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Hit 7 - The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
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List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $10.20
Your Save: $ 4.80 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9781439105009
ISBN: 1439105006
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-12-02
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editorial Reviews:
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The editors of The Huffington Post -- the most linked-to blog on the web -- offer an A-Z guide to all things blog, with information for everyone from the tech-challenged newbie looking to get a handle on this new way of communicating to the experienced blogger looking to break through the clutter of the Internet. With an introduction by Arianna Huffington, the site's cofounder and editor in chief, this book is everything you want to know about blogging, but didn't know who to ask.As entertaining as it is informative, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging will show you what to do to get your blog started. You'll find tools to help you build your blog, strategies to create your community, tips on finding your voice, and entertaining anecdotes from HuffPost bloggers that will make you wonder what took you so long to blog in the first place.The Guide also includes choice selections from HuffPost's wide-ranging mix of top-notch bloggers. Among those who have blogged on HuffPost are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Larry David, Jane Smiley, Bill Maher, Nora Ephron, Jon Robin Baitz, Steve Martin, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ari Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Al Franken, Gary Hart, Barbara Ehrenreich, Edward Kennedy, Harry Shearer, Nancy Pelosi, Adam McKay, John Ridley, and Alec Baldwin.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Positive and Practical Information
Comment: As a frequent (but not daily) reader of Huffington Post I have found it to attract a refreshing mix of ideas and opinions. HuffPo has been a true innovator in setting the tone for blogging over the past few years.
So, when this book came along I was intrigued. It turns out to be a very practical and positive book on empowerment. By sharing hard earned lessons and examples this book offers anyone real guidance on how to become a credible blogger for themselves.
Not only is there good information, the book has numerous links and references to resources that an aspiring blogger would want to know. A real bonus is reprinted blogs provided by some witty and profound writers.
Well worth the money and time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
Comment: Have you ever thought about starting your own blog? Well, I have. Of course I never did. I guess I lack confidence. Isn't blogging only for professional writers or journalist? Isn't it only for people confident enough to broadcast their message to the entire world?
Well, after reading a book I know that it's not the case. Blogging is for me and for you as long as we are willing to share our thoughts with others and build communities based on shared interests. The book won't convince you that blogging is a good way of making money or getting famous: on the contrary. What really matters is to find your own voice, get creative and have fun. So, are you blogging jet? No? What are you waiting for?
PS. "See" you on the net. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Blog Reference
Comment: Whether you are just starting out or are already blogging, this is a great reference. I picked it up for some pointers on how to improve my own blog - www.hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com - one of my resolutions for 2009. I've been following Huff Post since 2005, so all of the history was interesting to read again. I think my favorite tidbit is the Cheney joke by Steve Martin, page 123. There is a lot of good material here,
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great style notes, lots of trash to wade through
Comment: This was a great book on blogging style and I really recommend it for that purpose. I'll warn you, though. You'll have to wade through a lot of "I hate Bush" and gay pride rhetoric to get to the meat of the book. There is no purpose in liberal (or conservative) rantings in a technical book. But then again, if they hadn't the book would have been thin and they couldn't charge me $10.00 for it. Basically, if you are a journalist using blog media or you are having trouble with your writing style for your blog, it's a great book. Otherwise, save your money and buy a newspaper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A good beginner book in spite of all the self-reference and name-dropping
Comment: I give this book three out of five stars, and while its good points have been covered by other reviewers, I'll air my three grievances. This book would be better if it were 2 inches smaller and about two-thirds the length, and if it was targeted more towards people who have something useful to say to a wider audience.
First, the book has extra large outside margins to accommodate occasional quotes, but a quick flip through the book shows that as just a lot of blank space padding out the book and giving it a more square shape that your average book. Seems like a waste of paper meant to make the book's uncommon shape stand out in physical book stores, and my little eco-gripe with the book.
While no one would deny that The Huffington Post is a successful and influential blog, and is therefor in a place to offer advice, the incessant talking about how great it is and the stories it broke, combined with a lot of "best of" selections is overkill. I suppose if one had never read or heard of blogs before, it would be useful to read so many examples of what gets written in blogs (anything!), but I would imagine most of the book's readers read blogs every day already. At least one-third of the book is about how the Huffington Post got started or excerpts from the site. Personally, I didn't find it all that relevant in a "how to blog" book. It's not as though a reader has no other way of finding out, if they wanted to, "What kind of things are on The Huffington Post?" The authors repeatedly entice potential bloggers with the fact that one of the great things about blogging is that there is no editor dictating a piece's length to you. It seems like this book could have used a cut-happy editor.
Lastly, there's a bunch of rally-the-troops, "Even YOU, a lil' stay-at-home mom, who wants to write about your boring and petty frustrations, CAN HAVE A BLOG!" stuff. Some of us, however, don't need to be sold on the concept of blogging. Some of us already have topics that interest us and experience writing about them. Some of us aim to reach wider audiences than sharing summaries of our daily lives on LiveJournal. I would have liked to see a chapter about fine-tuning one's messages and reaching target audiences for people who, pardon my snobbery, but actually have something of value to say to the world. I realize that most blogs are just tiny personal journals meant only to entertain the author and their friends, but I'd have liked to see a lot more from this book beyond the predominantly surface-level advice for people who are coming from a place of, "Golly, what could I write about? What are my interests? What are blogs?"
All in all, though, I do recommend the book for beginners, and cautiously recommend it for non-beginners. I wish it had less fluff and more intermediate-level advice. Many of the reviewers here praise the book for helping readers find their voice and a topic that interests them, and that's all good and well, but what about people who already had those two things covered long before picking up the book?
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