Blogging for Writers

Blogging for Writers
by Robin Houghton
Octopus Publishing Group/Writer’s Digest Books
© 2014, 2017

I just finished an enlightening book, Blogging for Writers, by Robin Houghton. While geared towards writers, the information is useful for anyone interested in creating their own blog or making an ongoing blog more successful.

Topics range from choosing a platform to getting the right look to getting noticed. Houghton provides hints on what makes a good blog post. She discusses using your blog to interact with and get noticed by the media. Houghton also mentions connecting to other social media and how to earn income through your blog. Houghton also spotlights other bloggers as inspiration.

Overall, Blogging for Writers is a great pick. Houghton’s writing is quick and snappy. She covers each topic effectively and efficiently, and supports her assertions with good examples from other blogs.

However, there are two strikes against Blogging for Writers. Some of the illustrations are screenshots that are too small to be very helpful (magnifying glass, maybe?). Also, some of the links are dead or point to sites that have migrated to something else. Granted, in our fast-paced online world things change speedily. But some of the defunct/missing sites should have been caught in whatever update happened in 2017.

For example, Stacy Millican, a featured blogger, used to blog at www.thenovellife.com. Apparently, she has not owned this blog since 2014. Ms. Millican has a website/blog at www.stacymillican.com, which is “coming soon.” Meanwhile, www.thenovellife.com, subtitled “where travel and books collide”is now solely a travel tips blog and does not seem to include books at all. “Niawmitz,” a young woman living with her husband and children in Singapore, owns the site.

But, I still give this book a thumbs up. I’ll implement some of her suggestions on my own blog at www.janecairns.com, and follow up on many of the bloggers she introduces in the book.