Successful Blog

SOB Business Cafe 12-15-06

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Marketing Profs is explaining why everything old is new again.

Creating Passionate Users suggests that we innovate on our own model.

The Copywriter Underground points to something unconventional and asks whether it could be a trend.

Who's Writing Next Year's Blog?

Resonance Partnership discusses a trend most folks are hoping will die out.

Attention - Are Your Children Blackberry Orphans?

Attract More Customers points out three reasons people miscommunicate.

Seth unveils the magic and mystery that is the difference between being an Apple and owning a Dell.

Brand as Mythology

Related ala carte selections include

Lorelle on WordPress has a challenge. Help her compile the list.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The Work We Do

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A Few Words from Michael E. Gerber

I read this last night, and I had to share it with you.

“He said,’The work we do is a reflection of who we are. If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside. If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside. If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work. The most menial work can be a piece of work done by an artist. So the job here is not outside of ourselves, but inside of ourselves. How we do our work becomes a mirror of how we are inside.’ ” –Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited, pp. 199-200.

I can’t add a word to improve that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The book is in my store and at Amazon.

Net Neutrality 12-15-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Net Neutrality Works Both Ways: What Happens When Websites Block ISPs?

Some anti-spam organizations believe that collateral damage is the best way to get an ISP to stop harboring spammers, so they’ll blacklist entire swaths of IP addresses in order to force non-spamming customers to complain. That tactic has been violently debated for years without consensus, and the only way outfits such as SPEWS get away with it is by remaining anonymous. One can only imagine the broader network neutrality impact if everyone erected blockades to settle digital disputes. AT&T bans Google video to hinder U-Verse competition, Google bans AT&T DSL customers in kind, and pretty soon the Internet is little more than a cratered out highway, riddled by vendettas.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Jay Andrew Allen Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Jay there?

Chris and I were walking down lovely, historic Hawthorne St. We were talking and laughing as we headed to his car. It was parked in my building. He was heading back to his job. I was heading back to my home inside your computer when . . . my cell phone rang . . . that was the first I heard Jay Andrew Allen.

We talked for a minute. We talked later that night. We had tried to talk one time earlier, but wrist injury and an emergency room had gotten in the way. As I recall, we talked again, once more to set up this call. Then at last, a day or two ago, Jay Andrew Allen and I had a conversation . . . about almost everything.

When the conversation started, I actually thought we were going to talk about his newest project first — so I asked him to tell me a story and said then I’d behave. Of course, I didn’t communicate what I was thinking. The man must have thought I was just a bit forward or a whole lot crazy.

He fielded my request like the parent and the professional he is.

Jay told me about probloggers. He pointed out the trend for writers to get their incomes from several sources. We spent some time talking writing for print versus writing for blogs. We both have a definite preference for the timeline of the online world. Jay brought up so many thoughtful points on the subject, he could be teaching a class. He mentioned how blogging allows for asides and sharing, the phenomenon of MyBlogLog — actually seeing who’s reading — the voice and character of blogging compared to the blandness of most print writing.

I couldn’t help but tell The Zero Boss how much I like the “sugar rush” section of his blog and the reader pages under the cover. He told me the story of how they both got started. He’s a programmer guy, not just parenting guru with attitude.

Since he’s been blogging for what will be three years in no time, I asked him if he had experienced what I call “changing generations of readers” — audience shifts in groups. He knew what I meant. I explained how I took reader movements — who came and who didn’t — personally when I was a brand new blogger — well, er, after I started getting visitors. I got the feeling he understood, but didn’t have the same experience.

We talked about making changes and taking risks. I asked about mistakes he made. Jay laughed and mentioned some things he did. The Zero Boss gave examples of how the same words won him friends and lost them in one fell swoop. Then he said, “You’re going to lose people anyway, write what you’re passionate about.”

Talking to The Zero Boss is a plus sum conversation. I can’t wait until I get to do it again.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

It’s an exciting time to be a writer to be online, to move away from the traditional publishing model. This model is far more open to the writer’s voice . . . to have character and something to say.–Jay Andrew Allen

Stop by Jay’s Blog, The Zero Boss, and say hi!

Thanks, Jay, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Bookcraft 2.0: Writer, Book Editor, Copyeditor — What Do They Do?

