L. Shepherd's Blog

Posted by L. Shepherd

After going eight days between posting to my own writing blog, I starting wondering whether that was really the worst thing that can happen to a blog. The blogging gurus demand that anyone with a blog must post at least every day, and two or three times a day if they can. That might be good fit for SEO purposes, but is it really right for the blog?

The good blogs get noticed by word of mouth, not by SEO. And, I don't think that a blog becomes good when the blogger is babbling with nothing to say. I have stopped reading two blogs that I used to read religiously because the blogger was obviously posting just to post. That has never lead to anything interesting to say and it likely never will.

A great blog is motivated by a blogger who is passionate about the topic and has something to say about it. A great blog is not one that is run by someone solely out to get the best search engine rankings they can. Eventually a blogger needs to decide which one of those they want to be.

Posted by L. Shepherd

There are an incredible number of ways that people can make money from their blogs. I've already put together an article or two about monetizing blogs, but there is also a way to make money from other people's blogs.

When you read someone else's blog, you probably look at the name of the person who wrote it and consider what their life experience is like and why they keep the blog. What you may not know, however, is that the blog may be ghostwritten by someone else entirely. Ghostwritten blogs keep the main ideas that the blogger wants expressed, but are written by copywriters and freelance writers.

Because the blogger has bought the rights to the words of each post, the blogger puts his or her own name on them and the readers are none the wiser. This happens far more often than many people believe, and it can be a lucrative freelance writing gig if you can get it. I've ghostwritten for so many blogs at this point I literally couldn't tell you how many.

Some bloggers outsource to a number of people, farming out topics to each writer, and some hire one writer for their blog and rely on them to write for the blog and to keep it updated. I've done both and both can be a fun writing challenge. Blog writing is generally less formal than other kinds of writing, so it goes a little faster than other freelance writing projects. Most of the time, it's a nice break from other types of writing.

Posted by L. Shepherd

I read a lot of blogs in my line of work. Most of them are business or information oriented, but that doesn't seem to be the most prevalent kind of blog, according to what I hear from others. There are a lot of people who keep a blog simply to monetize it and make a little money. Some people keep multiple blogs to bring in several streams of income through blogging.

But, what I hear from far more people is that they keep a blog simply because they enjoy it. A blog gives them an outlet for their own creative expression. It's a way to communicate with the entire world in just the way they want their stories communicated. For people who love writing, it's a good first step into writing professionally.

Sure, a blog can bring in money, but in most cases it won't bring in that much unless it is a very popular blog that perfectly fits an underserved niche. If you can do this, great! If not, you'll have just as much fun with your blog. You may even have more fun since you'll be under no obligation to post any specific number of times or to stay on topic with every post.

Posted by L. Shepherd

I hear more and more about residual income from online publishing- perhaps mainly because that's becoming a big draw that lures people away from print markets.

Print publishing may seem more lucrative on the surface, but most print publishing items are bought for a one-time fee. Unless the writer wrote a book and has a royalty agreement, the up-front fee is generally all they will ever be paid.

Online publishing, however, is far easier to promote. You might be able to promote a print book with a review and a link to buy, but a print article can be promoted with a direct link to the material. That makes it cost effective for publishers to offer marketing incentives to the writers they publish. More promotion leads to more page views which leads to more money.

When writers promote work that was written under a residual agreement, their earnings on the items in question keep coming in long after the items were written. It's not unusual to receive payments for items that were written years ago. I have a few examples of popular sites that operate under these agreements here. But, take a look around the 'net and you will likely turn up countless more.

Posted by L. Shepherd

Earlier this week I was writing an article about the Amazon Kindle with a much different focus than the article that actually emerged. I was interested in learning about how the Kindle is really doing as far as sales and user retention. I wanted to see whether the massive hype when the Kindle was launched would continue into the revolutionized publishing world that Amazon promised.

What I actually found to be more interesting was that people are paying for blog subscriptions they get through the Kindle. These are not blogs that are available only through the device- they are blogs that you can read free on the Internet. So why pay for the subscription?

The Internet, and online publishing in particular, is all about convenience. You can charge more for an ebook than for a print book because it's much more convenient. You can get people to sign up for an online newsletter who would not consider getting one through snail mail. And now blog subscriptions are being made still more convenient. The Kindle goes anywhere and the updates are done wirelessly. You don't even have to turn on your computer to get the latest post from your favorite blogs.

What I also found intriguing of course was that the bloggers are getting a healthy cut of the subscription fees. The article contains the link to apply to have a blog accepted onto the Kindle. But, I'm thinking that it's probably just a matter of time before every blog out there is accessible through the device.

Posted by L. Shepherd

From what I am hearing, the Kindle is not doing as well as was thought. I have been watching the Kindle with interest to see how it would fare against traditional newspapers and print books. So far, I'm not worried. I want paper newspapers and books to endure, and I don't think the Kindle will be the device that makes them obsolete.

Sales of the Kindle have apparently been fairly steady, but the world ihas not been converted to digital media readers yet. The device seems to me to be something like the SegWay- it has a lot of possibilities, even revolutionary possibilities, but it isn't quite there yet. For now it's more of a toy for those who love the newest devices and will spend anything to get them first.

I imagine that the price will be lowered considerably within another year and that when that happens, the device may take off with mainstread readers. We'll see.

Posted by L. Shepherd

It always saddens me to see newspaper layoffs happening. These days it's almost weekly that we hear about another layoff at a major newspaper. There is even a newspaper layoff map that tracks the locations where it's happening.

But, I still don't think that newspapers will ever go extinct. I don't think the Kindle or a similar device will replace them. People really do enjoy the tactile experience of holding a newspaper and carrying it with them. People blame the online media for the decline, but I think that's only half the story.

