Friday, May 15, 2015

Guest posts are welcome

On the day after the election, I very, very nearly set up another fundraiser for Scot Goes Pop to take the blog through to next year's Holyrood election, but I got cold feet - I felt like I was about to enter into a big commitment that I wasn't ready for.  Fundraisers are a bit like a self-imposed prison sentence - you're effectively asking to be paid for an enormous amount of work you haven't yet done.  After the second fundraiser in the autumn, I seriously wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew - I had moments of despair over the referendum result, particularly during October, and wasn't sure if I could bear to carry on blogging about Scottish politics on an almost daily basis.  As it turned out, it wasn't so difficult, but that was mainly thanks to the SNP's amazing poll numbers!

I've been toying with various compromise possibilities - maybe a fundraiser with the disclaimer that I'll be taking my foot off the accelerator until the Holyrood campaign gets underway in earnest, or a fundraiser that has a smaller target figure to take into account that my posting rate is probably going to drop somewhat, or even an unobtrusive donate button.  None of them seem quite right for various reasons, although the dilemma is that if I hold off until the autumn, a fundraiser is less likely to be successful (because the number of readers will probably drop back significantly from the peak seen during the election period).

I'm going to keep an open mind and think about it some more, but in the meantime I'll repeat what I said a couple of years ago - if anyone would like to contribute posts to Scot Goes Pop, whether on a one-off or ongoing basis, you'd be very welcome.  As many of you will remember, we had some fantastic guest posts in the run-up to the referendum (including the one from Alasdair Stirling which coined the now-legendary term 'Kellner Correction'), but for some reason I don't think we've had any since the autumn.  I can't offer any payment, but on the plus side you'd be virtually guaranteed an audience of thousands.  If you're interested, my contact details can be found at the top of the sidebar.

This might be a particularly apt moment to make the offer, because just to give you all fair warning - the Eurovision Song Contest is not far away!

29 comments:

  1. Great post! Keep your options open ;-)
    My advice: give the blogging a good break and enjoy life. Kiss a girl ( or boy, your choice), dance to disco, buy a charter holiday to the sun, ring your mum. Have fun. Life is for living. Use it. You are a great writer and a great Scot. Come back when you are fully recharged. We need your power.

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  3. You deserve a break. Come back refreshed in October. Keep an eye out for the up-coming EU referendum. I think I'm right in saying Cameron might even hold it in 2016. If it is planned around the time of the Scottish general election things will get very interesting and we will certainly need your help and analysis.

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  4. Go ahead with the fundraiser. Why not view it in some way as payment for the work already done and take some pressure off yourself?

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  5. You need support for all your good works.

    Go with the donate button- you might be surprised at how much your work is valued.

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    1. Thanks. One thing that worries me about a donate button is the rules - they seem to be slightly ambiguous if you're not a charity. I presume that's why Derek Bateman instead sells membership to a "wine club"!

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  6. No advice on what to do, but hugely appreciate all you've done, and hapoy to continue pitching in when you shout you need the support to go for it.

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    1. and as for a guest post?

      Not sure you'd want one of mine, and that's fine!

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    2. Guest posts are welcome from anyone, even if I disagree with the argument being put forward! As there are an army of commenters on this blog who believe that tactical voting on the list can somehow work, maybe it would be a good thing if someone did a guest post to make that case.

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  7. You've been doing fantastic work, James! Don't be shy about asking us to chip in towards that work. Any method is fine by me, donate button, fundraisers etc. You've already earned it from the work you've already done, so don't think of it as payment in advance for 'work-owed'. A simple disclaimer beside the payment method should suffice - something along the lines of 'Any donations are for work already done, and should not be taken as a guarantee of more articles in the future'. Then enjoy a well-earned break! Angus. (I'm not anonymous, it was just the quickest way I could see of posting!)

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    1. Yeah that sounds about right. I don't think Mr Kelly totally gets just how massive a contribution he's made

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  8. By the way, would a guest post have to be psephological or would anything (readable and unstupid) be ok?

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    1. Any subject would be fine. We've even had poetry in the past.

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  9. It's a hard decision. I know exactly what you mean about doing a fund raiser and then feeling absolutely tied by some sort of commitment to two posts a day, or whatever, so that people "get their money's worth".

    It's kinda got to be your decision alone and no advice from anyone else is going to cut it.

    I'd just like you to know that I enjoy the posts, and I've appreciated your analysis of the figures over the past heaven knows how long, for the referendum and then for the election. It is important I think, to have your input into the next election, which will be of immense importance to Scots.

    I know a lot more than I did before I started reading Scot Goes Pop.

