Thanks for reading. It’s been fun.
Some of you have figured out that I don’t own this web site. The guy who does has decided that it’s not making any money and just isn’t worth his effort. So he’s pulling the plug. He offered to sell it to me – lock, stock and histrionics – for $100. But I’m not going to take him up on it. The net-net on the net: ColorComments.com will soon be no more.
This site got started when I replied to an ad on Craigslist. It seemed like a straight-up deal so I went for it. It was a straight-up deal! I have to admit that the guy who owns the site lived up to his end of the deal and I did my part too. In the beginning, there were maybe six or eight of us who answered the Craigslist ad. After 454 blogs, I think I’m the last one still online. It was just the wrong idea at the wrong time.
When I started trying to be a writer, I invented a “rule” for myself: I don’t write for free. That’s the reason I won’t buy the site. The rule helps me stay focused on reality. I used to use computer wallpaper featuring a quote from the great English writer, Samuel Johnson to help me remember the rule.
“No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.”
The purpose of the rule is not to get rich, but rather to stop myself from drifting off into irrelevance. The only real guarantee I have that my writing is actually worth anything is that someone is willing to pay for it. I don’t need much. This site has paid about $10 every six months but that’s actually enough. If someone went through the trouble of actually writing a check for ten cents, it would still be an affirmative act that would be enough. Self-delusion is a disease that ruins more minds than drugs. I don’t want to be another victim.
I’ve been trying to be a writer for about ten years now. It’s a tough biz. I don’t know how other people do it. I’ve been a “contributing editor” of a computer magazine that went belly up. I’ve written articles for several other magazines. I’ve gone to writing classes and seminars. And I’ve won prizes in two writing contests. I’ve been trying! You might think that would give me an entrée into greater things but I’ve discovered that the writing world is full of walls.
I’ve written one novel and another is almost finished. To my knowledge, exactly three people have read my novel completely through. (A couple of others claim they’re going to. They lie. You know who you are.) I really only have a file of rejection form letters from literary agents to show for my fiction writing effort.
My biggest success so far is a different web site I write for: visualbasic.about.com. People go to that site for technical answers about the Visual Basic programming language. It actually pays a decent amount of money. Even Samuel Johnson had to write a dictionary to pay the bills.
About.com is a web portal site owned by the New York Times. They’re probably the biggest money maker for the New York Times corporation, but that says more about the newspaper business and the average intelligence of Americans than About.com. The New York Times is a first class organization with amazingly excellent journalism. But they’re a money toilet. About.com mainly features topics like recipies and body-piercing advice. They scrape up lots of the money to be made by not underestimating the taste of the American public. The real money is in trivial and ignorant bloviation in America today. The fact that Limbaugh is the most highly paid radio personality on the air is a filthy stain on American culture. But my “rule” says that it’s “reality” regardless of my personal opinion about it.
Still, I can say that it has been a very rewarding experience for me. I hope the handful of you who have been readers can say the same.
DAMN! It HAS been fun! And it’s been tres educational for me. I suppose you feel bad about this, Dan. Well, I do also! Very bad!
How about if the handful of us who enjoy reading what you write and writing back to you and to each other, how about if WE buy the site so we can continue this dialogue? I’m serious! There are 5 or 6 of us that correspond on a rather regular basis. It would be well worth it to me to chip in $20 to be able to have this continue. Would you be “up” for that, Dan? – And how about the other 5 or so of you who write and read regularly? Is continuing this on-going learning experience and conversation worth $18-$20 to you?
What you’re talking about is traditionally called, “the subscription model”. It doesn’t work. In the blog above, I emphasized that my overriding goal is to remain connected with reality. This is a great example.
Creating a web site is pretty easy … I’ve created lots. I’m currently engaged in learning more about programming ASP.NET and I actually own the domain name kinesava.com. I may start up again.
Thanks for the kind thoughts.
Well I’m gonna miss you and your blog also. I sometimes find writing fills the bill much better than other forms of communication . DAMM! Lena
I am sorry you are going off the air – I will miss you.
