Hey y'all, a couple years ago I found a site that was scraping my feed into their own blog and using it to draw traffic to their ad site. Motherfuckers. So I cut the feed back to just the first few lines, and you had to come to the blog to read it.Wil Wheaton recently posted on G+ that he doesn't read feeds that do that. I was all, "but someone scraped my blog wah," and then I started thinking about it.
Originally I was mad because someone was drawing clicks to their ads when I had my own ads on my blog, not fair!
But then I quit putting ads up here. Fuck adwords, they don't pay shit. I make a lot more on eBooks and talismans and stuff than I ever would on ads. And ads make a blog look cheap. Chintzy. So I pulled them and put up ads for my own stuff.
And honestly, if anyone scrapes the blog feed, it's still free advertising for me, so fuck it.
I've had a fundamental attitude shift about piracy and word-theft in the digital age. Most of the people who steal and pirate aren't going to buy my books, even if they couldn't get them for free somewhere. But if the magic they use works, they're going to talk about me on forums and to their friends, and then the next book I release will sell more copies. It builds up business revenue over time.
So while I do not condone pirating my shit, and I will submit requests to remove any of my digital content from any sites making it available that I find out about, I'm not seriously hating on anyone who pirates from me these days. I've lifted all the curses I put on those who might upload my work to file sharing sites, though if you see my Modern Goetic Grimoire floating around, it's dangerous stuff on its own, regardless of any curses. I might just make that available again, I've been having deep thoughts about all that shit lately. I blame Jake.
It's funny how many people come to my site using the search terms "restitution for piracy" though. Heh.
All curses are lifted and you're forgiven, you dirty pirates, but next time I release an eBook, you'd better buy a copy.
If anyone gets this post in a feed, let me know if the whole thing's coming through now instead of the summary. I think I fixed it, but I may need to go into feedburner and change some occult setting I've forgotten about.
This post just came up in my rss reader, wanted to let you know that it's still just showing the first few lines, not the whole post.
ReplyDeletestill just the first couple of lines, RO. Plus, in my reader, the title of the post no longer links to your blog
ReplyDelete6:50am (UTC-7)
ReplyDeleteThe post showed up in Google Reader as a summary still.
Ok, thanks all, I have located the hidden setting on feedburner and fixed it. I think.
ReplyDeleteI had it set to only send the first 200 characters, apparently. Blogger's settings don't override the feedburner settings.
I just got the whole post in my Google RSS reader - and was very excited by it! :-D
ReplyDeleteI got the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteShowing up fine for me now. Interesting change Fr RO!
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about the Modern Goetic Grimoire. I think I'd purchase it out of sheer curiosity.
Definitely should reissue Modern Goetic Grimoire. I'd love to see it evolve from an eBook into something physical on my shelf. Maybe an updated 2011 edition incorporating all that you've learned between then... I know you're hesitant because it can a bit dangerous, but hell throw a disclaimer and words of caution in the preface... This book contains more practical and effective material than 99% on the market!
ReplyDeleteCame through great in Google Reader. Almost didn't realize what blog I was reading because of it ;)
ReplyDeleteYou didn't forget that Genii Locii book did you? lol
ReplyDelete+John: Yes. Yes I did. :D
ReplyDelete+M.C. That's a good idea. I might have to throw something together now, maybe an Angel and Demon Magic thing like your Crossed Keys, using it as a whole spectrum of the ...
ReplyDeleteJesus man, what have you done!
I'd really like to see that Genius Loci eBook someday...
ReplyDeleteTesla
Ahhhh, finally. I <3 Google Reader for the obscene number of blogs I read; hurray not having to open 23 tabs each time I want to catch up on my RO! ;p
ReplyDeleteMan, site traffic has plummeted since implementing this change, and sales have also fallen grossly off. I'm not happy about that and am researching some remedy that doesn't require going back to truncated feeds.
ReplyDeleteSite traffic as in blog traffic? Or hits to your main site? Drops for the blog are to be expected, as RSS readers don't actually visit the site, but sales are a bit trickier to pin down... assuming they're related, I would start making sure you actually include links to your sales pages (or paypal buttons) directly in the posts, instead of saying things like "in the sidebar" or "the button above", etc.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what effects your fiddling has, it's an interesting problem.
Site traffic as in blog site traffic.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of the thing that lets you append messages to the end of all your RSS feeds. I can't remember if it's on blogger or feedburner. Might even be on both. All I need are a couple of links.
And that's really good advice about how I reference things. Also a good point that it might not be related. I haven't offered any new products or services since before changing, and after all the regular readers have their copies, sales on existing products decline. Have to plan out my releases of new products to line up with my November-January expenses. :D
There's the "Post Feed Footer" under "Site Feed" in Blogger's settings, which I think will suit you. Feedburner is a mire I haven't descended into since I set it up, so I really have no idea there.
ReplyDelete