The other half is that far too few people are really interested in the news these days. Knowing about the news just isn't valued by people as much as it once was. That has the potential to reverse itself, though. It is always possible that values will change and knowledge will be sought in all its forms- even paper ones.

Posted by L. Shepherd

Thinking about the nature of online publishing, it occurred to be how alike it really is to print publishing. The market itself is different because the costs of publishing are so different. But, the basics are pretty much the same.

The Internet publishing market changes rapidly, and it must, given how quickly content is added and new needs for that content. But, the print world really isn't that different. From seasonal needs to yearly trends and new subjects, both mush change to survive.

One of the big differences that I notice about online publishing is that there are so many more markets available with new ones starting up every day. However, there are plenty of startups in print as well. Just like websites, there are new imprints, magazines and journals starting up- and going out of business- all the time. There may not be as many, but both print and online publishing ebb and flow with the market, the costs of doing business and the needs of the customer base.

Posted by L. Shepherd

I keep being amazed at how versatile WordPress is. I was recently hired to revamp the content of a website for a local company. I'm no computer whiz and I wasn't sure that I could do much more than deliver the content to the client and tell them how to arrange the pages to deliver the best impact.

I was shocked to hear that the whole site was actually made with WordPress. There was no way to tell it was WordPress simply by looking at it. It was not a blog format, had no comments sections, no blog entries and no visible tags. It wasn't a blog at all, but was just as easy to edit as a blog.

That's what's possible with WordPress. At one end of the spectrum you can simply enter text and tags and do little else. At the other end you can build very different sites that look nothing like blogs. And, the fact that it's free means that anyone at all can use it.

Posted by L. Shepherd

I think that a lot of people who are interested in keeping a blog or two may not realize how easy it is to get started. It doesn't have to cost a dime and there are no real rules.

There are guidelines and expected things for bloggers to do, but all that really matters is that a blogger expresses herself and communicates effectively. Whether that's done through humor, pathos, dramatic prose or photos, it's all up to the blogger.

I've been reviewing various free blog sites and plan to continue that for the next week or two. I know from experience that when choosing a free blog it's a good idea to know what features you will need and which sites have those features.

When thinking about starting a blog, sometimes it's best not to think too much. The best blogs are the ones that are personal expressions of a point of view. Those are the ones that generate cult followings and legions of fans. They can even lead to book and movie deals. Movie deals? Yes. It actually does happen.

Posted by L. Shepherd

Ebooks are still finding their way among the print publishers and buyers. There are a number of publishers that are experimenting with publishing print books as well as publishing the same books online in ebook form. There are also independent ebooks writers that publish the books themselves and do their own marketing and site building.

The ebook markethas been around for a few years, but it still doesn't seem to be close to replacing the print market. It's likely that it never will. But, the two are leaning to co-exist and to enhance each other by making rading more convenient instead of competing against each other for customers.

Posted by L. Shepherd

To me, a Web writer is someone who writes for pay, usually writing Web content, ebooks and the like. But, with the opportunity for anyone to be published, there are an enormous amount of opportunities for self expression that don't come with pay.

Writing for someone else, i.e., for their website or to promote their product, should always, always be paid. But, there are a number of times when a person just wants to express themselves without worrying about finding a buyer. Many times, blogs fill that mission. Blogs are a relatively new phenomenon, but they are becoming a pervasive part of our culture. A blog can be a journal, a communication with friends or a communication with the whole world.

Posted by L. Shepherd

When I was 15 I was in the middle of a riot in Italy. This wasn't a small group of people- it was a city-wide riot marked by roadblocks, fires and people throwing themselves in front of cars. I wondered whether the whole spectacle would be on the national news back home. But, as my mother pointed out, there were no news crews around. How would anyone find out about it?

That's no longer a problem. Nowadays it's simple for anyone who witnesses news happening to capture it on camera and broadcast it to the world. It's pretty hard for anything newsworthy to go unreported these days. That may be a problem in many cases, but I think that most of the time it's something that we should all be grateful for. If you see news happening, you don't have to relegate it to anecdotes. You can be a part of the international news scene for however brief a time.

Posted by L. Shepherd

When starting to work in Web writing and online publishing, having multiple streams of income can prevent a problems when the market changes. There have been many, many websites that paid for freelance content and then closed up due to a lack of funds. This can break someone who was counting on the money from publishing on the site, or it can be just one of several revenue streams.

Someone with their own site can also benefit from several ways to bring in income. I've been experimenting with a lot of these ways and am finding out the ones that work best for me. Of course, different types of sites can benefit from different types of revenue generators. I think I smell an article coming on about it...

Posted by L. Shepherd

Citizen journalism is one of those buzz phrases that makes the rounds so quickly that many people are left wondering exactly what it is. Everyone seems to have a different definition of what it really means. To some, it's citizens training themselves to be journalists. To others, it's people who look around them for the stories that they want to see covered and take it upon themselves to do so.

I think often it's someone who is in the right place at the right time to cover a story that may not wait for a journalist. I'm starting a new series of articles about citizen journalism today. I hope that it gets a few discussions started about what the term really means and how interested parties can become citizen journalists. Feel free to enter the discussion area and start a conversation of your own.

Posted by L. Shepherd

There are a lot of writers out there who dream about being published but don't expect it to happen to them. In the past, few people did have that opportunity, and far fewer had the chance at a worldwide audience. Online publishing has made it possible for anyone at all to become published. Besides writing blogs, there are many areas of online content that are open to freelance writers.

After leaving the newspaper world, I thought I'd never be published again unless I worked for another newspaper or had a book published. Not true! There are thousands of opportunities out there for writers to get their work published and to have it read by people all over the world. There's no reason to wait around- get to it and find out what your strengths and weaknesses are.