Thursday Round Up

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

I pay attention, so that you don’t have to.

This Is What A Mob Looks Like
Ann Coulter, Townhall.com
No one knows what the Wall Street protesters want — as is typical of mobs. They say they want Obama re-elected, but claim to hate “Wall Street.” You know, the same Wall Street that gave its largest campaign donation in history to Obama, who, in turn, bailed out the banks and made Goldman Sachs the fourth branch of government.

O’Reilly Crushes Atheist Richard Dawkins

FoxNews.com.
See the video>.

Steve Jobs: Only in America
The right-wing liberal
We’d like to think that Steve Jobs could only succeed here, but success stories circle the globe these days. However, I genuinely believe there is nowhere else on Earth where someone could fail as spectacularly as Jobs did and come back to be such a great success and pivotal person. Jobs “had it all,” lost it all, and earned it all back.

Some good advice here. Take the time to read it…

The Time We’re Losing
Chris Brogan
We are all in a hurry. We all have somewhere to go. And oddly, I think it’s because we are accidentally losing time all over the place.

So, Elizabeth Warren takes a cheap shot and somehow it’s Scott Brown’s fault?

Mass. Dems, EMILY’s List Slam Brown For ‘Thank God’ Joke About Warren

Talking Points Memo
Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is not directly attacking Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) for a joke he made this morning on a local talk show, in which he responded “Thank God” to her recent jibe that she “kept my clothes on” when she paid for college — a reference to his nude photo spread in Cosmopolitan in the early 1980s. However, other Democrats and Warren supporters are responding in her place.

‘scuse us for being inclined to agree with the good senator.

It’ll cost you $5 more to save at Costco
Consumer News
In yet another sign of the times, Costco is raising its annual membership fees by 10 percent on November 1. And while that’s only $5 to $10, depending on membership type, it’s a sizeable chunk of change when you consider Costco has more than 22 million members.

Born on this Day
1906 – Janet Gaynor, American actress (d. 1984)
1908 – Carole Lombard, American actress (d. 1942)
1973 – Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh actor

Do I Need a Niche Blog?

A few weeks ago, I pondered over why I was blogging anyway. As a writer to aspires to publish that great American novel, I concluded that I need a place on the web that I can call my own. But I keep having to ask myself if I should be putting so much effort into The Write Side of My Brain when my readership is small.

So, I wonder if I need a niche blog where I can focus on one particular topic or subject area and play to a targeted market. I’m getting my work out there. I just submitted my first article for review at Suite101. I’m building a portfolio as the Richmond Bible Examiner. While I’m no longer an active editor, I’ve still got an open door to snark about politics over at Bearing Drift. And I’m a regular contributor at Richmond Virginia Business, Eating in Richmond, and Very Best Sites. So, I certainly have enough to do.

But, do I need a focused blog? A blog where I can drive up traffic and make money?

The jury is still out.

Frankly, I can’t believe I’m even thinking of a new project with Nanowrimo just around the corner. At least for that I’ve got a plot. Actually two.

So, I need to give this some thought. The Write Side of My Brain is not going away. It just may have company.

Then there’s this:

The Importance of Building an Author Platform
via Publish Your Own Ebooks
If you don’t have an author platform then there is nobody anticipating or ready to buy your book and you are unlikely to sell many copies when your book is released. On the other hand if you already have a good author platform then you have an audience who is enthusiastic for your upcoming book.

I just have to make sure there’s something to see once people get to the platform.