Why Do You Do This?

Here’s another “Blast from the Past” as I revise and update a post I made almost three years ago. Have things changed since the? Well yes, but essentially, no.

The Short Answer

Questioner: Why do you do this? Why spend years and the bulk of your free time working on this massive website?

I do it because I love the horror genre.

Questioner: C’mon, I like horror too but you don’t see me spending several years and hundreds of man-hours making and coding book lists and revising a website 3 or 4 times. Why do you really do this?

Insanity. It’s the effect of brain rot due to my undead status.

Questioner: Hmmmm . . . well that does seem more likely . . .

Are You Nuts?

If you’re like me and the answer I do it because I love the horror genre really doesn’t work for you, then maybe what we need to do is to examine what it is you’re really asking.

I became aware of this when I first encountered a website that I really liked. It had a lot of useful information. For free. I needed to know what the webmaster got out of it. There was no monetary transaction, no promotion, nothing that I could see to motivate him or her to do good work and keep doing it tomorrow and the day after.

The website was Chris Pearson’s Pearsonified and he was offering powerful tips on web optimization and three free WordPress themes. His blog was devoid of advertisement and he wasn’t selling me anything. But I kept stumbling on the question “What’s in it for him.”

I was surprised by how important this became to me. I liked what I read. I really wanted to trust, and therefore act upon, the information he gave.

But I needed to know what motivated this guy before I could trust him.

Between his About page and some items in his blog, I soon learned that he has paying jobs. Pearsonified is his passion, a place where he can share (and keep sharing — he’s been at this for years) what he’s learned.

Now I trust him.

Want proof? Take a look, down at the bottom of this page — I’m using his Thesis theme tricked out with his ideas on web optimization to make my website noticed by Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, and you, gentle reader.

Can I Trust You?

This website started as a series of book lists on the horror genre for ReadThisNow, a readers’ advisory feature of Cleveland Public Library’s KnowItNow 24/7.

When they discontinued that feature, I was given permission to take my lists and use them as I saw fit. Thus was born the first incarnation of . . . With Intent to Commit Horror. I’ve been at it ever since.

Believe me, I’m not done. I’m just getting started.

Although I have a few affiliate partnerships, I haven’t made much money off of this website. In 2008 I made enough to pay the annual fee for my website’s URL. In 2009 I made just enough to cover the URL and the webserver hosting fees.

However, I’m not doing this for the money.

I’m doing this for the story. I love horror. I love to read horror and listen to horror on audio books. I want more stories.

What I am trying to do here is to put books into the hands of people who would love to read horror but don’t know who to read. Matching up the reader to the author is important to me.

And hopefully, down the road, this may lead to increased sales for the author which would lead to increased demand, greater advances, and better royalties. The more money a horror writer makes, the more time he or she can devote to writing.

This is simplistic – very simplistic. But it gets across the basic motivation. I do this because ultimately, I hope some of my favorite authors will be able to give up their day jobs and turn full time to writing.

In the meantime, I keep chanting the mantra “more stories more stories more stories.”

So, tell me, do you feel that trust level rising? Will you join me in supporting your favorite horror authors by buying their books?

Say it with me, “more horror, more horror, more horror!” and let me know what you think in the comments.

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