I’ve gotten into several different conversations lately, at conventions and online, about blogging. Specifically, is this something writers should do, and why?

The answer I hear most often is OMG YOU HAVE TO BLOG AND DO THE TWITTER AND FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE+ OR ELSE YOU’LL NEVER SELL ANY BOOKS!

I think that blogging can sometimes be an effective way of getting your name out there and selling books, but I don’t think it’s a requirement, and I don’t think promotion is the only consideration, or even the primary one.

Promotion: Discussions about blogging commonly open with things like:

• “Your publisher expects you to promote yourself online!”
• “Look at Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi!”
• “You can’t expect any help from publishers, so you’ve got to do it all yourself, so get blogging!”

I will mention my work from time to time, and yes, sometimes it is blatantly promotional: “My book just came out. Yay!” I try not to do that very often. Other times I’m just talking about the process: “I just started draft four of Libriomancer, and I’m freaking out!” The latter isn’t intended as promotion, but it does result in readers knowing about my next project, which is nice.

But if the only reason you’re blogging is for marketing/self-promotion, then you’re basically writing an infomercial. And I don’t know many people who deliberately tune in to infomercials…

Money: I’ve also heard that one way or another, it’s important to monetize your blogging. As a writer, I do think it’s important to get paid for our work. I have friends who do freelance, paid blogging, which is excellent. Others use ads to generate a little extra income from their blog. I don’t personally mind that as long as it’s not too intrusive.

I’ve chosen not to insert ads or look for paid blogging opportunities, but that’s me. The benefits I get from blogging aren’t financial (see below). As for the ads … well, I’ve got links to my books and such in the sidebar. I figure that’s enough.

Connecting with Writers: This is why I started blogging more than ten years ago. I wanted to connect with and learn from writers who knew what the heck they were doing. I found those people online. I read their journals, commented in their posts, and eventually got to know some of them. I joined a webring, for those of you who remember what a webring is. I participated in novel dares, trying to write an entire 80,000 word novel in a month, and joining my fellow participants in sharing progress and setbacks online.

In some ways, the blogosphere and a few message boards were my graduate program in writing. It’s where I learned the business. It’s where I found inspiration. It’s where I chatted with coworkers around the virtual water cooler.

Connecting with Fans: This was not one of my original reasons for starting a blog, in part because back then, I didn’t have any fans. But over time, it’s become a way for me to connect with some of the people who enjoy my books and stories, and that’s awesome.

It’s also a way to connect with fandom in general. A lot of the people who read my blog have never read one of my books. (So much for that Promotion thing…) But we have great conversations about Doctor Who or Star Trek or gaming or the latest book by Huff or Jemisin or  Grant or whoever, and I love that.

Politics: This is a tough one. I’ve been told that a writer should never blog about their politics, because they risk alienating readers. It’s a valid point. Heck, I lost some readers myself earlier this week. On the other hand, I’ve seen people post thoughtful, well-written political posts that attract new readers to their blog, and by extension, perhaps to their books as well.

I’m not writing a political blog, and I don’t really feel qualified to do so. However, I will write about things I feel strongly about, and sometimes those overlap with the political. I do this not to sell books, but because I think these things are important to talk about.

What I’d say is that if you choose to go there, know that you will upset some people, and be prepared for some backlash. These posts can be emotionally draining, and eat up more time and energy.

Entertainment: Sometimes I just want to make people smile and laugh, dammit!

Wrap-up: I could go on, but this is getting long. I don’t think writers have to blog. I think it can help you somewhat, but it’s not a magic bullet that will make or break your career. And if the only reason you do it is to sell books, I suspect you’re going to invest a lot of time and energy that probably would have been better spent writing more books.

Dear Boy Scouts of America,

I spent many years in scouting, beginning as a Cub Scout and continuing on in Boy Scouts until I was 17, a few badges shy of the rank of Eagle. I learned a lot from your organization, and at certain points in my rather painful teenage years, the Boy Scouts were my primary social group, the one place I could go to feel accepted.

Let me stress that point. The most important aspect of Scouting, for me, was that sense of acceptance.

So you might wonder why I dropped out. There were two reasons.

1. Disillusionment with our local adult leaders, who seemed more interested in power than in creating good experiences for the kids.
2. The Boy Scouts’ ongoing discrimination against homosexuals.

The former is something that happens anywhere. These are volunteer positions, and while some of the leaders were awesome, some were not. There will always be petty, power-hungry people who try to carve out little kingdoms for themselves in any organization.

The latter, on the other hand… Well, back in 1991 when I was dropping out, Parvin L. Bishop, National Director of Program of the BSA, was in court explaining that:

“…the requirements that a scout be ‘morally straight’ and ‘clean’ are inconsistent with homosexuality, and therefore known or avowed homosexuals or those who advocate to scouting youth that homosexual conduct is morally straight or clean, will not be registered as adult leaders.”

