As 2019 comes to a close I’m increasingly looking ahead to what I can do with Track of Words over the next year and onwards. I’ve been running this site for six years now, growing it from nothing (I hadn’t written a book review for about 15 years!) to the point it’s at now, with – I think – a pretty wide range of reviews and articles across over 1300 posts. I don’t want to rest on my laurels, however, so in this article I’m asking for your thoughts on what you would like to see on Track of Words in the future.
First of all, a few caveats. I feel like Track of Words has a pretty clear identity – I write relatively short and (crucially) spoiler-free reviews as the main focus of the site, and always look for positives where I can find them rather than focusing on negatives; that’s not going to change. There are plenty of places out there on the internet where you can read spoiler-filled reviews if that’s what you’re after, or even find detailed story breakdowns, but that’s just not my style. I’m also going to continue to be positive first and foremost; I’m not going to shy away from talking about where I think stories might have fallen down, but I’m not interested in being critical for the sake of it.
When I first started Track of Words back in 2014 I reviewed pretty much everything I read, not just science fiction and fantasy, but over time I started to focus on SFF and in particular on Black Library and Warhammer stories. In 2019 I’ve started to move back towards covering a wider range of SFF, and I’m planning on continuing that shift in 2020 with both reviews and, hopefully, author interviews. I’ll still be covering Black Library, of course, and in particular I’m keen to focus on newer authors, but I’m hoping the balance will start to shift to BL stories being part of a wider view of the SFF genres.
More reviews like this?
With all of that in mind, I’m genuinely keen to get feedback on what you – the people who read Track of Words – would like to see. I’m not going to promise that I’ll be able to act on every suggestion, but any and all comments are really welcome! I’ll pick out a few different areas which I’m particularly interested in hearing your thoughts on…
Balance of articles
I’m probably averaging somewhere around 250 articles a year at the moment, and I only have so much time for reading, so as well as reviews I post author interviews and blog posts covering all sorts of topics. How do you find the balance between the different types of articles, though? Do you want more reviews? More interviews? More blog posts, opinion pieces or upcoming release roundups? Alternatively, do you want to see less of any of those?
Reviews
Talking about reviews in particular, is there anything you’d like to see more – or less – of? For novels, novellas and most audio dramas I generally write somewhere between 400 and 600 words, while short story reviews tend to come in at more like 200 words – do you prefer one of those types of review over the other? What about different story formats in particular? I usually aim for at least one short story review and one novel/novella review each week, with audio drama reviews coming as and when, but would you like to see more (or less) of one format in particular?
In addition, do let me know if there are certain authors or stories that you’d really love to read reviews of. I won’t always be able to fit things into my schedule – there’s A LOT that I want to read – but I can try!
More interviews like this?
Interviews
Generally speaking I post one of my Rapid Fire interviews – which invite authors to talk specifically about a brand new book or audio drama – most weeks, and these tend to be reasonably short and snappy, depending on the author. I try to mix in a few longer interviews when I can; sometimes these are essentially extended version of Rapid Fire interviews, while other times they’re in-depth explorations of authors’ back catalogues or particular areas of interest. Recently I’ve also been talking to authors about their writing styles and journeys into writing, which has been fun.
Much like reviews, I’d love to know whether there’s a particular type/length of interview that you’d like to see more (or less) of in future. I’m also keen to hear if there are specific topics that you’re interested in reading about. Do you want to see more interviews with authors talking about the process of writing, for example, or topics I haven’t covered before?
Other articles/blog posts
I don’t generally post as many blog posts and other articles as I do reviews and interviews, but over the course of a year I still publish a reasonable number. As well as regular monthly and six-monthly/yearly highlights articles I also write all manner of articles including summaries of upcoming BL releases, event roundups, guidance on where to start with particular series, opinion pieces on interesting topics (like humour in Warhammer), and so on.
