A Behind The Scenes Look At DIY Bride

Month: October, 2009

Random Statistics

Emails received for all DIYBride accounts in the month of September: 2,038 (3rd highest email volume month ever)
Number of spam emails (not included in the count above): 1,012
# of spam emails that didn’t get caught: 422
# of emails that were marketing/pr/sales pitches from other companies: 919
# of emails that should’ve been directed to other sites/companies [...]

Fake Comments + IP Addresses

6 comments within 5 minutes of each other on 6 different posts from 6 different people. Not terribly unusual. Normally I wouldn’t be too concerned but, wow, look at those IP addresses. They’re all the same. How could that be? Hmmm…
This is something I’m seeing more and more lately. Sneaky vendors – or bloggers looking [...]

Questions From You: How’d You Get Your Book Deal?

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “How did you get your book deal?” but what’s really being asked is “How can I get a book deal?”
I’m happy to share my experiences with publishing but it’s important to know that there are as many routes to getting published as their are publishers. [...]

Speaking of those FTC guidelines …

Media Bistro has posted some important clarifications about the new FTC guidelines.

The citation amount isn’t $t11k. It’s $16k.
The FTC doesn’t issue the fines. Violations go through the Federal court system.
The FTC has never brought a case against a consumer endorser. They go after the advertisers.

Fast Company has a nice roundup of questions from prominent bloggers [...]

The FTC Hoopla

On Monday the Federal Trade Commission released new rules regarding paid endorsements on blogs. I think the blogosphere momentarily imploded from all the panic and hand wringing. For most bloggers the new rules aren’t a big deal. Nothing to see here. Carry on.
Some bloggers (in and beyond the wed industry) are paid by companies to [...]

RIP Modern Bride + Elegant Bride

The wires are buzzing with news that Conde Nast is giving the axe to Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Cookie, and Gourmet magazines. As a reader and a writer the news saddens me.
Modern Bride is very dear to me. They were the first US bridal mag to feature some of my projects. MB gave me good [...]

Top 10 Mistakes I’ve Made As A Blogger

10. Anti-social behavior. I’ve not been interactive enough with the blogging community here (and beyond) DIY Bride. I’ve not kept up with responding to commenters and connecting with other bloggers as much as I feel I should. This is something I’m working very hard at right now. Loving it!
9. Back ups? You mean every 10 [...]

A Day In The Life

7:00 a.m.: Get Zion out of bed, change his diaper, get him out of his jammies.
7:15 a.m.: Head downstairs. Turn on news. Grab some breakfast (for me) while Z crawls around on the floor.
7:16 a.m.: Pull Z away from the DVD, modem, and other assorted cords that we need to childproof.
7:18 a.m: Pull Z away [...]

Questions From You

Thank you, everyone, for joining me on this little blogging adventure. I appreciate the comments and the emails tremendously! You’ve been quick to respond, engage. Love it!
There have been some really good questions and comments rolling in from you guys. I thought it’d be fun to publicly address a few each week.
Jennifer P, in response [...]