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More integration with current trends Larry Send a noteboard - 09/09/2009 03:24:40 AM
By that, I think a three-prong approach can serve to spike traffic here. First, the old OF Reviews section would need to be revised in some form. I don't think it'd be a good idea to ask the old contributors to participate (my reviews either go on the OF Blog or on sites that pay me for my reviews, and it may be the same with kcf and his reviews that he posts on Neth Space and perhaps elsewhere as well), but I think if such a section were to be established with a purpose in mind, it could lead to all sorts of possibilities.

I don't think any and all reviews posted here should go in such a hypothetical situation. Hate to say it, but some people's "reviews" will not be of great reading value, so there'd have to be some sort of editorial control. Also, the reviews can tie into the second prong, that of establishing ties with the publishing industry. The model I'd follow is the one that BSC Review and Strange Horizons established several years ago, where there'd be a central depot for review copies sent by the publishers for distribution to core reviewers. The reviewers then would get dibs on which kinds of books they wanted to cover (say 1-2 books a month per reviewer, and say 5-10 reviewers) and the person in charge of mailing out the review copies (probably best to have a US and a UK-based one) would send them out and then receive and proof the reviews the reviewers would submit over the next 1-2 months. This way, there could quickly become a database of dozens, if not hundreds, of reviews within a year.

But increased content such as these proposed reviews (and presumably, occasional interviews) would do little if there weren't ways for non-regulars to become aware of them. For that, I'd suggest the creation of an RAFO Facebook, Twitter, and RSS Feed system, where links to these would quickly become available to those who sign up. I know from personal experience that over half of the OF Blog's traffic is through RSS and Facebook feeds (I've yet to explore Twitter, since I prefer longer comments than 140 characters) and I suspect a mixture of these three mass media tools can quickly drive and sustain traffic. I've seen it work for several sites (including the OF Blog) and I believe it'd be the best way to expand services around here.

Of course, this involves more dedication and work than the 5-10 minute specials, so the implementation would have to depend on how serious the people here are about walking the walk about making this site better than what wotmania was in its last three years.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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