Robert Bruce lives in the rain and fog of Portland, Ore. He throws a poem around the world every Monday morning from a small red house with the assistance of a broadband line and a wicked cup of black coffee. Coram Deo.

Please tell us something about yourself that we still do not
know.

I am a Presbyterian.

And I love beer (Mirror Pond Pale Ale).

And my cat Luther.

Why do you blog?

I ran out of money for postage (submitting to literary journals) about three years ago.

How did you get into blogging?

Some time ago I saw a guy doing his work online and building an audience both inside and outside the traditional art world. Fortunately, I understood what he was doing just as my postal budget was leaning into the red.

How much time everyday do you spend blogging?

Around 3 hours per week. What’s that, 8 1/2 minutes a day?

Of course, the writing itself amounts to around 10 hours per week (after the day job). So, factor that in as needed…

How do you attract readers? Any tips on getting the word out about your blog and driving users to your site?

I used to employ the tactics you find on every third blog out there, but it grows tiring, keeping up with the 1001 Ways To Market Yourself. It takes away from the WRITING. Which is the entire point, right? So I guess my tip is to write the best damn poem you can get your hands on. And then write another one. And another.

What blogs do you read? Can you share with us some URLs of your favorites?

Sure, in no particular order, Loren, Clark, Hugh, Monergism, Boog, Costa, Doyle, ZYZZYVA, Karp, Lefsetz, Silliman, Many Twitterers, Volume 11, Unusual Business Ideas, Wainwright, Maki, Merlin, and throw the NY Times Arts and Charlie in there for good measure. There are many more, too much to list here really…

(7) Can you give us a ballpark figure as to how much you earn from blogging? How do you monetize your blog?

Last year I took in just over $3K. That’s split between donations, live shows and a few writing gigs that came through because of Knife Gun Pen. Not much I realize, but I think OK for a non-slam writer of poems (I can’t take much more of these “slam poets”).

I don’t really monetize. I mean, I give folks the option to become a Knife Gun Pen Patron as everything on the site is free to take, but I’ve stayed away from ads. The arts and the ads don’t play nice, in fact, don’t really play at all. I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea, except in the sense that I don’t like a lot of bullshit clutter on the site. However, if Gerber Legendary Blades or Remington Arms or the Deschutes Brewery and I came to a Patronage agreement, then let the money flow…

The future is in the Live Talking Show. It’ll be years before the momentum picks up, if it does at all, but unfortunately I’m a much better performer than writer.

(8) What common mistakes do you see other bloggers are doing?

Writing crap.

Ignoring video.

Constantly grabbing for the four-hour workweek.

(9) What advice can you give to someone who’s starting a blog?

Learn the tech basics (or hire someone to do it).

Work your ass off.

(10) Is the blogosphere crowded already?

Sure, there’s 6 Billion+ people on this planet and many of them feel like they’ve got something to say. That means a lot of sites, a lot of cookbooks, a lot of How To, a lot of everything.

(11) Don’t you think you should be in New York or Hollywood?

No. I did my time in Hollywood.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in North Dakota these days, in fact, it’s probably better if you are. It would allow you to stay away from the parties, the conferences, the other writers, the “easy money” and the backslapping vampires.

Do your work.

Do your work.

Do your work.

In the end, and I’m talking 30-40 years, the ones who work and devote themselves to their craft/trade will be rewarded. And they’ll sleep well at night along the way.

Or, if I end up dead and penniless in a Detroit gutter, there’s always heaven.

Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Dominic Rivera
Filed under: Blogging, Interview