Who is The Passive Voice?
I wrote this article a few days ago because my comments were not getting through on this popular site. I had a similar problem on Anne R. Allen's blog last year, and you can read about that here.
Since then I've received an email from The Passive Guy telling me that the site's spam filters are blocking comments. You can read about similar situations involving Copyblogger here.
This is a huge problem that plagues many sites, and I'm sure you could make a lot of money if you could solve it. If your site continues to have problems like that you might be accused of being fascist, which is what I did with this article originally.
I think that was a mistake and I'm apologizing and altering this article to instead offer a biographical glimpse of who runs The Passive Voice publishing news website.
Why is it so difficult for sites to run properly? God damn, they're big sites with thousands of visitors - why are they or their tools more inept than me?
I wrote this article a few days ago because my comments were not getting through on this popular site. I had a similar problem on Anne R. Allen's blog last year, and you can read about that here.
Since then I've received an email from The Passive Guy telling me that the site's spam filters are blocking comments. You can read about similar situations involving Copyblogger here.
This is a huge problem that plagues many sites, and I'm sure you could make a lot of money if you could solve it. If your site continues to have problems like that you might be accused of being fascist, which is what I did with this article originally.
I think that was a mistake and I'm apologizing and altering this article to instead offer a biographical glimpse of who runs The Passive Voice publishing news website.
Why is it so difficult for sites to run properly? God damn, they're big sites with thousands of visitors - why are they or their tools more inept than me?
Who is The Passive Voice?
Run by David P. Vandagriff, the site started on February 26, 2011, and quickly found a following with its interesting take on publishing news. There’s not a lot of information on Vandagriff out there, although you can check out this 2012 interview with Vandagriff on The Book Designer. Most of the following information comes from Vandagriff’s LinkedIn profile.
Educated at Northwestern University, Vandagriff next headed to Pepperdine University School of Law. Following law school Vandagriff got his start with Wanlass Technologies in 1976, serving as vice president of the high-tech startup company. After that he became a free-wheeling lawyer until he’d had enough of that and became director of the law programs for LexisNexis, helping to create the first web-based research product for the company. In 1999 he headed over to Ancestry.com as a contract lawyer and then in 2002 he was at Corda Technologies as vice president of marketing.
By 2006 he was again on the move, becoming vice president of Helius, a position he held while still working for Corda. 2008 saw him help start up Proxy Research, LLC, a company that worked to monetize patents. After that it was to the C.L. Oakwood Corporation for five years until Vandagriff opened his own private practice. And of course he has his site now and all his followers.
What the hell are all those jobs? I have no idea. Like many jobs that require a lawyer, their use can be questioned. I’m sure Vandagriff is a super smart guy and can cheat you like no other if he wanted to, but…well, what’s his value to society?
Contract law, monetized patents, ensuring that the shouting in self-publishing is put up loud and clear for all to hear? Yeah, I know it’s not exactly feeding lepers in India, but gosh darn, some people want this!
One of those people might be Jesus, or even Brigham Young. Vandagriff converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was 25 years old. Also called Mormonism, this religion is centered around Utah, an area the group called their own in the mid-1860s, fought a war with the government over in the 1870s, and still to this day declares their right to marry as many women as they choose. Well, some of them.
Vandagriff made this choice because of his wife, author G.G. Gibson, who now goes by G.G. Vandagriff and has several romance novels selling on Amazon. Together they have three children and, from everything I can tell, live in Provo, Utah.
Don’t think that Vandagriff hasn’t tried his own hand at publishing, he has. The result was 2011’s I Need Thee Every Hour: Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life, a book about…well, I think you know what it’s about. Mainly, however, he spends his time collecting the writing of others and putting it up on his own site.
Educated at Northwestern University, Vandagriff next headed to Pepperdine University School of Law. Following law school Vandagriff got his start with Wanlass Technologies in 1976, serving as vice president of the high-tech startup company. After that he became a free-wheeling lawyer until he’d had enough of that and became director of the law programs for LexisNexis, helping to create the first web-based research product for the company. In 1999 he headed over to Ancestry.com as a contract lawyer and then in 2002 he was at Corda Technologies as vice president of marketing.
By 2006 he was again on the move, becoming vice president of Helius, a position he held while still working for Corda. 2008 saw him help start up Proxy Research, LLC, a company that worked to monetize patents. After that it was to the C.L. Oakwood Corporation for five years until Vandagriff opened his own private practice. And of course he has his site now and all his followers.
What the hell are all those jobs? I have no idea. Like many jobs that require a lawyer, their use can be questioned. I’m sure Vandagriff is a super smart guy and can cheat you like no other if he wanted to, but…well, what’s his value to society?
Contract law, monetized patents, ensuring that the shouting in self-publishing is put up loud and clear for all to hear? Yeah, I know it’s not exactly feeding lepers in India, but gosh darn, some people want this!
One of those people might be Jesus, or even Brigham Young. Vandagriff converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was 25 years old. Also called Mormonism, this religion is centered around Utah, an area the group called their own in the mid-1860s, fought a war with the government over in the 1870s, and still to this day declares their right to marry as many women as they choose. Well, some of them.
Vandagriff made this choice because of his wife, author G.G. Gibson, who now goes by G.G. Vandagriff and has several romance novels selling on Amazon. Together they have three children and, from everything I can tell, live in Provo, Utah.
Don’t think that Vandagriff hasn’t tried his own hand at publishing, he has. The result was 2011’s I Need Thee Every Hour: Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life, a book about…well, I think you know what it’s about. Mainly, however, he spends his time collecting the writing of others and putting it up on his own site.
God damn, what a book! And what a fucking price, huh?
That’s great – there’s lots of useful information there. But like any content curator, what’s going up, what’s staying out, and why? Those are important questions.
I will tell you that this article will probably never be put up on the site, and for one simple reason...I’m a low-level self-publisher and I’m not saying anything important. Only important things go on The Passive Voice.
That's not to say I haven't had an article on the site before, I have, way back in April. Well, that was someone writing about an article I wrote so I'm not sure if it counts.
Oh well. Maybe one day I can have my own category listing on the sidebar of The Passive Voice...<sigh>...but until then, I'll rattle on over here and whoever wants to listen can...and hopefully comment too.
I will tell you that this article will probably never be put up on the site, and for one simple reason...I’m a low-level self-publisher and I’m not saying anything important. Only important things go on The Passive Voice.
That's not to say I haven't had an article on the site before, I have, way back in April. Well, that was someone writing about an article I wrote so I'm not sure if it counts.
Oh well. Maybe one day I can have my own category listing on the sidebar of The Passive Voice...<sigh>...but until then, I'll rattle on over here and whoever wants to listen can...and hopefully comment too.
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