What’s Shakin?

(Salem Willows Pier, May 2011) Random update post = random pic. I’ve been fishing a bunch lately.

Figured I was overdue for a “What’s going on in my life” post. If you’re reading my blog in something other than a reader, you may have noticed I’ve gone a bit… design crazy. I posted a new header a month or so ago, I’ve been tweaking the background color, and oh, huh, look at that: ads and paid ad space. Right, so… about that. Rather than just making all these changes and hoping no one will notice, I figured it was time to come clean about all the changes happening around here.

So let’s see, where to begin? I’ve been participating in The SITS Girls 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. We’re on day 11 today. So, between now and when this challenge ends sometime mid-July, I’m sure there will be other little tweaks and changes along the way. I’ll also be experimenting with post types and content, just to see how I can play with things here a little bit. Whether it’s the occasional list post or dabbling in a bit of creative non-fiction, it’s the summer. I want to keep things interesting here and spruce up my blog overall.

Right, so the other big thing: ads. Yes, you too can purchase ad space on my blog. You may notice it falls under the creative “Baby Fund” heading. I’m telling it like it is folks: babies ain’t cheap and makin’ babies with donor eggs ain’t any cheaper. Honestly? Every little bit helps. I’m also signing up for Affiliate programs that are a good fit for my blog. I’ve been running BlogHer Ads for a while now and have been an Amazon Affiliate for ages. I’ve only recently begun pumping up the Amazon Affiliate profile a little bit. In full disclosure, I’m an affiliate for Circle+Bloom and AttainFertility. And yes, I’m looking to add more and to do so in a way that’s a) clear to you as readers and b) not intrusive beyond the sidebar. I realize ads might turn some of you off. If it does, please be honest and lay it on me (in a comment or an email is fine). Your readership is important to me, so if ads are going to send folks away screaming, I want to hear about it.

Let’s see, what else… Remember when Blogger died last month? And I was like, hell no I’m not losing two  years’ worth of writing? Yeah, about that. I’m moving to self-hosted WordPress sometime this summer. Tentative launch will be August 1st. The big thing you can do to help me? Make sure your bookmarks and reader feeds point to www.theinfertilityvoice.com and not my blogspot URL. That will make the transition easier so you don’t lose me in the move.

Other random things…

• Updated my Resources page. Needed some serious updating and dusting off.
• Sorted my Blogroll into five categories. I did this for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one being I didn’t want any of you to click over to a BFP blog and not know about it and then be totally blindsided. It happened to me a bunch so it was time to clean up my list so it’s clear to everyone.
• Infertility Blogs: General blogs that didn’t fit into my other categories
• TTC Blogs: Folks actively working on makin’ babies, typically through some kind of treatment
• BFP Blogs: Mazel tov ladies on your impending arrivals!
• Adoption Blogs: Folks who are all about adoption or are in the homestudy/waiting process
• Parenting After IF Blogs: Folks who may or may not still be dealing with IF but who already have children and thus may have posts or pics that mention their children
• I accidentally spilled the beans and stupidly posted on Twitter that I’m working on a book. JJiraffe has only helped amplify my super secret news 😉 For all intents and purposes, let’s just stick to the rumor that it’s trashy vampire horror/smut and when I’m ready to reveal, it’ll be that much cooler.
• Linking up to some neat infertility-inspired writing groups online. The first is JJiraffe’s Pomegranate Society. Basically it’s a small writers’ workshop where we pair up with other writers with the intent to get our asses in gear about getting our stuff published. The second is Mel’s Prompt-ly group. This is more focused on keeping the inspiration juices flowing, to keep our blog content fresh, and to provide support and share resources. It’s already awesome.
• Twitterview with RESOLVE and blogger Alec Ross of I Want to Be a Daddy for a Fathers’ Day Twitter Chat this Friday at 2pm EST. I’ll be jumping in and retweeting as it goes on. You can follow the dicussion at #tvFD – best way to follow it is through TweetChat.
• The Hope Award for Best Book nominations are now open!  Head over to the fabulous Ladies in Waiting Book Club to cast your nominations. Nominations will be accepted until this Friday, June 17th so go swing by and vote for the nominations listed or add your own. It looks like it’s going to be a tight race whoever the Top 5 are, so get your nominations in now!
• Random: I can’t stop listening to Beats Antique. Bellydance music has been blasting out of my car anytime I drive. 

So there you have it. Bunches of random things happening around here and little tweaks along the way. Mostly, I’m hoping it’s for the better but if you see something and you’re like, “Gosh Keiko, what the hell is with all the pink? I mean seriously – is this an infertility blog or Pretty Pretty Princess Land?” please let me know. You can leave me a comment or shoot me an email. Or hound me on Twitter – I’m all over the place.

Ultimately, here’s the thing: I’m making changes because I want to make this a better blog experience for everyone – not just for myself, but for you. So if you don’t like something I’ve done around here, I want to hear about it. I can take it 🙂

And if you love something, well, I want to hear about that too.