Re: gardenwriters Digest, Vol 74, Issue 10

**"* O* <f*@yahoo.com>**

A new batch of messages. I was just getting ready to write to Doug Green when I read his retraction below.

An insight I've gotten out of the whole "commercialized blogs" thing: Apparently the perception of Garden Rant being commercialized wasn't due to the ads they have as much as they kind of stuff they write about (Amy and her books, for example, and the many product-related posts, and their overall self-promotion). Interesting that at least a few people notice that.

Nan

----- Original Message ----
From: "gardenwriters-request@lists.ibiblio.org" <gardenwriters-request@lists.ibiblio.org>
To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 1:20:56 PM
Subject: gardenwriters Digest, Vol 74, Issue 10

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Today's Topics:

  1. Re: Is Your Blog Commercial? (WGardenermag@aol.com)
  2. winter fun on Garden Rant (C.L. Fornari)
  3. Re: blog network - advertising etc (Doug Green)
  4. Re: Is Your Blog Commercial? (Yvonne Cunnington)
  5. Re: Company ghost-bloggers (Susan Harris)
  6. Re: Is Your Blog Commercial? (frielster@aol.com)
  7. Re: Is Your Blog Commercial? (KTCopsey@aol.com)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 08:39:16 EST
From: WGardenermag@aol.com
Subject: Re: [GWL] Is Your Blog Commercial?
To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <d19.3985ea05.36dfde84@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 3/3/2009 9:56:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
KTCopsey@aol.com writes:

>>but some also come across as  being 
the personal blog  of the site owner,...<<

Good for you Kate getting so much online writing work! I think you are a  
pioneer in that respect.

This last kind of blog writing you mentioned though rubs me the wrong way  -- 
something about a ghost-written personal blog is just not ethically cool with 
me as a reader and blog poster. Hiring someone else to write your own blog  
supposedly coming from your voice is deceptive and kinda creepy, IMHO. If  you 
found out that a blog you were following by A was written by D, how would  
you react? What do others think on this?

Sincerely,
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington  Gardener Magazine
826 Philadelphia Ave.
Silver Spring MD  20910
301-588-6894
_WGardenermag@aol.com_ (w*@rcn.com) 
_www.WashingtonGardener.com_ (http://www.washingtongardener.com/) 

Our  mission: to help your Washington, DC, area garden grow better!
Subscribe  today for $20 a year by sending a check to the address above.
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 09:06:55 -0500
From: "C.L. Fornari" <clfornari@mail.com>
Subject: [GWL] winter fun on Garden Rant
To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
    <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <20090304140655.A1E63606861@ws1-4.us4.outblaze.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Are you avoiding a deadline and looking for a diversion?  Write something for the 99 word Garden Fiction contest at Garden Rant:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=53456503089&h=l2FWX&u=7lPGp ; 
A good exercise in how many extra words we use.  It reminds me of a "Six Word Story" piece that was in a local magazine a couple years ago. People were asked to write a six word story - the master example being Hemingway's "Baby shoes for sale. Never worn."  Hard to beat...impossible, probably. My contribution was this: "Weeds? Of course! Gardeners cultivate life."  

C.L.
www.gardenlady.com
blog www.wholelifegardening.com
"Looking for relaxation and inspiration? It's all in your own backyard"

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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 09:49:34 -0500
From: Doug Green <deegeeguy@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [GWL] blog network - advertising etc
To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
    <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
    <9d1a15990903040649l131a6d1cg6596a82438e634c4@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I've just had an offer I can't refuse to work in another adventure.  So I'm
not going to have the time to put together a network of blogs for increasing
traffic or income for other bloggers.  My apologies to  those  who replied.
Let me suggest you check out lijit.com  if you're interested in doing it
yourselves.

best

Doug

-- 
Doug Green @douggreen
Editor-in-Chief
SGF Publishing  www.simplegiftsfarm.com

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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:21:56 -0500
From: "Yvonne Cunnington" <ycunnington@ispnet.ca>
Subject: Re: [GWL] Is Your Blog Commercial?
To: "'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'"
    <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <004301c99cdc$f4fdc620$def95260$@ca>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

Kathy Jentz wrote: This last kind of blog writing you mentioned though rubs
me the wrong way  -- 
something about a ghost-written personal blog is just not ethically cool
with 
me as a reader and blog poster. Hiring someone else to write your own blog

supposedly coming from your voice is deceptive and kinda creepy, IMHO. If
you 
found out that a blog you were following by A was written by D, how would  
you react? What do others think on this?
____________________________________________________________________________
__

Good lord, when you're running a real business like a garden center, you
don't have time to D-I-Y everything. So why not hire a blog writer, esp. for
the how-to-garden type articles? There's such anti-business tone here that
rubs me the wrong way at times.

