One-line review
Surprisingly useful ideas, but the high list price of the book is a turn off.
What drew me to the book
Being somewhat bored with my book blog, I’ve been looking for ideas to revitalize Booklorn in this sparkly new year. I came across this book cruising the digital shelves of my public library and decided to see if it could get me out of my slump.
My thoughts on the book
When I first looked through this book (while eating New York Fries with mayonnaise in the food court, but I’ve been informed that none of you care), I was disappointed. The ideas seemed fairly obvious and geared toward the general personal blog. I finished the book in less than an hour.
Once I gave my brain time to digest the suggestions in the book, I was a little more positive. I started to see possible blog posts for niche blogs. I started being more creative and thinking outside of the box. I flipped to the back of the book to see if I might want a copy for my bookshelf: $25 CDN/$20 USD for 128 pages including index. I decided that I wasn’t quite as inspired as that.
This is a slim book, divided into five chapters based mostly on how much time you have to write your blog post:
- Fifteen Minutes to Fame
- Thirty Minutes Away from the TV
- An Hour at the Screen
- Take Your Time
- Think Like a Writer
Each chapter has 20 ideas, with one idea per page. The main idea is the title of the page, which is accompanied by an explanatory paragraph that often includes an example of the idea in action from a real blog (but not the actual blog post). The ideas are varied enough that you are likely to pick up at least a few new ideas that you can rework for your blog no matter how narrow your topic.
If I could pick up a copy for $10, I would do it without hesitation. At $25 CDN ($20 USD), I’ll just take it out of the library the next time I need inspiration.
About the book author
Margaret Mason can be found online at her sites MightyGirl.com and MightyGoods.com, as well as at The Morning News.
Buy this book online (links go directly to book page)
US: Amazon * The Book Depository * Barnes & Noble
Canada: Amazon Canada * The Book Depository
Europe: Amazon UK * The Book Depository
Other: The Book Depository
Book details
Paperback: 128 pages (NOT 144 pages as you see mentioned elsewhere)
Publisher: Peachpit Press (2007)
ISBN-10: 032144972X
ISBN-13: 978-0321449726
Disclosure
I took this book out of my local public library. I get a few pennies if you buy through one of the links above based on my review.
Doesn’t look like my library has this one. Oh, well.
That sounds like it has a lot of potential – too bad it’s so expensive.
I don’t know what possessed them to price it at $25. That’s the price of slim hardcover!
Book sounds interesting but your New York fries sounds too yummy to not hear about!
I’ll check out my library- that is if they let me back in with my horrendous fine.
I had to sack the Halifax library system to find this but it’s coming on inter-library loan. Thanks for the heads up about the price/value ratio.
Great review. I’ll see if my library has it but I would never pay that much for a small book like that either.
Hope you found something helpful.
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