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Who Does What?

books

Phil and I have moved into Section Two of the four sections of his book. Are you surprised to notice that I’ve not talked about sentence structure or commas? . . . . When I was a publisher, I used to tell my boss:

You have to build the book, before you can see the commas.

Beginning of the Writing Process (courtesy of Voyages In English 2006)

This diagram shows the part of the writing process that Phil and I are currently working on.

This post is a closer look at what we’re actually doing — what his role is as the writer and what my role is as the book editor.

The Writer

The writer, that’s Phil, crafts the message. In this case that’s his blog posts.

The writer’s job is to choose words with precision and arrange them carefully. His purpose is to convey meaning. He does this by prewriting, drafting, and writing/revising. The writer is on the outgoing side of the message. In this process, Phil’s blog posts are the draft in the diagram.

The Book and Content Editor

The editor’s job is to challenge the writing. All editors are on the incoming side of the message. We remove ambiguities, errors, and barriers. An editor ensures that the meaning the writer intends is the meaning that reader receives. Editors look and listen for the audience and then tell the writer the truth about what they see and hear.

That’s why and how great writers and editors form lasting partnerships. The relationship is balanced and symbiotic.

As the book editor, my job is to help structure and challenge the writing to ensure that every idea and detail belongs in the book. As the content editor, my job is to challenge the writing, looking for problems in the expression of ideas — logic, clarity, and cohesion. I think about questions like these.

  • Is the focus clear? Is the message sound? Does the structure make sense for the premise? Does every part meet the standards?
  • Is the structure natural to the topic? Is the navigation seamless and not in the way of the message?
  • Is the voice confident and consistent? Does it sound like Phil’s voice? Is the tone authentic and appropriate for the audience?
  • Do the words make sense, with a consistency? Will the reader hear what Phil is saying without a chance of misunderstanding? Does the word choice fit the premise and the way the audience listens?
  • When I turn the page, is what comes next, what the reader expects?

As I answer each question for myself, I share my answers with Phil. Every week we talk. Phil uses our conversation and specific edits to do his writing revisions. He adds new content where he agrees it is needed to make the pages fit together and flow. He wants the message in the book to work for readers.

The Copyeditor

When we’re finished with all of the pages, we’ll hand them over to a copyedtior. Then the focus moves from “what” the writer is saying to “how” and “how well” the message is said.

Though copyeditors still care about sense and logic, their irreplaceable contribution lies in their work to achieve linguistic perfection. Copyeditors check for grammar, usage, mechanics, syntax and semantics. In some scenarios, proofreaders follow to check spelling and punctuation. They also check to ensure that no new errors have been introduced during the editing process. In other scenarios, copyeditors do these roles too.

Phil and I have three more sections to get through the diagram. But keep watching, we might be doing a few things with Section One while we’re working on those. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz to help you find or make a book from your archives, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related articles
Bookcraft 2.0: Book Research at Amazon, the Data Giant
Bookcraft 2.0: The 90% Rule of Repurposing Content
Bookcraft 2.0 Why Read the Date Archives Not the Categories?
Bookcraft 2.0: How Many Words Does It Take to Make a Book?

Internet Net Law and Net Neutrality 12-14-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Senator [McCain]: Illegal images must be reported

Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, the Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate warned that “technology has contributed to the greater distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child pornography.

Internet service providers already must follow those reporting requirements. But McCain’s proposal is liable to be controversial because it levies the same regulatory scheme–and even stiffer penalties–on even individual bloggers who offer discussion areas on their Web sites.

[ . . . ]

“I am concerned that there is a slippery slope here,” said Kevin Bankston, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. “Once you start creating categories of industries that must report suspicious or criminal behavior, when does that stop?”

According to the proposed legislation, these types of individuals or businesses would be required to file reports: any Web site with a message board; any chat room; any social-networking site; any e-mail service; any instant-messaging service; any Internet content hosting service; any domain name registration service; any Internet search service; any electronic communication service; and any image or video-sharing service.

[. . . ]

A McCain aide, who did not want to be identified by name, said on Friday that the measure was targeted at any Web site that “you’d have to join up or become a member of to use.” No payment would be necessary to qualify, the aide added.

Please send the senator a copy of “Atlas Shrugged.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE