My Web 2.0 Blogging Book is Here!
Well, it took me about six months longer to write that I’d expected, but How to Do Everything with Your Web 2.0 Blog is finally available. I got my author copies the other day, and I just noticed that Amazon is live and shipping. The book covers choosing a blogging application (I cover Blogger, TypePad, ExpressionEngine and, of course, WordPress) and then goes into some depth with customizing the blog’s design, multimedia offerings, headlines and so on and so on.
The book focuses mostly on incorporating existing Web 2.0 content into your blog and extending it onto the Web using social bookmarking and other services, and it even has a chapter that goes into how you can make money from your Web 2.0 blog. (Step One: write a book about Web 2.0 blogging. No, I’m kidding. Don’t do that. Less money for me.)
The one thing to watch out for in the Amazon description — I don’t know where they get that stuff…probably from the proposal. The book doesn’t really cover much PHP or AJAX scripting, as I figured out early on that I couldn’t fit that in a 400-page primer. Still, it lives on in the Amazon description, mocking me forever.
Anyway, if you’re interested in getting started with a blog and would feel more comfortable with a book by your side, check it out!
‘ABG to Web Publishing’ in Google Book Search
I hadn’t thought much recently about Google Book Search until this weekend, when I had reason to drive from Jackson to Nashville and back again in the course of 48 hours. The trip, which takes about 6.5-7 hours each way, was made palatable only by my iPod, which had hour after hour of NPR’s “Fresh Air” mixed in with NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me.” They were chosen quickly, as I’d already had some of them downloaded to iTunes and just needed to sync quickly in my office; I was happy to have them, as both were entertaining and got me through the 14 hours of driving.
Meanwhile, I get back in the office today and decide to Google a book of mine, the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Creating Web Pages, because I noticed on royalty statement that a few copies of a PDF version of the book had sold, as I was wondering how that worked. Haven’t figured that part out yet, but what I did find is this Google Book Search version of ABG to Web Publishing. Pretty cool. You can’t read the whole thing, but from what I gather on NPR, the tool may be pushing some sales of books through online services; according to some of the publishers who track these things, people who come in from Google Book Search are more apt to finish the purchase of a specific book title than those who just hit upon the title on Google or MSN.
And what about that ‘PDF’ version of the book? Still looking…
Moved to Wordpress
Just after finishing the chapter in my book covering different blogging applications, I’ve decided to move to Wordpress from Blogger. Not sure why, except that I like the new plug-in and Widgets focus, I’m enjoying the interface and I like the font choices in the admin panel. 
When I was searching last night I couldn’t find a good solution for moving from Blogger New (I had upgraded) to WordPress. Searching again today, though, the solution popped up in Google: a new import plug-in. I had to republish the site to BlogSpot (I had been publishing it on my own server) and reset some RSS choices in Blogger. I then gritted my teeth and clicked the Plug-in’s import commmand. Worked like a charm! My entries from Blogger are still long, with no More breaks, but aside from that I’ve got my categories, entries, comments…all went very well. Now, on to customizing my Sidebar.
Google Creep
Yes, yes, yes…of course it concerns me that Google is trying to take over the world. But I can’t seem to help it — I keep using Google products. Me, the guy, for political reasons, who has stepped foot only twice in a Wal-Mart over the past eight years — once to return items bought by a project manager I was working with, and another time to buy a microwave pizza for my hotel room in Natchez, MS. That’s it. I understand they have great prices on tires, but I just got a pretty decent price from the guys at the locally-owned Texaco station down the street. (I suppose they have to get their gas from somewhere.)
And, yet, here I am posting documents and spreadsheets to Google Docs. Why? Because of the collaborative features; one of them is an outline for the book I’m working on that the editors back in the home office can check in on so that they can see the lack of progress I’m making toward my deadlines. (I’ve had two good days this weekend, however.) Another is a cash budget spreadsheet we’re using to follow the cash flow of our local film festival, so that the Festival Director, Coordinator, and board members can see what we plan to spend, what we’re spending and what we need to raise. That budget started as an Excel sheet that was mailed to me; in my Gmail account, there’s this handy little link that says “View in Google Spreadsheets.”
I’m weak. I clicked it.
So, yeah, taking over the world, etc. If they just put a dent in Microsoft, though, that would be a start. And I gotta say, the whole “free office applications” thing is mighty tempting to a small business owner…
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