Reply to question on HPforGrownups list

[quigonginger]

Debbie wrote:
> *For OOP, the 500th post hit the list less than 12 hours after 
> reopening, and we were above 1000 posts in 24 hours.  Post rates 
> stayed above 400 or so a day for weeks.
> 
> *For HBP, we were closed a day and a half longer, and the post rate 
> wasn't quite as extreme.  It took nearly a day and a half for 1000 
> posts to hit the list.
> 
> The point is that we will be deluged whenever the list reopens and 
> it won't let up for a long time.  Therefore, it will be impossible 
> to read all the posts regardless of when the list opens.  Going to 
> work could be fatal. ;-)
> 
> I'm hoping that the new and improved search function will encourage 
> people to read up on the subject they intend to post on before 
> posting, but I don't think a longer list closure will affect 
> anyone's ability to read all the posts.

Ginger:
Gah!  Debbie!  Do you mean I'm the only one out there who reads all 
the posts before I post myself?  I thought that was some sort of, um, 
I don't know, protocol, or something.

Seriously, thanks for posting those stats.  I remember being 1400 
posts behind at one point after OoP.  I did go to work and it was 
fatal.  

Does this mean that the posts sent out right after a book is released 
don't get read by more than a handful of people?  OK, the first 
several probably do, and then people read threads.  

Somewhere back in the recesses of my mind, I remember before the 
release of HBP there was a post about how to make your first post-
release post count.  It was very good advice, and I wonder if it 
didn't make that release easier for those who actually try to keep up 
with the list.  Is there anyone who remembers it, and could it be 
posted again, perhaps at the time of the reminder of when the list 
will be reopened?

Ginger, who realizes I am straying from the topic of timing, but 
hopes that this qualifies as "feedback".