Go Boldly into the Blogosphere: A Wake-up Call for Writers
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006If you’re a writer who just reads blogs, listen up! It’s time to let your voice be heard!
We writers can sometimes get a little stuck in our ways. We love books – how the paper feels and smells, how easy it is to get cozy with one in a comfy chair or bed. But as we all know, the written word isn’t trapped on paper anymore.
On June 25, an excellent breakout session, “The World of Blogging,” was presented at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference. It featured a panel made up of Allen Y. Chen and Matthew Odam, the Editors of Austinist; Truecraig, a Columnist at Austinist and a great storyteller; Paige Maguire, a Contributing Editor at BlogHer; and David Nunez, a Developer at Pluck.
The presentation was dynamic and entertaining — much like the blogging world it was plugging. Allen Y. Chen and Matthew Odam gave an overview of blogging and outlined its history, from the first blog (by Justin Hall discussing his college antics in 1995) up to today’s exponentially expanding blogosphere — its size is doubling every six months! Now there are 75,000 new sites per day! With that kind of growth, it’s clear that blogging isn’t a fringe aspect of our society.
Paige Maguire highlighted the opportunities that blogging brings to become part of a huge network, to share ideas and links between people. BlogHer.org, an aggregating site, has 3000 very supportive members!
And Truecraig humorously talked about the joy he gets from sharing stories on his blog. He’s part of a large network of writers, including screenwriters.
If you’ve been holding back from blogging because you’re worried about your stuff getting swiped, check out the Creative Commons website. There you can create a license that outlines if, and under what circumstances, your work can be legally distributed. I’m just starting to read about this myself, so I can’t say more about it right now.
David Nunez pointed out that getting a blog started can be as easy as going to blogger.com and taking just a few minutes to set up a site. He suggested concentrating solely on the writing at the start. He advises not to start getting into advanced formatting or joining networks until you’ve had your blog running for at least four months or have 100 posts.
And here’s a daunting stat — only 55% of blogs make it past three months. Also, note that a readership doesn’t really start until several months after you begin posting. It takes time for people to discover you. So, you need to keep plugging along consistently with posts even if your readers aren’t with you yet! It’s a lot of work, I know. Sometimes I open my site and am somehow disappointed that there’s nothing new there for me to read. Ah, right…
David also outlined 5 Values for Successful Blogs:
Originality of content. Don’t just transplant ideas — share your own.
Frequency of posting. David suggested twice a week (i.e. a sustainable rate to avoid burnout).
Patience to make it to past month three. After that, you’ll have a strong foundation of material and readers (hopefully!) will be starting to discover you.
Authority Basically, write about topics you know well.
Sincerity Don’t set up a blog solely to load it with ads and almost no content. Google has ways of spotting those and cuts them off.
For us writers, it’s especially important to get involved. A blog is a terrific way to develop a readership and to promote books. Of course, on a personal level, it’s also wonderful to join a new, welcoming, and expanding community!
p.s. I entitled this post “Go Boldly…” rather than “Boldly Go…” so as not to disturb fellow writers who are grammar fanatics and may have been traumatized by years of hearing Star Trek’s “To boldly go…” (arguably, the world’s most famous split infinitive). Yes, there’s a place for all of us in the blogosphere!
July 7th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
Cuileann!
So nice to have met you the other week. Get your blog on! Good times, and thank you for the compliment.
I, too, am still a huge fan of the printed word. The tactile feel of the thing. It’s physical manifestation… but the interweb is a great stage for rehearsals, if not formal productions.
I look forward to reading you.
July 7th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Hi Truecraig!
Nice to hear from you! I had intended to drop you a line before now — sorry I missed following through.
Hey, I just thought of something. You SOUNDED so great when you talked to our group — I bet you could do an awesome podcast with your stories! Ever thought of that?
By the way, I love your Austinist column. Interestingly, your story about why you had to shave your beard once you started cycling in hot weather struck a chord with me (my husband is a cyclist, too). That passage was both revolting and hilarious at the same time — a wicked combination!
Keep the stories coming!
Cuileann
July 7th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
This is really great! I`m so glad you started this. Good luck with your work and please let me know when you make it past the 55% mark.
Take care,
David
July 8th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Hi David!
It’s nice to hear from you, and thanks for your kind words! Your presentation was wonderful for outlining what new bloggers should expect and what they can do to succeed. I will let you know when I pass that 55% mark.
Thanks for being so supportive of new bloggers!
Cuileann
July 24th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
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