Blogs may be the biggest thing in publishing since the printing press!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
What's So Great About a Blog?
I can hear what some of you are thinking out there, and I felt just like you do for a long while.
I first encountered blogs in the form of Live Journals, and, I didn’t get it. I couldn’t imagine sharing personal things for all the world to comment on - yikes!
Then, awhile later, there were “art” blogs and my ears, eyes, and interest perked up - only to be assaulted by an avalanche of interlinking bits and pieces and “too much information!” that made my head ache and my eyeballs spin around.
But, as always happens with something as dynamic as this enlivened type of information sharing, blogging evolved in so many ways, and improved in so many ways, until now, in my opinion, it is the most exciting platform in publishing. What’s so exciting?
A blog is a “live” publication. With a book or a magazine, the author writes, the readers read, and sometimes there is a letter or email to the editor as feedback - but that communication happens after both the writing - and the reading, are already long past.
And that communication never enhances the “experience” of the book or magazine article. A correction may be published in the next issue, or the author may update a book, but who remembers by then?
We are beings who like to react and share those reactions with each other - think in terms of book clubs which have been around forever. Everybody reads the same book and then it’s time for discussion. And in sharing our reactions, we learn from each other, and we are all better off for the exchange.
The beauty of a blog is that you get to react and share right then and there - as soon as you have read an article. And you can ask a question. Check back shortly, there will probably be an answer. This is an “immediate” book club! With members from all over the world!
And the best part is that all of that conversation becomes a *part* of the article. So the next reader gets a better article - and so do you if you come back to it again in the future.
When it comes to the world of art making, where the sharing of tips and techniques is the very heart beat, what could possibly be better?
And blogs are searchable by keyword. So, you want to find that article (or all the articles) on Pan Pastels, for example, you just put Pan Pastels in the Search box and up comes a list of every post that mentioned them.
So, that’s enough of a sales job because I know you are going to come to love this. I would like to share a couple of tips about reading this blog that will be good to know.
LINKS
Another great thing about blogs is that there are often links to more information about whatever the subject may be. These are often imbedded right in the article so you can check them out right then - or as soon as you finish reading the article.
The danger of these links is that you may follow them from one thing to another until you can’t find your way back to your Whatever magazine. Like Hansel and Gretel, your breadcrumbs will be blown away!
Unfortunately, my blogging software does not allow me to “tell your browser” to open any link you click in a new window, so you won’t lose us. The good news is that your own mouse can do that. Just Right-Click the link and you will be given a choice to see it in a new window. If you forget, just click your Back button and try again.
Many blogs link just about every other word. This, in the long run, creates more traffic for the blog, but it can make the reader pretty crazy - especially if they start clicking all those links. The Cre8it Whatever Blog will not do that. If I put a link here and there, it will be for the enhancement of the article. It is certainly fine to skip them, but if you right-click, they will be worth the time spent and you won’t get lost. (Thanks to Linda Jacobs for this right-click tip. It’s a winner!)
SEARCH
How many times have you read an art magazine (including my online ones), and thought you might try a technique later? When “later” finally comes around, “Where *was* that article?” Dang!
Well, the beauty of the blog magazine format is that you can just go to the Blog home page - always available up in the Navigation Bar on every article page - and put your subject in the Search box. Every article on that subject will come up in a nice list for you to skim through. *SO* much better than searching dog-earred magazine pages!
COMMENTS
Comments are the life blood of the “living” part of a blog. That’s the conversation. There is *nothing* to fear about your email address getting ”out there” or any of the other weird stuff people fear. Only your words get posted - and your name if you include it. Please use your name when posting - even just your first name is good - so we can call you by name if we answer or respond to your comment. Anyone who does have a blog, a website, a Flickr site, etc. can also add that address if they want to. Your name will then show up as a Link, and by right-clicking on it, people can visit you in a window of your own.
I cannot stress enough the importance of your comments. They are a big “thank you” to me that you take the time to offer your input, and they enrich the experience of every reader - especially of an information sharing magazine blog like this.
SUBSCRIBING, RSS FEEDS, READERS ETC.
My very next post will be a tutorial on this subject.
