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Curl Up With A Good Blog. Publishers Turn To The Web To Find New Talent

Once upon a time, a writer would have to try to attract the interest of an agent in the hope they would submit their proposals to publishers and beg them a book deal. Now, however, it would appear to just be a simple matter of a writer posting their work online and then sitting back waiting for the offers to roll in.

Yesterday's announcement of this year's winners of the award for blogs turned into books, the Lulu Blooker prize, would have us believe that many publishers are perusing blogs with the aim of adapting them into books. The website eagerly claims, "Traditional publishing houses, ever in search of the next big name author, have begun to mine blogs and websites for new talent."

» guardian.co.uk [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

College Recruiters Use Student Bloggers

Colleges seeking a competitive edge are increasingly enlisting and sometimes paying student bloggers to chronicle their lives online. The results run the gamut from insightful to boring, but the goal is the same: to find a new way to win the attention of the MySpace generation. "We found it a much freer, less constricting, far more believable way of letting prospective students glimpse what was going on on campus," said Seth Allen, dean of admissions at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

» washingtonpost.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

über bloggers

It's no secret that bloggers are becoming increasingly influential. But Arrington is part of an emerging crowd of writers who use their narrowly focused blogs, such as hyperlocal real estate reports, green guides, or Web 2.0 startup reviews, to establish themselves as thought leaders. These new influencers are taking a page from the blog networks Gawker and Weblogs Inc. and turning rapid-fire, around-the-clock blog patter that makes and shapes the news into a hot new online media model.

Companies are directing more efforts toward buttering up these New Media players, often feeding them exclusives that play well with their targeted audiences. And for marketers who are increasingly comfortable with spending money on blogs, advertising with these opinion leaders provides instant cachet.

Think of these as the digital version of potent, passionate trade press writers. They swarm every novelty in areas like tech, creating problems and buzz for companies and innovations. They report news and publish it alongside analysis of newspaper stories and company releases. These posts are salted with strong doses of personality, sparking discussions across the Web. By melding their own insights and opinions with the aggregated views of others, they're starting to gain leverage. "In a time-starved world, people—especially decision-makers—have very little time, but do not want to miss being in the know," says Rishad Tobaccowala, chief innovation officer at advertising firm Publicis Groupe Media.

» Business Week

Research: B2B blogging and marketing

Business blogs can shorten sales cycles when they connect decision-makers to the designers and thought leaders who shape new products and services. Unfortunately, B2B blogs are new and evolving; only a small fraction of Fortune 500 companies sponsor one today. This early state represents both an opportunity and a concern for business marketers, especially early pioneers at high-tech firms where evangelists and engineers lead blogging efforts. Forrester believes that B2B blogs can open the formerly closed borders of corporations to prospects, customers, and investors. Marketing's role here is to leverage good blog content produced by technologists into their sales and PR activities, and create guidelines that keep individual bloggers from exposing inside information or straying off topics into areas that don't support the business.

» forrester

A Survey of Talent: A discussion with Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Bureau Chief of The Economist

"There is intense competition at the moment to hire the most talented and most intellectually able people ... We have a shortage of talent both within countries and between countries, and there is an intense battle between companies trying to hire the most talented workers and also between countries which are looking to recruit talented young immigrants."

[mp3] Listen or Download / The Economist

Blogging Becomes A Corporate Job

In its short lifespan, blogging has largely been a freewheeling exercise in online self-expression. Now it is also becoming a corporate job.

A small but growing number of businesses are hiring people to write blogs, otherwise known as Web logs, or frequently updated online journals. Companies are looking for candidates who can write in a conversational style about timely topics that would appeal to customers, clients and potential recruits.

Via: Wall Street Journal

Blogging as a job has emerged as companies of all stripes increasingly see the Web as an important communications venue. Blogs allow firms to assume a natural tone rather than the public-relations speak typical of some static Web pages, and readers are often invited to post comments. While some companies are hiring full-time bloggers, others are adding blogging duties to existing marketing or Web-editing positions.

Currently only 4% of major U.S. corporations have blogs available to the public, according to a recent survey by eMarketer, a New York research company. But ads for blogging jobs are popping up on online job boards in recent months. "Blogging jobs are growing in popularity," says Jennifer Sullivan, spokeswoman for CareerBuilder Inc.'s CareerBuilder.com, based in Chicago. She notes that in March she recruited a communications specialist whose job includes writing CareerBuilder's blog.

Wanted: Blog Talent - Opinion Leaders/Writers

Opinion Leadership: This theory is one of several models that try to explain the diffusion of innovations, ideas, or commercial products.

The opinion leader is the agent who is an active media user and who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. Typically the opinion leader is held in high esteem by those that accept their opinions. Opinion leadership tends to be subject specific, that is, a person that is an opinion leader in one field may be a follower in another field. An example of an opinion leader in the field of computer technology, might be a neigbourhood computer service technician. The technician has access to far more information on this topic than the average consumer and has the requisite background to understand the information.
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Are you ready to become an online leader of a community of people who share your interests? Every Blog Opinion Leaders's mission is to create an simple, intuitive and gratifying experience for people interested in this topic.

The Perfect Blog Writer/Editor has...
- A true knowledge of and a passion for the topic
- Commitment to creating informative, "what you need to know" posts
- A dedication to building and updating a comprehensive links directory
- Strong writing and editing skills

via [ BlogTalent ]

Blog Editors

Human editors in the blog publishing industry include
people who are responsible for:

• organizing anthologies and other compilations.

• organizing and publishing a blog magazine. The top editor may be called editor-in-chief.

• producing a definitive edition of a classic author's works — a scholarly editor.

• finding marketable ideas and presenting them to appropriate authors — a sponsoring editor.

• obtaining copy or recruiting authors — such as the acquisitions editor or commissioning editor for a publishing house.

• improving an author's writing so that they indeed say what they want to say, in an effective manner — a substantive editor. Depending on the writer's skill, this editing can sometimes turn into ghost writing. Substantive editing is seldom a title. Many types of editors do this type of work, either in-house at a publisher or on an independent basis.

• correcting spelling, grammar, and matters of house style — a copy editor.

• choosing the layout of the publication and communicating with the printer — a production editor. This and similar jobs are also called "layout editor," "design editor," "news designer"

The smaller the publication, the more these roles run together.

Welcome To BlogTalent (tm) dot net

BlogTalent and BlogWork is the leading provider of online recruiting services for weblog writing, editing, rss/xml technology, and engineering professionals. BlogTalent provides services to hire, train and retain these professionals. Our mission is to help our customers source and hire the most qualified professionals and to provide those professionals with the best job opportunities in their respective fields.

via [ BlogTalent ]

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