Stardate 20030730.0147

(Captain's log): It's time, once again, to rototill the sidebar and plant a new crop. My policy on direct linking on my side bar is unusual, and I wrote about it at great length (as if I do anything else on any subject) the last time I changed the list.

The basic idea is to try to give several months of concentrated exposure to a small number of blogs which I think deserve far more attention than they get. With any luck, during that time they'll build up a large enough regular readership that their traffic can continue to grow on its own thereafter. So periodically I replace the list with another group to try to do the same for them.

Why do I do this? Mostly because it's what I wish someone had done for me, back when I first started out.

Here's the current graduating class, being booted out the door into the cold cruel world so as to make way for the new group:

Abode of Amritas
Critical Mass
Geographica
L.z.y./Data
Niraj
Peaktalk
Setting the World to Rights
White Rose

The last time I did this, people suggested that it would help soothe the inevitable hurt feelings if I listed all the people who'd ever been on the sidebar. Problem is, I haven't really kept track of them all and can't do it. However, as best I can reproduce it, here's the full list of still-active alumni:

As to the new list, as usual there are only a few things they have in common. First, they are not widely known. Second, they concentrate primarily on producing original material; they're primarily writers rather than linkers. Third, all of them seem to post regularly and have done so for several months. Fourth, none of them asked to be placed on my sidebar. (And I suspect they're all going to be surprised to discover themselves there.) [DWL!]

Aside from that, they're pretty much all over the map. Read and enjoy! (And in about three months, I'll change it again.)

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