Matthew Wayne Selznick's Blog, page 15

Please Answer Six Questions

[image error]Nearly seven years ago, I published “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” It was the first book with a simultaneous debut publication in paperback, five DRM-free e-book formats, and a free podcast edition. It was among the first two dozen “podcast novels,” pre-dating the ubiquitous Podiobooks.com. The book, in its various incarnations, enjoys an audience in the tens of thousands, all over the world.

Over the years, some folks have asked if there would be a new Sovereign Era book featuring some of the same characters. It’s time to find out if that’s an endeavor worth pursuing.

Please Answer Six Questions Regarding A New Sovereign Era Book

I’ve prepared a six-question survey to assess if it makes sense for me to allocate time, energy and resources toward writing, producing and marketing a new Sovereign Era novel featuring characters from “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” like Nate Charters, Byron Teslowski, Lina Porter and the gang. While the book — likely called “Pilgrimage” — has been on the backburner for some time, I’d like to figure out if there’s good cause to actually write it.

Please help me — whether you’ve experienced “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Soveregn Era” or not — by answering no more than six questions in an online survey I’ve created. Please click here to take the survey.

Why Not Just Write The Thing?

I’d like to close the book, if you will, on the characters introduced in “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” as well as bring the next piece of the Sovereign Era storyworld to the public. So, why not just write this new Sovereign Era book? Why do any research on its viability, even something as small as a six question survey?

I’m a creator — it’s what I do for a living, whether I’m making things for others or for myself. Creativity is my business — that’s not a corny slogan (after all, creativity isn’t my middle name — that would be corny!), it’s the literal truth.

When considering what to work on, I have to include an assessment of what makes the most business sense. The list of things I need to make (for others) or want to make (for myself) is long — and all of those things have a potential for a return on my investment of time, energy and resources.

What’s the potential for a new Sovereign Era book featuring Nate Charters and some of the characters from “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” especially compared to the time, energy and resources it will require?

The results of the six-question survey will help me figure that out.

Spread The Word

In order to get the best possible results, I need a very high level of participation in the survey. If you count my mailing list, Facebook friends, Facebook page fans, Twitter followers, Google+ followers, and subscribers to this blog (and don’t count hugely variable overlap), it will reach about 5,000 people.

Please be one of those people… and please spread the word to others, as the number of people who elect to receive my updates in one form or another are vastly outnumbered by people who’ve experienced “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” Help me reach them — spread the link to the survey around, with my thanks:

http://bit.ly/mwsmediasurvey

The survey will be open until the end of May, 2012.

Thank you very much!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Please Answer Six Questions -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Custom WordPress Site Case Study – Tomandviolet.com

[image error]Universal Pictures’ “The Five-Year Engagement,” a comedy starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, debuted in theaters on April 27, 2012, the same day the last of sixty three posts went live on tomandviolet.com, the faux blog and primary online marketing vehicle for the film. Working under contract to Jetset Studios, MWS Media created and maintained the custom WordPress site running tomandviolet.com, and managed the content updates for Jetset throughout.

The Intent of Tomandviolet.com

Almost exactly four years previously, Universal employed a suite of fake websites, including the Blogger blog ihatesarahmarshall.com, to promote another Jason Segel comedy, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” The site was presented as written by Segel’s character, Peter Bretter, and featured thirty five text and video posts from late February to mid-April 2008, running roughly parallel to the events in the first third of the film.

Tomandviolet.com is a larger-scale endeavor in the same vein, with nearly twice as many posts running from early December to the film’s release in late April. Where Ihatesarahmarshall.com was “written” solely by Peter Bretter, tomandviolet.com is presented as an engagement blog with the posts largely shared by the fictional couple, Tom Solomon (Segel) and Violet Barnes (Blunt).

In addition to text and video posts from Tom and Violet, tomandviolet.com includes in-character “guest blog” video posts from several members of the supporting cast. To push the in-world illusion farther, each post has comments from Tom and Violet’s friends and family and a guest book page for the general public to play along.

Although an “official” website for the film exists, only tomandviolet.com is promoted in the theatrical and restricted trailers, print and outdoor materials.

Tomandviolet.com – Ingredients

Tomandviolet.com is a self-hosted WordPress installation (as opposed to a site hosted on wordpress.com) with a custom theme built with the premium Catalyst theme and Dynamik child theme. I created the theme from Photoshop comps designed by Jetset Studios using both original material and assets provided by Universal.

Since the conceit is that tomandviolet.com is a personal blog written by a couple of ordinary folks, in-character video posts featuring Segel, Blunt and other cast members were simple embeds from Tom and Violet’s YouTube channel.

Custom functions were necessary to force WordPress to display comments on blog post archive pages.

