The meat of this post is going to be my plans for 2014, but a few comments about some other matters first:
-No matter what happens in the second half of the Oklahoma-Alabama football game, tonight has been a major victory for those of us who are tired of hearing that we are getting a second rate national championship game because it is Auburn instead of the Crimson Tide that will play Florida State next Monday. The right teams are in the championship game and even if Alabama makes a comeback, Oklahoma has proven that, at least in this final year the BCS got it right. The experts did not think Oklahoma could stay on the same field with Alabama.
-I wrote a few days ago about a bill prefiled by Rep. Jason Howsman that would authorize Missouri teachers to carry pepper spray. Hopefully, our legislature will pay attention to a lawsuit that has been filed in Texas that is asking that tasers and pepper spray not be used in schools. The lawsuit was filed after a student who was tasered was put into a coma.
Now for a look ahead:
I would never have thought at the beginning of 2013 that at the end of the year I would be an officially-retired teacher, making an effort to make a living by supplementing my pension income with writing.
It remains to be seen how well that will work though December went well and the first two days of 2014 are off to a promising start.
I made some missteps when I was beginning the process. The first attempt at creating an Inside Joplin website faltered and put me a few months behind. Initially, I considered making a second attempt at a website, then I decided to go with what I know- blogging- and set up a series of blogs.
The blogs will continue in 2014 and this is what I plan to do with them:
-The Turner Report will continue to be the focal point. Since I already have built a daily readership that averages slightly over 5,000 and has gusts of up to 10,000 depending on what is going on. The investigative pieces will remain on this site, as will most coverage of Missouri education and politics. It will also be the website to go to for breaking news.
-Inside Joplin has had as many as 2,000 readers a day, but for the most part has been between 500 and 1,000 and has remained consistent. It is the blog I believe has the most growth potential. I plan to offer basic city information, courts material, city council and school board coverage and at the moment when the leadership finally changes in the Joplin R-8 School District (and that day is rapidly coming), Joplin will see what the people who remember my time at the Carthage Press and Lamar Democrat already know- I know how to cover schools and cover them well. It will certainly make it easier when the day comes when I have access to the schools again without having to deal with the people who are currently in charge. I am also hoping at some point down the line to be able to work with freelancers to provide both news and sports coverage for Joplin. I also plan to continue to find Joplin news from other sources, serving as kind of an aggregate, featuring videos from our local TV stations and items from elsewhere that have Joplin connections.
-Inside the Ozarks has not been as well defined as some of the other blogs, but generally is the place where I put items about Springfield, Branson, Neosho, Granby, places outside of the Joplin metropolitan area. Again, many of the items come from local TV stations, including those in Springfield.
-The Turner Resports has been doing well with coverage of the Chiefs, MU, MSSU, Cardinals, and Royals and should do even better when baseball season starts. I am much more comfortable offering commentary on baseball than the other sports and I will be happy to engage with readers in discussions about the Royals and especially the Cardinals.
-Inside Joplin Obituaries is keeping a promise I made that I would feature free obituaries. So far they have been confined to those from certain funeral homes, but that will expand this year.
-Room 210 Education was formerly Room 210 for Teachers and covers stories about education other than the ones I am following on The Turner Report. It is another site I plan to define better as the year goes along.
-Other sites- I plan to continue East Middle School Roundabout and Room 210 Civil Rights because I have a sentimental connection to both of those sites and because the civil rights blog has become a regular stopping place for middle school, high school, and even college students who are researching the Civil Rights Movement.
How will I make money doing this?
-Through sales of my books and e-books The books are available locally and both the books and e-books are available on-line. Signed copies of five of my books, 5:41, Spirit of Hope, No Child Left Alive, Let Teachers Teach, and Scars from the Tornado, can be purchased through the Randy Turner Bookstore on the upper right hand side of this page
-Advertising As I am sure you have noticed I have a number of ads on the pages of all of my blogs. The key for them to be successful is for me to continue to build readership so I am going to continue to put in the long hours to make sure that readers have a reason to keep coming back.
-Subscriptions I have no plans to set up any Joplin Globe type pay walls on the Turner Report or any of my other blogs. You can come to the blogs and read as much or as little as you want. But at the top of this page, again on the upper right hand corner, you will find a subscription button and I will insert one from time to time on some of my blog posts.When I ran my end-of-the-year stories, I concentrated on stories that you either read on this blog and only on this blog or ones that you read here long before anyone else reported them. Those and my ability to find information and get it to you quickly are what makes these blogs different. Also, as you may have noticed, I am willing to take a stance and I have no problem with others who take positions that are different from mine. I do not believe, like the Joplin Globe management apparently does, that the city and school district will collapse if Joplin residents know the truth. If that means something to you, please feel free to sign up for a voluntary subscription.
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On a different subject, this is what my book projects calendar looks like for 2014
-At some point, I will have the long-delayed first signing for Scars from the Tornado
-Let Teachers Teach is available locally on a limited basis. The big push for that book, including signings, will be held in the spring.
-The Devil's on Facebook, currently available only as an e-book, will be published in paperback version this summer.
-I have another non-fiction project slated for e-book publication soon and for paperback publication in late fall. A clue to the contents- Between 1986 and 1999, I wrote more than 1,000 Sports Talk columns for the Press and the Democrat. For those who did not know that I wrote sports, I am hoping you will be pleasantly surprised and for those you who remember, I hope it brings back good memories.
I will try to make this shorter tomorrow night. Thanks for reading.
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