Reader Meet Author Turns 3… And a Page
July 4, 2007
For those of us living in the United States, today marks an important milestone in our history: Independence Day. Yes… today is the day that our Founding Fathers officially declared their intentions to separate from the British Crown and establish what would become The United States of America. More than 200 years later and we’re still going strong on this side of the pond.
Today also marks a milestone in my own personal history: Reader Meet Author anniversary day. Yes… today is that day that RMA’s founding father (me) officially declared his intentions to ramble on endlessly about things in a small corner of the web and establish what would become Reader Meet Author. Three years later and I’m still going strong in my little space.
A Brief Timeline of RMA’s Evolution
- July 2004: Reader Meet Author started on Blogger [Visit]
- November 2005: Moved RMA to WordPress.com [Visit]
- July 2006: Set up stand-alone RMA at readermeetauthor.com
- Previous anniversary posts: 1 Year | 2 Year
A Few RMA Stats
So here’s what three years of blogging has created:
- 290 posts (not counting about 20 that have never been published… and never will be)
- 833 comments (not counting a hundred or so that were left behind at the other two versions of RMA at Blogger and WordPress.com)
- 120 visitors per day (not much, I know)
- A small but engaging community of regular commenters and contributors
- 8 blog meltdowns (instances in which I broke RMA and made it unusable)
- 12 theme changes
- Over 30 plugin installations (and about 24 plugin uninstallations)
- 2 hosting changes
- 1 personal blog-related meltdown in which I was on the verge of tears because I thought I had lost the whole thing (backups rock, by the way)
The Future of RMA
I’m going to be totally candid here. I’ve changed the “direction” of RMA a number of times already. At first it was mostly a personal blog. Then it turned into a bitch session. Then it turned into a springboard-style look at human nature. When I started working at the hospital it became an extension of what was going on up there.
And now… I have no idea.
Part of me wants to be able to drill down into some niche to define RMA by. I don’t know… but I just don’t like the sound of “personal blog”. Images of ‘what I ate for dinner’ and ‘my girl/boyfriend just said the funniest thing’ style blogs pop into my mind and I really don’t think RMA fits into that community of sites.
There are things that I’ve considered posting about but later talked myself out of because it didn’t “fit” with the theme of Reader Meet Author. As Mandy is fond of pointing out to me, I never used to give a crap about that kinda thing in the past. I guess as time has gone on I’ve convinced myself that a focus-less blog is like a focus-less person: wandering… rambling… without purpose… undefinable.
For weeks I’ve been trying to nail something down… some kind of label to put on RMA. Maybe it’s because the blog I write at work is very focused and niche-specific. Maybe it’s just my nature to categorize and label things. That’s probably why I’ve held off posting things that would have been included in the past. And when I have “strayed”, I’ve tried to put a “RMA-ish spin” on the topics.
Whatever the reason… I’m done with the labels.
Reader Meet Author is the personal blog of Derick Phillips. It’s more than you ever wanted to know about me. It’s my opinions on the world around me. It’s what’s going on in my life. And it’s everything else that you’ve come to expect. I’ll still be writing about “Human nature, interaction, society, relationships & the things that make people tick” (as my current tagline reads). But I’ll also be writing about stepping on slugs, putting my foot in my mouth, breaking my back, and the more personal aspects of my life.
No tie-ins… no spinning… just blogging. I’m going back to the basics here and re-establishing what I originally set out to do with this site.
So today I’m not only celebrating my country’s independence from tyrannical rule… but I’m also celebrating my blog’s independence from self-imposed tyrannical labeling.
Happy Birthday, America! And Happy Birthday, Reader Meet Author… welcome back!
Posted in Blog Related, Personal
July 4th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Happy 3rd Birthday, RMA!!
I’m VERY glad to hear you’re back to your usual self again - I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring!
July 6th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Thanks, thanks :) You’ve always been my biggest fan and I really appreciate it. If it wasn’t for you I’m sure I’d probably still be trying to neatly classify myself into a niche.
And that ain’t much fun…
July 6th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I’m definitely your biggest fan - and I’d be willing to challenge anyone who says otherwise to a very dramatic thumb war.
To quote one of my favorite movies (because it’s all about me), RMA definitely cannot be “programmed, categorized, or easily referenced.”
July 7th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Can I be your second biggest fan?
“It’s my opinions on the world around me. It’s what’s going on in my life.”
That’s the main reason why we readers come here to read your blog. It’s just like finding a friend who has the same interest. If we were just looking for general information, then we could just simply Google the internet. Why come here, right? We like to hear what you like to say about the world. A little bit of your private life gives us a closer feeling to you, the author. In other words, you’re not just a name on a blog. And you bring up awesome topics.
“I’m going back to the basics here and re-establishing what I originally set out to do with this site.”
This blog is yours. This is your venting station. Why complicate it more? I’m with you 100%.
Happy Birthday, RMA! :) (Oops! Missed it.)
July 11th, 2007 at 7:50 am
@Mandy: Thanks, again… and that quote… showin’ your nerd side again ;) But luckily I doubt many people know what it’s from :P
@MY: Thanks for all of your input and commentary. I especially enjoy revisiting older posts that you’ve stumbled upon. I haven’t looked at some of those in years (literally) and I like going back to see what’s changed, what’s the same, etc. You’ve added a lot of great perspectives to the conversation and I really appreciate it!