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Monday, December 10, 2012

Moristotle needs your help

The editors of Moristotle are always thinking of ways to expand our readership and encourage readers to add their comments. We've had many ideas. For example, featuring regular columns that we think will attract readers, and sharing post links on Facebook and Google+.
    We realized that the best ideas would likely come from you, our readers. So please help us make Moristotle more robust than ever. Please offer your ideas as comments to this post.
    Thank you! We very much appreciate your support.
    When you comment, be sure to click the "Subscribe by email" option to be notified of ideas submitted by other readers.

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16 comments:

  1. Hello Morris!
    At the desert house for the next 9 days with dad, then we are heading to Tulare for Christmas and staying January before returning dad to the desert for a month while I escape to check on properties up North.
    M

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  2. Are you looking to increase the number of visitors and or comments?

    I guess the question is, what readership do you want to attract? Folks that have the same political beliefs? Same religious (or not) leanings. Folks to engage in discussions? Etc. Do you want this to be a serious blog, a fun blog or a combination of both? Food for thought.


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    1. Steve, speaking only for myself, I am not looking for affirmation from others - just feedback, positive or negative. I say that as a professional writer for 30-plus years who still gives great credence to the old school freelancer adage "he (or she) who writes for free is a fool." My contributions to Moristotle are my only breaking of that rule and I write here for camaraderie, to test new topics and styles, and to learn from the comments of others. Therefore my interest is in increased comments from anyone, assuming they are hopefully thoughtful and share some knowledge and well thought out opinions. If he who writes for free could be considered a fool, he who writes for free without viable feedback could be considered an idiot, and I hope to avoid that label.

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    2. I like to think of Moristotle as a blog built on the New Yorker magazine model. We've got politics, we've got movie reviews, we've got art (poetry and photography), we've got profiles (interviews), we've got topical commentary (Fish for Friday), and going beyond the New Yorker, we touch on religious questions. I'd like to know if readers enjoy this model and how they'd like to see it evolve.

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    3. The New Yorker model even inspired me to propose simply listing as our masthead tag the core areas that we cover here. But it wasn't/isn't very sexy.

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  3. I like the mix of topics on this blog. There's a little of everything. However, it would be nice if you added book reviews to the mix. Perhaps you could throw one in every third or fourth Sunday in place of a movie review. The title of the regular Sunday column could be "Reviews on Sunday," or something like that.

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    1. Thanks for liking our current mix and advocating for something that we've included from time to time, if not regularly or in a scheduled column (which we've had only fairly recently). The following will get you all Moristotle posts with the label "book review": http://moristotle.blogspot.com/search/label/book%20review.

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    2. Allie, I've decided to broaden the scope of our Sunday column to include book reviews, and even possibly reviews of other literary and performing arts, and I hope soon to have a new staff member to help me see over it. I'm going with "Sunday Review" for column title and plan to implement this today or before the weekend is over. Thanks for the suggestion. We appreciate thoughtful comments.

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    3. Done. I added a new label to all of the original items in the column. Now, when the column link in the sidebar is clicked, the label searched on is "Sunday Review." All new items will have the new label, and the "Always on Sunday" label has been retired (although it still works to find the original items).

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  4. hmmm, dont always want to READ...i notice the pic of the doggies...looks very cute, maybe i should throw you a nude drawing every week or so :-) NOte to Ken M...Moristotle featured more art than poetry and photos..harrumph! xxx

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    1. Susie, thanks for the reminder. SO TRUE. Did you notice in the sidebar that we'll have a new monthly column starting on January 7: "First Monday with Characters"? We'll be updating our readers on various "characters" who have appeared on Moristotle. I'd personally love to include YOU in the list of characters. Your monthly update for the column could be your latest drawing or painting! Are you game? Please say you are! (Then send me via email the painting or drawing to include on January 7.)

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  5. Did anyone following this discussion notice that yesterday we changed the tag line on the masthead?

    Lively views on topics that touch everyone

        We strive for both lively thinking and lively expression, for the provocation and delight of observant minds.

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  6. Another change to the masthead. About twenty minutes ago, "Moristotle" was revised to "Moristotle & Co." I am proud to recognize by the "Co." the contribution of the blog's contributing editors and guest columnists, who have added so very much to our endeavor. I am grateful.

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  7. And yet another change: last night I added a new contributing editor to the staff: Jonathan Price, a retired English professor, has taught courses in American literature and contemporary film both in California and abroad, including Portugal, Thailand, and Italy, and is currently working on a memoir of his two Fulbright fellowships abroad. [as his blurb in the sidebar says] He'll be contributing both reviews and articles.

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