two weeks. and I'm almost at 1000 page views (as counted by WordPress- clicks inside of your site). I'm going to be adding things like Chitika eMiniMall, my Ebay auctions...lots of stuff. Most of what will also get you going is the social networking sites like digg.com, mag.nol.ia, and del.icio.us. I've also posted stuff on MySpace whenever I post something new.

The free blogging platforms (like WordPress.com) won't allow you to monetize. You'll probably need an independent webhost to get the full benefits.

Steve Pavlina's story is amazing, though, and sensible. It's not as crazy as some of these people can get.

[Deleted]

Best. Blog entry. Ever.

The comments are some of the funniest ever.

[venusdiva429]

bstewart said:

Best. Blog entry. Ever.

The comments are some of the funniest ever.

Cliches are the new black, IMHO.

[Ripley]

Y'all are just haterz!!1!

There are a couple of fashion blogs that I like:

Manolo's Shoe Blog - A super fantastic blog, not by Manolo Blahnik, but by someone who posts about the shoes and the fashion.

A Dress A Day - This blog inspired me to buy a sewing machine in hopes of someday being competent enough to sew my own dresses, since heaven knows I can't find a dress in a damn store that looks good on me!