The most popular thing I've ever written (makes fun of SyFy Channel movies)

When you Google my name, Jay Garmon -- and yes, I do this from time to time, for all the same reasons you'd expect -- only a single actual piece of writing earns first-page results. Winnow away all my social media profiles and bio pages and the intentional Google-bomb that is my blog URL, and you're left with a column I wrote in 2007 postulating on where Sci-Fi [sic] Channel movies really come from.

I take potshots at studio scriptwriting processes, B-list actors, the LA County sheriff's department, Perl and Corin Nemec (who is Parker Lewis and therefore a separate category from B-List) along the way. How this particular little gem of a column found it's way into Google's good graces I'm unclear, but I'll take the publicity where I can get it. My ego-surfing results change day to day (thanks, Panda), but this post has stayed a consistent first-page winner for a very long time.

I expect that the popularity is due to several factors, all obtuse:

• Link equity: A few sci-fi and writer blogs cross-linked to this post when it went live 4 years ago, and I expect those links are still valuable
• Longevity: As noted, 4 years is a long time to acquire link equity in Google's eyes
• Authoritative URL: Say what you will about TechRepublic, but Google doesn't think they're a content farm
• Keywords: I snark on a topic that many have snarked about before, and thus this is the most popular item to which my name is attached, Moreover, I hit a large number of topics and keywords in the progress of the post, which gives me a minor little Google boost along the way

If you're curious, I invite you to take a look at what I actually used to get paid to write, and the kind of thing I expect I'll be writing once more now that my noncompete has expired and I have clearance to work for CBS Interactive as a contractor again.

Oh, and the moral of the story? You never know which line-item on your bibliography will be the most long-lived or well received, so don't be any more of an asshole than absolutely necessary.

Related articles

• SyFy, The Killing of Science-Fiction (godofnothingnow.wordpress.com)
• Red Faction's Made For TV Movie May Spawn A Series [Syfy] (kotaku.com)
• Sharktopus is the Champion of SyFy's Monster Madness Battle (tor.com)