Plugins Employed

In addition to the usual backup, anti-spam, caching and SEO tools, the following plugins were used to create the tomandviolet.com custom WordPress site:

AddThis Social Bookmarking Widget – a simple solution for social sharing, and just the sort of thing people with nominal technical savvy (like Tom and Violet) would utilize… with the added benefit of real analytics tools for the marketing folks at Universal.
Artiss YouTube Embed – Used to add a YouTube playlist widget in the sidebar.
Comments Notifier – Allows more than one person to receive e-mail notifications of new comments, a must on a project with numerous caretakers at the interactive agency. Necessary to monitor and vet the “guestbook” entries from the public, which utilizes the built-in WordPress commenting system.
Disable Check Comment Flood – Essential to enable pre-populating and post-dating of the fake comments on each blog post.
Simple Local Avatars – Since each blog post comment is actually from a fictional person, I created user accounts for each character. This plugin provided a simple means to assign each user with an avatar — a must when your comment authors are actually characters played by actors.
User Switching – This plugin hugely simplified the process of adding comments from different “users” to each blog post.
WP-ViperGB – A guestbook plugin, somewhat customized for this project, enabled real people to celebrate the engagement of Tom Solomon and Violet Barnes.

Take Aways

Here’s what I learned from creating and maintaining the custom WordPress site for “The Five-Year Engagement.”

Development

As convenient as the premium WordPress theme framework Catalyst can be for rapid custom theme development (especially testing and employing custom css), I found it a little restrictive when it came to some of the more non-standard needs of this site. Catalyst (and its option-packed child theme, Dynamik) is great for most clients’ needs, but the next time something like tomandviolet.com comes along, I’ll probably either build the theme from scratch or work with a more flexible theme framework like Thematic.

It’s a testimony to the health and vitality of the WordPress community that most of the functional demands of tomandviolet.com were met by free, out-of-the-box plugins. I’ll take spending time plumbing Google and WordPress.org for the tools to do the job over re-coding the wheel any day of the week!

Execution

The key to successfully executing this five-month project was to automate and streamline as much of the process as possible. Thankfully, nearly all sixty-plus blog posts were written by Jetset Studios, filmed by the cast, and approved by the filmmakers and studio well ahead of time, and revisions and changes (a given when dealing with the onion-layered hierarchy involved in making and marketing a major motion picture) were minimal.

New content posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at ten AM Pacific time for twenty two weeks. I took full advantage of the WordPress “schedule post” function, and the Disable Comment Flood and User Switching plugins made things much more manageable than would have otherwise been possible. Even so, I made sure to double-check the blog on post mornings — WordPress is great, but it’s still important to keep a human eye on things to make sure the trains run on time.

I handled WordPress updates as needed, and worked with the Jetset Studios sysadmin to optimize caching and performance. Some performance issues could have been anticipated; in the future I’ll be sure that the client’s servers are ready for the lucky curse of minor “viral” success.

Results

Starting with an early Huffington Post nod, buzz for tomandviolet.com has been favorable and the intended audience seems to like it. I’m going to assume Universal wouldn’t be cool with me revealing specific traffic data for tomandviolet.com. That said, we can look at some publicly available information:

Guest Book Comments: 500 and counting.
YouTube Views: Nearly 80,000 and counting across eleven videos featured on tomandviolet.com.
Google Page Rank: 4
Opening Weekend Box Office: It’s predicted that “The Five-Year Engagement” will bring in no more than twelve million dollars on its opening weekend. But it’s a long summer…

Of course, that last one is what really matters! If tomandviolet.com helps make “The Five-Year Engagement” this year’s “Bridesmaids,” perhaps Universal will want a custom WordPress site for the sequel in a few years. Surely Tom and Violet will want to blog about their first pregnancy..?

Potential For Marketing and Storytelling

MWS Media’s responsibility on tomandviolet.com didn’t extend beyond creating the custom WordPress site and publishing the content. Still, since MWS Media provides a variety of creative services and I am first and foremost a creator and storyteller, I can’t resist sharing some thoughts on the potential of a faux blog as a marketing and storytelling instrument.

By adding scripted comments to the mix and inviting actual users to contribute to the discussion via the guestbook, Universal took tomandviolet.com a step farther than ihatesarahmarshall.com. The next step for future projects (by Universal or anyone else) would be to create content that didn’t simply shadow the original script but actually adds to the story and enhances the storyworld in a substantive way.

I haven’t seen “The Five-Year Engagement” yet, and it’s been months since I read the script, but presumably, like other Jason Segel scripts, there’s a strong “B” plotline involving a couple of the secondary characters — see “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” for the example of the religiously uptight newlyweds. A faux blog, focused on secondary story, would be a great way to add depth and new information to the tentpole content.

Plan From Inception

It’s not enough to build a story-driven marketing effort around an existing script and the moving target of talent availability and willingness to participate. Future marketing efforts like tomandviolet.com could really shine both as promotional vehicles and storytelling opportunities, but only if auxiliary experiences (some might say “transmedia content”) are considered from the inception of a project.

This is not to say that the screenwriter needs to concern themselves with actually creating the auxiliary experience. It might be enough to insert “sockets” in the the primary story for others to “plug in” supplemental content. That said, the screenwriter should organize their backstory ephemera in such a way that its useful to other creators. In other words: screenwriters need to think in terms of storyworlds, not just stories.

