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Saturday, June 02, 2007

Working through an idea....opinions welcome

The 'great idea' I had was this:

There is a proliferation of awards floating around the bloggersphere. Good ones; warranted ones. But is there a book of these available? Do "Best Blog Posts - 2006" (for example) exist, much like, say, this book? I haven't seen any, but then again, there's not much of a market for it in Australia.

Is there a market, generally, would you say?

Would you pay for a book of great blog writing?

What say you?


My opinion? I love reading blogs...but I must admit staring at a computer screen is hard on my eyes. I'd really like it in hard copy, in front of me, so I can read as slowly as I like, at whenever time and place I please. Most of you know my first love is books and such to start with, so my bias is hardly surprising.


Don't mind now about the mechanics of accepting submissions and anything editorial - I'm just after conceptual viability.


Cheers!


(Please, if you think its a dumb idea, don't be afraid to say so. I must admit, at 10pm at night, I thought it was great. In the cold light of morning, my gremlins of doubt had eaten away my enthusiasm and were coming up with all sorts of - valid - reasons why this might fail. That's okay. I suppose... I'll just keep saying to myself, "That which you can conceive, you can achieve")

posted by Miscellaneous-Mum at 8:36 am

Comments on "Working through an idea....opinions welcome"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:33 pm) : 

It is a good idea. The only thing is, you might want to consider what people you want to aim such a product at.

For example, most people (myself included) only read what interests them. If I come across a blog that annoys me with it's content or one which I strongly disagree with, or even just one that is a boring as batshit, I simply move on.

Getting people to purchase a book full of random posts deemed to be good (by someone?) might have less chance of success than a book of related posts.

Just off the top of my head, if you are into keeping fish then you in all likelihood would buy a book of posts about this hobby.

If politics is your thing, you are not likely to buy a book with a lot of jibber jabber about cars or making cookies out of gum nuts or whatever.

I would suggest you find out what are the most popular blog topics out there and go from that.

Just a suggestion.....A book perhaps called "left and right" where you present the same topic (a Government policy perhaps) written from both political perspectives. This way you are taking aim at both sides of the political spectrum and both sides are likely to spend money on hard copy.

Don't be discouraged, the idea is great, it may just need a little "spit and polish".

Good Luck!

Patrick

 

Blogger Miscellaneous-Mum said ... (2:57 pm) : 

Thanks Patrick. Great points.

Further spitting and polishing...

Yes, I agree, there would need to be topics boundaries set. I think.

The literary part of me tends to judge texts more democratically, irrespective of topic, BUT, I daresay, most readers would prefer more signposts as to an anthology's basis/theme.

Anyone else?

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (7:18 pm) : 

Would it be like a book of essays, do you think? In which case, I think you could pick selectively - perhaps one great post from each of a wide variety of topics. One does have to sell the book, though. Some NAME blogs I go to which have wide readership don't seem to match up to their reputation i.e. writing is nothing to write home about; depth - variable. The thing is there is good blog writing around that is really worth putting in print. In other words, some posts - in my view - will stand the test of time because of the quality of writing and depth of thought. But, by and large, blogging tends to be ephemeral - an awful lot of here to-day, gone to-morrow. But perhaps there's room for more than one sort of book: the essays, the crafts; the smarty-pants; the trendy. Do you go to yarnstorm (a UK blog)? It is my favourite blog in the whole blogosphere: simplicity, elegance, intelligence, and beautiful photographs. This year Jane Brocket who writes yarnstorm got a book contract with Hodder & Stoughton so we have lived with Jane through the book preparation. I also go to Getting Stitched on the Farm. Kristin Nicholas is a published writer re knitting and has a lovely blog (US). But read her about the vicissitudes of publishing! Then, of course, there is the e-book...but wanting hard copy is what started you off, isn't it?

 

Blogger Jean-Luc Picard said ... (12:41 am) : 

It depends what sort of blog posts they are. We all like different styles.

My 100th TWQ is on now. I hope you have your dinner guest selection.

 

Blogger Her Bad Mother said ... (2:46 am) : 

Hmmm... tricky, because what makes a great post is so subjective. Some people really like short, some like long, some like profane, some like serious. And, there would be the question of whether non-bloggers or non-blog-readers would be interested in such a book (or perhaps that doesn't matter - there are millions of bloggers.) Would it be genre-specific (all parent bloggers or all food bloggers) or a mix?

Lots of questions to consider. Interesting idea, though.

 

Blogger Dawn said ... (5:07 am) : 

Love the idea but see the same problems as the posters above - tricky to encompass in one book blogs that will appeal to everyone. But run with the idea a little further - it does have legs!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (7:32 am) : 

Hmmm. I like reading online, because I can check for updates, the latest post, click on links, etc. I like the idea you have -- still thinking.

 

Blogger Miscellaneous-Mum said ... (8:08 am) : 

re: pleasing everyone.

You can't please everyone. That's the 'problem' with anthologies. At the end of the day, it comes down to the editor's discretion. As it always has. WHen I read them, I never read it cover to cover, BUT, I usually read most of it. I'd hope other people would feel the same.

As for judging, I'd probably have a submissions page, like any other journal, but limit it to say 2 or 3 posts per person, per year, so you'd have to make pretty damn sure they were good posts to start with, irrespective of length.

 

Blogger Candace April said ... (8:14 am) : 

I think it is a good idea and probably would sell some copies. I don't know if it would be a run-away hit, but maybe that wouldn't be the point. I recently saw a NYTimes article that suggested there is little market for the Mommy Books that have been proliferating throughout the literary world, but that publishing one gets you on talk shows, etc., to promote yourself or your larger agenda.

I blogged about it here:
http://mamasaga.blogspot.com/2007/04/mommy-books-more-buzz-than-buyers.html

Also, it may be a fun project with its own joys and benefits.

Possibly you could have the bloggers polish these posts into essays. I know that with even my more in-depth posts, I would work on them a little more first, before I would consider them "publishable."


Maybe it would work better as an e-book?

I might be quicker to download an inexpensive version than buy a more expensive hard copy...

 

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