My response as a 17-year-old boy was something along the lines of, “Go to hell.”

That was 20 years ago, but it doesn’t look like things have changed. In 2009, after rejecting a lesbian couple from volunteering as Cub Scout leaders, Richard Stockton, Scout executive for the Green Mountain Council explained, “The national policy of the Boy Scouts of America is we don’t accept gays and lesbians as volunteers.”

My response to your discriminatory policies, 20 years later, is likewise unchanged.

This has created a dilemma for me. You see, my son heard about the local Cub Scout pack at his school’s open house, looked at the activities they did, and wanted to join.

My son is autistic, and my wife and I are working hard to find opportunities for him to socialize with other kids and improve those skills. I remember how much scouting gave to me as a child, and I suspect it would be just as helpful for my son, if not more so. And this is what he wants.

A six-year-old won’t understand that his father is uncomfortable with the organization he wants to join because the people who run that organization are engaging in their constitutionally-protected right to be bigoted douchebags. (I’m paraphrasing the court decision here a little bit.)

On the other hand, in signing him up for Cub Scouts, I’m writing a check to an organization that believes many of my friends and loved ones are unclean and immoral. I’m supporting an organization that actively discriminates against them.

As angry as I am at you for putting me into that position, I’m even more pissed at what you’re doing to your members. When I sat in on the local pack meeting a few weeks back, I found myself wondering how many of these kids would grow up and realize that they aren’t, in fact, heterosexual. At which point they’ll find that the organization they’ve been a part of for so many years is ready and eager to condemn them, and to turn its back on them.

In the end, we signed my son up and wrote the check. He wants to be a Cub Scout like his cousin, and I don’t feel okay with letting my beliefs stand in the way of that. My own conflicts aside, I think this will be a good experience for him. He’s enjoying it so far, and apparently made a bit of a splash at his last meeting when he explained what justice was by likening it to the Justice League of America.

I don’t know if this was the right decision. But I do know that for every check we write to the BSA, I plan to write a matching check to an organization that works to end discrimination against homosexuals. (Suggestions welcome.)

According to the supreme court, you have the right to discriminate. Just as I have the right to speak out against that discrimination, and to limit my support of your organization until you change those policies.

Actually, speaking out against your policies feels more like a duty, one based on things like loyalty to my friends and loved ones; trying to help other people who have been victims of your bigotry; and following my own moral principals.

You know, things I learned in Scouting.

There’s been a lot of discussion following yesterday’s post about Topeka decriminalizing domestic battery, as well as some new information. The most important update would be the fact that the DA’s office will once again resume prosecuting domestic violence cases.

This doesn’t undo the damage already done, nor does it change the fact that both the city and the DA’s office endangered lives with their political games, but I’m relieved that the DA has made this choice.

Here are some of the other points that came up in various discussions yesterday, along with my thoughts.

Topeka didn’t decriminalize anything.

• Topeka used to have a law stating that domestic violence was a crime. They removed that law.
• It’s true that Kansas state law still lists domestic violence as a crime, but the city’s refusal to prosecute meant any such cases had to be prosecuted by the district attorney … who until yesterday evening was refusing to do so, which resulted in at least 18 suspects being turned away or freed without charges, including at least one who was promptly arrested again for committing the exact same crime.

Domestic violence cases are very hard to prosecute, and even harder to win.

• This is true. Does the fact that something is difficult now mean we shouldn’t do it?
• Sending the message that you don’t take domestic violence seriously is going to make it a hell of a lot harder for victims to trust you and work with you.

The DA stopped prosecuting misdemeanors as a response to budget cuts which crippled his office. The city was just protecting itself from a sudden influx of cases it wasn’t prepared to handle.

• This does explain the DA’s “demand” for $350,000 to begin prosecuting misdemeanors again, including domestic violence.
• Interestingly enough, there’s apparently “an item in the Shawnee County budget … that doles out $200,000 for golf course irrigation.” Good to know where our priorities are.
• So basically, victims of domestic violence became a political football being tossed back and forth between the city and the DA’s office, both of whom claimed to be unable to prosecute those cases.
• I wonder if the city of Topeka sees the DA’s decision to go back to prosecuting these cases as a victory, and vindication of their strategy?

Why the hell is domestic battery only a misdemeanor anyway?

• I’m guessing because it’s a crime that disproportionately affects women.
• From a NY Daily News story about this issue, Claudine Dombrowski’s partner “once beat her in the head with a crowbar and sent her to the hospital with two broken wrists and 24 stitches in what was labeled a ‘misdemeanor’ domestic abuse case…”

Kansas sucks!

• Admittedly, it’s been 20 years since I was in Kansas, but it didn’t strike me as sucking more or less than any other state.
• Topeka isn’t the only place where politicians are playing dumbass games and losing their minds over budget issues.

I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but–

• Don’t. Just don’t. Not here, not about this.
• It’s one thing to try to look at both sides of an issue. It’s another to turn it into a game.

