Since mid-2007 or so I’ve been getting a steady increase on the number of e-mails asking me if they can put up a link, paid advertisement, pre-fabricated post, review, etc. As of this writing (April 2008) I’m now getting more than one such contact a day, so I thought it worthwhile to put up a clear statement regarding my policy on such matters:
Site Generics
- This is not a commercial operation. It is, at most, an engrossing hobby. As such, it does not strive to make a profit.
- I do not accept advertisements directly.
- I do not engage in link trading. All the sites linked are there because I like them.
- I do not accept press releases. See here.
In a nutshell: If you want to get listed on my sidebar, build a site that I read every day. If you want to make it to my link blog, create something that matters to me.
I don’t care one whit about Technorati or Alexa ratings, or any kind of site statistics, so I don’t go around asking people to link to this site as a form of sponsorship (and, to be honest, find it rather annoying when people ask me out of the blue to do the same for them).
Sponsorships & Donations
I have, for a good while, been considering whether a monthly sponsorship deal would be enough to make this site “profitable” (in the sense that I wouldn’t be losing money on it), but I think that would have a negative impact in terms of perceived bias from readers. The jury’s still out on that (mostly because I have no idea of what the going rates are), but feel free to drop me a line if you’re interested.
I do, however, accept individual donations, preferably in the form of books from my Amazon UK wish list (ordering from the US is a nightmare due to the retrograde Portuguese customs). Which brings me to the next topic:
Books, Software, etc.
I do not do canned reviews. I read voraciously and publish notes on most of what I read, and will gladly read new publications thrown my way (in fact, roughly a quarter the books I read these days are donations, picked by kind readers from my Amazon UK wish list), but tossing over a copy and a reviewer’s guide packed with ready-made blurbs is the best guarantee I won’t accept it.
All the software, hardware and other stuff I post notes about is mentioned (and occasionally reviewed) because I think it’s worthwhile to do so, in the sense that I only pick up stuff I can actually use and test thoroughly instead of dilly-dallying with every little shiny new thing that pops up.
As such, if you want me to review your product, please don’t toss over a license key or a sample without asking me if I find it interesting in some way.