Are you a wannabe genealogy blogger but don’t know where to start? Or you’ve started blogging but don’t have the momentum to keep going? I’ve got a recommendation for you.
The Big Genealogy Blog Book by Amy Coffin
I don’t normally do book reviews but I thought I’d share this one because this is a useful book for the genealogy blogger, of any level.
The author Amy Coffin is a Texas based genealogy blogger and professional genealogist that I admire a lot. She quietly educates by leading by example. And she does so with a sense of humour.
Her book arose out of a conversation with colleague Denise Levenick when they challenged each other to finish certain personal goals. In this case, Amy’s goal was to finish her genealogy blogging book.
Subtitled, 201 Topics, Plus Tips and Tricks for your Genealogy Blog, this book features 72 pages of ‘good stuff’ for the blogger.
The book leads off with the whys and hows to start a blog and dispels some of the myths of genealogy blogging. I was nodding along in agreement as Amy mentioned how blogging can help make cousin connections and how you don’t need to be a techie expert to be a genealogy blogger.
Introduction ......................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1 – Why Start a Genealogy Blog? ............................................... 4
Chapter 2 – 6 Blogging Myths ................................................................ 6
Chapter 3 – Tips for Writing Good Blog Posts ........................................... 9
Chapter 4 – How to Get More Blog Readers............................................ 13
Chapter 5 – How to Get More Blog Comments and Mentions .................... 15
Chapter 6 – Quality Control: A Blogger’s Checklist .................................. 18
Chapter 7 – Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog: 52 Ideas, 52 Weeks ........... 21
Chapter 8 – 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy ............................................ 32
Chapter 9 – 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History ........................ 51
Chapter 10 – 25 Great Topics for Genealogy Society Blogs ...................... 59
Chapter 11 – 20 Blog Topics for Professional Genealogists ....................... 65
Parting Thoughts ................................................................................ 70
Amy shares practical tips for writing solid content and gives the reader many topic suggestions in case you run out of ideas. This includes 52 weeks of blog prompts for both genealogy and personal history. She features a bloggers checklist to maintain quality and she talks about how to get more readers. After all writing in a void is no fun.
The Genealogy society blogger and professional genealogist get a mention as well.
This book is a steal of a deal at $2.99. Amy could have easily charged more. I recommend this book for any beginner or established genealogy blogger.
The Big Genealogy Blog Book by Amy Coffin is available as a PDF download or in EPUB format from Lulu.com (NOOK and iBookstore coming soon). It is also available for Kindle from Amazon.com. Go get it now before she takes my advice and raises the price!
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Disclosure – Amy is a personal friend that I met online blogging and in person at genealogy conferences. She kindly provided me with a copy of her book and she did not ask me to do a review. I did this review because I think Amy has produced a helpful and practical book that will benefit any wannabe or established genealogy blogger.