What if the creator of a project doesn’t have the resources of time or energy to build their screenplay out into a fully realized storyworld, ripe with opportunities for expansion? That’s where people like me come in, of course!

What Do You Think?

Have you been following tomandviolet.com? Did you see “The Five-Year Engagement?” How well do you think the custom WordPress site helped drive moviegoers to the film? Did tomandviolet.com enhance the movie for you? Let me know in the comments!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Custom WordPress Site Case Study – Tomandviolet.com -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Celebrating World Book Night 2012 With A Guest Blog Post

World Book Night 2012 is a celebration held in the UK, Ireland and the United States intended to instill a love of reading and books by spreading the word about great literature. Additionally, tens of thousands of the official World Book Night 2012 selected books will be given away in communities across the participating countries.

The Dragon Page, a science fiction media community website, invited me and nine other authors and Internet personalities to celebrate World Book Night 2012 by sharing the books and authors that inspire us.

The subject of my guest blog post at the Dragon Page won’t surprise folks who know me well. I hope you’ll check it out and share your thoughts on my essay and World Book Night 2012 in the comments section there!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Celebrating World Book Night 2012 With A Guest Blog Post -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Reading The Amazing Spider-Man: Issue Number Nine Part One

After five months off, it’s time once again to join me reading The Amazing Spider-Man! In this series, I critically review every issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comicbook from issue number one through issue number five hundred. All along, I have one eye on what storyworld stewards and other creators can learn from studying one of the most endearing examples of modern Western mythology. It’s fun, too!

Issue nine of The Amazing Spider-Man introduces us to “The Man Called Electro!” The splash page, again patterned after a movie one-sheet, proclaims that this issue is a “triumph” from the “new Marvel Age of comics,” continuing the company’s efforts to brand itself as something new and different.

The footer caption continues the bombastic, self-congratulatory tone as Stan Lee explains what’s to come:

Know something, little friend? If you’re just starting to read this story, we envy you! Because you’re gonna have a ball!

The splash page art features Peter Parker / Spider-Man as one figure divided into his distinct identities staring open-mouthed up at the looming Electro, who is tossing lightning bolts down on our hero. On either margin, the book’s cast of characters hover, accuse and attack — left side matching the people in Peter’s life; right side, the crooks, townspeople and naysayers opposing the amazing Spider-Man, with J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant earning slots on both.

It’s a great visual hint that this tale will balance super-hero action with wonderful soap opera melodrama. Let’s see how it goes…

Synopsis

The amazing Spider-Man races through the city, ignoring pedestrians and even a shoot-out between some cops and robbers in his haste. Fortunately, the bad guys saw him even if he didn’t see them, and were so freaked out they surrendered to New York’s finest… a subtle indicator of Spider-Man’s reputation as a formidable crime-fighter even when he’s oblivious to the crime.

Spider-Man is in such a rush, he changes into Peter Parker on the run as he nears the house he shares with his Aunt May, reasoning that it’s too dark for anyone to see him (despite the streetlamp clearly shown) and that it will save time.

The reason for his haste? His aunt is bedridden and ill, and Peter wanted to fill her prescription as fast as possible. Aunt May takes her medicine and falls asleep, and Peter holds a vigil in the dark next to her bed, filled with anxiety because earlier, the doctor told Peter his aunt is much more ill than she realizes.

Meanwhile, “on the other side of town,” the man who calls himself Electro is ready to introduce himself to the world. He chooses to rob an armored car by tossing electric shocks between his fingers and the metal of the armor car, the watches on the guards’ wrists, and so on. The guards decide they’re outclassed and surrender their bags of gold (conveniently colored gold and emblazened with dollar signs).

The next day, Peter learns his aunt is even worse — she needs to go to the hospital. Pete admits her and heads off to school, where his rival, Flash Thompson, is re-considering his treatment of Peter in light of the fight they had in the previous issue. Unfortunately, Peter’s so pre-occupied with worry he ignores Flash completely and, at least for now, dashes any hope for their potential reconciliation.

After school, Peter rushes to the hospital, where he finds Betty Brant already there with his aunt. Peter is grateful, and the two stay with Aunt May until visiting hours are over, when Peter excuses himself suddenly and leaves Betty to find her own way home.

Left alone, Betty muses on the two Peter Parkers:

It’s as though he carries a deep secret within him — one which no one can ever share!

Perceptive girl!

Meanwhile, Pete’s changed into the amazing Spider-Man and taken to the rooftops. He hopes to find some action so he can sell photographs to The Daily Bugle, as he needs the money for Aunt May’s operation. Rotten luck — it starts to rain, and his portable camera’s too cheap to take good pictures in the lousy weather. Pete gives up and calls it a night.

The next day, The Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson just happens to be at the Forest Hills Bank (in Peter Parker’s neighborhood) when Electro stops by for a withdrawal of sorts. Electro recognizes Jameson and calls him by name before robbing the bank and escaping by using his electricity “like a magnet!!” to climb up the side of a building.

