I try to keep posts like this to a minimum so as not to fool haters into believing I’m following their antics or will change anything I do or say. Just a few of observations:
1) Blogging for over two years, I’ve learned a lot about obsessive human behavior: jealousy, envy, cyber-stalking, bad parody, the lure of online anonymity, just to name a few. I’ve been accused of self-hate, black-hate, woman-hate, Clinton-hate — the list is as long as it is ridiculous.
But the most ridiculous accusation is “excessive” self-promotion. Writers, performers, business people, companies — you name it — use web sites to promote themselves. That’s what a web site is for, and a blog is no different. After all, most people who blog aren’t being paid to blog. They do it for free, and readers have access to free content.
Why not use your blog to promote your non-blog writing, TV and radio appearances, and other activities? Plenty of bloggers worth reading promote themselves, but I’m the one who gets called out for it. You’d have to be a stone cold fool not to use a decently-trafficked site to sell a book, for example. In fact, I’m adding book promotion to my services list. I suspect that most of the complainers have no comprehension of how to run a business or make money from it, how business works, and how to use time and resources efficiently.
People who do little writing outside of blogging may not feel the need to promote themselves, but I do. I speak at blog conferences, workshops, and seminars, and this site is where I promote those things. I write op-eds, book reviews, and articles, and this site is where I promote those things. That’s what a web site is for.
Some bloggers choose to generate traffic by criticizing other bloggers and constantly complaining about what other bloggers do; I choose to generate traffic by providing good content, marketing myself, and my work. People who go into business for themselves have been doing it for millennia, and I’m no different. So far it’s paying the bills, and I consider myself blessed to have the opportunities.
2) The haters aren’t exactly stupid, though some come dangerously close. They know success when they see it. As my “enemies,” they may not openly acknowledge reading this blog several times a day, learning or benefiting from what I have to say, but they definitely do. Recently I discovered that a few “haters” incorporated some advice I gave about site design and traffic generating.
I give a lot of blogging advice via e-mail but choose not to do so on the blog for several reasons: a) I’m in the business of giving blogging advice; b) I don’t want people who claim not to like me to benefit from anything I’ve learned about blogging to make their own blogs better. Yes, it’s selfish human nature, and I am, admittedly, human.
3) And here is the irony. Some bloggers have asked for links, graciously benefited from my linkage, and even advertised on this site, and then turn tail and start complaining about the method I’ve used to gain popularity. Unbelievable. This has happened too many times to count, and such people fail to see the irony.
My site has grown popular for several reasons, but the most important one is my outspokenness. I like controversy, and I know controversy draws readers. I have the profile and readership because I blog the way I want to, and I’m not afraid of anyone. If other bloggers want to exploit that to bring new readers to their sites, that’s fine with me. Linking to other bloggers is what bloggers do. When I was relatively unknown, higher profile bloggers linked to me, and I do the same for others.
What I loathe, however, is when some of these same bloggers dare to criticize my blogging style after they get their links and readers, the same style they once exploited! The hypocrisy is maddening. I promote this blog, and for that I’m accused of excessive promotion and arrogance, but some of the same people running their mouths about it have requested links and benefited, directly or indirectly, from that promotion and “arrogance.”
I don’t set out to offend anyone, but telling the truth about them often does. The seething undercurrent of animosity toward me has a lot to do with my race, I suspect, and my faith and political affiliation, i.e., who I am. I saw how much white liberals resented my existence when black liberal bloggers gave them “permission” to hurl border-line racial epithets because they didn’t like a particular post. I’ve always known how condescending some white liberals can be, and the blogosphere has shown me how…pardon my liberal regression…how bigoted they can be.
And I get criticism from across the political spectrum. A few conservative bloggers have made it known, as if I solicited their opinion, that they don’t like the way I criticize Bush. A few conservative women bloggers didn’t like remarks I made about having a woman as president and reacted the same way they claim liberals do: take one statement or word out of context, harp on it, and create a big, irritatingly mindless blog swarm until the original meaning of the statement is lost. Some Catholic bloggers delinked me because of innocuous remarks I’d made about the late pope, and so on, and so on.
What’s troubling about such criticism is that it came from people who LOVED me until I blogged about one thing they disagreed with.
That’s out of my system now. If this post doesn’t make sense to you, don’t worry about it. I’ve allowed myself no more than two nonsensical rants a year. 
Warning: Shameless self-promotion below!
I’m preparing for tomorrow night’s Crash Course on Blogging seminar. “Walk-ins” are welcome. 
Addendum: For some reason, I’m reminded of one of my favorite monologues from A Few Good Men. If I may be so bold:
JESSEP
You want answers?KAFFEE
I think I’m entitled to them.JESSEP
You want answers?!KAFFEE
I want the truth.JESSEP
You can’t handle the truth!JESSEP
Son, we live in a world that has walls.
And those walls have to be guarded by men
with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You,
Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater
responsibility than you can possibly
fathom. You weep for Santiago and you
curse the marines. You have that luxury.
You have the luxury of not knowing what I
know: That Santiago’s death, while tragic,
probably saved lives. And my existence,
while grotesque and incomprehensible to
you, saves lives.You don’t want the truth. Because deep
down, in places you don’t talk about at
parties, you want me on that wall. You need me
on that wall.We use words like honor, code,
loyalty…we use these words as the
backbone to a life spent defending
something. You use ‘em as a punchline.I have neither the time nor the
inclination to explain myself to a man who
rises and sleeps under the blanket of the
very freedom I provide, then questions the
manner in which I provide it. I’d prefer
you just said thank you and went on your
way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a
weapon and stand a post. Either way, I
don’t give a damn what you think you’re
entitled to. (Emphasis added)
Love it.
