Basic Blogging Questions

[Amy Magan]

Ok, so after attending the SI Writers Group meet-up, I'm feeling a little more ready to blog. But I have some questions I hope folks here can help me with:

Do you use your real name on your blog? I'm planning to create my blog at blogspot.com. Should I use my real name and location?

Do you blog about life in general or something related to a specific topic?

How do you get people to read your blog?

Is it "kosher" to dust off old stuff and put it in your blog? I have some, for lack of a better term, humor essays that I've written that I'd probably like to put out there.

If you have any intention of compiling said blog into, say, a book someday, do you copywrite your blog? How?

How often do you blog? How much is too much? How much is too little?

Ok. Think that's it for now. Thanks for your help.

[Amy Magan]

Ok -- Either everyone is way busy and hasn't checked in a while or I've been thinking too much about this and people can't believe I'm this clueless. Whatever, I jumped in and started a blog:

http://4thfrog.blogspot.com/

[Scott Semester]

Hi, Amy -- Just saw this discussion post. Here are MY answers...not that they're the RIGHT answers! :) Here's my blog -- it's a personal, non-monetized, never-gonna-be-a-book blog.

I use my real name on my blog, but I have a much lower privacy threshold/potential stalker threshold t.... My blog URL is my first two initials and my last name, my Blogspot profile name is my initials and I list my location as "Eagle Creek, Indiana, USA," but I refer to myself and link to myself on other websites, so I decided just to be me. I think this helps to keep me honest and pleasant...I don't vent like I might if I were anonymous, and having my name attached to the blog helps me keep the language PG, when I might otherwise be tempted to post something with rated R language...

I started my blog as a way to spare my friends five or six e-mails a day with the subject line "This is hilarious!" or "Have you seen this video?!" I mix in links to other funny websites, embed videos, and try frequently to do some longer original written pieces. I mostly use my blog as a record of stuff for me, so I don't have to go searching for links or videos.

As far as getting people to read my blog, I guess I ask them to. Link to it in e-mails, or on discussion boards like this one, etc. There are many people who could answer that question far better than I, because even though I've got Google Analytics on my Blogspot blog, I don't know what to do with it.

I think it's fine to dust off old stuff and post it. It might be cool to put an "Originally written 2004 (or whatever)" note on it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Don't know anything about copyright stuff. But again, I'm not a blog-into-book hopeful, so that's not my bag.

When I started my blog, I made the commitment to try to post one thing per day. But, again, my posts are as simple as "Pet rabbit hops to rescue:
Reason #5,310 you should get a rabbit: owning a bunny could save your very life." It looks like Erik Deckers (who has a weekly humor column), posts sometimes once a week, sometimes two or three times a week. I think it all depends on how much time you have, what you train your readers to expect, and how much fun it is for you.

Again, I am by no means an expert blogger -- I am going to the BlogIndiana conference in a few weeks to learn more and figure out the answers to some of your (my) questions...maybe I'll see you there?

[Amy Magan]

Scott -- Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I'll be at Blog Indiana for the Saturday sessions.

[Erik Deckers]

Hi Amy,

I'll answer your questions as best I can.

1) Yes, I use my real name on my blog, because it's my identity. But it's not the title of the blog. You could buy your name as a domain, and then point it to the blog. Then you just tell people to go to AmyMagan.com.

2) I write a weekly humor column for some newspapers and reprint it at my blog. Then I will occasionally drop something else in, usually if it relates to humor.

3) Marketing and PR. Just pick up any good book on marketing and treat your blog like you would any product or service. There are also a LOT of strategies specifically for blogs -- things like writing comments in someone else's blog that links back to your own.

4) Yes, you can rerun old stuff. You may want to say that it's reprinted, but otherwise, it's fair game.

5) Your work is automatically copyrighted when you stick your name on it. I know there are ways to make it more official, but generally, if you stick your name on it, it's yours. That's true for blogs, websites, newspaper & magazine articles, etc. I might compile the columns into a book one day. I don't know yet, but probably.

6) Once a week definitely. More if I can, but always once a week.

[Andrew Corman]

I spoke with a lawyer about reprinting material from a blog withthe intent of writing a book. If you areactively soliciting stories and essays via the blog, let it be known that the info may be reprinted and proper credit given to the author (Andy C form Anytown USA).

Have fun and good luck