Some of my reluctance has to do with the language barriers. Yes, you have told me more than once that my English is fine, and I am very thankful for that. But the fact is that it is not my native tongue, and there will always be something making a post in English less lively than one in Danish. So I am a little self conscious about that, although I guess I can overcome it. Another part of my reluctance is because I feel humble (and again, in real life I am actually not as humble as I probably should be) when I compare my blog to other blogs. So many of the blogs seem so pro, and it seems like the bloggers always know what to say, in an interesting way.
Anyway, as you may have guessed, I am just a tiny bit nervous about this whole thing. On the other hand, I would not have made this post, if I had decided NOT to try this out! So perhaps you can help!?
Not by offering that I can come write on your blog. Before we come to that, I am curious to know a bit about your experiences with guest blogging and guest bloggers. Do you blog directly at their blog or do you send your post as an e-mail. What to do and what not to do, how to contact potential strangers? I already know that I will not ask say a politician to write at their blog about political issues etc., but it does not necessarily have to be a book blog about books and reading.
This is the 13th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.
15 comments:
Lou, I didn't realise that English wasn't your native tongue. YOu would never have guessed by your blog posts. You write in better English than I do. It makes me ashamed that I don't know a different language, but the English are really lazy at this.
I haven't done any blogging on other people's blogs apart from Trish's 100 Mile challenge. She added me to the contributor's list, so that I could blog directly.
I'm afraid that I don't have any advice as I am only just starting this guest poting myself. I have to admit that I have cheated a bit, as both of the guest posts I have done the other person contacted me, so I haven't had to ask myself yet. I can imagine that would be quite scary, but the worst they can do is say no! I advise you to just go for it - think about your speciality (Egypt?) and pick a blog where your infomation would be useful. How about the best books on Egypt?
I think emailing the post works best, as then the blogger can request additions/changes if they like.
Good luck!
I haven't asked anyone if I could write on their blog, but I've hosted a few authors and one interview. Why not think about hosting a Danish author?
When I have hosted, I've given authors free reign. Sometimes I suggest topics that I think would fit my blog or feature. I get the post via email. I wouldn't give anyone the privilege of posting directly on my blog.
I've never had a bad post, but I do want to know the content *before* it published for my readers.
Thanks for your great advice and ecouragement. Apart from a b-day tomorrow evening, I will probably spend the weekend pondering the whole guestblogging thing. :o)
The only folks that have guest posted on my blog are friends (posting reviews) and my sister (posting reviews and an opinion post). And the only guest posting I've done has been to have my reviews reposted elsewhere (on two different blogs, one a blogger I know and the other a publicist's blog). I definitely also feel shy about asking authors to guest post (I've never been brave enough to do it) or offering to guest post on someone else's blog (I have enough trouble keeping up with my own!). Good luck with this!
I've been missing the last section of the Blog Improvement Project because of NaNoWriMo, and before that a lot of writing on another manuscript. But this sounds both fun and scary!
I haven't had any guest bloggers on my blog so far, but I've done two interviews, which I did by email. Both of them were a lot of fun.
Usually people will either invite you to guest blog or mention that they're looking for someone to guest blog (I know Drea from Book Blather is look for guest bloggers in December if you're looking for a place to guest post). If you decide to guest post, then it's usually your responsibility to think of a topic.
I like to share documents through Google Docs when I guest post, but you can also use another program or e-mail. I just find GD to be a more universal format.
@Avisannschild: I was thinking about asking someone I know irl (like my sister) if they wanted to guestblog - it would be a guestblogger and I would not feel as bad asking. But then again, its not asking someone to guestblog at my place which is the main problem ;o) Its the other way round. And my sister does not have a blog where I can guestblog.
@Julia: I would think that you of all people would have an easy time finding a place to guestblog :o)
@heidenkind: Exactly - people are supposed to ask you if you would like to guestblog. I feel like I am imposing if I go asking someone I barely know. Anyway, I guess this is all part of the experience and experiments.
Thanks all for your comments.
This topic is a little intimidating for me too, which is part of the reason I waited so long to do it :) I've never done either (guest posted or hosted a guest poster), but I'm excited to try. I e-mailed a post idea to the Women Unbound blog, but I haven't heard back just yet. Hopefully they will say yes :)
I know exactly what you mean about the language problem. As you know, I teach English, and I don´t mind blogging in English, but until recently I always felt timid and shy when I posted fiction in English. Ironically it helped a lot when an English magazine rejected one of my texts recently. The editor did not think the story was compelling enought, but "the language was fine."
I have not participated in BIP for months (I am just far too busy for the time being), but if you want an invitation, you are very welcome to send me a blog post. It could be something about blogging in another language, or anything crime-related.
I have asked a few British authors to write posts for me, and they have all obliged me very kindly.
I've had a few authors do guest posts as part of a book tour. Sometimes they ask if you have any questions for them to answer, sometimes they came up with the topics themselves. And they emailed me their post.
I've contributed to blogs, but I think that's a little different than guest posting. As a contributor, you're more like part of a team sharing a blog.
Weekly Geeks is always looking for people who want to contribute a weekly topic/post, if you want to do something a little different. :-)
Thanks a lot Dorte and softdrink. Dorte, I am going to send you an e-mail today or tomorrow!!
Cool!
I wouldn't have guessed you weren't a native speaker from your posts, either.
I'm Dutch myself, but, bemusingly, I swing the complete opposite way with my languages. I find it far harder to write in Dutch. (It... helps that I only ever speak Dutch a few hours a week. Long live dialects!)
I don't have any experience with guest posting, but if I were to think of having guest posts on my own blog, I'd ask friends. I'm not comfortable asking them, never mind people I know less well. (Mind you, I'm a scaredy cat.)
I hope you've come closer to an answer to your guest blogging conundrum! ('fraid I'm not a whole lot of help. But I did want to say 'hi'! Hi!)
I just found your blog via Kelly at The Written World. I agree that you have a wonderful grasp of English.
I have hosted a lot of guest bloggers on my blog BookLust because I run a weekly series about females in literature called Rosie's Riveters. It's basically just several questions about a female in literature that has impressed upon you in some way. I really like the feature, and it's a great way to meet people and hear about books you may not have come across.
Actually, I think guest blogging in general is a really cool way to come across new people. It is very scary, I agree- but it's a lot of fun :-) And I'm always looking for more people to do Rosie's Riveters, if you're interested.
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