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OH MY GOD 3,820... Don't you just LOVE that Friday feeling?!?!
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Friday, 25 April 2008
What a WONDERFUL Friday!
You may get a feeling of deja vu at this point (for which I apologise but will continue nevertheless...)
I thought I would share another little image I'm currently gobsmackingly fond of...
 The book (my book) is number 3,820 in Amazon sales rankings, and is # 36 most popular in Job Hunting and is #74 most popular in humour (does this mean I am funny?!?!? YAY YAY YAY)... Plus it has had SIX (count them... SIX) 5 star reviews...
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
One:
 Two: Three:Four:
Five: Six:Oh yeah baby!
YABBA DABBA DOO...
"I'd like (once again) to thank my mother, my father, my brother, my husband, my dog Harry, my editor, my publisher, my butcher, my baker, my candlestick maker..."
 
Posted by Herbie |
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St George's Day and Shakespeare's Birthday |
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008
 Posted by Oscar |
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Where John Prescott leads I follow(?) (Which I'd always thought would be roughly the 297th most unlikely words to come out of my mouth...) |
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Monday, 21 April 2008
If John Prescott can beat his bulimia demons then I can beat my Alexa ones. So I've done it... I've uninstalled my Alexa toolbar and removed all evidence (I think) that it was ever on my machine.
Qu: What's the ShortStack Alexa ranking? Ans: I genuinely don't care. What I do care about is our fabulous books and getting them to as many readers as possible.
 Posted by Charlie V |
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Why do people want to boost their Alexa ranking? |
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Sunday, 20 April 2008
For a site like ours (and maybe yours?) achieving a high ranking is a real pain in the you-know-what (it rhymes with grass).
 But maybe before chasing an elusive boost in your Alexa ranking you should double check your own motives. Seriously: why do you even want to go down the path of chasing the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? For some the answer is that many advertisers use the Alexa rankings as a guide (although to be fair, many don't). For others (ourselves included), seeing the figure go up is basically just a bit of fun, an e-ego boost if you will. Or maybe it's better likened to eating junk food; there's little nutritional value but it's enjoyable nevertheless.There used to be all sorts of programs you could sign up to, Alexa Booster being one of them as I recall and UpMyRank being another. Whether or not these work (or worked) is debated by various bods, on a site I was involved with a couple of years ago they did seem to work. And admittedly we did get a buzz from getting into the top 100,000 and from time to time even in the top 50,000. (FYI Alexa Booster doesn't appear to be running anymore as far as I can tell, and UpMyRank has some quite scathing reviews around the place.) The boring reality for us as a small publishing company (of brilliant books of course(!) (why not buy one while you're here(?!))) is that our Alexa ranking doesn't really matter a jot, so I'm trying to wean myself off this pointless nano-obsession (which is even less helpful/useful than Herbie obsessing over Amazon sales rankings (which at least have some degree of constructive information!)).
Nevertheless, despite the weaning, I figured that having wasted far too long googling for 'ways to boost your Alex ranking' it was at least worth listing the ten most popular recommendations I've come across to boost your Alexa ranking for free. As stated above, whether or not these work appears to cause endless arguments on various forums but here they are for those who are interested:
Ten Top Ways to Boost Your Alexa Ranking for Free (For Beginners!)
1) Most basic starting point: install the Alexa toolbar, and set your site/blog as your homepage.
2) Encourage friends and family to install the Alexa toolbar and visit your site/blog regularly.
3) This is really a sub point to the above #2, but get friends and family to make your site/blog their homepage.
4) Add an Alexa rank widget to your website, according to some internet chunterers even if a visitor doesn't have the toolbar installed their click will still be counted by the great Alexa counting God in the ether… ooo er
5) Include content on your site/blog that's relevant to webmasters, as webmasters are the most likely bods to have the Alexa toolbar installed.
6) Go out of your way to post (useful, relevant and constructive) comments in appropriate forums, and make sure you always give the URL of your site/blog.
7) Set up a webmasters tools section (SEO Tools are very popular). This will attract webmasters (remember, they're the most likely people to have the Alexa toolbar installed).
