So, is the world really heating up? Common sense says no. We’re just experiencing a warm cycle after a few hundred years of cold – nothing more, nothing less.
Greenpeace co-founder: No scientific proof humans are dominant cause of warming climate | Fox News.
Like most people, I’ll try anything once. Talking with Chris, the storyreading ape a few days back, he enthused as only he can, (bless his heart) when I asked him about why he uses hashtags on so many of his blog posts. So, following his advice I decided to try it for myself. According to him they are totally necessary when your blog posts appear on sites like Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin, to induce people to read them – and here was me thinking it was the post’s title and content.
Well, I have used them twice now. Not just in conjunction with the three aforementioned sites, but also on Facebook, Pinterest and Stumbleupon. In each case I saw no appreciable increase in views. In fact they remained exactly the same as always.
So why do people bother with the hashtag symbol for number (#), using it in a way that was never intended in the first place? If the whole idea is to make your posts known to a wider audience, by adding hashtags in front of key words, why is it that they simply don’t appear to do the job?
There is a lot of advice on how to use them, such as this from Twitter. Despite following their advice as well as from Chris, nothing happened, advantageous or otherwise.
One thing I did note in Twitter’s case, they quite clearly state in their extremely helpful ‘how to’ page that the hashtag comes into its own when used with tweets that are trending, such as breaking news items, or those featuring the latest antics of a celebrity, airhead, moron – idiot. If that’s the case what chance do ninety-nine point nine percent of most bloggers have with getting their posts noticed by using hashtags?
The phrase – not a cat in hell’s chance, immediately springs to mind.
Like I said in the beginning, I’ll try anything once. Will I continue using the humble hashtag in this particular way? I don’t think so. I’ll just use it as it was originally intended, to indicate a number. Perhaps when someone scientifically proves that using it increases views for posts in the way Chris and some others believe, I may reconsider. But until then, as far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out. In the meantime I’ll go back to relying on the hashtag free content of my blog posts to sell themselves on their own merits to everyone out there in internet land.
Sorry #Chris. I did give it a try – #honest I did.
# ;)
To all writers – I strongly urge every one of you to read this article by Derek Haines. None of us can afford not too.
An Essential List Every Author Should Read | Just Publishing.
Well, I’ve blown apart the old adage about everyone having at least one book in them. When I am ready to publish The Guardian, it will bring the total to nine. Not bad for someone who was totally dismissed out of hand by one or two mainstream publishers a few years ago.
It all started with Turning Point back in 1995. Next came Onet’s Tale, which follows on from Turning Point. Onet’s Tale was the first of my books to be published. While it still shows up along with my others on Amazon, sadly it is no longer available. Next came The Adventures of Ursus the Bear, an illustrated book for tiny tots, which I wrote the stories for. After waiting since 2012, it has finally appeared (for the moment, only in paperback). Next was The Seventh Age, immediately follow by The Forgotten Age and The Next Age. Then came my one and only fantasy anthology Goblin Tales. Last year I branched out somewhat with Cataclysm. Why do I say branched out? Because its beautiful heroine, Arianna, is a shemale.
To go directly to the book you want on Amazon.com, just click on its cover above.
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For the rest of the world, if any of the titles take your fancy you can find them here, depending on where you live:
If you live in the UK, you can find his books here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Eason/e/B003MEA7AY/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1403637845&sr=1-2-ent
If you live in the Netherlands, you can find his books here:
If you live in Germany, you can find his books here:
If you live in France, you can find his books here:
If you live in Spain, you can find his books here:
If you live in Italy, you can find his books here:
If you live in Japan, you can find his books here:
If you live in India, you can find his books here:
http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Jack+Eason
If you live in Canada, you can find his books here:
If you live in Brazil, you can find his books here:
If you live in Mexico, you can find his books here:
If you live in Australia, you can find his books here:
You can also find links to my books on AuthorsDen
More from our Ali :)
For this week’s Monday Mythology, I have decided to give you a sneak peak into the opening of the third and final book of my Tir na Nog Trilogy, working title Conor Kelly and The Three Waves of Eirean.
This (unedited) extract is my telling of what happened after the Tuatha de Denann were defeated by the Milesians at the battle of Tailten, and were forced by trickery to retreat into their hollow hills. Although they still interacted with the mortal world well into Fionn mac Cumhall’s time (c C3rd AD), their time as Ireland’s rulers and Gods was over. For them, this was the beginning of the end, and the slippery slope of their decline into legend as the Sidhe.
Prologue – Denann’s Doom
four thousand years ago…
It was a wretched day. In the dark, blue-grey sky above, a shrieking wind tore water-sodden clouds apart, limb from limb…
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