A Personal Blog
This Blogging Magazine Thing
… sure got some attention. I got nearly as much actual email last night as I did spam, and it’s all thanks to one little post.
It seems the idea got people energized. I had 3 pleas from people begging to be involved in some way. I even had a threat that if I did this I’d get sued. Yup, definitely got folk energized.
In fact, it energized me as well. I laid in bed for 3 hours just thinking about ‘stuff’. Letting the idea ferment. Mature. Take shape. Then I realised there wasn’t much point. I mean, really. One of the emails I received had this choice quote:
Who are you to dictate blogging to us? Blogging is about voice. A magazine isn’t. This goes against blogging.
And the user in question was right. Any magazine about blogging would have to be fundamentally different. From writing to production to distribution to subscriptions. Not unlearning the lessons the large-scale magazine production taught me… Just changing some of the rules.
After all, blogging didn’t recreate writing, it just redefined the space. There are things in the publishing world that the big publishers have been striving for. Maybe, just maybe, a new magazine by the very people turning them on their heads might be able to make those things work.
Update: Just need to clarify. I’m not giving up on this idea. I’m pushing forward. Just that initially I was thinking “normal magazine”. Now I’m realising that isn’t enough. Not that a magazine is a bad idea, just that it isn’t enough. More info later ;-)
| Print article | This entry was posted by Jeremy Wright on June 14, 2004 at 9:36 am, and is filed under Blogging. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. |
No trackbacks yet.
Comments are closed.
about 7 years ago
So easily daunted, Jeremy. Shame on you!
I think a mag about blogging is a cool idea.
But, I was more intrigued by a brainfart I had as a result of reading your post:
Why not create a magazine that showcases webloggers and their musings as the content?
Not only would this be inexpensive to produce (from a talent acquisition) standpoint, but it’d serve to get bloggers recognition from a wider audience.
about 7 years ago
Daunted? Pshaw. Shame on you. I’m pressing on, but since I’ve only got a 2 week window for this season of VC funding I’m just trying to be realistic :)
about 7 years ago
Ahhh… I see. Sorry, I reread the post and it does sound like I’m giving up.
I’m not. I’m just not going to do a traditional magazine as it won’t be representative. I know it’s vague, but I’ll be opening this up in the next few days, don’t worry :)
about 7 years ago
Just don’t do a blog and make a magazine out of it. heise.de is a huge IT news site and they have a magazine called CT and you can generally skip the first 30 pages because it all already appeared on heise.de ;)
about 7 years ago
Why not go a different route? Allow a certain amount of pings to a website within a month. then have people vote on the articles, posts, etc. as to what would be included in a generated magazine. then they could order a print version or a pdf. Truely personal publishing then :)