Jameson — who has previously been established as a very public figure in the city — leaps to the conclusion that if Electro knows who he is and can also climb walls, he must be Spider-Man in disguise. Seeing local resident Spider-Man swing by a moment later only serves to confirm this for J.J.J.

The next edition of The Daily Bugle blasts the claim, “on the basis of indisputable evidence,” that Electro is Spider-Man. This infuriates Peter Parker, but he has bigger worries. His aunt’s pending operation requires a specialist that charges a thousand dollars. We still don’t know what the operation is for, but apparently whatever’s wrong with Aunt May is life threatening.

Peter asks Jameson for a loan, but for no real reason other than to move the plot forward, when the publisher asks Peter Parker what the loan is for, the kid just says it’s personal but important.

Jameson assumes it’s just a “hot-rod” Peter must want and tells Peter if he can find photographic proof that Electro is Spider-Man, he’ll pay him the money. If Peter had been forthcoming about his aunt’s predicament, Jameson might have loaned him the money… but if that happened, Peter apparently wouldn’t have the incentive to go after Electro and our story would be over!

Of course, Peter can’t get photographic proof of something that isn’t true, but there is a big reward for Electro’s capture. He spends hours looking for the villain before finally finding him.

Next comes a storytelling shortcut that is illogical to the point of ludicrousness, Spider-Man — from a rooftop across the street — sees Electro through the window of an apartment, tossing electrical bolts at a wall. Here’s Spider-Man’s thought balloon:

He’s using his electric power like a mine detector! He just located a hidden safe in that deserted apartment!

There’s only one way to explain how Spider-Man could know what Electro was doing, how he was doing it, what the outcome would be, and that the apartment was deserted, all in a single beat of storytelling time.

The writer needed us to know it.

Terrible.

Anyway, the amazing Spider-Man snaps some pictures of Electro doing the deed and plans to follow him to his hideout, where he’ll capture him.

Unfortunately, Electro sees Spider-Man via a reflection in the mirror in the apartment, and the fight is on. Spider-Man foolishly makes direct contact with Electro while he’s in “electric shock condition” and collapses to the rooftop, smoldering.

Electro expresses some regret over the prone body, but reasons that it wasn’t his fault because he didn’t have a chance to warn Spider-Man… and now that he’s out of the way, there’s no one left to challenge him. (Because New York City isn’t, y’know, crawling with super-heroes…)

Of course, once Electro’s gone, the amazing Spider-Man recovers, having been saved by his “spider-induced strength.” Desperate to pay for his aunt’s operation, Spider-Man decides to snap some pictures of himself. He super-imposes them over the shots of Electro, making it appear as if the villain was caught in the act of changing into Spider-Man.

The next day, though he feels terrible about it, Peter sells the pictures to Jameson, who prints them as proof that Electro and Spider-Man are the same person.

Meanwhile, believing Spider-Man to be dead, Electro gloats…

To Be Continued!

We’re at the half-way mark of this issue and it’s a good spot to stop for now. Stay tuned for the second half of the synopsis, and my analysis, in a few days. Be sure to subscribe to the blog in the reader of your choice or sign up to receive new posts directly in your email inbox.

Meanwhile, share your thoughts on the first half of The Amazing Spider-Man number nine in the comments!

The Amazing Spider-Man number nine

“The Man Called Electro!”

Cover Date: February, 1964

Script: Stan Lee

Illustration: Steve Ditko

Letters: Art Simek

Join Me In Reading The Amazing Spider-Man

Click the cover to buy the first twenty issues of The Amazing Spider-Man in an inexpensive trade paperback from Barnes & Noble Booksellers:





Your purchase helps support this series and all my creative endeavors — thanks!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Reading The Amazing Spider-Man: Issue Number Nine Part One -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Get Brave Men Run In Paperback While You Still Can!

Gang, it was four years ago this month that I signed a contract with Swarm / Permuted Press to publish a new paperback edition of my first book, "Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era." The Swarm Press edition was officially released on July 13, 2008, just a day before my 41st birthday. Some folks might remember the fun, day-long "webathon" I held (the first of its kind) to celebrate the release, share short stories set in the Sovereign Era storyworld written by other authors, and to drive the book as far up the Amazon.com sales charts as we could.

The rest, as they say, is history! The book peaked at #53 on the overall Amazon.com bestseller list. The short stories went on to become "The Sovereign Era: Year One."

It's hard to believe it was four years ago. In some ways, it feels a lot longer. Much has changed in that time.

Four years was also the term of my publishing contract with Swarm / Permuted Press… and that term ends at the end of this month. I've informed the publisher that I'm not opting to extend our agreement.

That means the Swarm Press paperback edition of "Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era" is officially out of print. No new copies will ship from the publisher after the end of this month at the latest.

If You Ever Wanted One…

If you've been holding off on ordering your own new paperback copy of the Swarm Press edition of "Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era," it is now time to buy the book.

In just a little over two weeks — maybe less — you won't have another opportunity.

