Game 20: #6 Seed Crime Fiction Dossier Versus #7 Seed The Writing Journey
April 20, 2008 by John Hewitt
The Matchup
Both blogs scored upset victories in the first round. Crime Fiction Dossier came in as a #6 seed and won its match based on its firm knowledge of a unique niche. Seventh-seeded The Writing Journey had the high score of the first round thanks to a feature-laden interface and a personal writing style. For one of these two Cinderella teams, the clock is about to strike midnight.
Community
Crime Fiction Dossier
The popularity of a blog does not always determine the size of quality of its community and CFD is an excellent example of that. Based on the last 10 posts, the community at CFD is not only thriving, it is composed of many published authors with interesting thoughts to add to the conversation. CFD averages about 14 comments per post, and even that relatively high number is slightly misleading because the more substantive articles get almost all of the comments. More importantly though, the comments are informative and add to the value of the posts. This is a community in which the people have opinions to express and information to back up their opinions.
Result: CFD nails a three-point shot.
The Writing Journey
Based on the last 10 posts, it appears that TWJ has a relatively small community. There are about five comments per post, and while many of them are supportive, the number of comments that really add to your knowledge of a subject is relatively low. Blogger Bob Younce works hard at building his community, and I believe it will grow as the blog continues (it is only three months old).
Result: TWJ scores a point from the free-throw line.
CFD jumps out to a 3-1 lead.
Value
Crime Fiction Dossier
The blog’s author, book reviewer David J. Montgomery, writes with authority on the subject of crime fiction. His topics are always about writing and books. As a book reviewer, Montgomery has a unique insight into that works and what does not work when it comes to books, book marketing and publishing. The value of his blog is increased by the excellent comments that his community adds to his posts.
Result: CFD keeps its toes behind the line as it sinks another three point shot - nothing but net.
The Writing Journey
Younce has spent the past few years as a freelance blogger for other people’s sites. His recent series on Food blogging has been an excellent investigation into a largely unexplored writing niche. I like that Younce is willing to go in-depth into such specific topics. I was disappointed to see the relatively low community reaction to the more substantive articles.
Result: TWJ hits a two-point shot from ten feet out.
CFD extends its lead to 6-3.
Top Commented Article #1
Crime Fiction Dossier
Montgomery answers a commenter’s question regarding the reason you see so few negative book reviews. Montgomery gives a detailed answer. One of the key reasons is that most reviewers won’t bother to finish reading a book that looks bad from the beginning. They have so many books to review that they simply quit reading that book and start another book. He also points out that newspapers have limited space for book reviews, so it doesn’t make sense to fill it with books that you would not recommend. The community goes on to address the issue at length.
Result: CFD knocks back another three-pointer.
The Writing Journey
Men with Pens, the Drive-By, and Blog Banners
They say the act of observing something alters the thing you are observing. The Writing Journey has spent a lot of time being observed lately. Between my Writing Blog Madness and Men With Pens’ Drive By Younce has spent a lot of time under the spotlight. This post discusses the criticism both I and MWPs gave to the sites banner. Younce asks for feedback on a new banner and he gets it. More people responded to this than to any of his content posts. People love to give advice. Unfortunately, the writing aspect of the story is minimal.
Result: TWJ scores a point from the free throw line.
CFD starts to pull away 9-5.
Top Commented Article #2
Crime Fiction Dossier
Are writers conferences worth the money?
Montgomery goes through the benefits and costs of attending a writers conference. He addresses it from the perspective of someone with a book to sell, concluding that it probably won’t pay for itself financially, but that there are other benefits such as friendship, networking and business knowledge. The commenters offer their own assessment of the benefits, and get into a conversation about the relative sameness of the individual conferences. Most commenters agree that relationships are the biggest benefit.
Result: Another three-point shot for CFD.
The Writing Journey
How To Write the Best Damn Food Blog on the Internet
What I like about this topic is that Younce is addressing an area of writing that is new, legitimate, and not getting a lot of coverage. In later articles, Younce goes on to give more details about writing food blogs, but this one is really more of a warm up. He spends most of the time telling you about the skills he doesn’t have (cooking, graphic arts) and saying that those things don’t matter. As for what does matter, he gets to those in later, less commented postings. The community is enthusiastic, but there isn’t much for them to discuss yet.
Result: TWJ hits a short jumper for two.
CFD runs the score up to 12-7.
Top Commented Article #3
Crime Fiction Dossier
Montgomery lists his literary heroes. The community contributes lists of their own heroes. It isn’t a deep article, but it is interesting to see what writers different people idolize.
Result: CFD sinks a jumper from near the top of the key. Two points.
The Writing Journey
I don’t normally do this. Really.
Younce directs people to a Seth Godin article on blogging. The commenters either love Seth or criticize Younce for sending them elsewhere.
Result: TWJ rattle in a two-point shot.
CFD wins it with a final score of 14-9.
Post Game Analysis
Both the content and the community at Crime Fiction Dossier are excellent. The site may have a smaller audience than many of the other blogs in the competition, but the community is made up of published authors who are happy to share information. The Writing Journey is an up and coming blog, but is still relatively new. I believe its community will build as the site grows and establishes its focus.
Well, John, it was a good run… like I said, I was thrilled to make it to round 2.
Can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Like John said, I’m new. On top of that, I’ve noticed, in general, food blogs don’t tend to have much of a sense of community in general. Most comments are along the lines of “that looks great, mmmmm!” or “How do you get the consistency of the sauce right?” I knew that going into the series, and suspected my comments would drop. Didn’t know they’d drop so far, though!
I actually thought about postponing the series once the criteria for round 2 were announced. I’d already included a teaser at that point, and decided it would be silly of me to do.
So, was the series a success? I think it still was. I gained 50 feed subscribers in the 7 days from when I started the series until last Friday.
(Incidentally, I gained more e-mail feed subscribers, proportionately, than any other time. I’m not sure if that says more about food bloggers or about RSS. I’ll let you all make those conclusions.)
At any rate, I’d have called this game the same, I believe.
Good luck to the remaining sites
Now… next year… that will be a different story.
I like Bob. I like Bob’s blog. I have a feeling he’ll be here for a while. He’s only recently come on the radar, as you mentioned, but I think he’s got something to offer. Good fight, Bob. Next year, you’ll crunch ‘em
I agree James. If I’m willing to put myself through this again next year, I expect TWJ to do very well.
Hi Bob,
I did feel as if your comments had dropped a little, but I had to stick to the past 10 articles. I think the Food series is excellent.
Thanks, John, for your comment on the food blog series. To be sure, I’m not sure my comments dropped significantly enough to make the difference - only 4 of those 10 posts were from the series. Still, it might have been a closer match at least.
I know I’ve said it before, but I absolutely have loved this series. It’s a lot of time and commitment on your part, and I’m thoroughly impressed.