Early on in "Bloggers Boot Camp", there's some expansion on the notion that you have to be genuinely passionate about the subject of a blog if you expect to make a success of it. Of course, the same goes for books. I'd say after reading that Charlie White and John Biggs, as authors here, are passionate about their work and about sharing their knowledge with aspiring bloggers, but also that this is not entirely enough to make a success of a book that is being marketed to a far more general blogger audience than "technophiles who have moved from traditional journalism venues to blogging".
I found a lot worth reading in this book, even though my interest at present runs more toward hobbyist blogging, where hints on how to handle a press junket or how to protect a confidential source are a bit less likely to be germane. Where the authors did command my attention was the "nuts and bolts" department. "Bloggers Boot Camp" offers one of the most concise and newbie accessible --but useful! -- overviews of the business side of blogging, that I've ever seen . I'd recommend the chapter entitled "Building Traffic, Making Money, and Measuring Success" to anyone with even the haziest notion of one day turning a blogging avocation into a profitable business.
There are other parts of this book where coverage seems skimpy or even incorrect. A chapter on ethics covers "Cease and Desist" letters - the bane of bloggers everywhere - in such a way as might leave the blogging novice under the impression that such letters are generated mainly in cases where libel or slander is at issue, when in truth the reasons (pretence?) cited often for issuance of a C&D are varied, and include "unauthorized use of copyrighted materials", or alleged misuse of another's trademark, such as in recent years when one prominent knitting author and a number of knitting blogs and guilds came afoul of a small New York retailer who claimed copyright on the phrase "Stitch 'N Bitch". (That fight started around 2006, and I believe it is still in the courts!)
"As a rule of thumb," the authors share, "do not remove anything you have written, unless it has been proven false and potentially damaging by an impartial third party, usually a court." That advice may be all well and good for larger/professional blogging ventures or for hearty souls willing to bear some risk, possibly even defend such matters "in pro se", but as directed toward hobbyist and "one man show" blogs, C&D's work for one reason: it's costly to defend against an entity that is willing to go to some expense to "persuade" you remove your content. Even if you win, you can lose.
I also question the blithe recommendation of GoDaddy.com as a DNS server choice. This advice coming from tech bloggers, no less! The authors indirectly acknowledge GoDaddy's infamous support of the controversial online piracy bill known as SOPA, and the boycott that resulted this last December. Still, there's no hint here that an aspiring blogger with, for example, a politically attuned target readership - let's say similar to the readership of slashdot.org -- just might want to know a bit more specifically *why* GoDaddy is on the outs with much of the blogosphere, and glean some perspective on how an affiliation with GoDaddy might be viewed by prospective readers. This is extraneous/meta /"inside baseball" stuff by some reckonings, perhaps, but also potentially critical context for someone new to the world of blogging.
I'm left with the impression that the authors are passionate about what they do, yes, but not quite so much about blogging matters outside of their particular wheelhouse(s). Depth of experience, while invaluable, has places where it cannot entirely compensate for lack of breadth. If there are future editions of "Bloggers Boot Camp", I'd love to see the authors call on top bloggers from outside of their particular areas of expertise to share their insights.