Go. Do it. There's no telling what out-of-print collectors' editions will cost… but copies of the original, self-published paperback have been seen in the wild for over $350.00. Even I don't think it's worth that much, and I wrote the thing. I'd much rather you spend $13.95.

Will There Be A New Paperback Edition of "Brave Men Run?"

I'll be perfectly honest, gang: I'm not sure. The rights to a paperback edition revert back to me at the end of April. I could publish a new paperback edition through MWS Media. However, I'm not sure that makes business sense at this time.

Why? This:

The paperback edition has rarely performed as well as the Kindle version. That's ignoring the Nook version and the e-book bundle I sell through my web site. That spike at the very beginning is almost entirely the result of the release date celebration and, more tellingly, the first two and a half months the paperback was available for sale accounts for over 60% of its sales since then. Meanwhile, the Kindle version has out-performed the paperback edition by, some quarters, as much as eighty-fold.

Folks don't seem to be as interested in the paperback edition.

More tellingly: the Kindle version has moved 165% as many units as the paperback. Viewed on a strict royalty-per-unit-sold basis, the Kindle version has earned me over 300% my royalty rate on the paperback edition. In reality, I was given a very modest advance for the paperback edition, and at least through the end of 2011 that advance had still not earned out.

So… there doesn't seem to be a lot of incentive for me to self-publish a new paperback edition at this time.

What's Next For The Sovereign Era?

I'm considering next steps for the Sovereign Era storyworld. Whatever content — if any — I produce next in this setting will have to depend on audience demand, time, and level of investment in time and money required. As an unemployed freelancer, the unfortunate truth is that I have to prioritize making money and keeping my bills paid over purely creative projects. But I'm thinking!

Meanwhile… if you want a new copy of the Swarm Press edition of "Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era," you need to act now!

If you've already purchased a copy of the Swarm Press paperback edition of "Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era," well, then, you're simply awesome and I thank you. You might just have a collector's edition on your hands. Thanks!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Get Brave Men Run In Paperback While You Still Can! -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

MWS Media Creative Services Grand Re-Opening

For years, I've provided a variety of creative services to independent authors, creators, and entertainment and interactive marketing agencies through my company, MWS Media. When I debuted the re-design of this website a month or so ago, some of the pages dedicated to the services I provide through MWS Media remained out of sight until I could update them to match my vision of the new version of the site. That day is today!

Introducing MWS Media

Take a gander at the section of this site dedicated to MWS Media, where I provide web site hosting, WordPress services, voice talent, and services just for authors like manuscript editing, story evaluation and critique, and audiobook and e-book creation, among other things. MWS Media also does work for interactive creative agencies and the entertainment industry.

The primary mission of MWS Media, as always, is to help independent authors and other indie creators achieve their creative endeavors by assisting from inception to market and beyond.

MWS Media's motto is, "Doing it yourself means never going it alone." While that might not quite add up grammatically, it's at the core of the DIY ethic I've tried to live by for the last twenty five years, so it works for me!

More To Come

In the weeks that follow, I'll continue to flesh out the official offerings of MWS Media on this site.

If anyone you know might need my services, be sure to send them my way! Meanwhile, how can MWS Media help you? Let me know in the comments, or drop me a line!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading MWS Media Creative Services Grand Re-Opening -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Twelve Top Tips To Protect WordPress

I love the WordPress content management system for its simplicity, flexibility, and community. It's what this site runs, and it's what many of my clients use. In fact, it's what millions of sites use, including many of the most popular sites on the web.

Because it's so popular, the WordPress system and its attendant plugins and themes are often the target of crackers, malware syndicates, and other bad guys. There's something of an arms race going on between these black hats, website owners, and the developers of WordPress, and some folks have pointed out that keeping everything protected is the true "price" of the excellent, free WordPress platform. I think it's a price worth paying… and I've paid it a time or two!

Both for my own reference and for your use as a resource, I've collected the best practices I've found to protect WordPress. Be sure to back up your WordPress site before trying any of these tips!

