Nerds of Prey, How YOU Doin’?

DustinLilGotham

I’m getting some new visitors lately so I thought it was time for another WELCOME!

Due to certain events…elsewhere online, a lot of folks have been making their way to TheNerdyBird.com. So first and foremost, hi!!!!!!! You can find out more about the site, the comment policy, and promotional posts on the About Us page.

Now, I say “About Us” but what I really mean is me, Jill Pantozzi. I started this site back in 2008, when the internet landscape was very different. I had to put it on pause for a few years while I had a full time job elsewhere but I’m now back to running it by myself (with help from my trusty web designer, of course).

There are no ads on the site and I hope I’ll never have to have them. Right now this site is a full time job for me, updated multiple times daily, and folks are helping me do that by donating to my Patreon (I’ll have a fancy video introduction for that soon!) and one-off donations via PayPal. I’m supplementing that with some freelance work elsewhere but things are still slow going.

My hope is I’ll be able to build TheNerdyBird.com up to where it will support me entirely and then if the donations exceed that, I can start taking on paid contributors. I love doing what I do here by myself but I also love sharing different voices.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, a few little birdies told me folks might like a place to chat every day. I can’t guarantee an open thread every day but I will do my best and of course you’re free to start discussions on any post. Just a reminder, I am only one person so moderating will not be as quick as you may be used to elsewhere. And remember, if you’re enjoying the content I bring you here (and on social media), please consider donating (links to Patreon and PayPal are at the bottom of each article). If you can’t swing that, as many social media shares of the articles here as you can muster would be much appreciated!

Any questions, feel free to ask here or you can find me @JillPantozzi on Twitter (@TheNerdyBird has its own feed too.) As always, be excellent to each other.

(image from Dustin Nguyen’s Li’l Gotham)

90 Responses to “Nerds of Prey, How YOU Doin’?”

  1. Zefram Mann says:

    Thank you for the warm welcome. I hope I can contribute more than words sometime soon.

  2. It’s been a true pleasure discovering this site! Thanks for the warm welcome :)

  3. Gastón Trombotti says:

    Count me as a refuge from “the mother ship” to

  4. Aeryl says:

    We still love the way your website looks, if it helps!

  5. […] asked for it and while I mentioned this may not be an every single day routine, I will do my best to provide an open thread for readers and fans to chat about anything under the […]

  6. Someladyontheinternet says:

    Hi! I hope that I can donate soon and support this lovely site.

  7. Oreoday says:

    Hello! Just about every day I would visit “The Mother Ship” (cute diss). I’m not really one who comments, but have a love for reading them. The comment section is my favorite part of some articles… I’m happy to follow ya’ll to The Nerdy Bird. I may post I may not post, but I will be lurking. :)

  8. Alder says:

    Hello! I am new to this commenting lark, but had to make an account so I could thank people for links to new places (like here) and some…uh…advertisement…minimising…advice…

    This place looks cool though. :)

  9. kupo says:

    I was wondering where you went. Glad to find you again!

  10. VindicaSean says:

    Man, I just read through the thread over at..Total Monetization Syndrome.

    They’re having a Kinjapocalypse over there. It’s like all the ugliest parts of Les Mis up in that comment section.

  11. Hi everyone!

    *waves*

    ^_^

  12. silaria says:

    *waves quietly*

  13. Pontifex says:

    Nice site… A clean well lighted place to read nerdy feminist stuff.

    • MisterShoebox says:

      We used to have one of those…Then it jumped the shark. Nice to know this one’s still up and awesome.

  14. Vel Venturi says:

    I’ve been lurking for a while, but I’ll officially say howdy!

  15. Sweet, new hangout spot. Glad to see more conversation here.

    Also, out of curiosity, what about unpaid contributing articles? I know some people (me for instance) like to write articles of a nature adjacent to this site (I have frequent posts on io9’s Observation Deck), and broader exposure would always be helpful.

    • Pontifex says:

      I don’t plan on writing at all, but I was wondering if the submitted articles of others would be considered.

      • I think it would be a great idea. I can understand if it would be too much trouble reading through submissions, but if there was an efficient way to implement such a thing I think it could be fun.

