Newsweek: A Sobering Take on Blogging

Daniel Lyons wrote an article for Newsweek and its website titled Time to Hang Up the Pajamas, a sobering look at blogging through the eyes of a writer who hoped to earn a decent income from his own two-year-old blog.  He points to the fatigue many bloggers are feeling, especially those who spend hours every day laboring at their blogs without very much return.  He provides insight into the blogging community and the paltry financial figures even for some high-profile blogs.

I’ve also been blogging for two years.  So far, I’ve earned less than $10 from my Amazon bookstore for writers.  But it’s not the money that I’ve been after.  It’s a motivational device to push me forward to learn even more about the technical and business side of writing.  I’m part, I guess, of the Attention Economy that I pointed to in an earlier post this week — the payback comes not in dollars, but in the attention the blog receives.

It would be difficult for me to stop blogging at this point, even though I think about that quite often.  Yes, there’s a lot of fatigue — BUT I’ve got enough info-gathering mechanisms in place that I uncover several obscure pieces of information every week that might be valuable to writers.  I feel compelled to pass them on.

That said, I am still looking for ways to add some fresh energy to this blog.  Hopefully, I will soon be announcing a blogging partner who will bring to this space a new perspective that nicely complements my own.  I’m in discussion with one writer with long-time experience in helping other writers.  And several others have indicated interest in contributing to this blog on a regular basis in the poll that’s been running in the sidebar.

Now’s the time for any potential contributors to contact me directly at baws at phmx.otherinbox.com.

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    Comment by
    Dwayne Phillips
    13 Feb 2009

    Make a living? Some people seem to do that, but I am more like you. I blog to try to garner attention. I also blog because it is writing and I feel better when I am writing.

    Comment by
    tomcolvin
    14 Feb 2009

    Dwayne, we certainly agree about that. BTW, what an extraordinary website
    at computer.org. And I even followed you on to Smashwords. First time I've
    heard of it. WHAT A CONCEPT! I'll be posting about that next week.
    Perhaps you could write a short piece about your Smashwords experience,
    which I'd love to publish on my blog as a first-hand account from a user.

Sorry, comments are closed.