I love Irony in all its forms so it should come to no surprise that my first attempt at book reviewing is on The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.
One of the reasons I decided to blog was so that I had a place to work on my writing skills. Several friends recommended I try my hand at book reviewing as I love to read and reviewing would help my writing. Since I had no experience in blogging I felt it would be a good idea to seek professional help, plus I saw a great interview with Arianna Huffington promoting her book and blogging (everyone should do it, she cried!).
The guide is well written, witty and intelligent. The book guides the reader on everything from picking the best blog site, the pros and cons of web hosting, third party applications (though not how to link them to one’s blog) to how to write.”Find your voice, blog like you speak!” the guide says. Since I suffer from a disability that effects my thought process (I forget words, or as I like to think of it, I lose words right before they come out of my mouth) my blogs would look like ?.
I found the guide most useful when it talked of how to format a blog. The guide breaks down how the paragraphs should flow; a little like an essay but shorter and with only one point. I also liked reading snippets of celebrity blogs. Some funny people it turns out are not so funny after all.
The downside of this guide was how much it was geared towards political blogging. It seemed the authors wanted to push the idea that everyone can be a political blogger. The tips on getting new readers and how to network with other bloggers all centered on political ideas. I skipped a chapter because it seemed totally devoted to the subject.
Over all I feel this book is helpful to anyone who wants to learn why people blog and why political blogging is turning the news media on its head. If you already have a great blog and decent following this guide may seem rudimentary.
I will use what I learned from the guide; who knows maybe someday I will end up posting on the Huffington Post. Now that would be ironic!
The View From Sari's World 