Setting up a collective blog: lessons learned by Wendy H. Jones

I have recently taken up the role of Webmaster for the Association of Christian Writers. In my enthusiasm to develop the role I had the bright idea of setting up a collective blog. This would involve 27 ACW members being regular contributors, and the other days of the month being open to guest bloggers. The blog, More Than Writers,  has now been running for one exhilarating month. So what have I learnt from this process?

I started by inviting members to be regular contributors. They were chosen to provide an eclectic selection of bloggers, each of whom would bring their own unique talents, and spin, to the blog. This has worked well and the posts have been varied and interesting. However, I have learned one lesson. As this is the blog of the Association of Christian Writers, many members want to be involved. This can be difficult with only 31 days in the month. I may have to look at changing regular contributors, after 6 months or a year, to give others a chance.

At the moment I am the only admin for the blog. This is because I know blogger and wanted to get the blog up and running without a hitch. However, this means that there has been a lot of behind the scenes work to make sure everything ran smoothly. 

This brings me to the next lesson I learned. As the only admin, I have had to step in a couple of times when contributors have been unable to complete their scheduled post. Life can get in the way. I don't mind cracking out a relevant post but I want the blog to be collectively owned. It was never meant to be life according to Wendy. So, ensuring there are some spare blogs in hand, is vital. 

I have also learned not to underestimate contributors' technical ability. I assumed, wrongly, that I had given clear instructions on how to post to blogger. They may have been clear to me, but not to many others. I need to look at these instructions to make sure they can be understood by all.. However, everyone has been fabulous and have been happy to learn on the job, so to speak. 

The last lesson I have learned is that writers, and bloggers, are genuinely nice people. They have a lot of experience and are keen to share this with others. They are keen to give things a go and are enthusiastic and interesting. I have had a lot of fun this month and the blog has been well received. 

I would like to thank all the members of this, The Authors Electric, blog for showing me the way a professional blog should be produced. I have learnt a lot since joining this blog and feel privileged to be a part of a collective of such highly professional writers. 

About the Author

Wendy lives, and writes, in Dundee Scotland. Her first book, Killer's Countdown, was published in November, 2014. Her next book, Killer's Craft, will be published in July, 2015. You can find out more on her Amazon Author Page

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