I enjoyed this blog because serious topics could be discussed without the personal attacks found on other blogs.
You are a good writer – I wish you success.
To echo the other comments, I too will miss your blog. I, like RPMcMurphy, enjoyed reading about serious topics without having to slog thru personal attacks and unsubstantiated biased stated as fact. You’ve always been up front about stating your personal opinions and never had to resort to masking it as Truth – like so many other blogs.
I too wish you sucess with your writing.
I hope “ce n’est qu’un au-revoir”
Really, I enjoy reading your blog even if I don’t participate effectively.
Would you please, anyone of you keep me informed
mona.hares@gmail.com
I think that Dan himself will solve our present problem. If not, by a simple search “Dan Mabbutt” it’s amazing: we will track his latest activities:)
I am ready to “follow” anyone of you (facebook twitter…)
“Bonne chance” to all of us
Dan,
I’ve intentionally waited several days to respond so I could digest the other responders comments first.
I say Hear! Hear! to Peggy’s comment. I currently donate $10-$15 annually to at least three newsletters which I consider equivalent to Dan’s blog. I would willingly donate/pay the same for Dan’s fine work. If he changes his mind, I’m in!
Lena, RPMcMurphy, Carleen, and Manou: I echo your critique of Dan’s craft. Personally I find writing to be EXTREMELY difficult in that I don’t seem to be able to transfer my wonderfully unique thoughts/ideas from my mind to the printed word — Dan is able to and that’s why I’ve followed him.
Best of luck in your publishing endeavors Dan. Keep in touch. Thanks for the privilege of reading your OMS novel as well as your other posted writings. Let me know how the St. George writing competition turns out.
Fair winds & following seas my friend.
Wow! I may not have a lot of readers, but the ones I do have are pretty great!
I don’t know exactly how long this site will last at this point, so I decided that I better get this out.
First, I will send emails out if and when I have something else going on. Send your emails to:
seigfried@msn.com
Second, I actually DO have something else going on now. In a way, the demise of ColorComments.com is a blessing in disguise because I’m now looking at 16 hour work days for the next several months.
It appears that I will have a contract to co-author a book with one of the most respected technical authors in the field: Matthew MacDonald. (Check out his books the next time you are in a bookstore that has a good selection of computer books.) In fact, I just received the first batch of draft chapters to work on today.
It’s not even close to the kind of writing I have been doing at ColorComments.com, but it’s a unique opportunity that I just can’t pass up. Wish me luck!!
And thank you, one and all, for your own ColorComments!
Good luck Dan.
Actually, you are capable of doing several things at the same time: so hear to Peggy’s comment as Steven has said and I am sure that we will all follow.
Thanks, Dan.
It’s been an interesting read.
In Texas, we would wish you happy trails ahead.
Good luck on your new endeavor.
Is that like the “Chinese Curse”?
“May you live in ‘interesting’ times!”
Ah gots ta ad-mit it. Folks in Utah are every bit as screwed up as folks in Texas. (Take last week’s political conventions, for example.) In fact, I’ve known some really fine folks from Texas.
Thanks for the good wishes. I’m deep into working on that book I mentioned earlier now. It’s tough sledding, lemmetellya! I’ll need all the good wishes I can get.
Dan, please, what’s the meaning of lemmetellya?
Here, a topic commented in Colour Comments
http://www.physorg.com/news192882557.html
Of microorganisms and man: First large-scale test confirms Darwin’s theory of universal common ancestry
May 12, 2010More than 150 years ago, Darwin proposed the theory of universal common ancestry (UCA), linking all forms of life by a shared genetic heritage from single-celled microorganisms to humans. Until now, the theory that makes ladybugs, oak trees, champagne yeast and humans distant relatives has remained beyond the scope of a formal test. This week, a Brandeis biochemist reports in Nature the results of the first large scale, quantitative test of the famous theory that underpins modern evolutionary biology.