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Ds13 wants to have a story-telling blog


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I know absolutely zero-zip-nada about blogs (other than I've read a number of them.) He's researching the technical aspects of setting one up. But can you tell this clue-less mom if this is a good idea? Is there any possible drawbacks or dangers that I should know about? He would share his stories that he writes on the blog.

 

He just told me that he wants to make money with his blog. That is his primary motivation.

Edited by Jean in Newcastle
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sounds like you have an entrepreneur on your hands - hey wait, are you the same person who had a son who wanted to sell stuff on ebay? or did i mix you up with someone else... ?

 

anyway ~ blogs themselves are pretty safe. it's like anything else - if you don't want people to have your personal info, don't put it there. ;) (full name, phone number, etc etc)

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sounds like you have an entrepreneur on your hands - hey wait, are you the same person who had a son who wanted to sell stuff on ebay? or did i mix you up with someone else... ?

 

anyway ~ blogs themselves are pretty safe. it's like anything else - if you don't want people to have your personal info, don't put it there. ;) (full name, phone number, etc etc)

 

Same son. You have a good memory! He tells me that he fully expects to support us in our old age.:D

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I agree that a blog is "safe" - he just needs to know not to write down things you want kept private like his phone number, last name, where he lives and so on.

 

 

Or pictures or real names.

 

I *think* if you use google's Blogger system (blogspot.com) they actually have a place to find advertisers right within the system. I believe it's called AdWords (maybe), and he can choose who he wants on his site. I *think*.

 

ETA - So I checked the site out myself (dh told me about it) and it seems it's for businesses. But, I do know that within the Blogger system there is a place for bloggers to find advertisers. I will keep looking around because any kid who is willing to take care of Mom and Dad is a good enough cause for me! What a great kid you have, Jean!

Edited by LauraGB
Gah! Adwords! spelling mistake
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The biggest problem I see is that, should he decide to rework one of these stories in the future and try to get it published, he won't be able to. Magazines and publishing houses generally refuse things that have been posted publicly on the internet. If he creates an entire fictional world with characters and plotlines and such, he'll most likely never be able to use any of it for publication if he's published stories from it on his blog. Something to think about.

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The biggest problem I see is that, should he decide to rework one of these stories in the future and try to get it published, he won't be able to. Magazines and publishing houses generally refuse things that have been posted publicly on the internet. If he creates an entire fictional world with characters and plotlines and such, he'll most likely never be able to use any of it for publication if he's published stories from it on his blog. Something to think about.

 

On the other hand, if he were to get it popular enough, then it would be a hook for publishers - if not for that, then for future writings. Honestly, I'm a writer and I attend professional conferences and I've heard very mixed things on this topic from publishers and agents. There's no legal issues to getting something published later and many agents and publishers say if something is self-published or internet published they will still consider it - others say they won't or that it at least counts against a project. If he's interested, this is something to consider, but don't let it be the thing that stops him.

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On the other hand, if he were to get it popular enough, then it would be a hook for publishers - if not for that, then for future writings. Honestly, I'm a writer and I attend professional conferences and I've heard very mixed things on this topic from publishers and agents. There's no legal issues to getting something published later and many agents and publishers say if something is self-published or internet published they will still consider it - others say they won't or that it at least counts against a project. If he's interested, this is something to consider, but don't let it be the thing that stops him.

 

I'm a writer also, and I've only ever heard not to do it. Self-publishing is one thing, but I've never heard that it's acceptable to publicly post writing (in full- excerpts are obviously okay) on the internet you intend to get published. Most of the places I've sent pieces to only want work that wasn't previously published, and posting something on your blog = publication.

 

Either way, it's definitely something her son will want to investigate before he goes ahead with the blog.

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The biggest problem I see is that, should he decide to rework one of these stories in the future and try to get it published, he won't be able to. Magazines and publishing houses generally refuse things that have been posted publicly on the internet. If he creates an entire fictional world with characters and plotlines and such, he'll most likely never be able to use any of it for publication if he's published stories from it on his blog. Something to think about.

 

On the other hand, if he were to get it popular enough, then it would be a hook for publishers - if not for that, then for future writings. Honestly, I'm a writer and I attend professional conferences and I've heard very mixed things on this topic from publishers and agents. There's no legal issues to getting something published later and many agents and publishers say if something is self-published or internet published they will still consider it - others say they won't or that it at least counts against a project. If he's interested, this is something to consider, but don't let it be the thing that stops him.

 

I'm a writer also, and I've only ever heard not to do it. Self-publishing is one thing, but I've never heard that it's acceptable to publicly post writing (in full- excerpts are obviously okay) on the internet you intend to get published. Most of the places I've sent pieces to only want work that wasn't previously published, and posting something on your blog = publication.

 

Either way, it's definitely something her son will want to investigate before he goes ahead with the blog.

 

I had him read your comments. He says he'll be using it for his short stories and anticipates that all of this is really practice for the stuff that he will really wants to get published.

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I had him read your comments. He says he'll be using it for his short stories and anticipates that all of this is really practice for the stuff that he will really wants to get published.

 

In that case, he might want to check out writing.com, too. I had a blast over there years ago. I don't know how much it's changed, but it was a great place for a young writer to hang out.

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