Six Months Gone

E-learning education or internet library. Conceptual imageSix months ago today, I launched this little website and re-established my blog as the best place to go for…

snort

I’m sorry, I couldn’t make it through that with a straight face. But today does mark the six month anniversary of this website and blog. And just for the fun of it, I thought I’d pull back the curtain on this technological terror I’ve constructed.

The Website Build

The one question that everyone people leaving spam comments on old posts promoting shoes and purses seem to ask is what build I’m using for this website. Never let it be said that I won’t answer the question of inquisitive minds people being paid a meager salary to post annoying comments that have nothing to do with the posts on which they’re commenting.

This is an independently hosted WordPress site using the Tempera theme by Cryout Creations. When I started the process of putting together this new website, I began by looking at other authors’ websites to see if I found any that I really and truly liked. There were a lot of great ones, but the one that stood out the most to me was that of fellow Enclave Publishing author Nadine Brandes. So I contacted her and asked what she used. As it turns out, her theme was put together by Cryout as well, and when I was checking out their offerings, I stumbled across Tempera and said, “That’s the one for me!”

So there you go, spammers. Stop asking.

Most “Popular” Posts

One of the things I like to do from time to time is take a peek at my website stats and see what posts are getting looked at the most. I’m not talking about the pages (such as the pages about my books or my author press kit); I mean the posts to this blog. So as of right now, here are the top ten blog posts from the past six months:

  1. Launch Contest Officially Open! – Apparently people like free stuff. Who knew?
  2. Let’s Cast Numb! – From the CSFF Blog Tour a few months back.
  3. A Day in the Office: A Dr. McNinja Cosplay Story – Thanks to my brother-in-law (and a retweet by Dr. McNinja creator Christopher Hastings)
  4. Amish Vampires in Space – I am very happy that my review of Kerry Neitz‘s book is up there in the ranks. More people should know about and read this fantastic book.
  5. What Kind of Plans Does God Have for Us? – One of my first (and apparently most popular) devotional posts. I usually have a new one every Monday.
  6. The Incredibles 2 & Star Wars Episode 7 News – Apparently I posted these thoughts at just the right time.
  7. Up on the Mountain – The first post in my first devotional series.
  8. Follow the Buzzards… – The true story of how I unknowingly met a WWE Superstar
  9. If You Want to Make God Laugh… – The story of why I nearly choked on irony during the recent 2014 Christy Awards Liveblog.
  10. Numb’s Origin Story – Again, part of the CSFF Blog Tour, which is basically the story of how my third published novel, Numb, came into being.

So what does this list tell me? Well, first of all, it tells me that I need to interact with people more famous than me more often, since three of those posts seem related to that. Good thing I’m serving as a panelist at the Salt Lake Comic Con this year. Maybe I’ll get some more stories to share.

Other than that, I’m kind of mystified. Do any of you see a pattern?

The Road to JohnWOtte.com

One of the few blogs I follow (Popehat, a law blog dedicated to Free Speech issues) regularly does a “Road to Popehat” post, in which they list off some of the more bizarre Internet searches that bring people to their website. Some of them are truly bizarre, which is understandable given Popehat’s subject matter.

But I thought I would emulate them and share some of the more…odd searches that brought people to my little corner of the Internet. They’re not nearly as funny as Popehat’s, but maybe that just means I have room to grow. So, without further ado, here are the strangest searches from the past six months:

  • fran kranz (I cast him as one of the roles in my hypothetical Numb movie)
  • emily bett rickards (same reason as Fran Kranz. These two seem to be why that particular post is so popular)
  • the lego movie benny (SPACESHIP!)
  • mr peabody son
  • who is daniel kaplan? what is the name of his painting? (Ummmmm…..)
  • are john otte books in libraries (in a few, but I don’t know which ones exactly. If they’re not in yours, why not ask them to add them?)
  • what is a good name to call a lego classic spaceman (SPACESHIP!)
  • why were some of the corinthians saying there was no ressurection
  • how did errol stone live in a draw of kings
  • ruffles the dog superbook
  • books like failstate
  • juthncxw (I’m glad to know I’ve cornered the market on this one)
  • who is responsible for slenderman
  • shut down the slenderman
  • ban slender web site
  • drinking ashes israelites
  • distrace call from space (probably looking for spelling help)

And my personal favorite:

  • johm ottie

So there we go, folks. Six months gone. Here’s to another six!

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