8) Asian (especially East Asian) surfers are apparently amongst the most likely (geographically speaking) surfers to have the toolbar installed, so seek out (East) Asian websites and forums you on which you can post comments, of course including your URL.
9) Develop great material, and aim to get Stumbled or Dugg.
10) Last but not least write or blog about Alexa on your site/blog.
If you're happy to pay for the privilege of galloping up the rankings there are also these three ideas:
1) Buy PayPerClick campaigns.
2) Pay internet cafés to set your website as their homepage (after ensuring that they have Alexa toolbar installed).
3) Buy banners and/or links. Of course to boost Alexa rank you need to buy these on sites and forums used by webmasters because (all together now…) webmasters are most likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed.
Some good sites to check out for more info are these:
If you're so inclined you can try out Alexa autosurfs.
Again, as I've already stated, it's not totally clear if they work or not, some say they're fantastic, some say they don't work, others say they're most suited to new websites with a really hopeless Alexa rank. It's also worth bearing in mind that there can be problems when you try to use auto surfs alongside contextual ads like Adsense.So, there endeth my post on Alexa rankings. (And yes I do see the irony of claiming to be weaning myself of my Alexa addiction at the same time as seemingly trying out idea #10 as given above...)
 Posted by Charlie V |
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London Book Fair 2008 |
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Monday, 14 April 2008
 Posted by Oscar & Charlie V |
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Welcome Winkie! |
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Thursday, 03 April 2008
Posted by Oscar |
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New Short Stack Author About to Sign on the Dotted Line?
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Tuesday, 01 April 2008
A fabulous new author is (more details to come) is expected to sign their contract this evening. Champagne all round I think! She's a really accomplished individual, terribly witty and has an astounding wealth of knowledge and love of her subject; in short she is the ideal How to Handle author. I won't say any more until it's all official, suffice to say we are all very excited here at Short Stack towers and her provisional weemee is the image to the left. (And no, despite the date this is not a joke in the spirit of the BBC's flying penguins and spaghetti trees...)
 Posted by Charlie V |
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Learn Your Blinking Pelican Signals... |
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Monday, 31 March 2008
Cycling to work today I was being incredibly well behaved and ensuring I stopped at all the appropriate lights etc (as, of course, I always do when cycling through London...) and was astonished at the huge numbers of drivers shooting across pelican crossings that were flashing amber when pedestrians were still trying to cross. I'm not a goody goody two shoes, but I do think this is pretty sloppy driving. Personally I am going to start a one man campaign for the brilliant Dads Army Blinking Pelican Signals campaign to be brought back to the screens, I don't remember it the first time round... but I think it should definitely get back on the tube (not just You Tube). Bearing in mind it probably won't make it back onto our screens though here's the ad in all its glory...
 Posted by Jack |
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Short Stack Goes Global? |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008
 Admittedly 'Global' may be overegging the pudding. But visitors to the site and readers (and buyers) of the books are increasingly coming from all over the world. The jpeg to the left shows the vistors (by country) over the past 24 hours. We've been using StatCounter to keep track of our site stats. And so, in celebration of our growing global audience, here are a few gratuitous country specific caricatures...
Posted by Charlie V |
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Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells... |
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Wednesday, 26 March 2008
This must be what it's like to Father Christmas, by which I mean having to think
about Christmas in March. Afterall there's all that planning; finding out who's been good and who's been bad, getting the elves to work on all the good children's toys, giving Rudolph and his little buddies a rest but preparing a training program for them so they're in tip top condition for their big Christmas Eve trip. I on the other hand have a comparatively tame task. Am devouring all the material I've gathered, and questioning all those in the know and polishing and perfecting my book so that when it is finished everyone will can discover How to Handle Christmas! Merry Christmas one and all...
 Posted by Charlie D |
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Why oh why have BT been arrogant enough to change policies without notice?
