Kind readers have contacted me of late asking if I'm perhaps a bit overworked, as the analysis and timeliness of this site has suffered in recent months. Is it the new company or preparations for Web 2.0? The fact that the book is pretty much finished? Summer doldrums? Or perhaps a case of blog burnout? Truth is, it's most of that, plus a bit more (save the burnout part - I have never not wanted to work on this site). First off, let me apologize for the shorter posts, and the paucity of analysis of late. While I didn't plan on it, Searchblog turned from a way to communicate with a few hundred folks about a book I was authoring to a nearly full time job. Trouble was, I already have a few other full time (or nearly so) jobs, including Web 2.0 and the new company I am now starting. It's real work to write a good site, even when you have the support of an entire community. It needs at least a few hours a day, if not more. Just responding to the
PR requests, along with doing original reporting, can take up to half a day. When you can't give your site that kind of time, it's immediately evident. Many authors I've spoken with - in particular those who author sites in their "free time" and have a day job - are feeling pushed to the limits, and are searching for a way to do what they love full time. This is why I'm starting FM - to provide what I hope will be an infrastructure and support system that will allow our authors to make a real living doing what they do best. Unfortunately, to start FM and get Web 2.0 pulled together, and not...
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