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Supporting Ralan.com
Monday, 20 September 2010 14:01September Is Almost 3/4 Done
If you're a SF/F/H writer, you may very well either use or need to use the excellent online resource Ralan.com for timely information about markets, guidelines and deadlines. About once a year Ralan gets around to passing the hat to help defray the cost of running the system. I'm not only a user, but I've contributed Tips to the database a number of times and I've had some very nice email exchanges with Ralan, who is pretty dedicated to keeping things current.
Whenever I need to do something and nothing comes to mind, Ralan's is one of the places I've got to check to see what's new. I knew September was his fundraising month, but I noted that only "60 out of 7,000+ visitors have donated".
Now I know that not everyone has the wherewithal to donate to every cause and thing out there. And if your web business model is to expect a 98% donation rate to an otherwise free web service, you are going to be in for a surprise. But 60/7000 is 0.86%. Surely there are more than 60 English speaking/writing SF/F/H people on the entire planet who find Ralan's a useful service.
I finally got around to sending €25, so I've done my part. PayPal's current exchange rate is "1 USD = 0.745600EUR", so that's about $33.53. But you can send what you want. And I can give Ralan.com a plug here on my LJ without personal embarrassment. (grin)
Hell, if nothing else you can check out the winners of his old Spectravaganza contests and read some actual short story content -- including my 2nd Prize 2006 Grabber Contest winner "Dead Forever" here.
Thank you for your attention and we shall now return you to your regularly scheduled web browsing.
Dr. Phil
If you're a SF/F/H writer, you may very well either use or need to use the excellent online resource Ralan.com for timely information about markets, guidelines and deadlines. About once a year Ralan gets around to passing the hat to help defray the cost of running the system. I'm not only a user, but I've contributed Tips to the database a number of times and I've had some very nice email exchanges with Ralan, who is pretty dedicated to keeping things current.
Whenever I need to do something and nothing comes to mind, Ralan's is one of the places I've got to check to see what's new. I knew September was his fundraising month, but I noted that only "60 out of 7,000+ visitors have donated".
Now I know that not everyone has the wherewithal to donate to every cause and thing out there. And if your web business model is to expect a 98% donation rate to an otherwise free web service, you are going to be in for a surprise. But 60/7000 is 0.86%. Surely there are more than 60 English speaking/writing SF/F/H people on the entire planet who find Ralan's a useful service.
I finally got around to sending €25, so I've done my part. PayPal's current exchange rate is "1 USD = 0.745600EUR", so that's about $33.53. But you can send what you want. And I can give Ralan.com a plug here on my LJ without personal embarrassment. (grin)
Hell, if nothing else you can check out the winners of his old Spectravaganza contests and read some actual short story content -- including my 2nd Prize 2006 Grabber Contest winner "Dead Forever" here.
Thank you for your attention and we shall now return you to your regularly scheduled web browsing.
Dr. Phil
