Friday, May 27, 2016

GUEST POSTS NEEDED (It's That Time of Year Again)

Before I dive into the meat of this post, let me take a minute to plug the print version of iisaw's The Celestia Code: nice-looking hardcover settings of it are on sale right now for under $20 (including shipping!); you can find out more from the author's blog.  Or, you can go back and read my review of the story, if you're not sure if you need a physical copy yet.

But now, it's time to talk about my plans for the summer!  Click below the break for more, but if you need a tl;dr, here it is:

I'm looking for people to write guest columns which I can post on this site, about either writing, reviewing, ponies, or some combination thereof.  Write something, let me share it, and wallow in the glory of being featured on a MLP fanfic review blog!

Details below the break!




This year, I'll be going on vacation somewhat earlier than usual--because I'm taking a weeklong trip out to New York to see some friends before heading to Arizona to see my family!  So not only will I be gone sooner than most summers, but I'll need three weeks worth of guest posts instead of the usual two.

Now, first of all, let's talk about me: I'm going to take advantage of the long vacation to read that terrifyingly huge pile of horsewords, Project Horizons.  Sure, it's a massive story, but that's what the extra week's for, right?

(And in any case, it apparently breaks down into five "books," so if it turns out I'm in too deep over my head, I can always chicken out and review just some of said books.  We'll play it by ear).

In the meantime, I'll need something to post between June 27th and July 15th, inclusive.  That means I'm looking for nine guest columns to put up, starting one month from today.  So, here's what you need to know:


1) First things first: the only prerequisite to writing a guest post is being able to write something worth reading. You don't need to be a fellow reviewer, a pony-famous author, or anything else (though you guys are welcome too, obviously); even if this is your first fandom foray, feel free to send me something--as long as you know how to spell and don't just send me a copy of your thesis on soybean subsidies in 19th century America, I'll take it.


1b) On that note: if you know someone who you think would or should write an interesting blog post, tell them!  Or tell me, and I'll bug them about it, if you're shy!


2) So, what should you send me? Well, that's up to you, and you can look through the guest column tag for some ideas of what other people have done in the past. There are a few categories of things I'd suggest considering if you're not sure, however:


a) A review of a story you particularly find interesting to dissect. It doesn't need to be written in the style of a "Chris" blogpost, as long as it includes plenty of commentary and is generally informative.
b) A review of a story I've reviewed that you particularly disagreed with, or felt could use expanding upon.
c) General writing/pony writing commentary or advice.
d) An author analysis; there's some details on what that encompasses here, and you can check out the ones I got last time via the author analysis (guest column) tag.


Of those, I'd especially like to see more of the author analyses, because I think they're incredibly edifying to read, and I know I'm not the only one. However, if you've got a good idea for a guest blog, go for it!


3) E-mail me, preferably sooner rather than later, to let me know you plan to do a guest post. If you have an idea of what you want to do already, great! If you want to run your idea past me, that's fine. If you want to do a guest post but don't have any idea what it'll be yet, I'd still like to hear from you earlier rather than later; it makes it easier to plan if I know how many yesses and maybes I'm looking at.  This isn't a hard and fast rule: if you don't tell me until the week before I leave that you'd like to do a guest post, I'm not going to say no; it just makes it easier for me to plan content if I have some idea of how many people will be sending me something earlier rather than later.


4) E-mail me again before JUNE 22nd (that gives you nearly a month to work with!) with your finished blog. Format doesn't really matter; whether it's in a (shared) gdoc, a .docx file, or whatever, as long as it's well-written it works for me.


That's it! That's how you get yourself in front of the coveted "people who visit Chris's blog" demographic! I hope to hear from a few of you soon: I love getting to see what everyone comes up with, and even an unending juggernaut like me needs a break every now and then.

13 comments:

  1. Was gonna make a joke regarding that soybean subsidies bit, but then I remembered we've done this routine before. Come on, man, you've gotta give me new material to play off!

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  2. I'm confused. Where are the pictures of Carrot Top in this post? Did I accidentally type the wrong URL into the address bar? It's a really long one, so it seems possible. Maybe I should try again.

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    1. Nope, it still brought me here. I guess Chris's blog has just changed from the old ways. It's a frightening transition, but I have hope, so I shall persevere.

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  3. Argh, I can never think of anything to write for these. FOUR YEARS NOW AND NO IDEAS CHRIS HELP D:

    Also I see you are taking my weasel approach to PH. :3

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    1. With you on needing help thinking of something. :(

      Maybe I'll check out the topic suggestion post from last year over the weekend, but I remember even then it was difficult to come up with an idea.

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    2. >literally include a list of ideas for guest posts

      >people still can't think of any ideas

      If you mean something like "I don't know what fanfic to talk about" or "I don't know what aspect of writing I want to discuss," though... consider asking your friends what THEY would be interested in learning more about, or hearing your opinions on. Then you have a concept, AND a guaranteed receptive audience for it!

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    3. More the second type than the latter, and at least in my case needing to figure out what fits the triple requirement of something I want to write about, something I think others might be interested in, and something that fits into the time available (which makes most author-analyses harder).

      But also, as a teacher, don't you recognize the "griping about the assignment" phase? ;) I think it's pretty universal.

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    4. Simply go through my reading list and find a fic Chris hasn't reviewed yet. Then write a review of that fic so I know if I should remove it

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  4. SHARKS IN THE FINALS! My Roommate is a Vampire is going all the way this year!

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    1. Careful, buddy--you write off this year's version of "Rainbow Dash Flies East" at your peril!

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  5. Thanks for the plug, Chris!

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    1. You're welcome! It's a great story, of course (I wouldn't have given it four stars, otherwise!) and I like seeing these print runs happen!

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    2. You're usually good about it, but you've given four stars to some bad fics before. The Celestia Code was a good one, however

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