    What ever you decide you'll have my support. A bit financial, and of course I'll always tweet your posts.

    Whatever you decide, thank you for what you've done thus far. Superb blog.

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  10. James,

    Your public profile is clearly on the rise! I was listening to your comments on apolitical t'other day and you came across as an incredibly well informed commentator. There are very few politicians that would have been able to answer the well thought out and incisive questions you were asked without blustering . You didn't.

    You have the occasional column in the National and elsewhere. You are becoming an institution, the other 'go to' guy for commentary on psephology.

    If you want that role, then my tenner is in the post. If you don't, then I could completely understand.your reluctance.

    So, I suppose I agree with Stuart Dickson.

    And I agree with almost all the comments above. This, along with Munguins Republic and Bella are my reading over a morning coffee. You are doing superb work here.

    Best wishes.

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  11. As far as the "Eurovision" goes they need to change the format.
    Vote first and then listen to what's on offer....sound familiar?
    Yeah,going to be a bit flat for a while but then again Gove's antics might prove interesting.
    Great blog.
    Thanks for everything.

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  12. I wouldn't mind writing something, but I'll need to think what!

    Two things. Firstly, an enormous thank you for all you've done. You really have done a ton of work.

    Secondly, I actually feel we're entering a very dangerous time when the unwary are likely to take their eyes off the ball, and the mischievous get going. It's no time to put our feet up, quite the opposite. Cameron wants to get a lot done in the first 100 days. He's vanquished all his opponents. The Lib Dems are leaderless and decimated. Labour are rudderless, ideas-free, and fighting amongst themselves. UKIP has imploded and is revealed to be a chimera, despite four million mugs desperate enough to be voting for it.

    Cameron has an open field. The new SNP MPs are inexperienced, and seem to be having a laugh in a Commons bar they've found somewhere in the bowells of Westminster. Ok, ok, it's early days, let them put their feet up over the weekend.

    But I'm just saying - we need more scrutiny, more pressure.

    I didn't like what I heard this morning that Cameron promised to think about additional powers. We have to keep up the pressure.

    We need above all extra-parliamentary action.

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  13. I think a good subject is what is happening to the left across Europe, and with TTIP.

    There's also fracking. Cameron wants TTIP to go ahead without any safety nets for the NHS or what remains of public services.

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    1. TTIP may be dead in the water after the USA Senate voted it down this week.
      Fracking is another matter however and needs full public discussion.

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  14. James - how about a series of monthly fundraisers - each to raise sufficient funding to cover just the month to come?
    That way you only commit to a month of work at a time and you won't feel as if there's a mountain of work looming up.
    If at any point you decide to take a month off you can announce on the blog: "there will be no fund raiser next month".
    You will be under no obligation to post anything for that month as no one will have contributed anything towards funding it.

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    1. That's a good idea. Or a couple of months or whatever felt practical, allowed you to make plans, etc

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  15. A possible alternative would be to put the financing of the blog on a "campaign" basis. That is, you tell everyone their money will be used to cover "Holyrood 2016" or "EU Referendum 2017" rather than an amorphouse future time period.
    During the run up to big votes and for, say a month following, you put in the hours and generate detailed analysis, but when the dust settles you go back to brief daily commentary on polls, by-elections and emerging trends. Thus, you are only committing to large amounts of heavy work at the key moments when polling is the big talking point. Between major votes you could try raising funds with a "James Kelly's Crystal Ball" mini tour - £8 per ticket to hear you analyse the polls and how the various outcomes could affect the lives of ordinary Scots.

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  16. Go for some advertising as long as it has a skip ad button no one will mind

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  17. Go for some advertising as long as it has a skip ad button no one will mind

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  18. I'd love to post a few guest articles if you'd like James, enjoyed doing the couple I've done in the past!

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    1. Absolutely, Scott, that would be great.

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  19. The amount of knowledge i have picked up here ensures i can sit with anyone and talk with confidence. Your work is unmissable and spot on. You take a very difficult subject and make it so easy for the likes of me to fully understand.

    A fundraiser or whatever you decide will be supported by all here James. You are the polls guy.

    None comes close .

    Have a wee break and recharge the batteries and please keep on blogging. You are in great need .

    And we're not independent yet :)

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  20. Oh dear! I have just found this site in the last week or so and I have found it fascinating. I would be very sorry if it was to stop. I’m sufficiently impressed that I would contribute what I can to a fundraiser or donate button or whatever. (I send packets of tea to the lady in Holland who runs the writing site to which I belong; happy to do the same for you.) Elfstone

    (I’m not sure which of the ‘Select profile’ items to click, so I must be anonymous I think.)

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