Unanswered Posts

New people on the forum add richness to the discussions. Many unanswered posts are from newcomers. SLB has some excellent posts that reference his blogs. He has quite an interesting background and has posted 33 times.

There are others, also. You might want to take a look at the new people on unanswered posts and give a response. I remember when I first starting posting at PAMB and nobody responded; I felt like grade school where no one picked me for the team because I was afraid of the ball.

Anyway, just a thought. I just finished reading SLB's post that leads to a blog about edits. It was quite informative.

I know it used to irritate me when people would just drop off their advertisements and not contribute anything; however, for some, that just might be their starting point. If we don't answer their posts, we may miss out on some great forum members. Just a thought...

Dear Dk,
You are right. It is not just about having a voice on this message board. It is about listening to voices.

Love,
Betty

There is irony in your post, DK. Not yours, I might add. Members have complained in the past about the lack of discussions pertaining to writing and publishing. The boards are there for discussion but members do not use them. It has even been suggested that they should be removed and added to the more active boards, which would, inevitably, be the death of them.

Another point that you have made more than once, the discussions on these inactive boards are picked up by search engines and provide useful information for visitors to the forum. The more active these discussions are, the more attention they receive.

You been told various times why they're not used. Instead of acknowledging it, you give reasons why we should use them anyhow.

I don't even see SLB's posts. I'm sure if I clicked on every one of the many boards here I'd see them. I'm not going to do that. Clearly few others will, too.

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

You should have gone to Specsavers, LC:

http://www.publishedauthors.org/f33-writers-blogs

Ah, the Writers Blogs area. I admit I don't click on endless self-promoting blogs and interviews. Maybe one or two. Not twelve, fifteen.

Going to the home page and clicking on "unanswered posts" will open a whole world of posts from which to choose. You'll find the people there who are just trying out the forum. I once thought like you that they were just advertising; then I realized that may be the first step to saying "hello." I have seen that when I post a response, the person adds to their posts.

Additionally, we all advertise here in one way or another. It's a place to be proud of accomplishments, share trials and tribulations, seek common ground or look for a good debate to sharpen the wits. When Google picks up a post and carries it to the Internet, we are advertising "something" whether that was our intention.

Those of us who have been posting for some time to this and other forums with each other may be "offputting" to a stranger who missed the first 1000 posts while the rapport was established.

It's all a matter of whether we seek the enrichment of other people. They do post on this forum; many of us just don't respond. That's certainly a matter of choice. I found by responding that I happened on some excellent blogs and interesting new authors and their books.

LC what in heavens name is wrong with self promotion?
Every writer at some stage has to promote themselves.

I'm guilty of not responding to all newcomers. If they are allowed to make a post, they deserve some response.
I do not read all posts, even those by current members. It's usually a question of time and/or subject matter. I believe that we all desire some feedback to what we say. No feedback, as in "Unanswered Posts" is not good.