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Tuesday, 25 March 2008
In an extraordinary act that only goes to show the contempt
with which BT broadband treat their loyal customers, last week (just before the Easter Break, or possibly even during it) BT elected to change its poilcy with regard to the sending of pop3 and smtp emails via the BT ISP servers. This affects not only home users but also huge numbers of small businesses, and people who work from home or on the move. The most stunning discovery I have made though is not simply that BT did this without notice, but that there is a (relatively) straightforward way of resolving the problem that has clearly been set up by themselves, and yet they didn't even bother to let their customers know about it. And you sure as heck cannot get through on the helpline which is basically blocked (with irate customers no doubt). You can't even hold and be forced to listen to some dreadful rendition of a cliched classical track, because after telling you that their operators are all very busy, they automatically hang up on you! Anyway, the solution is here. Good luck!
Posted by Charlie V |
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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... |
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Monday, 24 March 2008
Am in the process of writing How to Handle Christmas. I ADORE Christmas,
but it's been quite a challenge to stay focussed on Christmas, and all things Christmassy when everyone else is focussed on Easter, and bunnies and eggs and chocolate. But lo and behold someone decided to give me a helping hand by pouring snow from the clouds today. Snow is always magical, but when you're trying to 'think Christmas' it's not merely magical... it's a total miracle and a complete brain freeze saver. Now with snow falling and Christmas songs and thoughts racing through my head I don't feel quite so out of kilter with the seasons. Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas everybody!
Posted by Charlie D |
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New Short Stack Book in the Pipeline |
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Sunday, 23 March 2008 Easter Sunday
Good size new order through from Amazon which is excellent.
New author in discussions with Short Stack for a new book... which is totally excellent. It's Easter and there's chocolate everywhere... completely excellent.
There will be more news on the new book, once the author has signed the contract. It's going to be a cracker though.
Posted by Oscar |
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Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank 7,315 in Books: #68 in Amazon Books>Job Hunting
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Tuesday, 18 March 2008
I'll let the jpeg of the screen capture do the talking...
 Posted by Herbie |
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Happy St Patrick's Day! What do Amazon Statistics actually mean?
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Monday, 17 March 2008
Happy St Patrick's Day!
Now, ever since Feb 7th (the launch of How to Handle Your Recruitment Consultant) I've been watching the Amazon statistics like a hawk. The reasons are two fold; firstly there is something both addictive and intoxicating about watching the figures closely (the intoxication feeling kicks in when they jump hugely) and secondly Herbie's mood seems to be greatly affected by those same figures, so in the spirit of forewarned is forearmed it's handy to know the state of play. However therein lies an inherent problem. As far as I can tell, the figures change regularly, hourly it seems. They appear to be very closely linked to the most recent sale figures, hence each individual purchase shoots that book up the rankings immediately and as each hour passes the impact of that sale on the book's ranking lessens. Amazon play their cards very close to their chest on most matters including this one, so it is nigh on impossible to ascertain exactly how they do actually come up with their ranking figures. I've found several interesting articles on this, and with suggestions as to what the ranking figures mean in terms of Amazon sales, a decent one seems to be this one "Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking" however, having said that, our own experiences suggest that maybe the Amazon ranking calculations have been tweaked since this article was written as we don't find all the suggestions to ring true. Nevertheless it's interesting, so check it out if you fancy. A great article that made me chuckle, as it discusses how authors obsess over their sales rankings, is one over at The New York Times "The Highs and the Lows of Rankings on Amazon". That one is defnitely worth a read, but you can only access it as part of a trial otherwise you need to subscribe to the NYT I think... Cuh.
Right, I'd better get back to ensuring Herbie's figures stay high...
Posted by Charlie V |
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Breaking News: Jamie Oliver and Herbie Henderson are Perfect Partners?!
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Friday, 14 March 2008
Admittedly I don't fully understand the vagaries of the Amazon machine but even so... guess what Herbie's book is currently paired with (at 04.38am 14.03.08)? "Hmmmmm, a book on handling your recruitment consultants?" I hear you ask... "Well Oscar, let's see, maybe it's paired with a book on CVs or covering letters, or maybe on interviews..."
But no. No. In their wisdom (in fairness based on past customers purchases) Amazon have paired it with
Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
presumably for those moments when you think "Damn, I wish I could get my recruitment consultant to ring me back, now I think I'll just rustle up a risotto while I wait..."
