Blogging for Creatives: How designers, artists, crafters and writers can blog to make contacts, win business and build success

by Robin Houghton

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Writing, Art, Design, Social Media, Technology

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2012

About the author

I'm the author of 'Blogging for Creatives' (Ilex 2012) and two more blogging books forthcoming in 2015. I'm also a published and award-winning poet with work in The Rialto, the North, Agenda, Poetry News and other good UK poetry publications.) My pamphlet "The Great Vowel Shift' is available from Telltale Press.

I help authors, poets and all kinds of writers to establish and improve their online social web presence, from optimising their social profiles to engaging on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other online networks. My services include mentoring and training for groups or individuals.

My free newsletter "Social Media Essentials for Writers" goes out every two weeks - you can sign up for it and read the blog at www.socialmediaforwriters.co.uk

My online experience goes way back - I hand-coded my first website in 1999 and my first HTML email newsletter in 2000. Since then I've worked exclusively in online marketing and communications, advising organisations, small businesses and communications teams in social (media) business communications. I've also written hundreds of articles for professional, business and consumer publications including Hotelkeeper and Caterer, Classical Music, Dine Out and Market Leader. I've been blogging for many years and have guest blogged for Friday Ad, the Marketing Society, Marketing Profs, BritMums and others.

Reviews

[Abbie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am wavering between two and three stars. I'm a generous soul, so I'll go with three.

This book was pretty. It was chock full of good pictures, screen shots, blurbs from active bloggers, website listings and solid references. It was enjoyable to read and look at.

Here's the flip side: the information was really basic. It was written for a beginner blogger. A lot of the "good" information was about setting up your blog and some beginner-type how-to's. As an established blogger, I was looking for more inspiration and idea-generation than which blog platform to use and how to market your blog. the title made me think I would get that. I did not.

However, I did get a good reminder of some basics in blog writing that will motivate me to refocus, re-energize and revamp my consistency. But sady, it was nothing I haven't read a million times.

[Teresa McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's refreshing to read a blogging guide that's not primarily targeting business or marketing specialists. This book is a good starting point for new bloggers, hobby bloggers, and those looking to turn their passion into a career. There's also a lot of food for thought for bloggers looking for inspiration or new challenges.

[Jenifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

very clear how to manual for those who don't have a clue where to start.

[Alessia Savi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un manuale completo ed eccezionale per chiunque voglia muovere i primi passi online e costruirvi la propria identità. "Se non sei su internet non sei nessuno", dicono. In questo manuale si trovano tutti gli strumenti, gli accorgimenti e le migliori strategie per avviare la propria presenza online. Vengono a supporto di quanto esplicato diversi riferimenti a noti blogger statunitensi e internazionali, che condividono i propri consigli con i lettori.
Se credevate che il mondo non avesse bisogno di un blog sul colore grigio, vi sbagliate di grosso (e la sua autrice è finita persino in alcuni talk show sull'interior design made in USA).
Un eccellente titolo che supera di gran lunga la maggior parte dei blog di settore italiani.
Indirizzato per chi utilizza internet per la propria promozione artistica e creativa.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like the entire book was ads for other blogs- not impressed!

[Hiatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know about 90-95% of the material in this book so I browsed through it. It did inspire me with some ideas, but like any books on technology, you should just borrow it.

[Alexandra Mita · Rating 1 out of 5]

very little information about how to actually keep a good quality blog. half of the content is made up by screen shots from actual blogs

[Meg Walck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Read my review here:

http://www.walckthisway.com/2015/02/i...

[Carmen Grantham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed full of information that was really easy to read.

Loved the blog examples that I could then review.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was published in 2012, so some aspects are a bit outdated. However, this book is packed with useful insights and ideas. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in or curious about blogging.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

Blogging for Creatives is a helpful starting guide to blogging for those into art, crafting and design. Actually, the book is written in a manner that's applicable to general bloggers as well, just that most examples featured are of art and design, and sometimes cooking.

This book has many helpful tips on blogging and getting up to speed. It assumes no prior knowledge and the instructions are always clear and concise. So the book is great for beginners.

Here's the list of chapters:

Get Started
Blogging Tools and Technology
Step-by-Step Setup
Creating an Eye-catching Blog
Creating Great Content
Blogging on the Move
Promoting Your Blog
Being Social
How to turn Blog Visitors into Cash
PR and Your Blog
Monitoring Your Blog's Performance
Troubleshooting
Let's Blog

The book covers the basic setting up of the three main blogging platforms, namely Google's Blogger, Wordpress and Tumblr. There's a good comparison between the Wordpress blogging software and the Wordpress blog hosting platform that explains the difference well. It's quite important to know the differences because there are certain peculiar limitations to the Wordpress blog hosting.

After setting up, it talks about ideas generating content, marketing and measuring your blog's performance. Those are all essential skills. I've been blogging for several years and have learned from experience much of what's taught in the book. The book does a good job of covering the basics.

I like the many examples of blogs showcased. They are beautiful, inspiring and really shows the potential of blogging.

Highly recommended to beginner bloggers.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besides the few spelling / grammar / missing words issues (is that because it's a different edition that wasn't edited well?), I really enjoyed this book. Great advice that withstands technology changes, great perspectives and tips from successful bloggers, and a resource I will go to constantly (since I read it for it's purpose - I'm starting / fixing current blogs myself). Yeah yeah, the screenshots were and will become outdated over time, and it is based in the UK (this is the American printed version) so there were mostly UK blogs spotlighted, but that's not something that would take a star away from this review (even the editing issues). Still worth buying to reference and to recommend.

[onelmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I want from a "things about blogging" book!

This book has been recommended by a few bloggers I'm following. I looked for the book, found it and flipped a few pages to see what's inside and what I can learn from this book before buying it. I just need 10 seconds to decide. I bring this book to the cashier.

The book is very well designed and the contents are absolutely informative and useful, with tips from blogging experts. Every internet and blog jargon is explained so that you know what you are actually reading. Helpful step by step instructions on how to make a blog, grow your blog and even make money from your blog, list of inspiring websites, recommended plugins are included in this book.

Highly recommended for a beginner in blogging (like me!) ;)

[Emma Farley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed Blogging for Creatives from the library at work to see if there were handy tips and tricks but I didn’t find it at all useful. This is probably because it’s five years old and a tad outdated (Pinterest had a page and Instagram just a passing paragraph) but it is definitely a good book for newbie bloggers. If you’re starting out and want some good advice all in one place then I highly recommend this book (it covers different platforms, the technical aspects of uploading a post, social media, analytics, money making, etc) but if you’ve already had a crack at it then I doubt there’s anything new for you here.

This mini review first appeared on A Cornish Geek on 8 July 2017
https://acornishgeek.com/2017/07/08/b...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quality book about the specifics of blogging, particularly for those who want to pursue more personal or craft-based blogs rather than commercial blogging. This book is designed both for those just starting out (it walks you through the steps of setting up a Wordpress, Typepad, or Blogger site) and for those who may have a blog but are getting very little traffic. Resources abound in this book.

I don't assume that this book has much staying power, as it will be quickly out of date as new blogging platforms and technologies develop. But for what it is, it is definitely informative and well presented.

[Joséphine (Word Revel) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is geared more towards readers who are new to blogging. Those who have blogging experience probably won't find much new information reading this book.

Besides the basic introduction to blogging aspects though, Houghton included many reference to various blogs that serve as good examples for the points she was trying to make. I think that is very useful, especially for readers who read the ebook version on their tablets. Reading Blogging for Creatives on my iPad made it really easy to visit the links that interested me before going back to reading the book. So, I'd say this is definitely a book that benefits from being an ebook over a printed copy.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid intro to blogging tailored toward artists, photographers, and crafters. It says it's also geared toward writers, but I felt that it would be more helpful for visual artists and musicians than writers (the author does have a book out called Blogging for Writers, so I'm not really faulting her for slacking in the writing department in this book).

It covers selecting a blogging platform, types of posts you can write, how to use photographs in posts, helpful plug-ins and add ons, very basic SEO, and other things. The author includes lots of examples of successful artist blogs with notes on how the artist has leveraged their blog to advance their career.

[Erin]

I picked up this book at my favorite place... the bookstore. I have been blogging for a while now but I wanted to learn more about blogging. I found this book to be very informative.

It has great information about how to create a blog, to creating good content and how to plan out your content plan.

It also had information about how to make a video blog. It also talked about how to promote your blog. It also talked about how to use social media to get your blog noticed.

I would recommend this book because it is a great book for all types of bloggers out there. This book only comes in paperback form.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst I did benefit from this book, I did feel that the title was a little misleading and that the advice wasn't particularly tailored for creative bloggers. That being said, I found the imagery and blogging examples appealing and above par to the other blogging manuals out there. There seems to be such an abundance of these books around and, after reading quite a few, I am beginning to find them all rather 'samey'. This book stood out from the crowd because of the appealing page format, which kept the creative-side of my brain placated.

[Lyndsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It is difficult to write a book about technology because things change so quickly in that realm and books on the topic tend to become outdated. I didn't find that to be the case for this one. There were lots of great tidbits for starting a blog. This is not *really* a technical book, though it does provide ideas for a number of technical tools. I enjoyed it and will take pieces from it to put into practice as I launch my new blog.

[Kate Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book if you're a blog virgin, or need a practical guide to blogging. I'm a keen blogger but wanted advice on being an artist online - writing about my work, my influences, and the work of others - and it wasn't forthcoming in the book. However, it was a good read with lots of real-life examples.

[AJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with books about blogging and the Internet is that they rapidly become dated. This book is only 3 years old but... it looks and feels stale. A lot of pages were dedicated to how to set up blogs using particular platforms (WordPress, Blogger, etc.) which I thought was just a huge waste of space.

[Sara Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The technology changes so fast on line it's risky to print a book on social media how to's. There are some good intro ideas, but you can find most of this online on Mashable or blogs from social media gurus likes Beth Kanter.

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really handy for would be bloggers and I found the fact that it is aimed at creatives much more relevant and appealing for me personally. I would recommend this to anyone who is unsure about getting started or for people who want to take it more seriously.

[Josefina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó, pero pensé que me iba a dar tips más útiles. Estos tips son para bloggers principiantes; si bien me sirvió como inspiración, no es lo que me esperaba de un libro que promete todo sobre plataformas, contenidos, etc.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed for ideas and facts I wanted.

[Michael Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Www.thisispixelplanet.tumblr.com. This book has a ton of great info for those looking to get into blogging.

[©athiraheliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

have lot's of example in making a creative blog..

[Alessia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. End of.