I received this email today from the editors of the upcoming book, She’s Such a Geek:
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Dear contributor:
Thanks so much for submitting your work to She’s Such A Geek. We were blown away by the number and quality of submissions we received, and really excited that so many cool geeky women wanted to share their stories with us. We received nearly 200 submissions and had to choose around 20 from among those.
We really enjoyed your piece, but unfortunately we weren’t able to use it in the book. This probably doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of your work. Many of the pieces we received were well-written and interesting, but covered the same topics as too many other pieces, or didn’t work with the format of the book. Thanks again for submitting it, and best of luck with your writing.
Best,
Annalee and Charlie
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I’m bummed, but at the same time, this may open up my essay to expansion into a full-length book. I have a lot to say about geekhood, and who knows – somebody else might even be interested in what I have to say.
I haven’t been updating the site or this blog very often because I just started a new job and am also in the process of buying a house. Wish I had more time in the day. As it is, I’ve found that I’m sincerely enjoying my sleep-time of late.
Every once in a while, I do searches on search engines to see how my site is ranking. I find it very interesting that typing "test" into Google, which apparently a ton of people do to test their internet connectivity, brings up a link to the Geek Test. It is usually somewhere on the first page. I think that’s so cool… or just indicative of the type of people who search for "test" and then proceed to click on the link to my site.
I did a Google search for "geek" today, and the link to the geek test still shows up #4, where it has been for a couple years. Behind geek.com, thinkgeek.com, and geekcode.com. I doubt that I’ll ever get above geek.com because it’s a major source for news and reviews (an alternative to /. maybe?) or thinkgeek because they sell stuff. I might have a chance at coming up above the Geek Code site, but I don’t think it really matters if I do. I mean, the Geek Code was the original classifier before my Geek Test. I would not wish to take props away from that important part of internet history. But… the site hasn’t been updated in a long time, and I have lots more content on mine. Oh well.
I’m the first listing today on page 12 of a Google search for "geeks." So I guess I can concentrate my SEO on that. Most people do a search for "geek" rather than the plural form, though.
Anyway, the whole point of this post was to share a small amusement with you. Keep in mind, I am very easily amused. On the advertising side of Google for a search for "geek," here was one of the ads:
Maybe it’s not funny to you, but I laughed out loud when I saw it. These ads use "smart" technology that simply insert the keyword you just searched for into their ads. It makes sense if you’re searching for "sony tv" or "ipod accessories" or "bird feeders." But "Looking for Geek?" just sounds like the company could be offering anything from drug distribution to a bad Chinese-based dating service. Maybe it’s more common than I thought. Maybe I’ll go to the library tomorrow and start browsing the technology section, and a librarian will come up to me and ask "Are you Looking for Geek?"