        • Reading through submissions is certainly a consideration but mostly I just hate the idea of not paying people after having to do that for so long. I also feel like most people are down on the idea. Or they like the idea but then after doing it for a while they feel taken advantage of and I’d hate that.

          That said, one of my first writing gigs was for a site that didn’t pay and I built up my resume with great stuff there until I got paid work so it’s worth considering and I’d love to hear other folks’ opinions on it!

          Also, for anyone interested, I do have a “promotional” post thing I recently started. Basically, if you have a book, project etc to promote, you can email me and ask to write about it here. https://thenerdybird.com/promoted-posts-contributors/

          • I feel like there’s situations where people might be writing articles already, and just want or need a place to publish them. For the past couple months, I’ve been writing about an article a week (longer, well researched articles) and just posting them on io9’s Observation Deck. I’m doing it for fun, and I personally would love being able to reach a wider audience.

            Also, I love the promotional post thing, though I’m currently just getting a 403 error page for the link.

          • Oh weird, it was fine when I copied but it is also giving me that error. If this doesn’t work: https://thenerdybird.com/promoted-posts-contributors/ then it is linked on the About Us page too.

            Ok well that is food for thought for sure. Maybe I can consider on a case-by-case basis. Obviously I don’t have time to get flooded by folks but if you have something that really needs a home, feel free to email.

          • Cool, I’ll keep it in mind.

            And yeah, that link works.

    • cylonuprising says:

      Hey, have you heard of The Critical Writ, run by some TMS regulars?

  16. What you did there, I have observed it.

  17. frodobatmanvader says:

    Well, I’m happy to see that all of us spreading the word about this place over at… “The Mother Ship”… led to a great turnout over here. You deserve every success, Jill. You’ve earned it!

  18. Kryptoknight says:

    Yo ho me hearties.

  19. Jason Rye says:

    Ello, I’m sad to say I didn’t know you had a site until after what happened yesterday happened.

  20. Stacyswirl says:

    I am also over from TMS, and while I’m not completely abandoning them just yet, I shall enjoy the less cluttered alternative here as well!

  21. the silver ravens says:

    how often does your patreon charge? i am always a little hesitant to contribute to a patreon if it doesn’t go by month and i don’t know how much i am being charged. i know you can put a limit to how much you can get charged per month but that option feels weird to me

    • It is monthly. I turned it off for April (will resume in the next day or so) because I was out of the country for 3 weeks and wasn’t producing regular content. The easiest way to do that on Patreon is to switch from monthly charges to per project and since I wasn’t making a project, no one got charged.

      I only ask that folks try to donate at least $2 because the fees take a larger chunk out the smaller the amount. So $1 donations yield very little and that makes me feel like both patron and myself are cheated.

  22. schumannhertz says:

    I come in peace from the mothership – some of my favorite commenters are here already! Sweet!

  23. aeonish says:

    Yay, hello! Super happy to be here! And if I’d realized Jill had her own site, I would have found y way here much sooner!

  24. They Call Me The Fizz says:

    Anyone else read that headline like Enzo Amore?

  25. Ezio says:

    Ciao everyone.

  26. Pirate Jenny says:

    Ahoy-hoy.

  27. frodobatmanvader says:

    Yes, yes… Now we are THAT MUCH CLOSER to total world domination!!!

    • Ezio says:

      I am crediting you with me finding this site.

      • frodobatmanvader says:

        And I am happy to accept full credit! Mwa ha ha!!

        (Hey, I trained Babs– err, I mean, Jill in the arts of crime-fighting before she became Oracle, so the least I can do is send more traffic her way!)

  28. bandit_queen says:

    *waves*

  29. Tiger Millionare says:

    Allo!

  30. Spidey Super Comments says:

    Zup, JP.

  31. lev36 says:

    I came over from, let’s call it, “the mother ship”. Yeah, that’s the ticket. TMS for short. ;-)

    And while I wish them success in their new endeavor, it’s nice to come back to something much more like what got me there in the first place (and yes, Jill, you’re a big part of that).

  32. wondercube says:

    Hullo~

  33. Cassie L says:

    Happy to be here!

  34. the silver ravens says:

    Hello!