Making it in the Political Blogosphere: The World's Top Political Bloggers Share the Secrets to Success [Paperback]

Tanni Haas (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 3, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0718892771 | ISBN-13: 978-0718892777

Over one million people write political blogs, yet a select few wield enormous power within the political blogosphere and over politics in general. Known as the "political blogging A-list", these bloggers command the majority of blogging traffic; set the agenda for the rest of the political blogosphere; and have a strong influence on politics, whether it is directly through blogging, or indirectly through influencing mainstream news media. In Making it in the Political Blogosphere, Tanni Haas profiles and interviews twenty of the world's top political bloggers, who share the secrets of their success. Despite the partisan nature of blogging, in which Liberals, Conservatives and Libertarians share the same space, the twenty bloggers are in suprising agreement about what makes a successful blogger. In securing access to the political blogging A-list, Haas has provided us with an entertaining sequence of interviews, which are invaluable to any aspiring political blogger.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'a wealth of perspective, insight, history, advice, and storytelling from the interviewees, and Haas' opening and closing chapters provide great ways of thinking about the blogosphere.' Nick Gillespie, founder of Reason Magazine's official blog Hit and Run http://reason.com/blog/2011/11/18/must-read-book-the-worlds-top-political 'a brilliant insider's look at the political blogosphere and the minds that lead it' John Glaser on Antiwar.com, November 29, 2011

About the Author

Tanni Haas, Ph.D. holds the Leonard & Claire Tow Professorship and is a Full Professor in the Department of Speech Communication Arts & Sciences at the City University of New York Brooklyn College. An avid political blog reader, he is the author of The Pursuit of Public Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism (Routledge, 2007), which is due out in Chinese and Korean translation, as well as three dozen scholarly journal articles and book chapters on political blogging and other forms of citizen-based journalism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Lutterworth Press (November 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0718892771
• ISBN-13: 978-0718892777
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.4 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of useful information here December 6, 2011

By Bob Morris

Format:Paperback

Tanni Haas interviews twenty top bloggers, and ranks their interviews by readership. HuffPo is first, followed by Political Wire, then FireDogLake. This ranking makes sense, even if I have a slight quibble with it. Some bloggers, like John Robb at Global Guerrillas, post infrequently, have comparatively small readership, yet are hugely influential. Sometimes it's not how many read it but who they are. Readership isn't everything, influence counts immensely too. Robb has a unique voice (something all top blogs have) as well as content you won't find elsewhere. Also, it's important to note that Hass' rankings aren't of all political blogs, just the ones interviewed.

I highly recommend the book, and suggest any blogger read the interviews, as much useful information is there. Haas conducts the interviews skillfully, asking why they started their blog, what makes for a successful blog, and their advice for other bloggers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Must read for bloggers... November 29, 2011

By Kevin Jackson

Format:Paperback

As a blogger, I wish I had read this book first. Talk about insightful and enlightening! This book provides an amazing look inside blogging, and how a few people with very different approaches became such powerful voices politically. I am retooling my approach, and this book might now be my new bible for blogging. Great job!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and enlightening November 25, 2011

By J. Garcia

Format:Paperback

I've been reading Making it in the Political Blogosphere: The World's Top Political Bloggers Share the Secrets to Success.

The meat of the book is a series of very informative and complete interviews with the likes of well-known politics bloggers from all points of the political spectrum: There's Arianna and Jane Hamsher, but also Lew Rockwell, Reason`s Nick Gillespie, Thomas Lifeson (from American Thinker), Tyler Cowen (Marginal Revolution) and even Gateway Pundit`s very own Jim Hoft - each sharing their respective experiences getting their renowned blogs off the ground; and their insights into what works, what doesn't, plus other advice for budding political bloggers.

Interviews with successful old media transplants such as Andrew Malcolm (who blogs at Top of the Ticket for the LA. Times) and Politico's Ben Smith are also part of the book.

There's also some more general information on the rise of political blogs and how to start your own, which savvy blog readers will probably find not as valuable as those who are new to new media - but the interviews are definitely fun to read and enlightening no matter how long you've been blogging or reading blogs, in my opinion.