Saturday, October 2, 2010

Saturday Posts and My Overloaded Email Box

Hello all,

I have an email problem.  A serious one.  See, I run SurLaLune all by myself.  I write articles, write books, edit the website and write this blog.  I help my husband run a small graphic design business that actually pays the bills.  SurLaLune at best pays for itself, it does not feed me or pay the mortgage.  I am always behind on the things I want to accomplish online.  For fun and passion, I run what appears to be one of the biggest fairy tale resources on the web in the world.  Don't ask me how that happened.  And I have a hard time believing it, too, although people tell me this is true. Again, I do it all by myself although many of you share helpful links and news with me, thanks.

Anyway, now with the simplified ease of blogs and self-publishing and other endeavours, I am innundated with requests to post about or link to the work of other enthusiasts who are creating works out of passion, not for a living.  I wish I had time to evaluate and review it all.  I don't.  I don't have time to do all of my own work.  And when it comes to my work, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, excepting myself.  My personal interests and what I evaluate will best serve the largest audience gets the priority of my limited resources.  In other words, I have to focus my attention on the big projects of my own choosing instead of responding to every email.  I try, but I fail daily.  It's not a good feeling.  And no, I can't hire an assistant.  I can't even pay myself to do this. 

But I want to support creative endeavours as much as possible, including those that aren't professionally vetted and produced. We all start somewhere, right? And, yes, during the week, I focus on the professionally produced stuff because it has a larger audience and interest ratio.  Also, I trust it to have been vetted by others even if I haven't managed to do so myself yet.

So now I will post those emails from enthusiasts and indie and self-pub productions at least a few Saturdays a month to help clear out my inbox and support the dreams and hopes of others.  I won't be reviewing or evaluating.  I am not even promoting, per se.  I try to keep this blog as informational as possible although my world views slip in all the time.  I'm the monarch of this little realm so it's going to happen.

Now I need a catchy name for these posts, too.  "Saturday Email Box Clean-up" isn't very catchy. 

And if you have something you would like to promote that is your hobby, not really your profession, send it along. I make no promises, but if you provide good copy that I can cut and paste and a URL for images--I won't download and fill up my own limited space with your images--please feel free to email me.  It may takes several weeks for me to respond, but I will do my best.

Hint: If you sound professional and have good materials for me to use, I am much more likely to post your materials on SurLaLune. I don't require reciprocal links.  I don't need bribery either.   If it's usable and I don't have to think long about it, I am more likely to do the simple copy, paste and post.  I can't read it all.  I need blurbs, plain and simple.  Rule of thumb: If it takes me more than two minutes to evaluate your email and decide what to do with it, I put it aside and seldom return in a timely fashion.

Now does anyone have a catchy name for this SurLaLune blog feature? 

6 comments:

  1. That sounds like a brilliant idea, Heidi. And a good way of helping people out whilst retaining your sanity! How about something simple like Saturday Links as a title?

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  2. I'll suggest "The Cat's Cradle".

    Suggesting something feminine, and also nurturing (stories). And also the sense of something being woven, as a story, or as fate and destiny are woven.

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  3. How about something fairy tale-ish, like "basket of goodies," in reference to Little Red Riding Hood? I'll bet you ten to one that eating Grandma and Red weren't the only food items on the wolf's list! Who can resist cupcakes? ;)

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  4. Wilhelmina MargalisOctober 2, 2010 at 5:29 PM

    Ok I don't have a name but I have to say that you do an absolutely wonderful job at Sur La Lune. I love reading your blog and it's the first thing I do with my tea each morning. In many ways you have touched my life with fairy tales and I appreciate the magic. Just had to tell you that and it seemed the right time!

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  5. The Platter?

    On one hand, serving up the links, on the other hand 'licking the platter clean' as in cleaning out the inbox?

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  6. Hmm, no ideas for a name, but I will be emailing you in the future - I published a book of Russian fairy tales about a year ago ^-^

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