News FeedThe Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging Book Report
Date read: January 6, 2009
Book title: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
Book author: Arianna Huffington
Book publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks (2008)
Nonfiction/230 pages
The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging was the first book I read in 2009.
Why I read The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging:
As a long-term prisoner, learning about the internet and new technologies really challenges me. People in society may find it hard to believe that, despite the presence I’m building on the internet, I’ve never been online. My wife, however, has launched a new platform to publish my work at PrisonNewsBlog.com. In striving to build traffic, I wrote to a new friend who operates an e-commerce site at TheLaw.net, and asked for his help. He was kind enough to send me a copy of this book on blogging.
What I learned from reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging:
This book helped me understand more about the terms and technology of the blogosphere. Prior to reading this guide, I did not fully grasp how Tags function, the purpose the Blogroll, or the difference between hits, page views, and unique visitors. Nor was I familiar with how other companies like Problogger.net and Reddit.com could enhance my site’s effectiveness in reaching a wider audience. Learning all that I have from this book feels like both a blessing and a curse. I feel great because I know I have the power to reach millions. Yet I feel helpless because I am a prisoner and cannot take advantage of all the options available.
Another useful feature of the book, for me, was the section that included sample blogs. The blogs I had been posting spanned in lengths of between 500 and 1,000 words. From what I gathered, shorter blog postings may attract more readers. I write at least one article each day. In the future, I may intersperse a few shorter articles, and I will do my best to write more timely articles on subjects making headlines in the news. This morning, for example, I wrote a brief blog regarding my reaction to the news on Jeff Skilling’s victory in the appeals court.
How The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging will contribute to my success upon release:
Blogging regularly requires discipline. I apply that discipline because I am committed to offering regular content that may contribute to advances in our immature prison system. Our country needs prison reforms that will enable those of us who live locked inside prison boundaries to earn freedom. This book taught me a few techniques that will help spread my message. Upon release I will continue to learn more. Perhaps the Huffington Post will allow me to become a Huffpost Blogger. I’ll try.
