You may have already noticed my announcement and poll in the sidebar indicating that I’m considering opening up this blog for other contributors.  You may wonder why?  And you may wonder what you yourself might gain from joining in.

This blog has just entered its third year.  It started out as a personal learning experience.  I was eager to learn all that I could about how to harness the computer and the internet to become more productive as a writer.  To my astonishment and delight, it has grown, with little promotional effort, into a recognized valuable resource for other writers, with an average of 500 unique visitors a day and about 5000 unique visitors every month.

The blog, for me, has served three purposes.

First, it demanded feeding.  I simply could not sleep without posting at least two items a week.  That’s strong motivation — I kept me at work seeking out new information.  And along the way, I’ve put together an awesome network of resources that now feeds me with even more information than I have time to assimulate and share.

Second, it has pushed me into corners of learning that I barely imagined at the beginning.  A blogging neophyte at the outset, I’m now comfortable getting into the mechanics of WordPress and computer code to fine tune what you see here.  I’ve been led to take account of the digital revolution and all that it means, from writing draft articles and sharing them online with others for comment to the power of “social media” that helped a presidential candidate win a national election [with huge implications for writers with books to market].  I’ve examined in detail writing software too numerous to count, and I now have a very full understanding of the tools available to promote a writer’s productivity.  In short, I’ve learned a lot — and without the insistence of the blog’s empty post screen, I’m sure I would not know what I know today.

Third, the blog provided a vehicle to share what I’ve been learning with others.  And that itself has led to building a brand new worldwide network of friends and associates.

If you contribute to this blog, I think you will enjoy the same benefits that I have.

In addition, you will gain immediate exposure to lots of readers, the 5000 who currently visit here during the month, each visiting on average three times a month.  And because I maintain the blog’s infrastructure and pay all the bills for its hosting [and occasional troubleshooting], you are relieved of much of the drudgery behind the scenes.

That gives you an overview of what you can gain from contributing to the blog.  But why am I willing to share the spotlight?  There are several reasons.

I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but frankly I feel that I’ve now accomplished my original objectives.  I do now have a broad and deep understanding of what computers and the internet offer the writer.  I’ve got a pretty full picture of the business side of writing.

That doesn’t mean that I’m done with blogging.  Far from it.  My network of resources keeps feeding me with new material, much of which I feel obliged to share.

But it does mean that my head is in a different place right now.  I see new ways of sharing what I’ve learned — and what I am still learning.  In fact, I’m already working on two new, inter-related blogs which I may unveil within the first quarter of this year.  We’ll end up with a trio of blogs, each with its own unique focus, each complementing the others.

Yet I think Becoming A Writer Seriously deserves a longer life.  With some fresh blood behind it.

You see, it’s become an established resource, one that ranks way up in the Google-Sphere.  In the first four days of January, for example, the blog was visited by 76 new visitors seeking information about the free software KeyNote.  Google, along with some links on other websites, brought them here.  Fifty-five during those four days studied our page listing software for writers [it's the tab along the top].  Thirty-seven looked at our list of recommended books for writers.  Twenty-one came looking for our detailed review about the alternative word processor PageFour.

Furthermore, I take great pride in the blog’s Table of Contents.  Everywhere else on the internet, you just find an alphabetized list of disorganized categories.  Our Contents, on the other hand, brings unusual organization and clarity to the information gathered here.  The Table of Contents is admittedly hidden away at the moment on the far right-hand sidebar.  I’m currently considering a radical redesign of this blog to put the contents list front and center.

Here’s a secret:  I spent a lot of time devising that Table of Contents to serve as my very own filing cabinet for all the information I’ve gathered online.  My discoveries are not locked away in a jumble of bookmarks or in stacks of printouts buried in my desk drawer.  They are all right there in the Contents, a click or two away.

The Contents are reinforced by the WordPress Snazzy Archives.  Don’t know what that is?  Just click on the Archives tab at the top.   Even without knowing what you are looking for, the archives gives you a quick and easy-to-review listing of everything ever posted.

That’s a long-winded explanation of where this blog stands today — and of some hopes for the future.  If you are interested in becoming a contributor, indicate your interest on the poll in the sidebar.  Or write a comment on this post.  Or even send me an email [my address is under the About tab].

And even if you are not interested in contributing, share your thoughts about future directions for this blog.  It’s time for another growth spurt.

I’ll make a judgment within the month about what to do.  Changing the blog’s settings and design into one open to contributors will take some study and work.  I don’t want to undertake that unless there are sufficient potential contributors to keep this place humming.  So I’ll be watching for your feedback.

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