Top Tips To Protect WordPress

Don't be "Admin." When you install WordPress, the system assigns you the username "admin" by default, but you can make your username anything you want. You most certainly should not call yourself "admin." That's like giving the bad guys your username, since it's the first thing they'll try when they come knocking.
Use A Strong Password. This should be a no-brainer — WordPress actually gives you a hint as to the strength of your password — but it's worth mentioning anyway. This is your house you're locking up. Use a good lock.
Get Rid Of Unused Themes. We all do it — try out a bunch of different themes (most of them are free, after all) until we finally settle on something we like. But once you do have your dream theme, those unused themes you've installed are just sitting there, little bundles of code that you just might forget about. Eventually, they'll need updating… and what's the number one reason to keep themes (and plugins and your site itself) updated with the most current version? Updates often include patches for vulnerabilities that might let the bad guys in! It's too easy to ignore update notices for themes you're not using, so just delete the things. Keep a clean house and the vermin will be less likely to move in, y'know?
Get Rid Of Unused Plugins. Same deal as with unused themes. Old, unused plugins grow vulnerabilities like mold and attract bad guys like maggots. Delete 'em. They're (usually) free; you can always download and install them again if need be.
Get Login Lockdown. This simple plugin does a simple thing: records the IP address and timestamp of every login attempt. When x number of failed logins occur, no more attempts are allowed from that IP address until y time passes. A nice deterrent to brute force attacks on your front door.
Get WordPress Firewall 2. This plugin should be standard equipment in every WordPress installation. It blocks several varieties of attacks on your WordPress installation, and reports the type of attack and its originating IP address to you in an e-mail. That IP address is golden — once you know it, you can block it from your server. Expect to see lots of IP addresses from the Ukraine.
Always Use SFTP. Regular FTP transmits your server account password in plain text. SFTP (the S is for "Secure") does not. Make sure your web host provider has the option to use SFTP when transferring files. (All accounts hosted with MWS Media use SFTP.)
Assign The Correct Permissions. This is straight from the WordPress codex. Make sure your server folders and files are secure. WordPress recommends that directories be set to 755 and files set to 644. Consult the documentation of your FTP client for details on how to do this. If you use a terminal to access your server on the command line, you probably don't need to consult anything, you code warrior, you.
Move Your Wp-Config File. Your wp-config file has, among other important info, your database information. It's a plain text file, unencrypted. It's like the soft underbelly of a puppy, just waiting for a coyote to clamp down with its sharp, yellow, diseased teeth. You don't want that. So move wp-config one level up in the directory structure of your server. WordPress will still be able to find it, but this little trick might just throw the bad guys off the scent.
.htaccess: Block Nasty IP Addresses. Now that you know where the bad guys are coming from, put this in the bottom of your .htaccess file:

# Block attacks

order allow,deny

deny from XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

allow from all
.htaccess: Block Directory Browsing. This trick keeps folks from reading the list of files in your WordPress install. Put this at the end of your .htaccess file:

# disable directory browsing

Options All -Indexes
.htaccess: Block HTTP Insertions. HTTP insertions are a particular type of attack. Putting this at the end of your .htaccess file will help prevent them:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/(wp-login.php|wp-admin/|wp-content/plugins/|wp-includes/).* [NC]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ ///.*\ HTTP/ [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.*\?\=?(http|ftp|ssl|https):/.*\ HTTP/ [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.*\?\?.*\ HTTP/ [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.*\.(asp|ini|dll).*\ HTTP/ [NC,OR]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.*\.(htpasswd|htaccess|aahtpasswd).*\ HTTP/ [NC]

RewriteRule .* - [F,NS,L]

Remember, this is an arms race, and while neither side has won, no one's giving up just yet. It's next to impossible to be 100% secure, but these tips will make your WordPress site a lot less hospitable to crackers and malware injectors. This list is far from complete, too — I'll be updating it from time to time, and I welcome your own proven tips — please contribute by leaving a comment!

Need Help Protecting WordPress?

I found these tips and resources in various places on the World Wide Web, and learned, over time, how to put them into practice… so you can, too.

Still, I understand that some folks might not want to get their hands dirty with SFTP, the .htaccess file, moving things around, and so on. That's all right! You can always hire me to do it for you! Contact me and let's talk about getting your WordPress installation as secure as we can.

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Twelve Top Tips To Protect WordPress -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Interview At Bring Your A-Game Webzine

I recently had the honor and pleasure of being interviewed by a new webzine spotlighting the tabletop gaming industry, Bring Your A-Game.

The editors wanted to talk to me about my new e-booklet, "Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon." Our conversation covers worldbuilding, creativity, publishing and related topics.

Whether you're a writer, gamer, storyworld curator or some other variety of creator, take a look, and be sure to add to their comments section once you've read the interview!

Read my interview at Bring Your A-Game.

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Interview At Bring Your A-Game Webzine -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Star Wars Fan Linkbait

I really enjoyed Star Wars when it came out. In the summer of 1977 I was ten years old and had read the novelization and the Marvel comics adaptation before I actually saw the film in the theater — at Grauman's Chinese, in Hollywood. It was the loudest movie I'd ever seen. I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Over the decades, especially in light of the prequels, I, like many folks, have cooled on the Star Wars franchise. It's kind of quaint to me now — a series of kids' movies with their place in history, but nothing to get too worked up over. Still, it's part of my cultural mythology, and so, a few days ago, my mind wandered into "Star Wars" territory. Not for the first time, I reflected on the following:

They Just Don't Make Sense

If you're a "Star Wars" fan, there are a number of things that just don't make sense if you view the films in episodic order:

Obi-Wan Kenobi deliberately and blatantly lied to Luke Skywalker concerning his origins and connection to Darth Vader. Two movies later, when Luke calls him out on this, Kenobi glosses it over with "…what I told you was true… from a certain point of view," and Luke is, astonishingly, okay with that.
Why doesn't Obi-Wan Kenobi acknowledge that C-3PO is obviously the droid Anakin Skywalker built as a child?
In the prequel films, we see Jedi and Sith lords dueling with blinding speed, super-human dexterity and Force-powered telekinesis. In "Revenge of the Sith" Obi-Wan and Anakin exhibit all of those talents in their own climactic battle. Nineteen years later, when Anakin and Obi-Wan have their final battle, they move like slugs in comparison to their former prowess.
There is no one in the galaxy as supercharged by the Force as Anakin Skywalker. And yet, he fails to sense his own children, even though one of them is living with his half-brother in Anakin's own dead mother's house, which just happens to be no more than a few hours away from his former master's home… and the other is being presented as the daughter of a prominent member of the opposition Senate.

