[.ca] The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice On Creating And ... (ISBN 073820756X)

Misleading title, Good for beginners:
If you just heard or have never heard of blogging: ***** Blood's book is a book about ideas, not the nuts and bolts. Most people can gather what blood has outlined through experience and reading other blogs. She covers great material in a straightforward manner, but this book does not desearve rave reviews. What Blood does great is introduces Weblogging to an audience who might not want to start a blog, but is curious about the culture. Her passion is evident, and for a beginner, absolute-just-heard-of-blogging-and-wants-to-know-more person, this is the perfect book. Conceptually, this book is a great help. If you know or have any experience with bloging, you might try elsewhere, this read might be boring. She gives great examples, but they are difficult to understand because there are no real to life visuals. Great, easy read, okay execution, but not for experienced bloggers.

A weblog book for adults:
This book is a worthy attempt at a weblog book for adults. It's not in-your-face evangelism about how weblogs are going to change the world. It's not a hands-on guide to installing and using weblog publishing software. It doesn't have a lot to say about how weblog technology works behind the scenes. What this book does cover (in a measured, thoughtful way), are the personal and social aspects of weblogging. How to think through whether weblogging is for you. The unexpected but practical benefits of running a weblog, like increased self-confidence and improving your writing skills. How to fit researching and maintaining a weblog into your life, and what to do when it turns from a pleasant hobby into a chore. How to deal with too many or too few readers. How to avoid revealing too much personal information, and how to retain the respect of your readers in the face of wildly differing opinions. Also covered is the author's personal view of the history and development of weblogging, and an attempt to classify weblogs into different types. These aspects, though are secondary to the main focus of the book. The book handles more like a paperback novel than a typical computer book. It's small, relatively thin, and has no illustrations. The author has a comfortable, easy-reading style, but is occasionally repetitive. I guess that's the fallout from years of condensed and pithy weblog posts.

The Why of Weblog:
I also read "Blogging: Genius Strategies...". If I had to compare the two books I would state that the other was the how, and this book is the why. Rebecca talks much of the edicate related to blogs and how they can help improve you as a person and as a writer.

Primer:
This book is great for a certain type of audience-one essentially familiar enough to care about blogs, and not so cozy with the blogging world as to be bored to tears. A content synopsis? Others have done this...so I won't here. But an artistic performance of the synopsis would sound a little like this: See Jane blog. Blog Jane, blog! (rinse, repeat) Place the Blogging fork on the right-hand side of the page. See www.whatever.com for more information. One part primer, one part etiquette book, sprinkle URLs sparingly. Blood's Book. Done and done. Crazy thing is...I didn't hate it. (You should read a review on books I hate.)

For the Practical Blogging Set...:
An eminently readable introduction to the blogging experience. While geared toward the newcomer to blogging, many of Blood's ideas and approaches to blogging generate ideas in revamping or rethinking a blog already in place. The absence of mechanics is a sore subject, since many providers or services can be bewildering to the first-timer. However, in keeping with the spirit, applications, and the possibilities of blogging rather than the nuts-and-bolts, Blood has written a book that you can keep with you by the computer rather than a disposable easily-outdated resource manual (something of a pity though - Blood's writing style may also help to make short work of the sometimes arcane method of constructing a blog). In short, the text is a fine introduction not to how to blog, but why you should.