"Will You Play With Me?" - Interacting with other Prince Fans

Last week, I revisited my most popular blog posts. I'm really inspired to get my views back to where they used to be. Part of doing that means interacting with other Prince fans.

Prince.org: I haven't been on this fan site in almost two years! I posted about my blog and someone told me, in so many words, to shut up. It's funny now (kinda), but it stung a little. Guess what? I'm going to start posting on there again tonight! There are some nice people on the website, after all. So there! 

Princefams.com: I stopped posting on this site when I stopped posting on Prince.org, but I started a new forum topic tonight!

Drfunkenberry.com: I miss the days when Dr. Funkenberry hosted Prince "spreecasts." Since then, I haven't checked in with the doc, but I'm going to start interacting with his tweets again! 

Peach & Black Podcast: I love these guys! I've been catching up on their shows, and I think I've been doing a pretty good job of interacting with them on Twitter. However, I'd like to start posting in their forums.

Are there any other Prince-related sites that I should check out?

"7" - Top Blog Posts

I've been blogging off and on for nearly five years. I thought it would be interesting to look back at my top seven blog posts. Hopefully, it will give me some insight into what works best for my audience.

Number Seven: "The Light of God" - Interview with Roy Bennett (371 views). This was one of my most valuable interviews for the Prince book. I shared some of the subjects that I covered with Bennett, who worked as Prince's lighting and set designer. 

Number Six: "She's Always in My Hair" - Interview with Jill Jones (385 views). This was another extremely important interview. I have some Prince stories that no one has printed, thanks to Jones, who worked with and dated Prince. 

Number Five: "Do I Believe in God?" - Rolling Stone Journalists' Thoughts on Prince's Spirituality (424 views). I had the opportunity to discuss Prince with some music journalists whom I admire: Anthony DeCurtis, David Browne and Tom Moon. I summarized what I learned from those conversations.

Number Four: “Why Should You Wait Any Longer?”—Getting Back On Track (446 views). I wrote this blog to let people know what I was up to after taking a break for a few months. It's cool to see that so many people read it! I included a TON of links, so I'm sure that helped.

Number Three: “Gotta Tell the Truth Y'all” - Interview with Gayle Chapman (1,368 views). This post was about my very first interview! So many biographers have written about Prince's former band member without talking to her. I was able to get the truth straight from the source.

Number Two: "Interactive" - Prince Twitter Chat (1,912 views). This is a summary of the Prince Twitter chat that I did back in the day. How fun! I have to do another chat...

Number One: "Think About the Future!" - Upcoming Projects from Prince's Protégés" (2,071 views). I can't believe this is number one! I just wrote about a few performers who used to work with Prince. I must have done some really effective promotion for this post, but I can't remember my strategy. What a mystery!

Well, I'm inspired to top my number one post! Let's talk more about promotion next week.

"Do You Like What You See?" - Prince's Music Videos

For my book, I analyze Prince’s albums, performances and music videos. I think I’ve been doing a decent job keeping track of the latter, but I think I’ve missed some. As many Prince fans know, the artist has shot a ton of footage; some of it was released to TV networks or online, and some of it was released only on DVD or through special subscriptions. So, it takes a lot of effort to keep up.

On several occasions, I’ve listened to the Peach & Black Podcast (shout out to the fellas—I LOVE their reviews), and heard them reference a music video that I didn’t even know existed. So, I’m going to have to go back and revise my running list of Prince’s music videos.

While I’m on this topic, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite Prince music video. It took me a while to figure it out, not because there are so many that I love (sorry, P), but because I never really got into them. I prefer polished productions by artists like Michael Jackson (my favorite “short film” is "Smooth Criminal").

However, I do appreciate the “live” feel of Prince’s music videos; most of them show him performing in concert. This makes sense; he’s a superb instrumentalist, and that quality should be emphasized. My favorite is “Willing in Able,” from the "Diamonds and Pearls" era, circa 1991. I didn’t see the video until my mom bought me the "Prince and the New Power Generation Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" on DVD for Christmas a few years ago.

I adore the album version of the song, but the video includes a slightly different arrangement. The live performance is electrifying! Prince’s vocals are incredible, and the NPG band and The Steeles are on fire! I also love Prince's dancing and his appearance (when I forced my boyfriend to watch it, his first words were, “What is he wearing?”). I would embed or link to the video, but I don’t want to get myself or anyone in trouble. You should be able to find it, though. ;)

What is your favorite Prince music video?