ETA: The vote was held last night. Topeka, Kansas has decriminalized domestic violence.

“Domestic violence still remains a crime under state law which is why the move will now force the DA to prosecute these smaller cases despite budget claims. At the meeting, advocates of victims of domestic violence were quick to point out that already several individuals arrested on domestic violence calls had been released without charges because no new cases are being accepted…”

#

Topeka, Kansas has taken a rather unusual approach to trying to deal with budget woes. According to the Topeka Capital Journal, Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor has simply stopped prosecuting cases of domestic battery in Topeka. Now the city council is considering changes to the Uniform Public Offense Code developed by the League of Kansas Municipalities, “changes which would include repealing the part of the code that bans domestic battery.”

Mayor Bill Bunten says the city does take domestic violence seriously. From the International Business Times, “He said the question is not whether domestic violence offenders should be prosecuted, but who — the city or the county — should pay for it, adding that anyone who thinks domestic battery will go unpunished in Topeka is ‘dead wrong.'”

Of course, that same article also points out that, “Shawnee County has already turned back 30 domestic violence cases since it stopped prosecuting the crime on Sept. 8. Moreover, 16 people have been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery charges and then released from county jail after charges were not filed.”

To review:

1. We take domestic violence very seriously.
2. So seriously that we’ve stopped prosecuting it.
3. So seriously that we’re trying to legalize it.

Apparently D.A. Taylor has offered to review all domestic violence cases … in exchange for a one-time payment of $350,000 from the city.

Am I reading that correctly? Are you essentially holding domestic violence victims hostage as part of your budget negotiating strategy?

In addition to being despicable, this doesn’t even make financial sense. The CDC estimates that violence by an intimate partner costs this country more than 5.8 billion dollars annually.

Topeka, Kansas has a population of around 122,000 people, roughly .04% of the United States’ 300,000,000 people. So assuming I’m running these numbers right, Topeka’s share of that 5.8 billion dollars comes out to just over $2.3 million.

To the folks behind this mess, congratulations! You not only fail as decent human beings, you also suck at math.

Resources:

• Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten – Includes contact information
• Shawnee County Commissioners – Includes contact information
• National Domestic Violence Hotline
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Some of you have seen this particular mess by now. For anyone unfamiliar with Writer Beware, they are “the public face of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Committee on Writing Scams.” This group has provided invaluable information on how to avoid the scammers and the bottom-feeders for as long as I’ve been writing. Ann Crispin, Victoria Strauss, and Richard White volunteer countless hours in order to track, document, and share information on writing scams and pitfalls. Their blog should be required reading for pretty much anyone hoping to make a career in this business.

The Write Agenda is “a group of individuals, writers, want-to-be authors and inquisitive wordsmiths that have become ‘literally’ numb from reading the numerous author help related blog posts.” This group provides invaluable information on that time Victoria Strauss used the f-word on her Facebook page. This site should be required reading for pretty much anyone hoping to be a bottom-feeding douchebag.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach this post. I could point to Writer Beware’s rather thorough and well-documented pawnage of TWA, or their screenshots page where they build a strong case as to who’s behind the TWA site. I could bemoan the fact that I’ve apparently been slacking on my watchdog duties, as I’ve failed to make TWA’s Boycott List. I could stare incredulously at the fact that TWA wants to hold a book burning…

But the more I read, the more fascinated I became. I only have an undergraduate degree in psychology, but I’m intrigued by the unhealthy levels of obsession, vindictiveness, and self-importance displayed by the anonymous minds at TWA. It’s like watching an angry, poo-flinging monkey who believes he’s Rambo.

TWA is also behind the BadReads site (they share the same Contact page/form), where they “proactively engage in boycott campaigns,” and triumphantly share such damning evidence as the fact that one of Ann Crispin’s books once had an Amazon ranking of 100,351!

Take that, Ann “A.C.” Crispin, Oppressor of Douchebags! Revenge is a dish best served cold. It is very cold in bizarre blog posts that few people actually read…

Eventually, as I clicked through page after page of TWA’s attacks, my anger gave way to disbelieving giggles, and then the giggles faded into pity. I found myself staring in amazement at the sheer volume of posts, imagining the countless hours these individuals have spent going after Strauss, Crispin, and other industry watchdogs. (And they seem to be adding to their enemies lists almost daily.)

It’s sad.  Devoting so much of one’s life to such obsessive, rabid hate … I don’t want to make fun of them anymore. But as they seem to be pouring even more time and energy into their efforts, I do think it’s important for authors, readers, and others involved with the publishing industry to be aware of them.

In the meantime, my thanks to the volunteers at Writer Beware and elsewhere, who have helped me and countless other authors over the years.

Writer Beware: Blog & Facebook
Ann Crispin: Twitter & Facebook
Victoria Strauss: Twitter & Facebook
Richard White: Twitter