Check out the Harry Turtledove Fan Group on Facebook

This is a just a quick post to encourage you to join the Harry Turtledove fan group on Facebook. The group is currently at 77 members, a small fraction of what the S.M. Stirling Appreciation Society and the Alternate History Online groups boasts.

Although we all came into this genre by different means, the vast majority of us started off by reading a Harry Turtledove novel. I know I did and I am always pleased to hear that people had a similar experience. Even if you didn't, you can't deny his impact on the genre. His prolific writing style has almost guaranteed that he has written about most major points of divergence.

So please if you are on Facebook and want to chat with some like minded Harry Turtledove fans, join the group!

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his list of short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

150,000 Page Views!

Earlier today The Update surpassed 150,000 page views! Wow, just wow. The last time we reached such a milestone was when we surpassed 120,000 page views on 12/7/12.  Thanks to all of our contributors and fans who made this possible. I have decided that after reaching this goal  I will not do this celebratory post again until we reach 200,000 page views.

On a side not, be careful when searching "150,000" on Google at work. Some NSFW pictures come up.

First up, let us look at the top posts of all time (the list on the left is only for the month):

1) Review: "Red Inferno 1945" by Robert Conroy by Sebastian Breit.

2) Preview: Before Watchmen by Sean Korsgaard.

3) How to Write and Publish a Novel in Eight Easy Steps by Chris Nuttall.

4) Showcase: Images of 1984 - Stories from Oceania by Sean Korsgaard.

5) Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 by Chris Nuttall.

6) A first look at NBC's Revolution by Sebastian Breit.

7) January 2013: The Month of No Americans by Matt Mitrovich.

8) Review: Spike's Alternate History by Matt Mitrovich.

9) Civilization II: Eternal War by Matt Mitrovich.

10) Weekly Update #82 by Matt Mitrovich.

Seb upsets fan favorite Sean to take the top spot, but as usual I have the most article on the list (it helps when you are also the editor and most prolific contributor). Alright lets move on to the state of our social networking presence:

• We had 60 Google followers on 12/7/12, now we have 63 (Goal: 100 by 6/13, 63% complete).
• We had 185 Facebook fans on 12/7/12, now we have 207 (Goal: 300 by 6/13, 69% complete).
• We had 74 members in our Facebook group on 12/7/12, now we have 80 (Goal: 150 by 6/13, 53% complete).
• We had 273 Twitter followers on 12/7/12, now we have 319 (Goal 300 by 6/13, 100% complete)
• We have 13 Networked Blogs followers on 12/7/12, now we have 14 (Goal: 15 by 6/13, 93% complete).
• We have 5 Reddit subscribers on 12/7/12, now we have 6 (Goal: 25 by 6/13, 24% complete)

Thank you to our Twitter fans for helping us reach are goal so early. Hopefully we can break our Facebook page and Networked Blogs goal before June as well. Please, if you use either service, follow us and help us reach our goal before our two year anniversary. Also, members of our Facebook group, don't forget you can invite your friends to the group. If you know someone out there who likes alternate history, introduce them to the Update. As for subscribers on Reddit, I promise to share more links to the subreddit. My goal is to post everyday in the afternoon.

I am proud to say the Update averages more than 10k views a month, and we continue to grow.  Those interested in advertising with us should check out our Advertise page for more details. If our readers like one of our advertisements I highly recommend that you click on it and help support Weekly Update.  Please check out our Amazon page as well to purchase a subscription (first 14 day free) for your Kindle (or Kindle app) or write a review (still need to update the page with a new screenshot). All proceeds go to help pay contributors who submit fiction, non-fiction and reviews to The Update.

If you would like to contribute, I encourage you to contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.  The Update would not have grown to become what it is today without the help of the contributors who routinely submit articles to be enjoyed by you, the reader.  All contributors will be given the opportunity to promote their current projects, plus a link to their website(s) in the "Our Favorites" section on the left had side of the blog. If you are struggling for ideas, check out our Submissions page for current writing contests.

Thank you once again for being a fan of The Update and I hope that we can continue to provide top quality content for years to come.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

60,000 Page Views!

[Editor's Note: This is old, we already surpassed 80k]

Last night, Alternate History Weekly Update surpassed 60,000 page views. What is more exciting is that we managed to break this barrier only a month after I announced our 50,000th page view.  With the current rate of a page views, I am debating waiting until every 20,000th page view to write a post like this.  Still these posts are good for giving readers an idea on how the blog is doing, so I will continue to report on every 10,000th page view as long as one month passes.

Moving on, I would like to thank the contributors, authors and fans for helping us grow. Check out the updated world map below:

World map of readers 4/26/12

World map of readers 7/12/12

[EDIT 7/17/12: Kazakhstan should be filled in, no idea why it is not.]

Now onto our social networking presence:

• We had 45 Google followers on 6/11/12, now we have 50 (Goal: 100 by 6/13).
• We had 127 Facebook fans on  6/11/12, now we have 143 (Goal: 300 by 6/13).
• We still have 57 members in our Facebook group.  If you are not a member, please join.  If you are a member, invite your friends. (Goal: 150 by 6/13)
• We had 110 Twitter followers on 6/11/12, now we have 143. (Goal 300 by 6/13)
• We have 7 Networked Blogs followers.  (Goal: 15 by 6/13)

Finally, the net worth of the blog, according to Freewebsitereport.org, is $310 USD.

Considering how fast this blog is growing, advertisers could profit from forming a partnership with Weekly Update.  Those interested should check out our Sponsors page for more details. If our readers like one of our advertisements I highly recommend that you click on it and help support Weekly Update.  Please check out our Amazon page as well to purchase a subscription for your Kindle (or Kindle app) or write a review. All proceeds go to help fund our upcoming podcast and a potential move to Wordpress

If you would like to contribute, I encourage you to contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.  Weekly Update would not have grown to become what it is today without the help of the contributors who routinely submit articles to be enjoyed by you, the reader.  All contributors will be given the opportunity to promote their current projects, plus a link to their website(s) in the "Our Favorites" section on the left had side of the blog.

Thank you once again for being a fan of Weekly Update and I hope that we can continue to provide top quality content for years to come.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.

Help Administer the Alternate History Page on Facebook

On March 5, 2009, I snatched up the "Alternate History" Facebook page and proceeded...to do nothing with it.  At first I just did not know what to do with it.  I thought it would be useful to share information about alternate history on Facebook, but I preferred the group format.  When I started Weekly Update, I used it to spread awareness of the blog, but again I hesitated because I was uncomfortable with the shameless self-promoting.

So I am offering you the opportunity to be an administer of the Alternate History Facebook page with me.  If you are a fan, author or publisher of alternate history and would like to use the page to share information on topics related to the genre, then this is your chance to take advantage of one of the first pages to appear when someone searches for alternate history.  Potential administers, however, have a few guidelines to follow:

1. Posts must be related to alternate history, historical fantasy, counterfactual history, steampunk or a related genre.
2. Administers must post on a regular basis or else lose their position.
3. Self-promotion is OK, as long as it is on-topic and not excessive.

If you are interested, please contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com and tell me why you should be an administer.  Make sure you share with me your ideas for the page.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for the Alt Hist magazine and a contributor to Just Below the Law. One of his short stories will be published in the upcoming Echelon Press anthology, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale (2013). When not writing he works as an attorney in the state of Illinois and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.