Posted by Oscar |
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George Clooney |
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Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Inspired by Jack's choice in music these are my (
Scouting for Girls
)
Michaela Strachan
...obviously)  NOTE: It is not a poem so it really doesn't read terribly well... which some may think is a reason not to place it in a blog... but you never know George could be at a loose end one day surfing the net and finally find me... (and no Jack I am not a nutter - this is tongue in cheek)
 Posted by Poppy |
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Scouting for Girls ~ Michaela Strachan |
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Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Jack has been playing the
Scouting for Girls
album over and over and over again
and now I can't stop singing the
Michaela Strachan
 Posted by Charlie V |
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YABBA DABBA DOO |
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008
I thought I would share a little image I'm currently INCREDIBLY fond of...
  When I was little I was told I was shy and lacked confidence... let me make up for that now...
The book (my book) is number 9,151 in Amazon sales ranking, and is # 87 in Job Hunting and had THREE 5 star reviews and I want the whole world to know it.
One:
Two: Three:YABBA DABBA DOO...
"I'd like to thank my mother, my father, my brother, my husband, my dog Harry, my editor, my publishers, my butcher, my baker, my candlestick maker..."
Posted by Herbie   |
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WeeWorld Rocks |
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Tuesday, 05 February 2008
WeeWorld is the best (and we're not just biased because we're so thrilled to be WeeWorld partners). I mean, seriously, where else could you get such AWESOME versions of yourself and change your hair colour, clothes, and decor even more frequently than you do in real life...?!? WeeMees rule! Thank you WeeWorld for being so darned fabulous... OK I'll quit my WeeWorld appreciation burble now. (But before I do... come on, you have to admit... they are soooo cool!)  
Posted by Charlie V |
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Bridget Jones ~ Donut Diets |
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Monday, 04 February 2008
My book's official publication date is 7th Feb, ie this coming Thursday. Am phenomenally excited, and very slightly nervous. When nervous I am most emphatically not one of those people who doesn't eat... hence my
Bridget Jones
style summary of today is this: Calories: ?, not good. (Stopped counting after my 5th Krispy Kreme.)
Cigarettes: 0, good.
(Although not quite as impressive as it may seem as I haven't smoked since I was a student.)Weight (pre donuts): 8 stone 10, perfectly fine.
However I have had a brilliant idea for a diet. Was reading an old 1970s diet book of my mother's, it had this utterly nutty 'ice cream diet' the idea was that you ate nothing but ice cream but, the portion sizes were such that you were only eating 800 calories. Well (according to www.krispykreme.co.uk) an original glazed donut is 217 calories. So I could have a Kripsy Kreme diet where I eat 4 donuts a day (still only 868 calories). Except that (1) that probably wouldn't work when you bear in mind I'd eaten 5 before 11am today, and (2) I don't have any desire to go on a diet. Hmmm. I'll stick to writing books on recruitment I think.
 Posted by Herbie 'Make Mine a Donut' Henderson
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Update on Oscar's loss |
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Saturday, 02 February 2008
For those of you who may be losing sleep over Oscar's loss... he has found the top to his fountain pen... it was on the top of the pen. (But that's just between you and me as I've been sworn to secrecy, so please keep schtum.)
Posted by Poppy |
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Short Stack Website Goes Live |
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Friday, 01 February 2008
I've been given the honour of penning the first blog entry but feel horribly guilty as I don't have anything like enough time to write anything of significance as we're running around like crazy to get the first book launched. So a summary of the current state of affairs: Short Stack site looks smashing (IMHO),
 office (such as it is) looks utterly chaotic, tongue is burnt from drinking coffee before letting it cool, books are being dispatched left, right and centre, it's looking increasingly unlikely that Hillary Clinton will win the Democrat nomination and I've lost the top of my fountain pen. None of which is exactly groundbreaking news, but I am sure the others will step up to the plate with scinitillating blog entries in the coming weeks and months! Over and out. And cheers to Short Stack!
Copyright © 2008 Short Stack Publishing All rights reserved
All WeeMees are the copyright of WeeWorld All Smiley Central graphics are the copyright of SmileyCentral |
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Copyright © 2008 Short Stack Publishing
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All WeeMees are the copyright of WeeWorld
All Smiley Central graphics are the copyright of SmileyCentral
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Posted by Oscar 