As reasonable people who recognize that the "Star Wars" films are not documentaries, we could chalk this up to young George Lucas not having the slightest clue that he'd actually get to make five other "Star Wars" movies, so continuity was not as much of a concern.

But for fans… for fans, finally seeing the real story played out in all its bargain-basement Shakespeare tragedy, woodenly-acted, CGI trainwreck glory, well… the story presented in the "Star Wars" movies just doesn't make sense. Unless you think of it like this:

It's A Trap Conspiracy!

Behind the story arc of the "Star Wars" films is a Jedi conspiracy bent on eliminating the only person who stands in the way of their dominion of the galaxy, Senator Palpatine, and to destroy the Sith cult entirely. The two people who execute this plan across an entire galaxy and over the course of more than twenty years are Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi… with some help.

The End Justifies The Means

Let's look at the state of affairs at the end of the six "Star Wars" films:

Emperor Palpatine, apparently one of only two Sith lords (counting Darth Vadar) and outwardly the strongest, is dead. There is no representative of the so-called "dark side" of the Force.
The only Jedi left in the galaxy, Luke Skywalker, is the son of the strongest Jedi the galaxy has ever produced.
Luke Skywalker, hero of the rebellion, has considerable influence and power in the new republic that is poised to regain control of the galaxy, and he's mentored by the spirits of three powerful Jedi, including his dad, the most powerful of them all.

At the end of "Return of the Jedi" — a title that says it all, really, and was originally, and rightfully, to be called "Revenge of the Jedi," I believe — the Jedi / "light side" is in total control of the Force in the galaxy… and their most powerful living member is in a perfect position to build a new Jedi order with no opposition.

Eliminating the representatives of "the dark side" and setting up a ruling class deeply indebted to the only living Jedi (and his apparently latently-powered sister) was the goal of the Jedi — specifically, the long-lived Jedi master Yoda, who naturally took the long view — once they discovered Anakin Skywalker. No cost — not the loss of the entire pre-Imperial Jedi order, not the murder of several children, not the obliteration of an entire planet… certainly not a mere twenty-odd years of Imperial rule — was too high a price to pay to ensure the order and stability of an entire galaxy of worlds under a new, Jedi-influenced order.

But What About Darth Vader?

I'm going to spell it out as simply as possible:

Anakin Skywalker was faking it.

He never "went over" to the "dark side," because such a concept really has no objective meaning to the Force, which is simply "an energy field created by all living things (apparently accessed via a high concentration of midi-chlorians in the blood) that binds the galaxy together." Any notion of "light" and "dark" must be dogma.

Anakin was not seduced into evil by Palpatine. Anakin — and Yoda, and Obi-Wan — recognized that Palpatine was a very powerful enemy, possibly more powerful than anyone but Anakin himself. Palpatine needed to be taken down, but more importantly, circumstances in the galaxy needed to become so awful that people would pine for the days of the so-called Republic — days that were part of living memory for most adults. So Anakin allowed himself to become Darth Vader, and played that role for close to twenty years, until his own necessary martyrdom.

The Thing That Clued Me In

When I was in the middle of my free-form thinking about Star Wars the other day, the thing that sent me down this path was the final duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I mentioned it earlier — the difference between their fight at the end of "Revenge of the Sith" and their fight in "Star Wars" is absolutely inexplicable… unless you realize that it was a sham with several goals:

Move Obi-Wan Kenobi into the spirit world, where he would be come "more powerful than you could possibly imagine" and be in a position to psychologically manipulate and mentor the conspiracy's puppet, Luke Skywalker, no matter the time or place.
Give Luke Skywalker a visceral, personal, complex and powerful emotional connection to Vader, so that his eventual Stockholm Syndrome would be that much more of an influence on his actions.
Cement Skywalker's hatred of the Empire and commitment to the future new republic.
Inspire Skywalker to develop his own latent power with the Force — something Kenobi would still have to take a direct hand in during "The Empire Strikes Back" — so that the human gun would have the firepower to be useful when the time was right.

