I’m asking for help from the hivemind, given the wide array of experience you have in writing for blogs, reading blogs and probably eviscerating shitty blogs.
I was on the phone with my publisher the other day when she made an obvious statement that had previously had no answer other than, “No shit.”
“The problem most of your reviewers had was that by the time the book comes out, the examples you list for the students are dated,” she noted. “That’s a problem with this book that we need to address…”
My answer was the more professional version of “No shit” but even as I said it, I could feel Admiral Ackbar wheeling around in his chair…
“That’s a problem with any media textbook, though,” I argued. “Given the time from writing to press, there’s no real way around it…”
It was a trap.
The idea that marketing had (screaming red flag) was that to address this problem and distinguish us from the rest of the books in the area was to have me run a blog that would update features, engage readers and talk about stuff that was important in the field.
I was hesitant, give that a) I don’t know how to build a blog. I got lucky enough to join this traveling circus after A had already established a tone, built an audience and got people interested… and b) See point a.
So I had two basic rules going for me going into this agreement:
- It’s got to be about the readers’ needs, not my desire to tell people stuff.
- It’s got to have useful tools on it, not just shit for the sake of having shit.
Their response was that I couldn’t cuss, so I’m a bit limited there.
So, here’s where I’m begging like The Fly:
- Tell me one of a few things about your best and worst blogging experiences as writers and readers.
- What options should or shouldn’t be on there?
- What tools are helpful for sharing and engaging people and what are just bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles?
- How do you gather readers and how do you keep them?
- What is the best bit of advice you can offer?
I know not all blogs are for the same purpose, but I figure if you can tell me what you like and don’t, I can fake the rest of it.
Thanks and have a great weekend.
Doc