Yes, I’m Participating In NaNoWriMo This Year

That's right, starting tomorrow I'm setting out to write an entire novel, 50,000 words, in 30 days. Crazy? Maybe. I've been priming myself this past month by writing one or more blog posts everyday and writing small short stories. I'm ready, excited and hope I can get as close to 50,000 as possible. If you've participated in NaNoWriMo before you know what it's like. I'd love to hear your stories. If this is your first year, like me, leave your blog link in the comments and let us in on how you're doing.

Since the average daily number of words I will need to write in order to accomplish the goal is 1667, I hope I can fit a few days blogging in there.

My Build A Better Blog series is almost complete and I have two other series I am researching to write on, but won't be as aggressive as the one I'm just finishing. I'm just having fun writing and hope someday to have a Novel in Barnes and Noble. Wish me luck.

By the way, I ran across this really cool site today called NaSoAlMo. It's the national Solo Album Month. Just like writing a Novel in 30 days, this site encourages musicians to record an album in 30 days. Very cool. If you're a musician, visit the site and give this a try. If you do let us know. Good luck.

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Excellent Utah Facebook Developer Garage

Yesterday was the second Utah Facebook Developer Garage and we had a decent turnout. We talked about a couple new features of the Facebook API, Mobile capabilities and the new Invitation screen.

I want to thank Tim Stay of Know More Media for letting us use his conference room at the last minute. We had munchies, discussed the viability of Facebook and Social network applications, and future Garage events. I think fun was had by all.

I posted a couple of pics on the Facebook group, but I also posted them here for those not a member of Facebook.

Also, thanks to Jess Stay for making sure this whole thing happened.

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Thank A Blogger For Linking To You

Build A Better Blog Day 28

Everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated. Take the time to thank those who make your blog successful. I started a weekly Props to my Peeps post where I write about someone or something that helped me or turned a good deed during the week. I use their name, what they did and a link to a blog if they have one. I always get permission to discuss anything personal so I don't make the person upset or uncomfortable.

This tip doesn't have to be real complicated. Just pay attention to who reads your blog and who creates links to your posts, and honor them once in a while. Here's a great example. Jason Alba from JibberJobber gives out a 'You Get It" award each month. Liz Strauss gives out an SOB award, Successful and Outstanding Bloggers. Come up with your own award or keep it simple with a post thanking them.

ProBlogger's day twenty-eight post: What is Your Blog's Mission Statement

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Track of the day: Decoy by Red Blanket

Red Blanket
"Decoy" (mp3)
from "A Southern Manitoban Murder of Crows"
(C12 Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Protect Your Blogs Content

Build A Better Blog Day 27

Today's tip is a reminder to protect your blogs content. Over time you till undoubtedly create a large amount of content. You may want some of that content protected by copyright and some you may not. It all depends on what's important to you and what's not. However I would establish a terms of use statement on your blog just so everyone knows how you want your content treated. Will this stop someone from stealing your content? Absolutely not.

There is a great post over at DailyblogTips about Copyright Laws and blog content. I'm not a lawyer and I don't really want to get into a pissing match with Lawyers out there, but there are some good points in this article none the less. Here are a few ideas I like:

1. Make sure if you use someone else's material you either get written permission (this is pretty much what I do) or the material is explicitly marked public domain. You may lose any copyright to your own content if you use someone else's material.


2. Clearly mark on your site what is public domain and what's not. It may be that none of your material is public domain or all of it is. That's why I encourage you to create a static page, or some type of post that states you terms of use. I didn't have one until this post, now I do.


3. If you don't want to defend certain published material, don't make it available to the public. Did that make sense? Really, if you don't want the hassle of chasing down people that steal blog content, then don't post something. A good example may be an Author who posts a book, story or article. They may claim it's copyright but will have to battle anyone who uses it without permission, every time.


4. Do ask someone who has stolen you content to remove it or give you proper acknowledgment. This may be tricky but its the fight you may have to take on.


5. Remember images have a copyright too. Taking images from other sites and using them may put your content at risk. Again I would get some type of permission before using images. And refrain from directly linking to an image unless given permission. This puts an unwanted strain on the images web server.

The better your writing get and the more visitors your blog gets the more your content's copyright will play in the success of your blog. However, don't let copyright get in the way of blogging. Just make sure you have all the permissions you need, and you state your contents use and you should be pretty good.

Learn more about Creative Commons here, and view a presentation on blog content copyright given at the Bloggin4Business Conference by Rand Bateman.

I'm sure there are some lawyers out there who can add to this. What are your thoughts on blog copyrights?

Problogger's day twenty-seven post: Find a Sponsor for Your Blog

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