Yvonne Cunnington
Web: http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/
Blog:  http://countrygardener.blogspot.com/

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:58:04 -0500
From: "Susan Harris" <harristakoma@erols.com>
Subject: Re: [GWL] Company ghost-bloggers
To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
    <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000f01c99ce2$015465a0$640fa8c0@Rantbox>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
    reply-type=original

I suspect the type of ghost-written blog that Kathy Jentz finds 
objectionable is the kind that deliberately deceives the reader, which is 
also a turn-off to me.  One garden show has their bloggers pretend to be 
actual people with actual lives that are far from the truth - for example, 
asking me to write a blog pretending to be a much younger writer in another 
part of the country (not naming names, but it really happens.)  I see a 
similar objection to dishonest Twittering by the staff of P. Allen Smith in 
Robin Wedewer's newest Examiner post: 
http://www.examiner.com/x-346-Gardening-Examiner~y2009m3d2-Dont-be-fooled-by-P-Allen-Smiths-fake-witter-persona

On the other hand, I'm fine with businesses hiring a blogger/writer to write 
for them in the corporate "we", without identifying themselves by name, 
which is no different from company communications in other media that we're 
used to.  I prefer knowing the identity of the blog-writer, just like I do 
with personal blogs, but that's just a factor in my choice of which ones I 
read.  Susan
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------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:01:12 -0500
From: frielster@aol.com
Subject: Re: [GWL] Is Your Blog Commercial?
To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <8CB6AF992EA6A92-CDC-29E@WEBMAIL-DY28.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I think ghost writing is a time-honored tradition and honorable work. Kinda fun, too. A form of acting.
To answer the other question: If I learned that A's prose was really penned (or keyed) by D or Q, it wouldn't reduce my enjoyment of said prose. Might change my opinion of A, but good writing is good writing and useful information is useful information. I'm not a personality cult type. I might lust after, say, Dave Barry's job, but not his life.
JF

From: WGardenermag@aol.com
Subject: Re: [GWL] Is Your Blog Commercial?

In a message dated 3/3/2009 9:56:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
KTCopsey@aol.com writes:

>>but some also come across as  being 
the personal blog  of the site owner,...<<

something about a ghost-written personal blog is just not ethically cool with 
me as a reader and blog poster. Hiring someone else to write your own blog  
supposedly coming from your voice is deceptive and kinda creepy, IMHO. If  you 
found out that a blog you were following by A was written by D, how would  
you react? What do others think on this?

Sincerely,
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington  Gardener Magazine

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 12:55:54 EST
From: KTCopsey@aol.com
Subject: Re: [GWL] Is Your Blog Commercial?
To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <d31.4b5f2ec8.36e01aaa@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

OK - maybe you interpreted that as 'personal' blogs that I write for other  
sites - no, no no!!! These are for small landscape people who just have a 
modest  site, with some entries, not the personal type, but general gardening type. 
But  it is linked to as a blog for the site. 
This is an example:

_http://www.botanicaatlanta.com/index.htm_ 
(http://www.botanicaatlanta.com/index.htm)  

I hope to goodness this doesn't count as creepy!!!!

Kate  Copsey
Garden Writer
_www.katecopsey.com_ (http://www.katecopsey.com/)  
_http://www.examiner.com/x-1321-Atlanta-Gardening-Examiner_ 
(http://www.examiner.com/x-1321-Atlanta-Gardening-Examiner) 
_www.katesgardenjournal.com_ (http://www.katesgardenjournal.com/)  

In a message dated 3/4/2009 10:09:08 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
WGardenermag@aol.com writes:

This  last kind of blog writing you mentioned though rubs me the wrong way  
--  
something about a ghost-written personal blog is just not ethically cool  
with 
me as a reader and blog poster. Hiring someone else to write your own  blog  
supposedly coming from your voice is deceptive and kinda  creepy, IMHO. If  
you 
found out that a blog you were following by A  was written by D, how would  
you react? What do others think on  this?

**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy 
steps! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219957551x1201325337/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
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End of gardenwriters Digest, Vol 74, Issue 10
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