I know I have a tendency to go long with these sorts of articles – do you like that? Do you enjoy in-depth discussions of these topics, or would you prefer things to be more concise? What about regularity – are you happy with monthly highlights and then ad-hoc blog posts as and when topics arise? I’m very much open to suggestions regarding topics to cover, so let me know if there’s something you’re interested in reading about. Likewise if you’ve got ideas for other types of article – I’ve considered asking authors or folks working in the wider publishing industry to contribute guest posts, so would you be interested in that sort of thing?
More blog posts like this?
Other stuff
I’d be really interested to know if there are other things – which I don’t currently do – that you’d like to see on Track of Words. Maybe something like book giveaways or charity auctions/raffles (if I can arrange them)? Audio or video updates? I’m sure there are loads of possibilities, so let me know if you’ve got any suggestions or requests.
Lastly, I have a specific question for you. Here’s the background: it takes a lot of time to put reviews, interviews and articles together for a site like Track of Words, not to mention the cost of site hosting, domain registration and just buying books to read! WIth that in mind, would you consider contributing something to the costs of running the site, in exchange for the content you get out of it?
I’m not interested in starting up a Patreon or equivalent – there’s no way I’d have time to create yet more content just for subscribers – but I could set up something like a KoFi account where anyone who wanted to contribute to keeping Track of Words running could donate a little to help out. It’s not something I’m all that comfortable with, but I think it’s worth floating the idea. Let me know what you think!
How about a Ko-fi?
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I’m genuinely keen to get your honest thoughts on any or all of the subjects discussed here – it’s all useful! You can get in touch in all of the usual ways – in the comments below or via Twitter, or alternatively you’re welcome to email me at michael@trackofwords.com. Do get in touch, and here’s hoping 2020 will be another great year!
Hey!
First things first: I’m a fairly new reader of your blog and I really like it (the reviews, the interviews), so keep up the good work! 🙂 I’m onto primarily BL stuff but I think spicing up things with non-BL things is a great idea as few people are that simple in taste (I’m a big Star Wars fan, too, for example). I don’t have world-redeeming ideas about future content at the moment, just wanted to thank you for your work and to wish good luck towards the future.
I’m particularly intrigued by that it seems your favourite BL author is Peter Fehervari. Partly because I happen to be hungarian and judging by his name, Peter (Péter, and Fehervari means “from Fehérvár”) has also some hungarian heritage. And partly because I think from time to time derailing from the usual action-oriented stuff is making a great service towards keeping BL fiction fresh and exciting.
I did mention earlier that I’m just here for thanking and encouraging but I do have a little question if you don’t mind. It’s about the Black Library Events Anthology 2019/20 that you mentioned in your weekender roundup post but not yet reviewed in detail as far as I know. So my primary concern at the moment is: what do we know about the widespread availability of these stories? I’m pretty hyped about Ware’s Sister Augusta Series right now, so I hope I would be able to read Sacrifice soon (via a Digital Monday release perhaps?). Oh, and keeping my fingers crossed for a full length novel from her (I think it has a fairly high chance as it seems BL really started to make room for new – at least to BL fiction – writers).
Hi János, thanks so much for getting in touch. I’m really glad you like the site, and appreciate you taking the time to say so 🙂
You might well be right in terms of Peter’s heritage, and I would absolutely agree that stories which steer away from the big battlefields and go in different directions – like all of Peter’s do – are a great way for BL to add variety and interest!
That’s a really good question, regarding the Events Anthology. I’ve just checked the previous 2018/19 anthology and so far (I think) only two of the seven stories in that one have been released individually (although a third has appeared in an Age of Sigmar anthology)…which means four out of the seven are still only available in that volume. I would assume BL are planning on releasing the rest individually (or in other anthologies) as well to ensure they all get a full release but it doesn’t look like they’re in a rush. With that in mind, it could be some time before the stories in the 2019/20 anthology, sadly.
Lastly, I don’t want to speak for Danie (so do check with her to be sure) but from what I understand she’s planning to stick to novellas and short stories, for now at least. I believe there’s at least one more Sister Augusta novella to come, thankfully!