The universe of Indie authors is a diverse one. We at Indies Unlimited do our best to provide quality content and convenient site features to our ever-growing reader base. Sometimes we get praise for these efforts. Sometimes we get helpful suggestions. Some few times we get a little mean-spirited criticism.
I’m a big, tough Evil Mastermind, so the detractors can’t really raise a welt on me, but there are times when it seems to me that people do get frustrated when we fail to act immediately on the great idea they suggested lo, these many hours ago.
I can understand that people may not know what goes on backstage at this multi-megawatt nuclear-powered deathstar of a blog, so I thought I’d offer you a peek behind the curtain.
Kat Brooks and I spend about 15 hours a day down in the blog’s boiler-room, and it’s not all “slap and tickle” down there. We are reviewing staff and guest posts, juggling the schedule, preparing tutorials, polls, and flash fiction prompts, reviewing stats, scouting new talent, fielding queries, answering e-mails, broadcasting posts, and putting out fires. In addition to this, we must also write our own posts. Adding Laurie Boris to the Admin team will help with all this and we are grateful she is joining us in the sweatbox.
Kat and I are also indie authors, each working on both collaborative and solo projects. I like to think we are skilled jugglers. Even so, it can be challenging when someone tosses us one more chainsaw.
Every suggestion is important to the person who made it, and it may be baffling that we do not jump right on it. Prioritization is accomplished by weighing three factors: cost, complexity, and criticality.
Insofar as cost goes, even though I have raked in literally tens of dollars with this brilliant work-from-home scheme, I really don’t have the kind of bucks to buy the top-end gadgets other Evil Masterminds take for granted. As we speak, my laser death ray is still two magnifying glasses stuffed in a cardboard tube. In short, if your idea costs money, we’ll call that “Plan B” for now.
Complexity enters the picture when someone suggests the blog add a feature that does this or that. They saw it somewhere else and it was supercool. That’s nice. This blog runs on WordPress version 3.2.1. All the plug-ins (some things you see and some only the admins see) work with version 3.2.1. Version compatibility is essential. I cannot add software that won’t work with this version of WordPress, or the lights go out and sparks start flying out of the blogitronic generator. Even though all blogs may look generally alike from the outside, they are different under the hood.
Criticality is the issue most frustrating to those on the outside of the blog. Sometimes, it is hard to understand why your number one issue doesn’t seem to be our top priority. More often than not, it is the case that it only seems to be your number one issue. Incredibly, numerous other people have different very pressing suggestions. We try our best to focus our limited time and attention on those issues that seem important to the greatest number of our readers, not that your idea is not brilliant, of course.
Some of the ideas we will be implementing (just as soon as the new whips come in) include video blogging, blog radio, and live-chat. So do be patient. Indies Unlimited is always improving in some small way. We appreciate the support of those folks who have been saying nice things about us and spreading the good word. Whoever is sending the dead fishes wrapped in newspaper, please stop. It is attracting cats.
If you have a suggestion, we are always interested. Please feel free to leave a comment below. Kat assures me the “submit comment” button has been safely disconnected from the explosive device.
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Stephen Hise is an author and the Founder and Evil Mastermind of Indies Unlimited. For more information, please see the IU Bio page and his website: http://stephenhise.com/
I think the work you do is nothing short of amazing and I am honoured to be a part of it. I have learned so much here and made some wonderful friends, not the least of whom are the two of you.
(But now I know for sure that pic is not you – either that or you are only wanna-be big, tough mastermind. The evil part is real, though. We minions can all attest to that.)
LOL. Glad to have you here too, Yvonne. You are part of what makes IU a great place to be. 🙂
You all do a tough job and make it look easy. Don't worry about the fancy stuff, sometimes the best work is done with a hammer and chisel.
Thank you for being great teachers and mentors.
Thanks for the great compliment Mike. 🙂
Seconding Yvonne's sentiment; absoultely remarkable how you guys can run the whole show and keep it all together so successfuly (and, may I just say how fetching you look in that cape, dear evil mastermind).
Thanks Chris. Thank goodness the cape is wash and wear. 😉
You guys rock! Don't stress cause we all juggle a million things a day as well. I'm just happy to connect with fellow artists. My quirk factor is off the charts and nobody else really gets me, particularly in my small town so it's great you provide a venue for us fringe-y types. Keep up the great work!
Shira – I hear you on the finding of people who actually 'get' you. Glad you found us as well.
Thank you Shira. 🙂
You guys are gobsmackingly, thigh-slappingly awesome. And Chris – have you seen what the EM wears under that cape?
You bring plenty of awesome yourself, Cathy. Thanks. 🙂
Actually, under my cape, I wear another cape. It gets surprisingly windy in Phoenix.
Just happy to be here. And the welding mask fits fine, thanks.
Ah, but have you tried to take it off yet??
Glad to have you with us in the boiler room, Laurie. Careful with that mask, it's a rental. 🙂
I want to hear more about the slap and tickle. Other than that all I gotta say is, you guys rock!
The first rule of slap and tickle club is: you don't talk about slap and tickle club.
Will you let us watch?
Thanks for the guided tour and for giving me the answer to a question that has vexed me for a while – what does the wordpress engine do for people who have their own domains?
I must admit I'm rather impressed at all the functionality that's here already. Did you start with your own domain from the beginning or did you transplant a free wordpress blog to IU at a later stage?
We're using our own domain and the blog was custom-built, not from a template. Obviously, WordPress prefers you use their domains, and provides, shall we say, "incentives" to encourage that you do.
As someone who only fairly recently 'discovered' Indies Unlimited I have to say you do a fantatstic job – and not just because you gave my novel, No More Mulberries, a sneak peek last week. I posted it on Facebook and to other email groups and it caused quite a buzz being shared and retweeted. I'm sure new writers will be coming to join up soon.
I've enjoyed my daily email and found lots of really useful advice as well as books I've bought and generally enjoyed feeling a part of it all. I wanted to email a thank you to Kat but I can't find her email – so big thanks to you Kat for doing that for me.
Thanks Mary. 🙂
You could always put a sign up reading; "Complaint Department—->300km, Bomb Range—->250km."
You know, for those irritating people who won't take the very well-worded hint above.
*ahem*
Sometimes the best made things are handmade. Flashy is cool for all of a few minutes, about how long it takes for the "awesome" to wear off and the pain in the neck to set in.
You guys do a great job here and I've been so happy since I found you. The advice is always welcome and it's nice to know that there are those who are published going through the same heartache that I'm going through with only a half-written book very nearly under my belt. There's a sense of comfort in that knowledge. I certainly look foward to my daily email and the opportunity to glean new information that goes a long way to helping me out.
A huge thanks is warranted, I think, so THANK YOU (both of you) for what you do.
Thanks R.J. 🙂
Thank you Stephen and Kat. You have done a superb job on this site. I can't imagine how many coffees you must drink to keep you going like this! 🙂 I get tired just reading about your schedule.
As for the glitzy additives for the blog – well, glitzy doesn't do much for me anyway. Glitzy doesn't have substance. And additives are usually toxic when they don't serve a specific and useful purpose. So stick with the natural, 'organic' look with only the things that add value to your site. Oh, and keep up the good work! I look forward to coming here most days (sometimes I'm just too busy doing my own thing to stay caught up with notifications). You guys deserve an award. Or a reward. Or something.
Thanks Diane. I appreciate the kind words and am glad you enjoy IU. 🙂
I was thinking this morning, hours before I read this, that Indies Unlimited brings more value to my table than any other group/blog, except one, which has also taught me a lot, and opened up valuable promotional opportunities. Thanks to you and Kat for all you do for the Indie author community.