Customer Reviews

No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

OK... I'm a sucker for an unusual title, and this one grabbed my attention right off... No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason. While it may not be a techie's idea of blog inspiration, it was a fun read that *did* spur some ideas for me...

Contents: Fifteen Minutes to Fame; Thirty Minutes Away from the TV; An Hour at the Screen; Take Your Time; Think Like a Writer; Index; About the Author

Mason is thrilled at the opportunities that blogs have given the average person for self-expression, but laments that too many blogs are obsessive navel-gazing exercises that hold little to no interest over time. She wrote No One Cares as a way to help you come up with creative and new ideas for blog material that can lead to unusual material and interesting insights to the life and world of the writer. Each idea takes just a single page (a few "long" ones take two pages) and throws out a suggestion that you can use to spur the creative juices. For instance, if you kept a diary growing up, you might want to use some of those pages as a glimpse into your past. Your youthful angst *can* be laughed at now... Perhaps you have some "inside knowledge" of the place/city you live... Share it with your readers. Or one that I could take advice from... "Get Defensive". Take a stand on something you like that goes against conventional wisdom, and proudly show your colors. While not every idea will resonate with all bloggers, there should be something in here to push you in a direction you hadn't considered.

For those who are blogging technical information with no personal color, bypass this book. You probably won't "get it". Better yet, try coming out of your shell and show your readers a bit of yourself. While some people can't do that for legal or professional reasons, it's far too often used as a dodge to avoid your readers. For those who *do* mix personal and technical life on their blog, this is a fun read that could help you connect (or re-connect) with your audience...

And now if I do something totally new on my blog, you'll know where I stole the ideas from... :)

Well, blogging has arrived. I mean really.
This book is a good example of that, one of those 101 and "in 24 hours" books.
The subject is fun, the content is about 100 blog posts, the price for this is ridiculous.
The author complains that people are writing about their lunch, but funny thing is that her 31st idea for blogging is - yes, you guessed, lunch.
The book is basically about how to bare youself more to the public, how to put more of your private life on the net - hey, have you got an embarrassing memory that makes you cry and curl up? Post it!
Have you got embarrassing photos? Post it!

No one cares what you had for lunch, but hey, why don't you tell us what's in your purse?

Blogging has arrived. And this book is one of those "lets make some money without any effort" books.

But, if you don't mind the price - 20 USD? for this? -, you can have a good bedtime reading. And there are some good thoughts in this. Just not too many.

These ideas are about as creative and original as writing about what you had for lunch.

The book is skinny, the writing ideas are brief, and the content of the ideas is really thin. I've seen more interesting writing prompts in grade school writing classes.

Really wish I would have read all the reviews before buying this book.

Using these ideas really won't make your blog one to read.

It is a nice list of ideas on topics for blogs but very little substance. It would have been better off as an extended magazine article.

I just finished this book, and highly recommend it (but not for the reasons you'd expect, more on that in a bit.) First of all, this book is fast and fun to read: the author's personality shines through...Margaret is funny, offbeat, down-to-earth and has an heartfelt mission to save the Web from boring and crappy posts. Hear, hear!

But 'tho the book's focus is on the blogosphere, I found that the ideas are wonderfully applicable to all personal writings...journals, essays, letters to friends and family, scrapbooking. Whether you're putting your ideas and experiences online or on paper, these 100 arrows point you to creative communication and *great* writing...because they get at what makes you, you.

That's why I got a copy for my mom...she doesn't blog, but she'll love the book for other reasons!

Hi Folks,

I went to pick up this book from the Public Library. I expected to get tricks and techniques about blogging.... None of that.... This is a slim book and most pages have content on half the pages only. I could tolerate this lack of quantity if at least the quality was there. Not the case at all. It is a good book if you have some cash to throw down the toilet and if you like "streams of consciousness" random general thoughts that don't fly too high. Basically, a bunch of half-baked platitudes. I know that writing a book is not easy and I am not kicking the author's duff for the pleasure of it, but it needs to be done. Someone has to tell her that she can't take us for walking wallets. The Canadian retail price is $24.99... That's scary... for so little! The general public deserves a better effort. Maybe on her next book... Maybe she has talent, I never read her other stuff. However, I know she will need to get to the keyboard and work harder.

If you are not sure, go to your Public Library or to Barnes and Noble to browse it first. Who knows, it might be good for you. However, if you want tips to write a better blog, you have to find something else.
Just for your info, I just finished Brad Hill's Blog book for Dummies. It is pretty good ... and Hill worked hard at it AND you will find lots of good tricks that will save you lots of time. Good for total beginers and low intermediate. Cheers!

I will be brief for this review: don't buy this book if you have at least a small idea about what you want to write on your blog. This book only gives you some hints if you have no clue about the content of your blog. If this is the case, then you should not write a blog, and therefore there is no use to buy this book. My ten years old sister could have given the same advices about what to write when you have nothing to say.

I have maintained my blog at [...] for over four years now, so I can tell you it doesn't matter if you've been a blogger for a while: you will find this book useful. It should be noted, like other reviewers have pointed out, that it's not just about blogging (though some of the tips offered pretty much are ideal for a blog as a content vehicle). The book offers the reader 100 ideas to avoid "me-too syndrome" as the author puts it. The result, cleverly conveyed by the title, is broken down into sections, from ideas that will take the blogger fifteen minutes to write about, all the way to involved projects that will take time to gather and publish.

There were so many useful ideas to deal with writer's block in this great little book that I found myself earmarking more than half the pages to make sure I go back to them over time. Whether you are new to blogging or have been doing it for a while, "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch" is an amazing book that will do wonders for you.

Have you ever suffered from writer's block? Nevermore. This book gives you scrumptious ideas to get your creative juices flowing, from telling the story behind your favorite photo, to seeking out unusual opportunities and just doing them! A delectable read chockoblock full of easy to implement ideas. I love it!

I am fairly new to the whole blogging thing, so this book couldn't have come at a better time. It's an easy and fun read and has convinced me to let down my guard a bit, not to mention provided me with some great leads. I would recommend this book to anyone -- seasoned blogger or novice like me.