"Work 'til the Morning Comes" - Improving the Blog

I mentioned that I wanted to improve my blog in a previous post. This week, I took steps to put my plan into action.

1) I used lynda.com to research search engine optimization (SEO). "Blogging Strategies for Musicians and Bands" is an extremely helpful course for all types of bloggers. One takeaway that I will implement right away: using alt and title text with my images in case they don't load for some readers.

2) I applied for a Google AdSense account, and I was approved! Now, I can monetize my blog by featuring ads on the site.

3) I started researching RSS feeds. I tried to put an Atom feed on the site, but I noticed that it is not compatible with the Chrome browser, Then, I tried Feedburner, but I'm still having issues. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I still can't afford a new computer, but I did purchase a beautiful new printer!

Now, perhaps I can do some actual work on my book this week...


Do you have any advice regarding SEO, AdSense and/or RSS feeds?

"Switch Up the Groove" - Getting Focused Again

Honestly, I am in a challenging space. For the past couple of weeks, I have not been able to focus on my book (or this blog, for that matter). I think it's a combination of things, including stress and sleep deprivation.

I'm also going through a life transition. Before I graduated, I would spend hours each day on my book. I put that project before other things in my life. Now that the pressure is off, I've been trying to revive my social life. For example, I joined a book club and recently spent a weekend in Columbus with my best friend from high school. I've also been exercising and paying more attention to my appearance. All of these things take time.

Basically, I need to find balance. I'm really committed to publishing this book, but I don't want to neglect other areas of my life. It's going to take some time to figure it out. In the meantime, I'm encouraging myself with these tips:

1) Stick to a Schedule. I love organizing my time with lists. In fact, I have a dry erase board in my kitchen for this very purpose. I would like to carve out consistent times for writing and blogging. 

2) Don't Over-Do It. It's important that I don't go overboard, scheduling a huge number of hours for my projects. I need to start small--maybe even just an hour here and there, and then build up.

3) Don't Beat Yourself Up. Sometimes, I'm going to fail. I may not write as much as I want to on a particular day, or I might miss a week of blogging. Also, I might face criticism (internal and external) because my book isn't done, yet. However, I have to remind myself that I'm not giving up on my goal and I've already accomplished so much regarding this project. I know I can do it! 

How do you motivate yourself to get focused? 

"Round and Round" - Research Pattern

I'm finally starting to edit chapter nine, which covers the Lovesexy era. I have a specific process that I follow each time I work on a chapter. One particular step involves consulting the same set of "sources." They include:

Publications: I focus on a few magazines and newspapers that consistently covered Prince's career. I look through all of the relevant articles that were published during the chapter's time period.

Interviews: I go back through the transcriptions of relevant interviews that I've done.

Notes: I have a really long, scary document full of notes that I take. For example, when I'm working on a chapter, I may have a thought that I'd like to explore later in the book. So, I write it down and I make sure I review my notes periodically.

Previous Drafts: I started this project back during my undergraduate studies, so I have several old drafts of the book. I like to look back at them for things to include in this new draft.

Previous Biographies: I have a few go-to Prince biographies that I consult to help me with my book. I often use them as a base, and then add my own research because my angle is very different.

Music and Performances: I always analyze Prince's relevant lyrics, videos and concerts.

Liner Notes: I study the liner notes in the relevant album.

Award Shows: I pay attention to speeches that Prince has given at relevant award shows.

Fan Magazines: This is actually a new "source." There were several Prince fan magazines that popped up in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I intend to start reading them after I finish chapter nine.

Mr. "Tambourine" Man - Bob Dylan's Spiritual Journey

I've talked a lot about my research on the spiritual journeys of other popular artists. Several months ago, I singled out D'angelo. Lately, I've been thinking about Bob Dylan.

View image | gettyimages.com

Like Prince, Dylan had a "born again" period. He released two Christian albums, embarked on a Gospel tour and refused to sing his previous material.

I read Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, but it didn't contain any commentary on the singer's religious journey. So, I have some of the same questions people ask about Prince:

Was his "spiritual awakening" real?

Why did he eventually go back to performing his previous work?

Did he truly have an internal struggle between the sacred and the secular, and how long did it last? Does he still grapple with this today?

I think I'll reach out to Bob Dylan fans on Twitter and see what they say. In the meantime...


Do you think Dylan's Christian songs were genuine?