All About WBA

John Evans of Syntagma recently posed a question to the Writers Blog Alliance (WBA): "Is WBA losing its momentum?" We have thrown that around a bit and generally agreed that any loss of momentum should be overcome when we move into our new "premises". This should be happening within the next two weeks.

There have been two by-products from John's article, however. One is that I've been reminded that I need to produce a mission statement for the WBA and the other is that it's been pointed out that new members have to dig around in early posts to find out what WBA is all about. Working on the mission statement has meant that I have had to do a bit of archaeology myself and, in doing this, I realized that things could be made a lot easier if all the information could be collected in one central point. So that's what I've done.

I considered putting this up as a post in WBA but it would then suffer from the same old problem: burial beneath subsequent posts. In putting it on my blog and giving it an instantly identifiable name such as All About WBA, I ensure that it remains easily to hand through my Contents system. The fact that this also might increase my traffic a bit is purely intentional, I assure you!

In working out how to do this, I realized that there are actually two subjects that need to be presented to any new members: "WBA's Aims" and "Blogging for Writers". So that's how I have arranged this basic guide.

WBA's Aims:

On my own blog -

Writers' Blogs and the Mighty PR
Account of the original genesis of the WBA. Contains links to documents that assisted in the process.

What Is A Writer's Blog Anyway?
Working towards a definition of WBA's target membership.

The Writers' Blog Alliance
Announcement of WBA and restatement of aims.

Within WBA -

What's in WBA for Me? Part 1
Some introductory thoughts on the future for WBA.

Writers Blog Alliance - the Blog
Explanation of how important WBA's own blog will be.

What's in WBA for Me? Part 2
Looking ahead to a strategy for getting publishers and agents involved.

What's in WBA for Me? Part 3
What if WBA fails in its primary objectives - are there still benefits to be had?

The Writer and the Blog
A few thoughts on how to make things easier for the blog reader.

Deborah:

Beyond BlogExplosion: the Mini-series Part 1
Marketing for writers using blogs.

Sisyphean:

Hurray for the 6%!
How large is the market for blogs anyway?

John Evans (Syntagma):

First Thoughts on WBA
Thoughts on WBA direction for the future.

Blogging for Writers:

How to Not Make Money Online
Proposal that bloggers who do not intend to earn a living from their blogs drop all advertising.

Anyone for Comments?
Suggested policy on responding to comments.

The Importance of Blog Design
How blog design can help or hinder in gaining readers.

Keeping the Customer Satisfied
A look at how we can be deflected from primary intent in our blogging and how to deal with it.

How to Win Friends
A look at ways to convert visitors into readers.

An Interim Thought
A thought on writing and how it applies to blogs.

Blog Day and the Writer
How content is important in achieving prominence in the eyes of the search engines.