I got a comment today on my last blog post on about asking for donations on Iceland geology blog. It was of the same nature as before. I should not ask for donations in order to survive the month. Because when I had payed all my bills I had nothing left to buy food with. I do not know what this people where expecting me to do. But I guess they where expecting me to starve and end up in a hospital as the result. To be clear. I do get some money from Google Ads and Infolinks. But this income is little and I only get paid from it every 2 to 4 months (Google Adsense). I haven’t had a payment from Infolinks in over 6 months now. This is because my blog on earthquake and volcano activity in Iceland is not a high volume traffic web site. The reason for that is simple.
It is new and building up a strong and steady readership takes a long, long time. It actually takes more then 10 years. Here is a good example with Universe Today. That blog was created in the year 1999. I did find it in the year 2003. That is 4 years later. By then he had decent amount of readers. There is a difference between me and Universe Today. The creator of Universe Today had a job that he was able to live off while he was building up his blog and space news do not require constant attention (if you want close to real-time information on event) as earthquake and volcano activity often does. It also takes time and often effort keeping the geophone network up and running properly. Software updates, hardware fixing (if needed) and buying replacement parts when something breaks down due to old age (and a lot of usage). I also review earthquakes that I record. Make gif images of them if I need to post them online and a lot more that I do in the background when I am preparing a blog post for my blogs (this goes for all of them). Checking history of the volcano or earthquake area is something I also spend a lot of time on. As history is important and I need to know what has happened in the past (if possible) in a volcano or a fault line area. So this is a lot of work for me. Often taking hours to days from start to finish. Then there is maintain the WordPress software, upgrades, reading emails that I sometimes get and many more details that I have to attend to.
When I ask for a donation. I am not begging [internet begging]. As in return people get a working blog (and ebooks when I publish them) from me with updated news on what is happening in Iceland. A working geophone network that I maintain with my own cost (and it is not free to run it. Far from it) and time. I am no more begging then Universe Today is begging by asking for donations them self. This is also not a volunteer work that I am doing (more or less). As the cost is just too high for me to carry alone. I can’t afford to hiring a team of people helping me with this. As then I would have to pay them salary, so they can pay there bills and buy food for them self and there families. I live a lone, so I just have to pay for food for my self and pay my bills for my self. People have no idea about the work I put into this blog. What I have mentioned here is just half of it. But you can be sure that I put a lot of effort into this blog and I am going to continue to do so.
Blog post updated. Minor text fixes applied.
Flott skrif hjá þér Jón
I have to agree with the last commenter – as of now it’s not a job, it’s a hobby. If you know you will be living on the edge in terms of income in Denmark – don’t move there. First build a safe income and then move. Same goes for the writing – start off with a regular job and build your writing career stone by stone.
Naturally you’re suffering from low volcanic activity in Iceland, but you’re not writing exactly writing plenty of informative posts during these low-activity periods either. Bottom line – you can’t claim being a writer if you’re not producing.
I can’t control what happens in Iceland. So when there is low activity I do write less. This is logical result.
I already live in Denmark. You know what. I am not going to move back to Iceland. Because the prices there are bad and getting worse. Here in Denmark I at least have price stability.
You are also wrong. This is a job. You know why? Because I treat it like a job. This surpassed the hobby stage more then one year ago for the simple reason that it takes a lot of effort to write about activity in Iceland.
I have always been living on the edge. Because the social benefits in Iceland are so low that keep people systematically poor. Icelandic Krona is also low on the exchange market. So that plays a role in what is ongoing problem for me.
I am building my career stone by stone. Unlike many other people I am not accepting my status when it goes bad. I have no interest in starving and I plan on avoiding that.
You have already read other parts of this blog post. So you already know the work that goes into my blogs. Your view is also wrong and is always going to be wrong. As I have explained before. I get complains on not covering events when I was working in the year 2011.
For the simple fact I am working as a write on the internet. Where the pay changes from time to time.
Keep up following your dream. I exactly know what it is like to be in your situation as I have aspergers too, though slightly, but enough to not get me a full time job anywhere, just as I am in my own unique way a ‘stubborn’ person, not fitting into the ideas and views of ‘normal’ people. But I know it is their problem, not mine. I don’t need them to be happy. But the money…. :-/
I read your blog regularly but am not able to donate anything or help out, since I am also on what I call poverty increasing benefit, and am more without food then with.
Europe is really a wonderfull place to live in. I could no longer agree to that one!
Just wanted to say to keep on going for as long as is possible, ways will unfold the way they should, and even the slightliest help will keep it possible for you to continue. Keep doing what you love. I manage to go to Iceland too two times a year, just because I believe in that, and it boosts me, as it is the only place I feel happy and everything that is measurable is lost from my mind.
Thanks for your blogs!
And to all those who ever blackmail your work, get a live yourself. If you don’t know the facts than don’t discuss it. People will never understand how autists think if they aren’t one themselves. It is not our choice to be ‘second choice’. At least not mine…