Resolving Other Problems

I just explained why Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi fight like a couple of uncoordinated children playing with sticks in "A New Hope." Let's look at some of the other inconsistencies I mention above:

Why does Luke accept Obi-Wan's weak excuse for lying about Luke's parentage? I think this must partially be due to Skywalker's psychology. Luke is an orphan who, despite being raised by his Aunt and Uncle, never felt connected to anyone until he fell in with Obi-Wan. "Old Ben" introduced him to a whole galaxy of adventure and personal potential. The idea that Kenobi could be a manipulative monster fanatically, ruthlessly committed to his cause and willing to say or do anything… that's just not acceptable to Luke Skywalker's fragile, optimistic psyche. Also, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Obi-Wan (aided by spirit Qui-Jon?) used the Force on Luke to get him to go along with whatever Obi-Wan said.
Why doesn't Obi-Wan acknowledge that he knows C-3P0 and, for that matter, R2D2? I think this one is obvious. He doesn't want to come anywhere near the truth of things.
In a way, C-3P0 offers a clue to his connection to Anakin Skywalker and, in doing so, suggests his ultimate loyalty: remember, C-3PO claims to be expert at "human-cyborg relations." Not "human-droid" relations. His builder, Anakin Skywalker, is the cyborg in that equation. Bonus: could the risk of C-3PO's memory wipe being imperfect be why the droid was dismantled in the cloud city during "The Empire Strikes Back," I wonder..?
Finally, the reason Anakin Skywalker doesn't sense the location of his kids should be obvious: he did know where they were, but kept this knowledge buried to hide the truth from the Emperor: The boy was being groomed to become an assassin, and then to stand as the living representative of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan in the new republic. The girl… well, she was too involved with the public face of the political opposition to the Empire to be of much use. As we've seen and determined, the conspiracy is not above sacrificing relatives and loved ones to the cause. Physically and psychologically torturing her was hardly worth thinking about.

Now You Can Enjoy The "Star Wars" Series

With all the pieces in place, you can finally enjoy watching the "Star Wars" films in episodic order without having your suspension of disbelief shattered again and again.

You're welcome.

What's that? You want a second opinion? Try this.

What's This All About, Really?

I love storyworlds with deep, rich, complex, interweaving arcs. I'm such a fan of long-term continuity, all of my own storyworld creations are threads in a larger weave that covers billions of years and the entire multiverse. It's possible my subconscious drove me to make sense of "Star Wars" because the childhood fan in me is a little disappointed at how the six films turned out.

Doing so has been a fun exercise, and a reminder I'm alerted to again and again when I study storyworlds and franchises: make sure the pieces fit together, and don't lose sight of the big story.

Let Me Have It

Okay, the time has come. I know there are some very… energetic… fans of "Star Wars" who follow my work. It's possible some mega-fans might even find this post while bopping around the Internet, and might take exception to my explanation of how to make sense of the "Star Wars" saga. I welcome your comments!

One thing, though — remember that I'm only dealing with the six "Star Wars" films, here. You can't make an argument that depends on outside sources like the comics, novels, video games, television shows, or amusement park rides or anything. Okay?

Okay! Your turn: what do you think of my attempt to make sense of the "Star Wars" films? Leave a comment on this post!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Star Wars Fan Linkbait -- please click through and comment! If you like what you've read, I hope you will subscribe to Matthew Wayne Selznick's free e-mail newsletter for exclusive content and deals on Matt's products and services.

Presenting Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One

I'm pleased to announce my first non-fiction offering from MWS Media! "Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creatives Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon," is the first in a series of concise, easy-to-follow guidebooks for creative folks who want to create realistic Earth-like setting for their fictional storyworlds.

It'll run you $1.99 and it's available directly from me or in the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook marketplaces.

The First Of A Series Of Worldbuilding Resources

"Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers, and Other Creatives Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon" kicks off a planned series of to-the-point ebooks designed to help creators model an Earth-like fictional setting quite literally from the top down — we start by selecting an appropriate star, work out how far your planet should orbit from that star, and continue working through the astronomically-flavored aspects of worldbuilding until you have a planet (with a moon!) orbiting a star in a way that's internally consistent and scientifically realistic.

Future volumes will cover geology and climate, ecology and biomes, sentient life and culture, languages, and even the more fantastic elements of a fictional setting like magic and "monsters" — but all in easily digestible language and with math you can do on a calculator or basic spreadsheet.

Adapted From The Blog Series

"Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon" features material from the first seven installments of the "Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators" blog series, newly edited and expanded for the e-book edition. I'll continue to present the first draft of each new volume via the blog series, so I hope you'll check that out. It's my hope you'll enjoy the information provided in the free blog so much that you'll want the e-book edition both for its convenience and to support my time and effort putting it all together for you.

Get Your Copy Of Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creatives Volume One Right Now!
Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One Ebook Bundle

The "Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon" ebook bundle includes non-DRM epub and Mobi ebook editions in an archive zip file.

Price: $1.99

Want to get it from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble? Heck, thanks! When you do, please take a moment to write an honest review — reviews and word of mouth help tremendously!

Enjoy "Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon!" Please tell everyone you know! Use the handy "share" buttons at the bottom of the post!

Thanks!

Matthew Wayne Selznick - Telling stories with words, music, pictures and people. Seeing this somewhere other than mattselznick.com? Please click through to comment directly on the post!