This Sat May 3rd is my Writers's Blogs: Best & Worst Practices Workshop at the Maryland Writers Association Conference. On this subject, so far novelist and "Work in Progress" blogger Leslie Pietryzk has weighed in with 3 dos and 3 don'ts, as has writer, translator, and editor and "Right-reading" blogger Tom Christensen. And recently, on the occasion of Madam Mayo's second anniversary, I offered "5 Lessons Learned." Herewith 3 more dos and 3 more don'ts:
Do:
--->Mine your blog--- by which I mean, feature the better / most interesting / traffic-generating posts on your menu (see right-hand column of this page, scroll down, and you'll find, for example, Top 10 Books Read in 2007; Hypnerotomachia Poliphili; and Ten Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Writing Workshop);
--->Keep your text brief and link rich (surfers prefer to click rather than scroll);
--->Offer RSS feed.
Don't:
--->Use that generic "blogger" header (I must admit, it took me over a year to put in something original--- it's designed by Kathleen Fetner);
--->Get into endless rounds with anonymous and crank commenters (surely there are better things to do, for example, write?) I don't even allow comments--- though, certainly, I am happy to hear from readers (note link to "send e-mail" on right hand side of the page);
--->Forget to include the link to your blog on your e-mail signature.
---> For the archive on "Gone to the Litblogs" click here.
