past, present, and future of this blog

Some of what follows will be familiar to certain readers, as portions were sent in an email to everyone on the mailing list a couple of months ago. However, not everyone opened it, and we’ve had a bunch of new signups in the interim. So, in order to get everyone up to speed, here it is again (with some important new information.)

The recent past

Early last year I decided to take a couple of weeks off, which stretched into a couple of months…and, well, that’s why the blog hasn’t been updated in quite some time.

During my extended time off, I decided it was time to revamp both the website and the blog. Seeing people’s reactions to the COVID lockdowns, economic stresses, and shortages of food and basic necessities convinced me that a different approach to teaching and promoting preparedness was needed, and the focus of the blog needed to change with it. I also felt it was time to redo the site to better align with a new direction.

The present

If you haven’t visited the site recently, now would be a good time to do so. You’ll notice a completely new design; everything has been pared down to the essentials. There are still a few niggling things that need fixing, but overall I’m happy with the result.

As to the content, I’ve significantly pruned the article archives. There were a lot of posts that were out of date or not in harmony with where I want the blog to go, so they were deleted. Also gone are the vestiges of my former gunsmithing life.

One of the casualties is the Hump Day Reading List. It is, unfortunately, no more. I felt the quality of the available material was slipping; there just isn’t a lot of quality original content out there, and too much junk being pushed. Sharing those kinds of posts does wonders for search engine rankings and social media likes, but I no longer care about such things — and besides, I think you deserve better.

The Hump Day archives are also gone. When I was moving all of the old posts to the new site, I found that a huge number of the links shared in Hump Day posts were broken. I have neither the time nor the inclination to go back and edit every post to remove them; it was simply easier to delete them all.

You’ll also notice that there is no longer a class calendar. Since all of my classes for 2020 had to be cancelled, and I haven’t booked anything for 2021, there was no reason to keep the calendar around. If I do hold a class or workshop, it’ll be mentioned on the blog and a signup link will be provided.

The near future

From now on you’ll see far less on self defense and firearms, and a focus on the bigger picture of resilience and preparedness. You’ll see both concepts and ideas as well as more practical, proactive, positive things we all can do to make ourselves, our families, and our communities better. You’ll see the kind of information that can really make a difference inside (and outside of) your home.

Gone are artificial publication schedules. I’m told that’s the “secret” to “successful blogging”, but all it does is result in lower-quality material as junk gets published to meet arbitrary deadlines. From now on, you might see a post (or even several posts) one week, then nothing for a few weeks. I’ll post when I’ve got something important to say, when it’s needed, but not to meet a schedule or to satisfy the search engines.

As always, you will see no advertising on this blog, nor will I sell my subscriber list (and yes, I’ve had offers for both.) This blog is paid for by book sales and, to a lesser degree, class/workshop tuitions. If you like my work and want to support me, buy my books (or take a class when I offer them again.)

I’m also continuing my policy of not accepting paid “guest posts”. I get several several such offers every week, and they’re just sleazy. I’ll leave that activity to others, as there seems to be no shortage of people willing to prostitute their reader’s trust for a few dollars.

Finally, I’m going to kick off this “new era” with a post almost certain to raise hackles and stir controversy. Not because I want the controversy, mind you, but because sometimes we have to face reality even if we don’t like it. Watch for it in the next week or two.

-=[ Grant ]=-