Ever feel like you’re typing into space, like no one out there is actually reading your stuff? Or more importantly, ever wonder if a simple act like blogging could get you paid?

Enter Jim Gibbons, blog promoter extraordinaire. Jim works as associate editor of Wizard Magazine and keeps two blogs on the side: Nothing More American, a log of his summer camp memories, and Enemy of Peanuts, where he posts his own personal musings and fledgling Webcomic.

I asked Jim about writing, promoting and earning money on his blog. The full Q&A is after the jump, but here's a quick taste:

“First things first,” Jim says, “social networking sites and link posting sites are key.” Every time he posts to his blogs, Jim adds links to sites like Facebook, Digg and Stumbleupon — sites where readers go to get connected to things that interest them.

“If your blog is your own personal newspaper, that is like going door to door and chucking it through your neighbors windows,” he says.

Click (more) for the entire Q&A and find otu how Jim’s blog is bringing him a little revenue on the side. (And if you're a new blogger and you don't understand everything Jim is talking about, don't worry. I'll explain some of this stuff later. Or, ask! That's what comments are for!!)

1. Tell me about the blogs you are working on right now.

I have two blogs, one that has a very specific purpose and another that has some purposes but also allows plenty of randomness within its theme.

Nothing More American is a memoir of my summer camp days. After spending ten summers of my life in camps that left me with thousands of hilarious stories, it seemed like a great thing to start or former camp friends, camp enthusiasts, myself and my ever waning memory. Updates there are less frequent, usually once a week at the least.

My main blog is entitled Enemy of Peanuts and is not only home to my fledgling Webcomic, but houses my beer reviews, comic book reviews, random pop culture realizations and stuff about music, movies, TV, books and more. The Webcomic and comic talk holds the rest of the insanity together like a glue, because generally EoP is about whatever I want it to be about — thus keeping it endlessly fun to maintain.

2. How did you first get started blogging?

I had a few blogs I maintained briefly in college (including one for my final journalism class called "No Fear of a Well-Informed Planet" that I left online for posterity's sake, and which ended on a final post explaining I'd slacked most of the semester and thought I only deserved a C — always good to keep around to maintain my web-modesty!)

It wasn't really until my current job at Wizard magazine (a national comic book magazine) that I blogged regularly. I maintained a blog there called The Loudest Monkey until our Web site went on a bit of a hiatus and I was moved from Online News Editor to Associate Editor of the magazine. Loudest Monkey still gets updated occasionally, but with all the experience I had picked up through that web editor position, I wanted to start hosting two blogs that were mostly unrelated to work (comics are work, but also a passion...so www.EnemyOfPeanuts.com being the blog that is "All Things Jim Gibbons" couldn't dodge having that). So, I signed up for a two-year hosting contract on Bluehost.com and went about setting up Nothing More American and Enemy of Peanuts.

3. Do you blog at a regular interval — like, once a day — or just whenever you feel like it?

Since I maintain two blogs, setting personal deadlines for myself is crucial. Given these deadlines aren't  like, "Everyday. 5 p.m. I need a post." But I do try to make sure to stick to the regular intervals of posting I have set. Enemy Of Peanuts is updated at least once a day on weekdays with a portion of my Webcomic arriving every Sunday. Nothing More American, which has had it's schedule suffer a bit of late as I set up Enemy of Peanuts, is a once a week post. Ideally, my week allows time for a few more posts on each, but I try my damnedest to stick with those posting guidelines.

4. Why do you like to blog? What does blogging mean for you?

Two reasons: Self-publishing and complete creative control.

The idea that I have my own outlet to express and publish whatever intellectual property I want is extremely freeing, fulfilling and satisfying. Journalists should be able to relate to this thought. You know that feature you pitched that your editor didn't go for? Blog it! Work for a local paper but you listen to so much indie music you can't not voice an opinion? Blog it! Did you have a crazy epiphany after a long night of debauchery that couldn't possibly ever see print at whatever your job is, but is still something that you think is a powerful story that needs to be told? Blog. That. S**t! BLOG IT!

A blog can be as limited or open-ended as you want and can feature the most professional journalism or the most ridiculous bull****. Embrace that and run with it — like I said, very freeing!

5. What kind of feedback have you received?

That's an interesting question. I can track my hits and plenty of crazy stats through programs like Google Analytics and Wordpress Stats, so I know I am getting about 10 to 15 times more views that I am comments, but I think hits going up is generally a good gauge that you are doing something right.

With that in mind, it seems most actual feedback on blogs (mine, at least) comes from other bloggers I know. Once you're in the blogosphere with a blog of your own, it really becomes an addiction and you'll find yourself checking more blogs than you'd ever expect (sign up for Google Reader, this will help you sate and simultaneously fuel that addiction and your feeling of community within BlogLand). Still, I think most bloggers out there are the people most likely to comment on blogs and generally only comment when they really agree or really disagree.

So far, I've received nothing but positive, which is nice, but a little on-blog controversy in the "comments" field of my blog would really fuel hits, so...hey, I'm not opposed to a little negative feedback!

6. What have you learned about finding readers and promoting your blog?

Wow...where to start? First things first, social networking sites and link posting sites are key. I post each and every post I make on my Facebook and on Digg, and usually post them on other sites like Stumbleupon too. If your blog is your own personal newspaper, that is like going door to door and chucking it through your neighbors windows.

After that, consider you content. List features of universal interest and things of a wider appeal or current events are always going to get more traffic than your posts on why your favorite mug has won the rank of #1.

Encouraging comments on your own blog and commenting on others is great...and it occurs to me that I am now quoting a lot of what I read in a post set to me by co-worker and fellow blogger TJ Dietsch that you can check here.

But, basically, think about basic advertising and marketing. I mean, how many (www.EnemyOfPeanuts.com) times have I (www.NothingMoreAmerican.com) mentioned my blogs (www.EnemyOfPeanuts.com, www.NothingMoreAmerican.com) here?! And when you post this, Lindsay, I'll link your blog and the community linkage cycle continues benefiting us both! It's interweb magic!

7. Are you making any money?
Very little right now, but both of my personal blogs are literally just months old. I have Google Adsense and Amazon Affiliates that I use, but those don't really start benefitting you till you get to the tens of thousands of hits a day level. Still, making a few cents a day for posts I would be writing regardless is a nice peace-of-mind thing. And as I post more and the breadth of topics I cover and write about expands, well, the more likely I am to draw in new readers, random people on search engines or just slowly build a dedicated following.

Don't expect to put out five posts and start raking in the cash. Just blog because you enjoy it and, after a while, just doing your own thing (or "thang") is going to start getting noticed and slowly start putting some scratch in your pocket.